If you ever put yourself out there in any kind of big way, there are people who will appreciate you, and there are others who will hate you.
This review on Amazon is a decent example, where the reviewer goes on to call me ‘a non-professional… intermediate level photographer’: Amazon Review on the D600 Crash Course Training Video
I receive hate email on a daily basis, but you know what? I have also come to learn that if someone takes the time to craft an attack towards you, or your credibility, they respect you to a degree. If they truly didn’t care, the response would be apathy and an empty email box.
I’m not saying all criticism is good, much of it (like random name calling) is nonsense, but I have also learned that it is wise to ask myself if there is anything that can be learned from what they are saying? Is this something that no one else is brave enough to bring to my attention?
When I first started making these videos, there was one guy who said ‘these videos are terrible because of the noise’. That triggered me to ask myself, what am I doing wrong with the noise? We investigated it and found some ways to improve our audio quality and some of the microphones were we using. If you listen to my most recent Youtube videos, the audio is much, much better. This was something I wouldn’t have known without the criticism, so yes, it was welcome. Not always easy to humble yourself to the degree to listen to someone who is labeling you as their enemy. The equivalent I see of this is if you are getting ready to go to war against someone, and they are shouting out their battle plan where they think you are weak. This can help you strengthen against future problems if you are willing to humble yourself.
In my mind, valid criticism will have some kind of usable information, suggestion, possible improvement.
Invalid criticism, (aka ‘hating’) typically is more random, includes name calling, personal attacks, non-specific generalizations, etc. It’s essentially just a person saying ‘I hate you’. If they cannot validate why you or work sucks specifically, I have also come to learn that what we are seeing is a form of jealousy.
To summarize on Haters and Hating:
If someone came up to you and said ‘I respect you’. That is clearly a compliment!
If someone showed you how to be better at what you do. This is also a good, positive thing!
If they came up and said ‘I am jealous of you!’ that would also be a compliment!
So hating on, is really a form of respect, jealousy and sometimes a desire to help you improve! packaged in a way to help them deal with these feelings.
What they are really saying is ‘I love you, I just can’t bring myself to admit it.’
Having someone hate on you is one of the finest compliments you can get, so don’t sweat it if it happens to you. And remember, if you do anything worth doing in life, even the very best of things, you will have haters! (I even had/have haters for going to Haiti and Japan after those disasters to try and help!)
I also know that for every 1 hate email I get, I get 20 that are positive and appreciative and let me know I made a difference. I know many, many of these individuals by name and of course this feels great to know, it keeps me going. If the majority like what I am doing, thats a good sign Im on the right track. Statistically, I also know that the more people I help and influence, the more haters I should have. It just comes with the territory.
Coming back to the Amazon review, there is MUCH truth to what he is saying. My goal is to teach in a very loose, informal manner, yes, as if you were talking with a good friend. It should be fun, easy & impossible to misunderstand. I am a specialist in helping beginners learn their camera very quickly and in a way that is effective, not to impress them with what I can do with a camera myself . That isn’t the goal here. So in a way, he kinda confirms I am doing everything exactly the way I should be. Funny thing is, most people appreciate this style, but I recognize some do not. If I can have a complete beginner sit down, watch the video once, know their camera and take great pictures….that is an amazing accomplishment and I am proud of it.
When it comes to ‘Haters’ I try to follow a few simple rules:
1. Check it for specificity. (If there is something specific, try to improve in that area. If there isn’t, its just a GREAT compliment.)
2. Focus on what you can do & have control over (ultimately nothing else really matters anyway)
2. Focus on positive people, ideas, places & directions. Ignore generalized negativity.If you ever put yourself out there in any kind of big way, there are people who will appreciate you, and there are others who will hate you.
This review on Amazon is a decent example, where the reviewer goes on to call me ‘a non-professional… intermediate level photographer’: Amazon Review on the D600 Crash Course Training Video
I receive hate email on a daily basis, but you know what? I have also come to learn that if someone takes the time to craft an attack towards you, or your credibility, they respect you to a degree. If they truly didn’t care, the response would be apathy and an empty email box.
I’m not saying all criticism is good, much of it (like random name calling) is nonsense, but I have also learned that it is wise to ask myself if there is anything that can be learned from what they are saying? Is this something that no one else is brave enough to bring to my attention?
When I first started making these videos, there was one guy who said ‘these videos are terrible because of the noise’. That triggered me to ask myself, what am I doing wrong with the noise? We investigated it and found some ways to improve our audio quality and some of the microphones were we using. If you listen to my most recent Youtube videos, the audio is much, much better. This was something I wouldn’t have known without the criticism, so yes, it was welcome. Not always easy to humble yourself to the degree to listen to someone who is labeling you as their enemy. The equivalent I see of this is if you are getting ready to go to war against someone, and they are shouting out their battle plan where they think you are weak. This can help you strengthen against future problems if you are willing to humble yourself.
In my mind, valid criticism will have some kind of usable information, suggestion, possible improvement.
Invalid criticism, (aka ‘hating’) typically is more random, includes name calling, personal attacks, non-specific generalizations, etc. It’s essentially just a person saying ‘I hate you’. If they cannot validate why you or work sucks specifically, I have also come to learn that what we are seeing is a form of jealousy.
To summarize on Haters and Hating:
If someone came up to you and said ‘I respect you’. That is clearly a compliment!
If someone showed you how to be better at what you do. This is also a good, positive thing!
If they came up and said ‘I am jealous of you!’ that would also be a compliment!
So hating on, is really a form of respect, jealousy and sometimes a desire to help you improve! packaged in a way to help them deal with these feelings.
What they are really saying is ‘I love you, I just can’t bring myself to admit it.’
Having someone hate on you is one of the finest compliments you can get, so don’t sweat it if it happens to you. And remember, if you do anything worth doing in life, even the very best of things, you will have haters! (I even had/have haters for going to Haiti and Japan after those disasters to try and help!)
I also know that for every 1 hate email I get, I get 20 that are positive and appreciative and let me know I made a difference. I know many, many of these individuals by name and of course this feels great to know, it keeps me going. If the majority like what I am doing, thats a good sign Im on the right track. Statistically, I also know that the more people I help and influence, the more haters I should have. It just comes with the territory.
Coming back to the Amazon review, there is MUCH truth to what he is saying. My goal is to teach in a very loose, informal manner, yes, as if you were talking with a good friend. It should be fun, easy & impossible to misunderstand. I am a specialist in helping beginners learn their camera very quickly and in a way that is effective, not to impress them with what I can do with a camera myself . That isn’t the goal here. So in a way, he kinda confirms I am doing everything exactly the way I should be. Funny thing is, most people appreciate this style, but I recognize some do not. If I can have a complete beginner sit down, watch the video once, know their camera and take great pictures….that is an amazing accomplishment and I am proud of it.
When it comes to ‘Haters’ I try to follow a few simple rules:
1. Check it for specificity. (If there is something specific, try to improve in that area. If there isn’t, its just a GREAT compliment.)
2. Focus on what you can do & have control over (ultimately nothing else really matters anyway)
2. Focus on positive people, ideas, places & directions. Ignore generalized negativity.
If it was not for your crash courses I would not be where i am today with my photography. I have purchases several of your crash courses, I also bought your lolipops. I think this guy just does not understand which side of the camera to look through, A novis will get a lot of knolwlege just by watching and learning your camera backwards and forwards. That is what you praxtice and preach in all your courses. I thank you again for your courses, by the way your 430 and 580 flash course was great.
a non-professional.. intermediate level photographer, WHO GIVES AWAY THOUSANDS OF $ IN PRIZES for a free photo contest.
Let them be.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Interesting thoughts. There is always the ‘sting’ of hateful words or actions, though, which makes most of us want to lash right back!
One thing I have learned in life is you just cannot please everyone. If you let the negative comments dig at you, your quality of life will decrease. If you learn to shut out the haters, and focus on the positive, your quality of life will be higher (and it seems you have a great grip on that Michael). Certainly there is always room to improve in whatever we do, but hateful comments are never ok and for those that leave them, they must not of been taught the golden rule "if you don’t have anything nice to say, than don’t say it at all". At any rate, Michael, I am a fan. As an intermediate photographer, I love how clear and easy to understand your videos are. I have bought 4 of your videos, they are very helpful. It just boils down to you cannot please everyone and if you try you are kidding yourself. Focus on the positive!
I’m a total newbie or begginer as Photographers refer it as. But I own a couple of your Videos. In fact 3 of them and I cant express how much I’ve learned from them in a short time. I just stumbled upon them one day and bought one and then bought a few more after that because of the help I got from the 1st one. Your DVDs are extremley cheap in price for the info you share in them.
. . . and you’ve just given me yet another reason to respect and admire you. You are a wonderful example and influence to so many people, with more than your photography. Thanks for sharing MTM!
I read the amazon review, and you have to admit, his comments about your hair changing were funny. You do a great job though Shiff.
Michael, I have bought 3-4 DVDs from you and I have to say I am thankful for your work. You have helped me tremendously. However, I have to agree with the Amazon reviewer about the way you put your videos together. The part about "compilation of separate videos, edited component style into one title". It was extremely weird for me at first to watch that. Consumers are trained to watch videos with a sense on uniformity in sound and video. There are times when I watch your videos where I think, "wait, did I miss something?" just because the sound changed. But, you know what? I got the information I needed. I’ve come to learn that such is your style. And that’s all I care about. Thanks again for your work. Keep it up!
lmao, this is what I would affectionately call the battle of the talking heads,it’s all giberish that has no inherent meaning at all, lmao
@Abraham- I appreciate the feedback and try to listen were specific suggestions are made. I believe the digital photography crash courses on your video were the original ones. We updated all of them last year with better audio and video quality. I should also note that there are some other things going on that might not make sense; for example, the bulk of my customers have zero experience, so in order to teach them everything they need to know, these short, concise lessons are very much necessary. If someone already knows it, it is a refresher, but if they do not- it is extremely valuable.
well another way to look at it he said it was as if you were talking to your neighbor well in my opinion that right there is a compliment that means its as if you were right there with him being a friend sharing what your learned and hey I would love to have you as my neighbor your awesome !!!! And I don’t know your personally but you have that way about you where you make people feel like they know you as if you are a close friend.
Keep the good working going Michael, I find your informal and relaxed method easy and interesting to follow. I have reviewed many of the learning styles and yours is definitely one of the better techniques.
Well said! I can’t stand " haters". The old saying " if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all" holds true:)