One of the “rules” inside my “Copy Troll” book is:
Don’t engage one-on-one with a troll, unless they have a bigger audience than you.
I won’t go into all the reasons for this here.
That is, after all, what the book is for.
But, I will say, even if they do have a bigger audience than you, the best way to engage with them is, instead, via your own Media platform. That way, you can both troll them back without granting them access to any of your audience (like you do if you fight with them directly on social media or whatever) and also profit from them.
It’s something that dawned on me later than I would have preferred in business.
And, when I started reading how the late media empire-builder & squeaky voiced William Randolph Hearst did the exact same thing to grow his business, influence, etc, I tripled down on following that rule.
For example:
There was an incident when he was visiting France where the French did not like him, and wanted him out of the country. And when they told them this, in true Hearst fashion, he did NOT argue with or engage in any kind of shyt-talking directly one-on-one with the French leaders, which he probably wouldn’t have been very good at.
Instead, he wrote an editorial about it in his papers:
(i.e., on his own Media platform)
“I have no complaint to make. The officials were extremely polite. They said I was an enemy of France and a danger in their midst. They made me feel quite important. They said I could stay in France a little while longer, if I desired, that they would take a chance on nothing disastrous happening to the Republic. But I told them that I did not want to take the responsibility of endangering the great French nation; that America had saved it once during the war, and I would save it again by leaving.”
Pure Copy Trolling poetry.
But, I am not bringing this up to sell Copy Troll.
No, I bring it up to show you how to wield the incredible power owning your own Media platforms gives you, as well as one of many reasons it’s good to have your own Media platforms you control, and those you simply use, even if you don’t own or outright control them.
All of which are talked about in the May “Email Players” issue.
The deadline to get this issue is coming up soon.
Here’s where to subscribe, while you still can:
Ben Settle
