Have you ever heard or said this?

I received an e-mail today reminding me of “the fact that social networks exist and that they could be used to enlist bad press against me”.  Yeah… like I haven’t heard that one before.  It’s in quotes because it’s not what I believe but what I’ve been told.

Here’s why that holds zero validity in my mind.

Using your network to trash talk other people does the other person no harm.  Sure, you might think it’ll cause the 183 people that have gone through the same program to all of a sudden go, “Yeah! We agree with them!” but it won’t.  In fact, it’ll only do YOU harm by making everyone around you afraid to interact with you for fear of being next on the chopping block.

Or, here’s another scenario.  You talk amongst your peeps (who only hear your side of the story) and they are like, “Ohhhh, you’ve been wronged!” and then you feel validated and happy and glad that you put up your threat of bad press.  In all reality, those people are probably afraid to voice their true opinion of, “Are you really serious?!?”

Raving fans are raving fans and every time you do something, you’re going to encounter one person who doesn’t get it, who didn’t like it, who didn’t want it or who hits the economic recession and decides to try and cash in on a product they purchased circa September of 2008.  Seth Godin calls these critics and critics are good.  At least it means you are giving someone, somewhere something to talk about.

Long story short of what I went through to get that e-mail: customer X purchased a spot in a program.  Had trouble with downloading videos.  I offered DVDs.  DVDs were mailed twice times but never received.  I offered new, updated program to customer X for free (which contained super slick high-definition videos).  Customer X still demanded old, outdated information that isn’t being used anymore.  I mailed DVDs of old stuff again.  Customer X, one year later, requests refund and states that my lack of compliance would be bad press and that customer X has a network that they can use. I explain refund policy and offer even more training in lieu of the expired refund availability.

So, how would you react if you were me?

I simply e-mailed stating that while I appreciate the existence of such network (I have one of my own), I was not worried about so-called bad press because the raving reviews, the lack of refunds, etc. makes this a success for me.  Makes the program a win.  You can look at the showcase I have to see what people are doing with what they’ve learned in the program.  It’s changing how people service their own businesses.

You get to decide how you react to things each and every day.

This is a scenario that does not happen often but when it does, I’m reminded of how presenting yourself to your network is so vital and key to the success of your business.  Threaten others with the misuse of your network and you’ll harm yourself in the end.

Use your network for good, change the world, change the way people think and you’ll be a happy, successful business person.