Not cool. My First Troll.a Fellow WA member?!?

byBecomingDesa

524 followers

5 years ago

Inevitably, we are all going to have to brave the trolls out there as we build our businesses online. It's so easy to tear people down who are courageous enough to take the risks required to get what they want. It's what people who don't think they CAN do to people that ARE DOING what they want to do. So I knew it was coming, especially for the subject matter of my particular niche, which is religious & metaphysical.

In fact, dreading and fearing the inevitable venom I knew I'd face online for this subject is one of the things that held me back for years before I finally found WA and got my dream career off the ground.

It just never even crossed my mind that a member of this loving, supportive, encouraging community here at WA--who are going through the same struggles with me--would be the first to try and troll my fledgling business.

What made it more hurtful was the fact that this was someone who was supposed to be posting a comment to my selected post in exchange for the very generous comment I had made to her post first!

I totally understand that what I am passionate and knowledgable about is not going to be what anyone else here at WA is necessarily going to feel pumped about, too. And that's good, that's totally normal. I love seeing all the different niches for all my fellow members here. It makes it exciting.

The simple fact is that we here are probably not each other's target audiences.

Our target audience for each of our individual posts are those real people out there who are googling the specific keyword we built our post around. THEY are the ones we are seeking to serve with our post. That should be understood when we are posting comments for each other here.

So when I read a post about New Orleans Saints apparel, or children's bike helmets, or digital cameras, or anxiety relief, or macadamia nuts, or WHATEVER by one of my beloved fellow travelers here at WA, I always try and approach it with these thoughts in mind:

• If I were looking for answers to this question, would I enjoy this post?
• What additional questions or clarifications would I have?
• What would I appreciate most about this post?
  

While every single one of the above topics I just mentioned are real topics of posts I have posted comments for, and while not one of those is of the least bit of interest to me personally, I AM NOT THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE!

Remember we are here to help build up each other and work together toward mutual success.

Comments are specifically supposed to be positive, detailed, and try to ask questions to allow the WA member to engage in conversation on their site. This all makes them look like the authority they are, in fact, becoming...and helps them in their google rankings, too! It's an awesome, awesome tool we have here!!!

That's the spirit of what the comments you add to your fellow WA member's posts are supposed to be made in.

When I read this trolling member's INSANELY LONG (almost 6000 word post), at the end, I was honestly bored out of my mind. What's more, I personally did not agree with almost 80% of what she had to say about her subject since I happen to be very familiar and trained in the topic myself.

But did I blast her in the comments? No!

I sincerely told her I was happy for her daughter's recovery from anxiety and that I hope her post helps a lot of people.

Is this lying or insincerity? No.

Why did I say this? Because I AM NOT HER TARGET AUDIENCE!

Most likely, the people looking for her post will be thrilled with the length and the detail and the resources and suggestions she offers.

So when I put on my commenting hat, I try to comment like I was their target audience.

It's different when you're giving site feedback. There it is important to be honestly critical so your fellow WA member can improve their site.

Something about my site pushed this member's buttons though, and she lost sight of what her purpose was in being on my site in the first place: to be generous, positive, helpful, supportive, to ask good questions, engage.

Instead, she goes to a post on my site I did not ask for comments on to begin with, and proceeds to write a 2000 word comment, clearly trying to ward off future visitors to my site who are my target audience, and not-so-subtly directing them to her own affiliate resources. She further says the things I had to say were literally "made up" (because she's now the expert on my niche) and some other outrageously condescending and hateful suggestions about my niche, post, and religious and spiritual background.

Yep. My first troll...and it was a doozy!

At least I got it behind me now!

I wrote this post for 3 reasons:

1. Just to document my journey to look back on later.
2. To remind my WA family to brace yourself because the trolls are going to come to your pages...it's just the nature of this business but let it roll off your back and keep working hard posting; you will make things happen trolls will only dream of so long as you don't quit. Don't let them get you down!
   
3. Don't be the troll for someone else...especially not your fellow WA family.

On to my next post. And as my troll ironically likes to end her own posts, I bid you all "Namaste!"

Desa