Every podcaster dreads it: that brutal one-star review, the public comment that rips your hard work to shreds. But what if your harshest critic is actually your greatest growth tool?

In this episode of Podcasting Insights with The Podmaster, I'm sharing the real story of how a vocal hater went from blasting my radio morning show to becoming one of my biggest advocates, even booking me for private gigs.

You’ll learn how I made that happen, and how you can use the same methods for your podcast and any critics you get along the way.

Also, I'll share the four ways critics can sharpen your podcast, and the simple rules that stop you from losing your mind when trolls strike.

If you’ve ever felt crushed by negative feedback, this episode will change how you see it forever.

Don’t fear your haters.

Love them, learn from them, and watch how fast your podcast grows.

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Every single podcaster, you, me, and all your friends, we all have the same nightmare. It's not that the mic is gonna break or that we'll get zero downloads.

It's that one star review, that public comment that absolutely tears our hearts out of our chests, rips our shows to shreds. Well, let me tell you about my version of that nightmare that came true.

It was.

It was before I was doing all this full time. I was still on the radio, and a listener made it her mission to tell the world that I was bloody awful.

And learning how to deal with that, how to deal with her, taught me the single most important lesson about building a loyal podcast audience today that I've ever learned. And I'm now gonna share it with you in this episode. Podcasting Insight.

Hi, and welcome to Podcasting Insights, the weekly PO podcast about growing your podcast and getting the best possible results from it. I'm Neil Velio, the podmaster, and it's my job to get you closer to pod mastery.

So that intro probably sounded a little bit dramatic, a bit mad, right? Your worst critic being your greatest asset. Are you joking? Velio? Let's be clear.

When I say enemies, I'm not talking about getting into proper nasty beef with people online. Life is too short for that.

And trust me, as someone that used to make a living being a radio shock jock and upsetting people on purpose for spondulix, I can tell you this now. It's unfulfilling and it's just exhausting. We're not trying to be Piers Morgan here.

No, when I say enemies, I'm actually talking about the people who provide friction, the energy, the accountability. So let's talk about the few different types of people that tick those category boxes, shall we? First of all, you got the skeptics.

These are the people in your comments saying, I'm not sure about that.

Actually, you've got the critics, the ones who leave that two star review saying, well, your audio's a bit tinny, or I just don't agree with you on point X. You got the haters. These are the Karens of the world who, for whatever reason, just don't like your vibe at first.

And then you've even got the friendly rivals. These are usually other podcasts and other podcasters within your niche who keep you on your toes.

I have several of these as podcasters, podcasting experts, and I love them dearly, even if they quite possibly hate me. Why? We're going to get into that. Okay, so the TLDR of all this Is apathy is the biggest poison for a podcast or a brand.

I would take one person who's properly pissed off, over a hundred who just don't care either way, because at least the properly pissed off person is listening. Let me give you a bit of a case study based on an actual experience that I had in my career in the broadcasting industry.

I worked in radio for more than 25 years. FM, AM, National, Regional, I did it all. And during my entire career, of course, I got the occasional critic.

Back in the 90s, they used to write letters with badly drawn scroll telling you how much they hated you and what you stood for.

But off the back of a voiceover job that I did for radio brand, I was sort of enticed back into doing some freelance show covering for a station called Jack FM in Oxford.

Now, I'm not going to go into the details of how the radio industry works and certainly not how individual brands work within the radio industry, but basically, Jack FM was kind of like a franchise.

In other words, underperforming radio stations could buy the license to the Jack FM name, do away with the need for branding and for intros and jingles and all that sort of stuff, and could just focus on playing their music policies. There was usually only one presenter and that was the breakfast show. So staffing these stations was really easy.

A local legend, a guy called Robert, who had been on the previous radio station, 210fm, they put him on breakfast. That didn't work. So they wanted to go for something truly different. And that's where they decided to take on the Jack FM franchise.

I am tasked with the job of following a bunch of underperforming legacy shows on this previous radio station and relaunch it as a new station with a brand new crazy breakfast show course. I was up for the challenge and let me tell you this now, absolutely nailed it.

Built market share, grew the audience and put this radio station on the map at a time when it had essentially been an also rank that no one ever listened to. But before we get to the success of this, we need to roll back to how this all started.

Because I'd been brought on board to launch this breakfast show, I did what I always do when I got a new radio station morning show. I started to build the hype. And among those things that I did was go on social media and start tweeting, start Facebooking.

And despite the fact this radio station had been underperforming, there were still some really hardcore fans who loved the radio station when it was reading 107. They really gelled with it. They loved the presenters and they felt like it was their radio station.

So you can imagine how they felt when they started researching the new guy who'd been announced to do the breakfast show with this shock jockery background, all the zany bits he'd been doing in the past and the slightly what to some abrasive nature of the material I was broadcasting, they weren't happy. Their nice little safe radio station was in jeopardy and it was going to be taken over by this absolute maverick who seemed like an absolute Burke.

So they took to social media to essentially broadcast through their own medium, social media, to tell everybody that would listen how bad this news was. Did I take it personally? No. And here's why. I understood something which I'm now going to tell you.

The reason people are negative about anything ever is because they want to feel heard when it comes to their own personal fears. Now, I don't know what it was about that radio station that that made these people feel safe.

Perhaps the familiarity, perhaps the safety, perhaps the predictability. The previous presenters hadn't exactly been different or exciting.

They were pretty much the same sort of presenters that you would find anywhere you tuned the dial. And here was I coming in with something a bit different, a bit unpredictable. So they took to social media to express their fear around this.

All it needed me to do was understand what the fear was, and that's exactly what I did.

Rather than getting upset and defensive and blocking these people, which is what most people tend to do when they get online criticism, I actually started to tweet these people directly under my own accounts. They'd been tweeting the radio station previously with, oh, we don't want this. Can you fire these people? No.

I directly from my own account, reached out to these people and I said to them things like, can I ask what it is that you're worried about with my appointment? Can you tell me why you loved the previous radio station so much and why the idea of this new radio station fills you with so much dread?

Do you know what happened? They started to tell me their reasons, and in most cases, I didn't get an angry, oh, well, you're a shock jocker. We don't want that here.

We're used to our Safe Robert show. No, what they started to tell me was things like, I'm sure you're really nice, but we just don't know what to expect from you.

What do you think I did with those responses? Do you think I just marked that down as, oh, well, thanks for your feedback? Noted.

No, I took it one step further, and this is what I'm inviting you to do with your critics on social media, on podcasting apps that are leaving bad reviews. Speak to them through your podcast and ask them questions like, what is it you hate about the podcast?

What would you do differently if you were the host? Is there something I could do that would get you to give me a second chance? I did that with this particular listener.

I can tell you a name just so we can get rid of that oh, it didn't happen thing. This was a lady called Catherine Wilkins. Catherine was a longtime listener to Reading 107, and her and her entire family used to listen.

So she was one of the most vocal people on social media about how much she did not look forward to me starting my show. I did the thing of reaching out to her and saying, okay, I get that you're unhappy about this.

Is there anything that I can do to assure you that we really are looking after this radio station? We want you to keep listening, and we want to give you what you want.

She literally gave me a list of the things that she was wanting from her radio station.

And funnily enough, once I was able to point out to her that actually she wasn't getting those things from the radio station anyway, as in nice music that she can absolutely guarantee she'll like to hear, presenters that will keep the local community updated with everything they need to know. The previous radio station certainly wasn't doing that. And some fun and entertainment that all the family can listen to.

Once I pointed out to her that that was exactly what we were planning to do with Jack's Morning Glory. Yeah, it was going to be a bit edgy at times, but certainly nothing that you wouldn't want your kids to listen to in the backseat of the car.

Absolutely. Playing the line. That's what I did my entire career. I knew how to push to the line but never cross over it.

Never got any off confines, never suffered the radio Authority's wrath. I was professional, believe it or not. She backed down.

She turned around and she said, okay, I might give you a chance, then I might listen Monday morning, lol. But I wasn't satisfied with that. I didn't want a second chance. I wanted an advocate.

So I asked her, after the first morning show, when you've listened, can I call you up on the air to get your review of the show on day two? And she agreed. And guess what? She became a regular caller.

Not only did she become a regular caller on the show, she became a regular visitor to the radio station events. And she became a regular fan who always advocated for the radio station and the show. Online, in public, wherever.

And would it surprise you to know that she booked me for two private gigs DJing her daughter's biggest events? So there you go. There's a nice story from my old job, but what's the takeaway for you and your podcast right now? It's this. Embrace your critics.

Loving your critics and hugging your haters does four crucial things for you. First, it keeps you sharp. A good critic stops you from getting lazy. If they say your audio's crap, they might be right.

Have a listen and then work harder on it. If they challenge your ideas, build stronger arguments. It's free quality control. Second, it helps you build your tribe.

When you have a strong opinion, some people will disagree with it. Good, because the people who do agree with you will feel a much stronger connection.

It creates that us, the critics on the outside, they just make the bond inside that circle even stronger. Third, it gives you some amazing content. Addressing a criticism of your show is compelling as hell. It's authentic.

It shows you're not Trying to mask your faults. It shows that you're listening to people and you're not afraid of them. You're in a dialogue with your audience, not just shouting into a void.

It's the difference between that person on LinkedIn who deletes all the negative comments they get and the other one who responds to them all with humanity and understanding and empathy. Fourthly, it makes you human. Nobody trusts someone who only gets perfect praise.

Seeing you handle a bit of crap with grace or a sense of humor actually makes you far more relatable and trustworthy. I do this with every single piece of content I make, whether that's on YouTube, whether that's a podcast, whether it's LinkedIn posts.

If people come at me, I deal with it with a sense of humor. I don't immediately block them and hate them. I mean, sure, some people I block, but overall, I'm looking to learn.

And the only way you can learn is from understanding. There are different viewpoints. So here's how to handle your hater without losing your mind. It's not a free for all.

You can't just wade into every argument. Here are my ground rules. Rule number one, the troll test.

Is this a genuine criticism or just some bored a hole in his mum's basement trying to get a rise out of you? Learn to feel out that difference. Trolls get the block button. Critics get your attention. Rule number two, the 24 hour rule.

If a comment gets under your skin, don't address it. Not for 24 hours. Go for a walk, have a beer, whatever it takes. Never reply when you're seeing red.

If you get the comment on Monday and your episode's due on Tuesday, don't address it yet. Wait until next Tuesday. Rule 3. Kill em with kindness. I call this the Catherine Method.

It is the most disarming tactic available in your content arsenal. Go with things like, well, thanks for listening. That's a really interesting point. I'll give that some thought.

Appreciate you taking the time to write that. It means a lot. That's classy. And it often shuts them up anyway.

They feel heard, they feel like you're a decent human, and they feel like they've built a connection with you, weirdly. And before long, they'll probably start to like you. Rule number 4. Find the kernel of truth in their words. Even in a rant.

There might be one tiny valid little point. Be humble enough to look for that. So there you have it. Don't be afraid of the critics, the skeptics or the haters.

They're not a sign that you're failing. They're a sign that you're making an impact. The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference.

And indifference is the only thing that can actually kill your podcast. My challenge to you is this. Next time you get a less than glowing review, don't just ignore it.

If it's a comment on social media about your podcast, don't delete it. Look at it, Try to suss out the energy behind it. And if you fancy it, send me a screenshot. I'd love to see it and advise you on what's contained.

Okay, time for another email. This is from Sophie in Manchester, and we, of course, are using AI to give her voice for the purposes of this bit.

Hi Neil, just wanted to say thanks for the recent episode how to Handle Podcasting Summer Slumps. I really needed that. Here are a few thoughts and a question. I like how you dispelled the idea that downloads have to drop over summer.

That myth weighs heavily on us all.

The three moves that you proposed, especially that one about re engaging old listeners rather than always chasing new ones, felt really practical, actually. Your no bloat, no drama approach helps, and I walk away with something I can do, not just something to stress about. But here's what I'm stuck on.

You mentioned revising past content to rope people back in, but I'm not sure how to do that without it feeling redundant. Do you just reshare old episodes or do you adapt them, I.e. bonus clips, fresh intros, etc. Thanks for doing what you do.

These episodes help people like me more than you probably realize, and I'm happy to support and share your show whenever.

Well, thanks so much for your feedback, Sophie. Yeah, no, it is absolutely about making sure you're connecting with the right audience, not any audience.

So you say that you're not sure how to revisit past content without it feeling redundant. I think you're doing the thing that most people do here, which is you're assuming every single listener has heard every single episode of your show.

And I can tell you that right now that's not the case. It would be amazing if it was. We'd all be a lot more successful than we are.

So what I'm saying is, if you talked about a really hot topic from a year ago, even if things haven't moved on that much, it's worth revisiting it because you've now got a year's worth of extra insight on top of what you published before that you can throw into a new version of that episode. You don't need to do the same script, you don't need to do the same insights. You can do it from the new perspective if you like.

A perfect example of this is AI.

Obviously AI has changed a lot in the last few years, but the innovation that's happened in the past year is probably treble what it was since it first came about. So there's plenty of opportunity there for new subtopics to emerge from that.

You can reshare the old episode that you did from a year ago if you want to keep things really simple. But of course then you got to think about the value add. Are you giving your listeners what they deserve?

So is it worth taking what you did before as a benchmark and shifting it on so you're definitely satisfying all the search engines, all the listener needs with your brand new content on a similar thing? I hope that helps things make a little bit more sense for you. What do you think of the episode? Am I talking absolute crap? Go on. I dare you.

Head over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify and leave me a review. 1 star if you dare. I'm just gonna love you more. Even if you hate it. I can take it. And your comment might just be the topic for a future episode.

Share this with anyone you think might need a little bit of help getting closer to Pod Mastery. Follow the show in whichever app you're listening to. This now, if you haven't already Podcasting Insight.