How to Monetize haters

Ever created anything or said something you stand for? Of course you have. Chances are that there were people grumbling at you or about what you did/said.

In person this is rude and we all grow thick skin over the years to bear the bleating of haters. But in business it can be a huge problem.

Making haters into evangelists is on of the best uses of social media to date, but I want to talk about a beautiful way Jason Calacanis recently monetized the hate aimed at him.

For those who don’t know, Jason Calacanis is a serial entrepreneur with some great successes currently developing Mahalo.com and the ThisWeekIn podcast network (not to be confused with the TWiT.tv pod casting network run by Leo Laporte). Being successful and especially in a public space means you will attract haters in the hundreds or worse.

Tired of the haters Jason put on a special podcast featuring all hater guests. That’s right, anyone with any complaints again Jason were invited to speak against with him about whatever it was they didn’t approve of.

This is brilliant. The podcast earns its revenue from ads and lo and behold the haters were filling the podcast with compelling content, not just for loyal listeners who’d chuckle at the event but for even more haters who’d love a go at Jason.

Short and simple, Jason was making his haters earn him money by hating him and looking all the more noble and right for doing it.

Jason, I don’t agree with everything you say but my god; that was one brilliant move!

Watch the episode here for a great example of how to monetize your haters.

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