I recently have been researching and testing a new email strategy from a pre-eminent email marketer named Ryan Deiss (The Digital Marketer). His program is genius, and I love it. It makes sense, it’s logical and I’ve been applying his tactics for myself and for my clients.

Love it!

But in the meantime, I had hired a new writer, and mentioned that we’ll be using his methodology. She came back with concerns over this guy’s customer service program.

I spoke with someone else about what I was doing, and they cautioned that he can come across as “smarmy” or overly “salesy” when they saw him presenting.

These are negative references. Should I care? In both cases: No. I don’t care. Not one tiny little bit.

His program works, it has a proven success record, and frankly, that’s about as far as I go in terms of assessing whether I do or do not want to engage with someone, or with their products.

But those conversations got me thinking: how often do the words of others stop us from doing something? In my world, referrals are key. Keeping up a good reputation means I continue to have a thriving business. It’s also true that what other people say about you is about 4 times more important than what you say about yourself.

So how do we decide when to abandon ship because of a bad referral, and when do we just do it anyway? The answer is simple: if your decision meets with the criteria of being useful, profitable and has long-term value (despite their reputation) then you can go ahead.

My decision to keep going and plunk down cash on Ryan’s program was all predicated on the fact that his inability to present well, or his sucky customer service did not in any way infringe up on the value of his methodology. Was I a little more watchful? Sure. But I still moved ahead and would recommend his system to anyone.

I used to often worry about being liked. I’ve given up, simply because I know that I’m not everyone’s favourite flavor. Totally fine with me.

What I will NEVER be okay with, is if people think that what I do doesn’t add value. Then I’m in trouble.

So the next time you come across something that you feel would significantly enhance your business, but there’s some negative talk surrounding the creators, think hard about how much those referrals matter – or whether you should just go with your gut and plunge ahead.

Food for thought!

Rebecca

Image Source: http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/be-more-likeable-in-eyes-of-journalists/