An expert view on nastiness in Newsgroups

"My Emails Are Written With Good Humour and Should Be Read With A Smile!"
I couldn't help but smile when I read the article below by a guy I respect a
lot...Willie Crawford.

It explains a lot about some guys who attempt to dominate Discussion groups
by being plain nasty, untruthful and downright rude ... hiding behind a
computer screen:



Resentment and Civility in Internet Marketing By Willie Crawford

Have you noticed how rude, obnoxious, negative, and downright uncivil people
can be in cyberspace?

Visit any busy Internet marketing discussion board and you'll often find
dozens of such people who seem to thrive on being as mean-spirited and
negative as possible.

If you get any volume of email you're bound to sometimes get emails saying
things that people are VERY unlikely to say to you in person.

It's as if being behind the computer screen and communicating via long
distance changes the rules of how we have all been taught to politely
interact with each other.

Why are some people like this, and what is the ultimate consequence? Let's
examine this behaviour and look at just a few specific examples.

Let's begin with the person who deliberately posts the most negative or
mean-spirited things they can on discussion forums. Sometimes these people
are doing what is called "trolling." Just as a fisherman trolls for fish,
hoping that as his bait floats by the fish will find it irresistible, the
discussion board troll dangles very contemptuous comments in front of those
on the forum - hoping that some can't resist responding. He is hoping to
start a heated discussion that will draw attention to him, and perhaps his
site, product, or cause.

Discussion board trolling works for some people. It builds them an audience
of others who thrive on controversy. However, discussion board trolling also
drives away a lot of potential customers. It drives away those who are
turned-off by all of the negativity. and make a mental note to NEVER do
business with the troll.

The discussion board troll understands that man is an emotional creature. He
is more likely to take action if you can get him riled up. He understands
the art of "polarizing." He understands that people are often more likely to
do business with people who touch them on a very deep emotional level...
even if it's negative.

Even off of discussion boards, some copywriters masterfully harness the
power of this same psychological trick. One of the most brilliant examples
of it that I've seen recently is by a guy who has actually branded himself
as "The Rich Jerk." You can see how he does this on his website at:
http://WhyJerksWin.com If you look very closely at that site, you'll see
what this guy is doing and its effect. It works beautifully and that's why I
point it out to you!

Many people who post only negative posts on discussion boards don't seem to
understand how energy works. They don't seem to understand that man is an
electromagnetic creature who senses and responds to positive and negative
vibrations. We all understand that many impulses travel through our bodies
via electricity, and that we even need to keep our electrolytes in balance.
We even notice how just talking to some people makes the hair on the back of
our neck stand up. This happens partly because of electrical vibrations we
are picking up on.

I don't want to get too deep into explaining how we pick up on other's
vibes. However, most of us do perceive and respond on a subconscious level
to the vibrations others are putting out. We often can't "put our finger on"
exactly what it is about a person that makes us NOT want to deal with them,
but we just know that we don't. Those who do understand this scientific
process, simply avoid trolls and very negative people on discussion forums.

If you'd like a deeper understanding of how the process I just explained
works, I'll point you to a very good course by Dr. Robert Anthony, called
"Know How To Be Rich." He basically explains how we attract both good and
bad things into our lives. He explains how to attract positive things and
how NOT to attract negative things into your life. You can find Dr.
Anthony's course at http://TheInternetLifestyle.com

Let's look briefly at those who only make negative comments on discussion
forums. Often these negative comments are attacking some so-called "guru."

On a few discussion forums, people are allowed to say anything that they
want... in the name of "free speech."

On other discussion forums personal attacks on others or other's products
are not tolerated.

I am a moderator at a number of Internet marketing discussion forums. On
these forums I get to enforce "the rules." On all of the discussion forums I
moderate you are NOT free to make "any" comment that you want.

The reason is very simple... it's common courtesy and understanding proper
business etiquette.

First of all, posting to a discussion forum has NOTHING to do with free
speech. The discussion board is owned by someone, and they will generally
operate their forum in a manner that benefits their business and the
businesses of those who use the forum regularly. They operate their forum in
a manner that sticks to the purpose of the forum!

One fact that needs to be acknowledged is that search engines often index
discussion forum posts. Once these posts are indexed and stored in the
search engines, they can stay in the databases for YEARS. So if someone
makes a negative, and unsubstantiated, post about someone, there really is
NO way of undoing it. Even if the poster apologizes, that negative post will
remain in the database forever... continuing to harm that person's business.

Many who choose to attack "gurus" may have very good reason. One of the best
reasons I can readily see is that some perceived experts mislead their
followers from time to time. For example, they give them the impression that
building an online business is easier than it really is.

The fact is that it usually takes hard work and persistence.

This is often not what most people want to hear, so the experts allude to
the fact that it's very easy. It can be easy, but it's NOT for most people.

So the gurus who convince people that it's too easy, because that's what
those people want to hear, often irritate a lot of people... people who feel
angry that they can't do something that's obviously "so EASY." Those very
angry people then set out to disparage the experts in any way the can.

Instead of attacking the experts because they didn't tell you exactly how
they are doing things, it would really be more productive to spend time
figuring out what they are actually doing, or even asking them how they
really operate their businesses. Be warned though that many who have built
very successful online businesses can't really tell you all of the factors
that contributed to their success. They often do things that they simply
don't notice. They have habits that they give little or no conscious thought
to!

Many of today's recognized Internet marketing experts spent 6 - 10 years
building their businesses to the point that they are at today. They
basically built a brand in their niche. With technological changes, and an
increase in the number of people in the niche, it is now possible to achieve
what they did in a fraction of the time. Isn't it more productive to spend
time doing that than attacking people out of envy or resentment?

I define civility as interacting with others in a way that smoothes the
interaction. Doesn't it make more sense to do that? This would certainly
seem to facilitate a greater number of interactions with positive outcomes.

This logically generate a *great number* of productive transactions. More
transactions with more positive outcomes would therefore GROW your business.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of the points above. However, take a
few minutes to observe the world as it really works and you'll have to agree
with at least some of the points. Consider them carefully and perhaps you
too will find yourself behaving more civilly in cyberspace :-)



Willie Crawford consults with some of the most successful direct marketers
on the Internet. Grab a copy of the somewhat controversial ebook that he
considers required reading for all his clients at: http://WhyJerksWin.com


Regards - wasn't that absolutely on the button?

DEC [Cluskey]
mailto:dec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Mad About Music' the seminar on CD and CDrom is now ready....Dec at his
best! Check out http://www.makehits.com/madaboutmusic.htm or call
01323.728005 [+44.1323.728005]


.

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