There are a lot of entitled people online nowadays, who expect something for nothing.
Last year, Ryan Michler (a past guest on my podcast and all around good guy) shared something that a troll said in his Facebook group.
This guy was apparently shocked and offended that (gasp!) Ryan makes money by selling his programs in his group.
He tried to paint Ryan as greedy, and compared his business to Scientology.
I wish I could say that this is a rare thing, but it's not uncommon for people to express surprise that entrepreneurs have the audacity to expect to be compensated for what they do.
It reminds me of a story that went viral a few years back:
A 20-something "social media influencer" emailed a hotel owner in Dublin, asking for a free stay in exchange for her putting a plug for the hotel on her social media.
The owner, Paul Stenson, sent back a strongly-worded rejection and shared it around social media.
The incident blew up, the vlogger posted a tearful video to say how mean he was, and thousands of other social media influencers went to Yelp to attack the hotel owner and troll him on social media.
The nerve of that guy to actually charge for his rooms!
He was right to reject the request, and he turned it into a lot of free publicity too. His response to the trolls:
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"I'd just like to say a huge thanks to all the bloggers for their hard work over the past two days ... the publicity you’ve given us is absolutely priceless.
But don’t worry bloggers, your work won’t go unnoticed. It will be featured in my book ‘How To Get Worldwide Publicity Without Spending A Cent’.
I’m even thinking of dedicating a full chapter to you guys, including screenshots of some of your most entertaining public tweets, Facebook posts and negative reviews. It will be some chapter!"
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I'm not saying that everyone online is a part of the "freeple" or "cheaple" crowd. There are plenty who are willing to pay for what you provide.
There are so many that you won't have to bend over backwards for the freebie seekers - ignore them and turn their ranting into free exposure like both Ryan and the Dublin hotel owner did.
If you want to learn ways to get more good paying clients into your coaching business, the February issue of Secret Coach Club ships to the printer tonight.
It's not free, and you can get it here:
Marc Mawhinney