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"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."
This has got to be the most difficult mind game an entrepreneur must play. On the one hand, you must follow your well-honed instincts. On the other hand, you must respect public opinion, in so far as it is required to remain solvent. But I've noticed lately that rather than create a brand that some people absolutely love, most people are trying to create brands that nobody hates. Big mistake!
Awhile back a friend was bemoaning the less than stellar rating he had received from an attendee at one of his seminars. One a scale of 1 - 5, he had received a lowly 1.
"What's so bad about that?" I asked.
"It was a damn 1!" he replied. "That sucks."
"No it doesn't," I assured him. "What sucks is receiving a whole bunch of 3's."
Today, you want to be either loved or hated. A "5" or a "1." You must discover who YOUR audience truly is and be a protagonist for something which THEY believe in and feel passionately about. And as far as the rest . . . kindly thank them for their opinions and then ignore them. As Bill Cosby once opined: "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."
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Tom is timely, thought provoking and all about the new brand vision packaged as a Seinfeld stand up. I went to school on his ideas.
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com and CEO, Eons.
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