Before I dive into this topic, I would like for everyone to do a quick mental health check-in. Have you drank your water today? Did you take your vitamins? Go take them 🙂 What are you checking in right now from a mental health perspective 1-10? I’m at an 8.5 as I’m writing this.
I pray you are staying safe during this uncertain time right now. I was reading an article in regard to the tile of this blog post and I felt so compelled to jot down some of my thoughts and tips to help my fellow entrepreneurs. Let’s not waste any time and dive right in.
Families are so precious. The love and support they provide is truly a blessing. I am blessed to say that I am apart of a family of friends and blood relatives that have my back. We all look out for each other and support one another. Despite all of this, It would be remiss to not discuss what it’s like to receive good and bad feedback from friends and family members as an entrepreneur. As creatives and entrepreneurs we are and can be very sensitive about our work.
Well I’ll be honest, I know I sure can be.
I’ve learned that you can be polite and gracious about the feedback you receive from family and friends even if it’s bad feedback you don’t necessarily want to hear. After all they love you so much and just want the best for us.
Take Feedback You Receive with a Grain of Salt:
My first piece of advice is to take everyone’s feedback with a grain of salt. Not everyone’s feedback will provide genuine value to your brand. Some of it may indeed add value, however, you must first determine if it will first. Ask yourself, will someone else think the same thing, or have this question in the future? How can I adjust ABC to make that happen? You’d be surprised at what an extra set of eyes may be able to point out in your business.
Determine if it’s Good or Bad Feedback & Take Action
Once you determine it’s bad feedback as in someone just saying they don’t like a blog post, product, or service you put out, you decide whether you’re going to ignore it or use it as fuel to make your business better. Being able to weed out the good and bad feedback is very important. You don’t want to get caught up because one person may not enjoy your offerings vs 1000+ other people saying the opposite. If it’s something you believe will add value or it’s a great compliment of the work you’re doing, wonderful! Take action on that good feedback because they were looking out. It’s a great feeling when your friends and family support your calling.
Remember your Why & Purpose:
I love getting support from friends and family, but at the end of the day you are there to serve your community of people. This is just a general rule to always have. You need to be equipped with the confidence in your brand because there will be folks that may not have the nicest things to say, but that’s going to happen when you go into business! The not so pleasing comments are probably going to come from complete strangers. Trolls are well and alive yall. God will protect you from that negativity. Especially if you are living out his purpose that he has called on your life. Having worked in customer service I see it all the time. You have to know who your customer is and not be offended by the negative comments you may receive on your platform or on your product/service. You simply can’t talk to everyone. When you talk to everyone, you’re talking to NO ONE. Your business is not for everyone, and THAT’S OKAY!
Consult With Someone Who’s Been Where you Are:
Don’t get me wrong folks, I’m not saying you should or should not listen to your friends/family when they give you feedback. You can take their advice, but I would recommend you also seek out the help of someone who has been where you are.
Dont Be Offended if A Close Friend or Relative Doesn’t Enjoy your Content/Business
It’s okay for some people not to enjoy or understand your content. It’s not for everyone. Going back to my point. You can’t please everyone during this journey. What will always remain paramount is your audience and serving them. Along my journey I have learned that I can be sensitive to feedback if it’s something I don’t want to hear. But overall I’ve had positive experiences with feedback from friends and family.
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