Here’s a story about somebody who was very concerned about their website. The gist of it was that this person found a forum where they were discussing his site in a negative light. He was concerned that this was going to hurt his chances of making sales of his product.

What happened within a month of those forum posts?

He went from getting about 100 visitors a day to his site to 1000 visitors a day to his site. His sales went from about 1 a day to about 20 a day.

Maybe you’ve probably heard about a guy by the name of the Rich Jerk. If not, let me tell you a little about him.

He has a website where he starts off by telling people that he is better than they are and if you don’t like him you can kiss his behind. I kid you not.

He is NOT friendly. His is rude, abusive, insulting and just a flat out miserable excuse for a human being. At least that is the persona that he presents to others. Who knows, he may be a real sweetheart, though I doubt it.

In spite of this man’s persona, he is probably one of the most successful marketers online. His most recent stunt only increased his success. What was it? He taught some unethical marketing tactics in one of his videos that really got people talking about what a slime he is. So what happened? More people had to check out his latest website. As a result, his sales went through the roof.

For some reason, people don’t want bad press. They think it will hurt their image. Well, it may hurt their image, but it won’t hurt their bottom line. That has been proven by people like the Rich Jerk in spades. Controversy sells, plain and simple.

Having said that. They DO NOT involve him ripping off his customers. He may verbally abuse them, teach them unethical marketing principals and heaven knows what else, but he provides them with the product that they expected. One thing you will never find about the Rich Jerk are complaints of fraud, because they will kill you in your tracks. This man knows where to draw the line.

So, if you are concerned about some bad press about your site, as long as you haven’t committed fraud or taken advantage of your customers, the chances of controversy hurting your business is very slim.

When people don’t talk about you or your product, then start worrying!

© Neil-Harvey.com