haters

There are two important facts of life you need to know if you’re writing for the web: Bloggers gonna blog and haters gonna hate.

As you try to build your online presence to promote yourself as an author or grow your blog into a business, you will face opposition in a variety of forms from sad people with pitiful lives who have nothing better to do but leave nasty comments on your site to friends and family members who make disparaging remarks simply because they don’t understand what you’re doing or why.

You’re going to encounter folks who refer to your writing and blogging as a hobby or perhaps even call it a waste of time.

Yes, haters gon’ hate. But remember — bloggers gon’ blog! Don’t let their negativity stop you from going after your goals.

bloggers gon blog
Photo via @tyinscripted

Find your ride or die chicks. Danielle LaPorte once said, “Find your tribe and love them hard.”  Bloggers and writers need to do exactly that. There are other women out there dreaming dreams as daring as yours. Find these women, band together with them in sisterhood, and never let them go.

You got 99 problems, but a pitch ain’t one. A good elevator pitch is like kryptonite to super haters. If you can clearly, concisely, and confidently state what you do and why you do it, you will often leave the naysayers speechless.

Your blog is dope and you do dope sh*t. The best way to shut up haters is with your success. In fact, I often say I love my haters because they help me make money. Let me explain with an example: A couple years ago I wrote a guest post for a very popular natural hair website on why my hair is my feminist fashion statement. I received several negative comments from people who were flabbergasted that I would call myself a feminist. In fact, one person even sent me an email that simply stated: “Black women can’t be feminists.” All this inspired a personal essay on feminism and race — an essay I sold to NPR. I laughed all the way to the bank — literally.

How do you deal with haters?