How To Know If Your Online Business Is Successful

The answer to the title of this post seems like an obvious one…if you’re making money hand over first, have legions of followers and boxes full of testimonials and awards, then your online business must be successful, right?

Well, in most cases it probably is.  But there is a better indicator to success.  Actually it’s more of a compass…one that will always let you know if you’re on the right path.

What is it?  Critics.

By critics, I don’t mean 100 people all telling you the same thing is wrong with your product or 50% of your customers requesting refunds…that would indicate something you definitely need to fix.

Rather, I mean people who randomly come out of nowhere and “diss” you, your product or your web site.  Their comments are almost always unprofessional, sometimes rude and often passive-aggressive (“hey great whatever…but you don’t know what you’re talking about”).

I learned the importance of these critics years ago (thankfully).  To me, they simply confirm that I’m on the right path and what I’m doing is successful.  In fact, these days if I don’t attract critics with something I do, I get a little nervous.

But for a lot of people, these critics are serious energy vampires.  After all, you’ve put your heart and soul into something and now some anonymous person is tearing it apart.  You get angry, upset and you want to fire back at them with both barrels.

Don’t do it.  Why?  Well, you have to understand why these critics are showing up in the first place.  And the answer is because you have accomplished something that they have not (or cannot).  That’s just human nature.  No one cares about the young woman struggling with her career, the couple having marital problems or the guy who retired but now wants to go back to work again…unless those people are named Britney Spears, Jon and Kate Gosselin or Brett Favre…then the critics come out in droves.

Clinically, I guess you could say these critics have a need to feel significant or have an unbalanced sense of entitlement.  I don’t dwell on the reasons why too much…I just simply use them as a compass.

Critics equal success.  If you’re not reaching people…if you’re not effecting people…if you’re not achieving something that other’s have not or cannot…then you won’t attract any critics.

So welcome critics.  In some instances you can even learn from them.  But more often than not, they are simply an indicator that you are acheiving success.