At this point, the Gene Simmons controversy sparked by his comment about hip-hop music not belonging in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is old news, but one I want to touch on—given the number of my followers who reached out to make sure I saw it because of my relationship with Gene.
If you’re not familiar with what he said about hip-hop that caused the ruckus, here it is: “It’s not my music. I don’t come from the ghetto. It doesn’t speak my language. I said in print many times—hip-hop does not belong in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, nor does opera [or] symphony orchestras.”
At this point, Gene is rich enough to not worry about being cancelled (and I really don’t believe he’s racist), but there are a LOT of people who would NEVER voice their true opinion about certain topics like this for fear of the career-ending backlash that can happen.
Whatever YOU think about his comments, know this: YOUR opinions, no matter what they are, are every bit as offensive to a whole lot of people as well. No matter what you believe in, people can (and will) get angry for just about any opinion you hold. If you let that scare you into timidity, altering your speech, opinions, and marketing, you’re making a big mistake. Let me unpack this for you…
Occasionally, I’ll get a nastygram from someone about my blog and social media posts, typically sent by an anonymous troll or someone who is NOT a client, scolding me for something I wrote or said. The least creative ones just sling insults and tell me to “do better.” But some are more thoughtful and ask why someone like me, who clearly is motivated to get more clients and is a marketing “guru,” would take a chance of offending a current or potential client by posting, sharing, or discussing “contentious” matters.
There are several reasons for this.
First and foremost, my CORE audience agrees with and appreciates my thoughts regarding current events. As a marketing “guru,” I am absolutely not trying to appeal to everyone. That’s a fool’s errand and one that nobody can achieve—so the purpose of what I write is to draw my IDEAL clients toward me and continue to earn their readership, not to tiptoe around the fragile emotions of everyone else.
Second, my thoughts and opinions are what MAKE me who I am and color my advice. I have strong opinions about money, fairness, work ethic, selling, influence, business, and capitalism. If you were considering hiring me as a marketing or business advisor, you SHOULD know my stance on these matters before engaging.
I never want to promote myself in a way that would hide my true personality and opinions, just like I never hide my flaws and warts or cover up mistakes. To the contrary, I pretty much tell all about myself, past and present, good and bad, smart and dumb, and hope people learn from my confessions of stupidity as well as my obvious successes. Throughout my career, I’ve told honest stories about how I manage people, money, and situations—and my audience appreciates the candor about screwups.
I put myself out there openly, so potential clients know what they’re getting into, vs. hiding my beliefs and values, only to have them discover we’re completely mismatched AFTER the check has cleared. That’s annoying, unproductive, and frustrating for BOTH parties—so why not bring it to the forefront?
And finally, controversy SELLS.
This post won’t get much traction because it’s a lesson. The posts that get the MOST engagement are either personal (like the recent post about me and my daughter Emily) OR the ones that have a strong opinion about a topic such as the Mike Rowe “corporate bullies” post from January.
Why do you think there are no more neutral news stations that simply report on current events? ALL of them are now filled with made-for-TV personalities and salacious opinion shows that continually make crazy, outlandish statements and take highly controversial stances, just to keep their audience engaged and garner eyeballs. The competition for attention is just too vast and prolific, so they must design their content to make one side or the other “clutch their pearls” in outrage.
If they are mild, middle-of-the-road journalists and news anchors who just report the news, they’re dead. For them, controversy is oxygen.
The key to using controversy correctly is to make sure you KNOW YOUR CORE AUDIENCE and never offend THEM. Slinging insults to just make people mad is dumb. Taking strategic, highly sophisticated stances that align with your desired clientele is very, very smart.
