The 3 Critics That Will Make Your Blog Awesome

I can still feel the pain of my first critic. Her name was Emily. She stabbed me in the hand with a pencil. We were 5. She thought the way I played wasn’t fun. I cried…

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The consensus among most online polls is that the majority of bloggers will quit writing after a few months.

Why is that? Is it the critics?

The answer is yes and I can explain why…

We have all been there. The voices of our critics scream out from the page as we read them.

It hurts. You wish you were better. You thought you were. But, no you aren’t. Someone has seen your weakness and just made it known to the world. Oh no!

Don’t fret. Let’s take a look at these voices and see how we can handle them.

The Three Critics

Constructive Critic

People with constructive criticism will often advise you on techniques that you can use to improve your website. They may also suggest ways you can improve your content.

This makes you better in obvious ways. You can fix the flaws in your logic. When they highlight something you missed, you can go back and change it.

This interaction makes your work better and it aids in your ability to succeed.

The Destructive Critic

This is the one that most people are scared of. The destructive critic will try to destroy what you are doing by attacking it.

They announce that you don’t know what you are talking about. Their mission is to break your will. They want to see you fail.

This is actually a good thing. It will bring out your true followers. More on that in a minute.

The Inner Critic

That’s you. You think to yourself “I’m not good enough”.

This inner dialogue is what truly determines whether you make it or not. It doesn’t matter if you layout is horrible and you suck at writing content.

It’s what you do about it that determines what happens to your site.

Managing the Critics

How do you respond to these voices? The normal reaction is to hide. To give up. But, don’t give up yet. There is hope!

Handling Constructive Criticism

Not changing something from constructive criticism can be detrimental to your blog or website.

If the problem is how your site is organized, then change it. If your writing needs improvement, start looking at ways to make it better.

Grab a thesaurus, dictionary, and some examples of great writing and see what you are doing wrong.

Whatever the case, it needs to be fixed. If you ignore these comments, it could spell doom for your site.

Coping with the Troublesome Critics

The destructive criticism is tough. They will probably provide valid reasons why they disagree with your content.

It’s best to step back and look at what they are complaining about.

• Are they trying to help?
• Do they have a valid point?
• What is their motivation?

If it’s something that needs to be changed, then change it! But, be careful not to lose sight of your true self. Don’t change something that you believe to be true.

The best way I handle destructive criticism is to get a second and third opinion.

The great thing about destructive criticism is that it will solidify your true followers. Your true followers will support you and defend you when a critic attacks.

This helps you build a stronger backing behind your name and your brand. These are the followers you want. The ones who defend your work. They are the ones who read your material and love it.

If someone critiques you, and you lose followers, they weren’t people you wanted to keep around anyway.

You want people who believe in your work and support you.

Thank you destructive criticism!

Dealing With Your Inner Voice

This voice is loud and never stops. It tells you that you will never make it. It proclaims that you aren’t good enough.

Well, guess what? We are all human! We all have limitations. It’s not that someone is better than you, they just have a better understanding than you.

So, how can you fix that?

Study. Read. Learn. Grow. Don’t give up! Become more valuable to your readers.

Someone right now is learning to be better. They are studying to make themselves better.

They are looking at Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and a thousand other ways to improve their site. They are visiting blogs that are successful and learning.

Don’t think you are the only one struggling. We all struggle. We all fail. Getting back up is hard. Changing what we do is hard.

Facing that monster feels terrifying inside, but do it. One little step at a time. Don’t just try to be a success today. Try to be a success everyday.

Use the voices of your critics to become better. Take a hard look at those voices. Dissect them. They are gifts to launch you to the next level. Use them to your advantage.

Remember forward thinking…

If you write a blog like you have 500,000 followers, then one day you will.

If someone has criticized you and you handled it beautifully, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading.

P.s. The cat picture appears in a lot of my posts. I realize it. It a silence tribute to someone.