I’m on Coaching Jungle VIP Pat Sgro’s list, and a few days ago he sent out an email about online trolls.

It was a great one, and it struck a chord with me since I’m often advising my clients on how to handle such folks (who are inevitable once you start gathering a following.)

I often get messages from trolls, like this one that hit my inbox earlier this week:

“First you should hire a real writer for you”

(Ooooh, ouch!)

And this person, who replied to an email that I sent with the subject line “Just the facts, ma’am”:

“Most women don’t like being called ma’am. It sounds like you’re calling them grandma … may want to remove it from your marketing efforts”

(I’m guessing she isn’t a big fan of the TV series “Dragnet”!)

Here’s how I suggest you handle trolls:

Remind yourself that they’re just frustrated and unsuccessful, since successful people don’t have the time to troll others – they’re too busy working on their own stuff.

Taking the time to send a trollish reply (and in some cases, post about that reply on social media), signals that they don’t have much going on in their lives and businesses.

Ben Settle suggests treating trolls as “unpaid interns” and using their replies as content fodder – like I just did here.

If you’re successful then the trolls are inevitable – it’s all a numbers game. But that’s better than being invisible and getting no attention.

If you’re ready to get your name, message, and offers out to a wider audience, and get more business (and some trolls) from that, join me for my live workshop on Tuesday, December 3rd at 2 pm EST.

It’s called “From 10+ Years In The Trenches: A Proven Approach To Growing A Successful Coaching Business” and here’s the link to register for it:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-itrzwuHNIj5LVr1Q1_akBXcQ7R0Rvn