Behold the glorious power of polarizing content.
And why I’m all for “repulsion marketing” instead of “attraction marketing.”
Let me give you the perfect example:
Yesterday I wrote a post about why minor spelling mistakes can actually nab you more sales (there are scientific studies that support this).
The gist of the post was that minor mistakes don’t matter as much as long as your understanding of your customer’s hopes, fears, and dreams is on point.
However, it was a *very* divisive post.
Some people loved it. Others thought it was “a load of nonsense.” And some, like this guy, who got insanely angry and so pissed off (it’s hilarious):
“This is horrible advice! Seeing a misspelling does persuade me that you’re a lazy ass and unprofessional and you do not pay attention to detail enough to even correct your own website! So absolutely not I would never do business with you or buy anything because I don’t trust you. I will view you as incompetent.”
I especially enjoyed his last comment, “I will view you as incompetent.” It definitely made me chuckle.
Two things to consider from his response:
1) He clearly didn’t read the post, at all
2) He probably has anger issues and should do some angry push-ups
Contrast his response with this wonderful woman, Phyllis Wilson (name used with permission):
“YES! I have a great story around this… 2.5 years ago, I started seeing posts from this “girl” (judgment alert #1) with terrible grammar, spelling mistakes everywhere.Thing was, she was talking about business and coaching in a way that NO ONE else (that I was seeing at the time) was talking about it. It was clear she not only knew her stuff, but she was also succeeding in exactly the way I wanted to succeed.
So, of course, I turned into Judge Phyllis and hate-followed her. I was INDIGNANT that this barely 25 year old (20 years younger than me!) who had CLEARLY missed too many days of school, was actually successful… while here I was with my Master’s degree and 2 post-grad certifications barely scraping by.
Six months later? I paid her $20k for her 5-month Mastermind. And I’ve been her private client ever since.
To this day, I see people’s snarky comments about her spelling and grammar and I just have to laugh! Sometimes I comment back and say, “that’s why I hired her.”
Here’s the point you should take home from all of this:
In business, life, and relationships, the worst situation you can possibly find yourself in is when nobody cares about you.
If people don’t care, you can’t influence them.
When you can’t influence people, they won’t buy your product.
And when people don’t buy your product, you can’t help them change their life.
That’s why being polarizing (i.e., “repulsion marketing”) is such a powerful tool to find the people who love what you do… and… love who you are!
And, also, it draws out the people who despise you almost on autopilot so you don’t need to waste your time with those people
Like Grant Cardone once said in a presentation (I’m paraphrasing):
“I want more haters. It means I’m doing something right.” – Grant Cardone
Look, you don’t necessarily need to purposely try to piss people off (you can, of course, but you don’t need to. I think it’s funny.).
The point is more that you shouldn’t be afraid of “haters” or “trolls” who says something nasty in a passing comment.
Think about it: People more successful than you would never say stuff like the fury “angry-push-up-guy” unleashed upon me.
Focus on the people who love what you do.
Everybody else?
Let them say their piece, and eventually, they’ll move along… or… like Phyllis’s example: Eventually, they’ll become a client.