There’s nothing worse than someone saying horrible things about your creative work. This episode we look at how to deal with online abuse, how to shift your mindset to deal with haters and even how to avoid getting hate in the first place.
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Meet Your Hosts
The Honest Designers Show started when our founder Tom found he was regularly chatting and sharing tips with top designers; Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. We soon organised a weekly call where we would help each other with areas we were struggling with and try to give each other actionable feedback. Soon we realised that the collective experience of the group was proving so valuable for each of us, that we thought ‘why not share these conversations with the world?’.
And so, The Honest Designers Show was born! This podcast is an insight into how to succeed in the creative industry, as well as giving you a totally transparent, under the hood look at some of the tougher, less glamorous hurdles to overcome! We also tend to get a little goofy along the way, so this is a chance to get to know each of us a little better :). We’ve loved recording this show for you, and we hope that you find value and enjoyment in listening to it.
SHOW NOTES
Please find full show notes for this episode below:
[1:00] This week we’re talking about haters in the design community
[2:00] Lisa says that luckily, she hasn’t had to deal with haters very often, but on the few occasions when she did it affected her badly
[2:40] You must stop and ask yourself if the person is actually right or are they just ranting for the sake of it
[3:20] Creatives are usually thinner skinned than most people
[3:50] Tom thinks there is a line between haters and people who give negative feedback
[4:45] Lisa suggests taking a second and rereading the feedback to see maybe people have a point even if they didn’t put it across in a nice way.
[5:40] Dustin reveals getting a very heartbreaking email from someone saying they’ve bought a product and immediately putting it in the trash bin
[6:20] Dustin agrees with Lisa, that you should always wait before replying to negative feedback
[7:00] One negative comment/feedback shouldn’t put you off from all the other positive reactions you’ve been getting
[7:40] Some platforms are more prone to negative feedback than others
[8:20] The hosts debate Reddit and agree it’s a very honest place
[9:00] Be aware of the type of person you are and choose the social media platforms accordingly
[9:50] Dustin reveals an example from Quora and being shocked by some feedback he witnessed and thinks that most times haters are not right
[11:00] When you put yourself out and seek opinion you should be ready to receive criticism as well as positive feedback
[12:00] Tom is trying to get unemotional about it, but reveals it’s easier said than done
[12:30] Try to get practical, see the validity of the negative feedback and use this to improve your product
[13:45] Tom revels an experience he had with a design forum, on which he offered constructive feedback on designs but it totally backfired
[14:20] Tom provides a funny analogy of getting into a back and forth fight with a hater
[14:50] Dustin remembers a story about Steve Jobs’ reaction on some negative feedback he’s got on a product release and asking the person what did they ever create
[15:50] Tom talks about Dan Norris’ book “Create or Hate” and thinks he’s split the characters into two: the person who produced something and the one that hates what other people do
[16:40] If you’re constantly putting your work out there, you might not win every battle, but you will win the war in terms of creativity
[18:00] Tom and Dustin remember some of Liam Gallagher’s tweets which are very random but are genius
[18:45] People generally express opinions about other people, so it shouldn’t come so much as a surprise when this happens to you
[19:45] The hosts remember they haven’t yet talked about Ian but they do miss him from the show
[20:30] It’s important to also self-reflect and ask yourself if you’ve also been harsh with some of the feedback you have provided
[21:15] Tom suggest a good idea is to have a look a hater’s social media profile
[22:30] Remember that negative feedback will probably always affect you, but you can find ways to deal with it
[23:20] Dustin says that he will agree with the negative feedback if the person is right and acknowledge this
[24:30] People will often give negative feedback and move on, so you shouldn’t let it affect you that much
[25:30] It helps if you respond with kindness, as often the person giving the negative feedback will come back and apologise
[26:30] Having a clear direction and being motivated will make it easier to deal with negative feed, simply because you won’t have time for it
[27:30] You can’t always disregard haters, as sometimes they’re likely to be your customers or clients
[28:00] Tom talks about the importance of customer care at Design Cuts and how he had to deal with negative reactions
[29:30] When dealing with negative feedback from clients, Lisa suggests analysing your relationship with that person first and then deciding on how to deal with it
[30:30] Dustin suggests that you should never negotiate with someone who is either hungry or tired
[31:30] Tom asks the hosts, if they were to give the clients a metaphorical brownie what would that be?
[32:00] Lisa’s strategy was to tell the clients they were always right and batter them up
[33:00] Tom suggests making the contact and feedback page more personal
[34:00] Giving customers a list of options from which to choose what they need help with, will also help soften the conversation
[34:45] Dustin always sends a useful link, showing he had put the effort in finding a solution
[36:30] Lisa thinks a good idea to give the customers a freebie
[37:40] A customer might provide negative feedback on the back of having a negative experience with another company
[38:20] Often customers providing negative feedback will be pleasantly surprised to see someone even responding to them
[39:00] Tom and Lisa act a hypothetical situation with a negative feedback and response on social media
[40:00] Sometimes the only response you can have is so laugh at the comment
[41:00] If the situation is more complex, Lisa suggest looking into it and seeing if the person has a valid point
[42:00] Going the extra mile for a customer that is not happy with your product/service, might turn them into a customer for life
[43:00] Tom asks Lisa how she would deal with people claiming to have lots of experience in the field
[43:45] Lisa thinks that often these kinds of people only want to say that they’re good
[45:00] Dustin thinks there is an opportunity to turn it into an original piece of blog content
[45:45] Dealing with negative feedback on social media will have a high impact as other customers will see your response
[46:40] Experience plays a huge role in dealing with negative feedback
[47:30] As you get older and wiser, you become more selective and you surround yourself with more of the right people
[49:00] You will also stop filtering the stuff that are not important to you
[49:30] Dustin says that there are far less haters than he expected
[50:20] Lisa is a strong believer that energetically you get what you put out
[51:00] If you end up getting a lot of hate, you might need to audit yourself and analyse why this is happening to you so much
[52:30] Dustin suggests not spending too much time and worrying about haters
[53:00] Thank you all for listening to this week’s episode
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Let Us Know What You Think
We would absolutely love to know how you enjoyed this episode. We’ll be releasing a new episode each Wednesday, and look forward to hopefully answering many of your questions on the show.
I know Tom a little better than the others, but, I don’t think Tom could utter a harsh word – ever! LOL
I don’t like putting my art online for people to see. I know this is contrary to why most people create, but, it ruins it for me. I just don’t create for others. If I do, I rarely return to see comments. I don’t want to know! It is not important to me.
I believe that some folks write anything, harsh, or otherwise, knowing they can hide behind the anonymity of the net. I’ve had people go off on me for comments I wrote. I do not let it get to me, as, ‘assholes are a dime a dozen; everyone has one’. I may make a polite comment, but, usually, I leave it alone. It takes two to argue and, many times, the point of the comment received is to engage me, engage me in defending, or whatever. If I don’t respond, or don’t respond as expected, they have not fulfilled their hopes. That is my goal.
Sometimes, I am wrong. In that case, I apologize. It doesn’t hurt and can make a difference!
Great podcast, you all!
Su
Hey Su,
Thanks so much for listening to this week’s episode of the Honest Designers podcast and for your feedback. I will let Tom know you’ve said that ?
I think your approach to negative feedback is great, most of them are really not important and you shouldn’t let these affect you at all and some are not even worth responding too. We loved Lisa’s suggestion too, that sometimes all you can do is laugh ?. Keep up the great work Su ?