Controversy


Controversy sells. The media has known this secret for ages, and use it to boost ratings and profits, at every opportunity.

As marketers, if we're smart, we can also use controversy to boost profits as well.

Need prooof about the power of controversy?

Look no further than yours truly, Dale King.

I think it's safe to say, I'm easily the most controversial person here at this forum.

Whenever I have...ahem...a controversial moment, the pageviews of my controversial thread skyrocket, as well as the pageviews of my other threads.

I also notice a spike in traffic at my website.

It's amazing. People are supposedly angered and repulsed at my reaction to criticism, yet they keep tuning in to my threads to see what outrageous thing I'm going to say or do next.

Andy Catsimanes even jokingly suggested that I created controversy on purpose. Do I?

The answer is an unequivocal NO! I don't purposely set out to orchestrate controversy.

No one in their right mind likes having unnecessarily cruel, ugly, nasty, personal things said about them.

Having said that, I don't shy away from controversy either.

A couple of weeks ago, I apologized to the forum for my reaction to a few posts.

I realize now, that apology was a mistake.

Because while I was courageous enough to apologize, not one single person stepped up and apologized to me for the very nasty and personal things they said about me. Not one.

Also, I was basically apologizing for being me. No one should ever have to apologize for being who they are.

I'm hot-tempered. I'm opinionated. I'm arrogant. I'm a contrarian. I'm egotistical. I'm blunt. I'm defiant. I'm volatile. I'm dysfunctional.

In a word, I'm flawed. I'm far from perfect, just like everyone else.

But I'm also generous to a fault. I donate my time generously to this and other forums, and I will help anyone I can, at anytime.

Fortunately, Michel and the other moderators allow me to be me. They allow me to say what's on my mind, just like they allow you to say what's on your mind.

They rarely intervene. They basically let us police ourselves.

They're wise enough to know, sometimes people say things in the heat of the moment...things they don't necessarily mean.

It's called being human.

You may not agree with or like some of the things I say, or my reaction to certain things.

Well, guess what? I don't agree with or like your reaction to me sometimes either.

Yes, it's okay to disagree. But a few of you have made this very, very personal. I don't have to name names. You know who you are.

Just go back and re-read some of the things you said. They were unnecessarily harsh, cruel and personal. Some would even call it piling on.

There's nothing like kicking somebody when they're down, right?

Even Michel noticed the cruelty of some of your posts. This is an excerpt taken from his blog regarding the "Michel Fortin's Success Secret" thread:

"Some people became outright pissed off at Dale’s reluctance in revealing "the secret" and posted harsh comments as a result."

Of course, I don't expect you to apologize. It takes guts and honesty to do that.

But it's all good because, I haven't lost a wink of sleep worried about your comments. I'm going to continue to be me. Regardless of who doesn't like it.

So feel free to continue to hammer away, if it makes you feel better about yourself.

I've moved on past this weekend's controversy.

Will I have another controversial moment? Probably.

But I can guarantee you one thing, I won't be making anymore apologies!

Dale King