I love haters.
They make me feel so good.
It feels so much better being hated than being loved.
You wanna know why? Because I know that I’ve done something right. I’ve done something that I believe in. I’ve done something that makes me proud inside.
You see, when I stick up for myself, the haters will always start saying “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GET OUT! I’M BUSY!” It’s even better when I call them out like I did to one of my professors one time when I said “I know how you are going to write this test. You are going to pull 2 questions from the homework. And then, one of the questions will sound similar to the homework, but with a twist. I KNOW that you are not going to deviate from this book with that question and it will have a similar wording. So tell me, could assist me with these ‘similar to homework’ questions?”
The professor said “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I CAN’T HELP YOU; IT’S NOT MY JOB! I HATE YOU! GET OUT!”
I was like “YEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I’VE CRACKED THE CODE!”
And that’s what happens when you call people out when you know their truth; you get the boos! The boos are GREAT! The boos mean that you are pissing them off and they will begin their ticking time bomb to destruction. In other words, by calling them out, you are now having them CONSTRUCT your future!
In other words, in order to construct, you first must DESTRUCT! And turn on your Dr. Evil game face even though you are really Austin Powers; “YEAH BABY YEAH!” The art of being the bad guy while you are the good guy.
Sometimes in life, people will hate you for whatever reason like jealousy, envy, greed, or they simply don’t have anything better to do.
The thing is how to manage them and that can be quite tricky.
This blog post will show you how to manage those haters that’ll rile up your fans and take down your enemies.
1. Know the enemy’s Weakness
This is my personal favorite because knowledge is the foundation for power and I hope you see it the same way.
When you know the enemy’s weakness, you can set up the stage to play to their weakness, which will make them unsettled and nervous and sometimes catch them off guard.
For example, if I am a boxer and I see from prior fights that you open on your right side without even noticing and many fighters still don’t know that that weakness exists and you keep winning, I will find you open on the right and I will hit you right there. And chances are you’ll get shocked and unsettled for a moment since it’s the first time that it happened (unless you are wise and prepared for that).
In The Art of War by Sun Tzu, which you can buy right here with my affiliate link (which I will receive a commission for that won’t change the price that you pay), one of the strategies that’s heavily emphasized is that of knowing everything about you and the enemy because in that scenario, you’ll know every move in the book and you can literally direct the motions of the war.
If you can find out what that weakness is and you can exploit it, you can get all of the momentum in the fight, negotiation, trial, etc. and most of the time, they’ll choke up in surprise of you. And when they choke up, that’s when you dig in and eat them away like you would eat your Grandma’s Turkey on Thanksgiving Day, or Turquía de Abuelita en Día de SANgiving as we say here in Miami, especially Westchester!
And just another thing, when you come to Miami at around Thanksgiving, NEVER say Thanksgiving, say SANgiving every time you come across a Spanish speaker; you’ll be liked and welcome to their dinner right away!
So with all of this in mind, except for SANgiving (you’re exempt from using it), here what you can do to know your enemy’s weakness.
1. Ask some of your friends colloquially about some things that your enemy (or foe) dislikes like “What would he not want anyone doing?” or “What’s his biggest pet peeve?”
2. Try to expose it in some major encounter where you can use it to get him shocked, mad, and will completely lose his or her focus and you can take him or her out with a punch. You can do this in a courtroom, a debate, or in an interview (with humor, their soft side that lowers their defenses).
Moving onto Number 2 (Numero Dos mis amigos)!
2. Remind Yourself of What Your Audience Wants to Hear
Know who’s the boss!
Remember, even if the customer is wrong, he or she is still right! Always agree with them and always do something that will get them excited!
For instance, the perfect example of this must be our 45th President, Donald J. Trump. Every time that he called someone out for something that made the other candidate literally freeze, his poll numbers would SKYROCKET!
At one point, he’d be only 1 point ahead in the polls, but when someone criticizes him and he calls out the lie, he would go up another 5 points and half the field drops out of the race. And then it happens again, the media gets mad, the candidates get mad and he still executes the same strategy and his poll numbers shoot up AGAIN!
And eventually, well, you know what happened.
Why did this work?
Because The Donald understood his audience more than everyone else.
His audience knows that there was something wrong with the what the mainstream media was saying. And his audience also knew that the politicians were lying and weren’t going to do anything. So essentially his audience was like “We’re freakng tired. Can someone who can actually do something and call these lies out run for president and save our kids, businesses, jobs, etc.?!”
And he knew that desire in his audience and he did what he did to rile them up and vote for him. And that’s how he won the election.
So how could you do the same? How could you be The Donald and understand your audience and use that to network more or generate more leads for your business or just get people to like you?
Well, here it is.
On a sheet of paper, write down who you want to “target.” These targets are those who you want to do business with or form a relationship with. After writing down their names, write down the following question.
“What are they interested in and how can I articulate that I have the same interest as them and how can I use this to provide value to them?”
Maybe you are both interested in the Yankees and you both want them to do well. Figure out how to incorporate it into your conversation like “I see you have a Yankees ring on. Do you think that they’ll make the playoffs?”
And you’ll keep talking and keep talking about it and then somewhere someplace, you will incorporate a joke in there to add humor and to lighten up more and to get them to listen to you.
What joke will you use?
It depends on the person that you are talking to, but let’s say that you are Back to the Future fans.
First ask if he or she is a fan of Back to the Future. Second, ask if they want to hear a joke.
If you both know the scene when Biff Tannen makes fun of George McFly in the diner in the first movie, you could incorporate “Oh McFly your shoe’s untied!” in there to make them like “Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaan, dude that was a clever one man! That’s the highlight of my day!”
And they’ll for sure remember that or your money back!
Now, you will write another question on that sheet of paper. It will go like this:
“What will bring them to peace of mind?”
This question will determine their wants and needs and you can see their problem and what they want OUT of. Your job here is to listen and to take mental notes on what they’re saying and based on that, you will create you sales presentation taping into what makes them excited or brings them to peace of mind and you will arouse them to go with you.
As for objections and closing, that will be done LATER. Don’t worry about that now.
Let’s go to Number 3!
3. Expose the Opposition’s Weakness in an Impactful Way; be Dr. Evil!
And now it’s time for the show! Time to take out your enemy or foe or El Diablo!
When your enemy is performing their weakness strike them with all of your might when you can, like that BIG GIANT LASER that Dr. Evil had on the moon to take out Earth (AHHHHHHHHHHHH IF THAT HAPPENED!). For instance, if you overhear the enemy talking on the phone about some secret details about a plot to embarrass you somehow, report it immediately to an authority and let them act as your troops and your enemy will most certainly be taken out.
Or if it involves them talking about a strategy to win a contest against you, keep your mouth shut and listen to everything that they have to say. That way, when the contest comes, you can take them out when you figure out their plot!
And here’s a great one for you and quite a funny one that you could use at your next family gathering: Let’s say that a family member tells you that your uncle hates salami; he despises it and he will literally bang anyone with a bongo if someone gave him salami.
You find out that your uncle and your aunt are coming to visit you and the rest of your family for some beautiful August weekend by Grandpa’s pool (PLEASE, no more Grandpa; from now on, he’s Abuelo!).
You have been tasked to cook up a nice Saturday lunch to be served when your uncle and aunt arrive for the weekend. You wanna play the great prank on him. You’re going to cook up a Cuban Sandwich, which doesn’t have salami as one of the ingredients and it happens to be your Uncle’s favorite sandwich (well, my uncle is Cuban, I don’t know about yours, but for today, and for the rest of his life, your uncle is now a proud Miami Cuban with the Cubavera and is a pro at Dominos).
You’ll cook up a normal Cuban sandwich for your aunt, but for your uncle, you’ll put in the salami. Don’t forget to put it in the center of the sandwich so he doesn’t know that it’s there!
And when he realizes that he’s having a Cuban Sandwich, he’ll be so excited and he’ll love you!
But when he gets to the salami and he starts feeling “Uh, what the heck is this?,” you will say “Salami, SURPRISE!” He won’t hit you with a bongo, but he’ll love you for messing around with him! Anyways, that’s the art of the SURPRISE for ya!
With an islander/Cuban flair to it!
4. Repeat
And now that you have learned and applied, it is recommended that you repeat all of the actions given here on this blog post today. Cater it to the situation that you are in and understand that the enemy only has images and illusions. Behind which he hides his true motives. If you destroy the image, you will break the enemy.
Read the last 3 sentences again please. And run down those steps!
Your Next Task
So, for your battle plan today to destroy your competition and build your future, here are the steps that it’s recommended that you take and implement.
1. Know your goal. What are you attempting to accomplish? Be honest with yourself. Write it down.
2. What are the obstacles that are in your way? Is it an competitor, a law, etc.? Be honest with yourself and don’t forget to do your research into this! Jot this down on a sheet of paper when you have an answer.
3. How can I find out the weaknesses of my enemies? I suggest asking people close to them without getting them to sese that you are conducting intelligence (or send someone else to do so if you must) or do a Google search of it if possible.
4. What are the eager needs and desires of my audience? How can I expose it and cater to it? How can I use my enemy’s weakness and use it to sell my product and show a proof of value to the audience to get it to purchase from me? A great book to read for this is “Triggers” by Joseph Sugarman to articulate how your product provides value to your audience. I REALLY recommend that you buy it. It is available on Amazon.
5. Go implement it.
Until next time,
This is Chief Islander Evan signing off.
Evan Cruz
Evan Cruz is the founder of Join the Island, the website committed to helping young adults become massively productive and reach their full potential.
He has been featured on Vox, OnlineU, and UpJourney. He has also a cited human relations expert and college expert.
He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering.
Read more about Evan and Join the Island here.