Is Fear of Criticism Blocking Your Success?

Last week I wrote about a post I read where Richard Lee discussed getting over the fear of promoting your first product.  This is such a HUGE deal that I felt compelled to throw together a quick post on that too.

See, there are tons of ideas out there and a zillion ways to make money - online or offline.  But there's so much inner game, YOU-stuff that we all have to get over that it seems like that's the thing that holds people back more than anything else.  It's certainly not a lack of ideas.  Case in point, this fear of criticism crap when it comes to rolling out products - specifically that very first one.

Here's the deal…

Just consider something like John Reese's Traffic Secrets (which is now off the market).  You're probably aware that this product launch resulted in John's "Million Dollar Day".  Would it surprise you that some people didn't like that product?  It's almost a sure thing, though I guess only John knows for sure.  But that didn't stop him, nor should it have.

You simply can't please everyone and have to assume that someone (or even a few) people aren't going to like your product, some jerks will even use it and then return it, etc.  That's okay as long as that's not the dominant trend.  It's just part of doing business.   In fact, I've heard some info publishers argue that if they're not at least getting SOME returns, they don't think they're selling hard enough on the front end.

Of course, all this talk of dealing with returns and possibly unhappy customers makes a pretty strong case for outsourcing stuff like customer service.  If you never know about people returning your stuff, complaining about it, etc. or at least have someone to act as a buffer between you and that sort of negative feedback, you can be much more objective rather than emotionally tied to how people respond to your product.  You can take that feedback and make any NECESSARY changes (keyword there is necessary) and do so from a more rational standpoint.

You know, I'm a pretty big fan of Dan Kennedy's stuff too and one of the things he talks about in a few of his products is the idea of "immunity to criticism"…that most successful people have a thick skin and that you REALLY have to consider the source of the criticism. 

• Is it a non-buyer that's complaining? 
• Is it a buyer that's complaining but not actually returning the product? 
• Is it a competitor that's just playing mind games or jealous of your product (seems sorta' like elementary school huh…)? 
• Is it all in your head, with no real complaints to speak of?

Just understand that not everyone is going to like ANY particular product, it doesn't matter what it is.  Just get something out there that provides value to your ideal customer, consider the source of any feedback you get, change what really needs to be improved and keep on rolling out more.

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