I’d made a post on LinkedIn about my own experiences. And between the comments from folks saying they hadn’t experienced what I detailed, and one comment that was downright insulting, I felt pretty banged up and vulnerable.
I debated deleting the entire post. What if seeing it made me look like I didn’t know what I was talking about? Would it make a bad impression?
But then I got a handful of connection requests.
Those requests included new inquiries for my engineering consulting services.
And one of those inquiries directly referenced my content.
I also received a message from someone I’d never met. He said he resonated with what I’d written due to his own past pains with ineffective “collaboration”. He got it.
And even weeks later, on a call with a potential client, they mentioned that they had actually experienced the more-linear development method I’d talked about. It really frustrated them, and they had definitely seen more success with the integrated approach I’d highlighted.
There’s two lessons here:
One, it’s worth it to build up a thicker skin—or at the very least, one that lets others’ opinions roll off my back like water droplets on a duck. The opinion lands on me, and I see and learn from it, but it doesn’t dig any deeper than that. It just smoothly runs off my feathers, and I keep doing my thing.
And two: anyone trying to cultivate a business should keep talking about what you do and what you think, even when people try to cut you down to size and say you’re wrong.
You can always improve how well you target your ideal audience, and you can hone the techniques of how you express your ideas. But if you’re trying to make a difference to people, to provide something they badly need, then don’t be afraid to say things that some folks will disagree with and dismiss.
Because the RIGHT people, the ones who are your best clients and advocates, will still find you. They’ll like what you put out into the world.
And it’s those same hot-button thoughts that might be the push they need to reach out to you.