Don’t Be Offended

Yesterday a follower of this blog posted on social media he was “disgusted” by a recent public event. I commented that his post was the worst thing he could do, no matter how offended he was. I made it clear I was in no way in favor of the activity and that there are better ways to discourage certain types of behavior.

The reason it is such a bad idea to chastise someone or a group for bad behavior is that it gives the offender a greater audience. I didn’t know about the offense until it was brought to my attention. Once I knew about it I could have, but did not, check out the “disgusted” thing they did. However, a certain percentage of people reading about this person being offended will.

Most of the time people doing something outlandish are doing so to get a response out of you. Deep down, these people do not care about what they are presenting. Instead, they want one of two things:

1. Attention, or
2. to get you to respond.

The only way to spread the word fast and cheaply is to get as many people as possible up in arms and expressing their “disgust.” That is why banning a book increases sales. Ask Salman Rushdie.

The Satanic Verses is an okay novel. Nothing special. I never heard of it until the Supreme Leader of Iran shot his mouth off. Now I had to read what was so incendiary. Of course I could see the issue. I also realized “the issue” would have died a slow death unless someone gave the book a massive push. Thanks, Iran!

Every novel before and since from Rushdie sells better as a result. For the record, I read one, exactly one, novel by Rushdie. That will change if we get another book banning or burning. I have to see why people have their hackles up. Sometimes it is good, sometimes not.

The natural reaction to offensive and/or disgusting people can teach us lessons that builds and retains wealth.

Are You Offended?

For having the audacity of pointing out the error of my follower’s ways, I was dumped. Oh well.

Understand, you come here to hear stories that potentially benefit you. If you are always right you don’t need me. Just record yourself and be done with it. But before you leave, know that I also frequent other bloggers and podcasters for perspective. I may point out where I think the message is wrong or unclear, but I am 100% about learning from the person giving the information because, I know this is hard to believe, but I could (COULD!) be wrong. It happens.

Worse, my ex-follower spread the word about a “disgusting” public display.

Take away the audience and the behavior generally goes away. Behavior needs an audience. What you respond to, good or bad, will be promoted and repeated.

A few years back Ryan Holiday allowed a drag reading in the kids area of his independent bookstore. It was something I felt was in bad taste but said nothing.

Fortunately for my buddy Ryan there were plenty of others inclined to speak up, which is what Ryan Holiday was looking for. He got more free advertising than any other reading he could have planned for in his bookstore. If nobody commented and few, if any, came to the event, there would be fewer such events in the future.

I watched the reading with interest. It seemed okay. Nothing big. But the bookstore got plenty of press. Adults around the nation probably bought more books. Ryan won.

My point is simple. Expressing disgust or offense does not harm the offender! The acknowledgement is what they are looking for. They love the audience, even if the audience boos. They get their attention and the response they desire. If you really want to leave your mark, do nothing. Silence is the biggest killer of behaviors.

Bringing Attention for Wealth

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction and postcyberpunk author. For years Doctorow demanded verbiage in his book contracts that allowed him to give away digital copies of his books. His thought was that an author’s greatest risk is not someone stealing a digital copy of his book, but obscurity.

Unfortunately, publishers have put their foot down and stopped allowing Doctorow from giving away his books digitally. Publisher’s greed could cost Doctorow and the publisher financially. People that read, or at least acquire, the digital copy often go on to buy a hard copy. There are even people on Reddit asking about it.

Regardless, Doctorow got his name out there and he has a vibrant career. It also highlights the power of getting the word out. People love free stuff! Once they hold the digital product in their hand they often buy a hard copy, making Doctorow and publisher happy.

Time to bring Ryan Holiday back into the discussion.

There are things Holiday has done in the past he is no longer proud of. It also illustrates the power of “offended” people to promote a product unwittingly.

Without mentioning names (I don’t want to promote the behavior), Holiday was hired by an author that turned his book into an independent movie.

Independent movies are a hard sell. Books, too. Getting an audience takes effort.

In this instance Holiday orchestrated a publicity stunt. Billboards for the movie were vandalized and photos of the vandalized billboards sent to bloggers with the goal of firing up college campuses to boycott the film.

It worked.

When Holiday sold his first book he greatly inflated the advance from the publisher. I am not going to say Ryan had anything to do with that nugget of misinformation, but…

I am not encouraging negative behavior in any way. I also am not encouraging you to fall for the ruse! For the grift to work you need a grifter AND a dupe. We know the grifters are out there. Don’t be the unwitting dupe promoting what you find “disgusting” or offensive. That is what the grifter wants. Crickets kill their game. And it takes no work whatsoever to accomplish your goal. Ambivalence is an overlooked tool. Add it to your toolbox.

Politics

I could go on ad nauseam with more stories, but you get my drift. We do need to turn to the greatest grift of all, politics, before we close.

My ex-follower commented on an event not directly related to politics. However, most offending issues involve either religion or politics at some level. Political and religious beliefs are the quickest way to raise the hair on the back of your fellow human’s neck.

The greatest risk you take when talking politics is to share something you find offensive about the “other side.” You risk exciting the followers of your opponent while presenting the possibility a few on your side will find the behavior positive. Regardless, you help the other side.

We have seen this played out in a large way over the past decade in American politics. Trump says something to inflame opponents. Indignation is shared endlessly online and in newsfeeds.

As a result, Trump has garnered the majority of news minutes. Everyone, including those against him, can’t drink enough of the Kool-Aide.

President Biden, on the other hand, doesn’t move the crowd. He could be the greatest president to ever live and nobody would know of care. All the attention is on Trump.

Now that President Biden has dropped out of the race and VP Harris is in, the calculus has changed. VP Harris is exciting the crowd. Rather than pointing out the nonsense Trump says, she just leans on Trump and his message as “weird.” It’s a better message and gathers those coveted news minutes.

And Trump know it! Trump is most upset that Harris is getting more recognition. It makes a difference.

Let’s not miss the message. You vote as you choose. I’m interested in the lessons we can learn.

First, like him or not, Trump can market. He says and does things that capture the press and the attention of viewers. This effectively drowns out competitors.

Second, unless you are running for president, you can use variations of these strategies to achieve your goals with a lot less effort or coverage.

As we learned from Ryan Holiday, you can focus your efforts on a small select group. You don’t need 50 million votes. If you sell 100,000 copies of a book you are earning some coin. A mere 100,000 monthly viewers of this blog would generate nice income. Sell a course for $1,000 and it takes only 1,000 buyers to pull a cool million in sales!

On a local business level the numbers can be much smaller. How many clients can an attorney or accountant handle?

Holiday is quoted as saying, “If you’re shameless enough, you can sell anything.”

That might strike some readers as offensive. I think Ryan would say, “Good!”

Cory Doctorow would probably say, “Sure beat obscurity. If nobody knows about your product you have no chance at success.”

As for this blog, I need to spend more time on videos, podcasts, and other media outlets if I wish for more page views. An excellent way to kick this off is for every one of you to blanket social media with anger toward my post about offensive material.

If I can’t get your help in this I may have to do it myself.