A way to judge success, interestingly enough, could be how many people hate you, or possibly how much spam you’re getting; whether its spam e-mails or spam comments directly from your site. Do you guys believe in this theory? Well, just hear me out, if you don’t.
I’ll start with John Chow, one of the most well-known A-list bloggers in the ‘Make Money Online’ niche. Yes, he has tens of thousands of people reading and following his blog, but then again, it almost feels like he has just as many people hating on him.
Now, why do people hate? Well, in John Chow’s case, there’s a bunch of people who dislike him because he has become successful and he makes tons of money online. To me, that sounds like jealousy and there’s a ton of people like that who loves to hate simply because they can.
I mean, have you ever walked down the street and seen a beautiful woman dressed up in a mini-skirt-type dress and said something on the lines of “Oh my god. Why is she wearing that? What a slut, hoe, high class hooker, etc?” Or maybe you’ve seen a guy with tons of expensive jewelry and make assumptions that they’re a drug dealer or some sort?
Well, if you have, then you’re just adding to their success. I mean, they got your attention, right?
Even people like Maki of Doshdosh.com and Darren of Problogger.net, some of the nicest and friendliest A-listers get hated on. I remember this one time Maki was mentioning he got an anonymous e-mail basically stating his blog is crap, he doesn’t teach anyone anything, it sucks.
Of course, it was anonymous so they didn’t have the guts to reveal who they were.
I think it’s hilarious when people come out with lists like “the most worthless MMO blogs” and things equivalent because the person laughing last as the one getting hated on. They’re probably laughing all the way to the bank…
As far as the spam, I think I have some proof. I have this blog and then I started another MMO blog for an experiment. I’ve been publishing posts on both blogs and at DatMoney, I get, on average, like 20-40 spam comments and a handful of spam e-mails (through my contact form only in reference to this blog) not including the regular ones I get, just like anyone else.
Now, my other MMO blog only gets like 2-3 spam comments and zero spam e-mails. Of course, that blog just isn’t as popular so I wouldn’t expect to get tons of spam.
But if you have lots of people hating on you, then you’re either already successful or you’re well on your way.
I mean, you will always have people who love you but it’s the people who hate on you that tend to show you that you’re making it.
And if you get tons and tons of spam comments and spam e-mails, well, you just need a better spam filter! 
I most certainly agree! I worked on a site for awhile and once I reached a certain point, I would get spammed everyday!
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This is a great post, but seriously I hate John chow is not because he is earning 5 fig income, but the crap he talks in his blog he is suppose to blog about his niche but it seems that sometimes he blog where he go and what he eat, I mean this is an bad example for people who are new to blogging..
Please don’t say this “Well, in John Chow’s case, there’s a bunch of people who dislike him because he has become successful and he makes tons of money online.”
This is a very wrong ideal, in my point of view you don’t know John Chow’s history. Just ask yourself do you really know how he get rich? Seriously, only people who are close to him knows…sorry if I say something you don’t like, but I just want to point out that you should be in other people’s shoes before saying that sentence….
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Talk - Me and you both!
Wong - Thank you for commenting and I understand your point. I’ve also heard a lot of people not liking what he talks about in his blog anymore… you’re probably right, especially since I don’t really go to his blog so you would know more than me, but I’ve had people literally come up to me and say they don’t like him because he makes a 5-figure income each month.
So, it’s hard to say… I’m not in peoples shoes, but there are a lot of people who express themselves freely
Jay
That’s why I told you you should not say that sentence, I mean the phrase, “brunch of people”, you should write “some of the people,” don’t you think is better…just my point of view..no offense anyway..since am still reading through your blog…
Wong Chendongs last blog post..How To Start Making Money Within The Next 24 Hours As An Affiliate
The more popular the blog - the more spam - I would agree.
Now as far as page rank - it has importance, in the sense that Google is more likeley to display the site in a search. What I think is funny, I keep hearing stuff like more and better and fresh content increases yoour page rank. All I know is I have a little squidoo lens that is hardley changed only covers a small area of information, and has a PR5. Go figure.
I will take it - but so far, n theory I know explains this to me.
Barrys last blog post..My Squidoo Lens "Be a Phone Detective" has PR5
Gosh, the image is so distracting I couldn’t keep my eyes on what you wrote. What did you say again?
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Pfft. Why not? Spam accounts for 80% of the comments left on my blog. Thanks to Akismet filtering some legit comments as well with all the spam, I don’t have to worry about it.
I see your up to comment 4000ish, congrats!
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Yep, I agree too! the more popular = the more visitors = the more spam! :p
I get once in a month or two an email which is sent from my (spambot free) contact form and has been filled with info like this:
name: zacedfs
email: zawff@google.com
url: zswafgdf.com
message:
xxdfrgrg
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