Every creator knows what this is like: you proudly share something that you poured your heart and soul into, but you’re soon faced with negative comments. Your spirit is crushed and you start questioning your work - or even your decision to become a creator.

Negative comments and feedback can be disheartening. I remember when I first received criticism for one of my YouTube videos: my motivation sank and I wanted to ignore comments altogether. But after deeper reflection, I realised that there was some value in those comments.

Here's the thing: feedback, both positive and negative, is what we need to keep growing. It broadens our perspective, allows us to fix our mistakes, and helps us to create our best work. But you have to do it right.

Here are 5 ways to use constructive feedback to your advantage without feeling crushed:

🧱 Distinguish Between Constructive Criticism and Trolling
Not all comments are created equal. Constructive criticism offers valuable insights, while trolling and hateful comments leave you with nothing but bad feelings. Learn to discern between the two. Helpful feedback is often specific, provides suggestions or alternatives, and genuinely aims to help you improve. Trolling, on the other hand, lacks substance and usually aims to provoke a response. Focus your attention on constructive comments and let the trolls fade into insignificance.

🧠 Develop a Growth Mindset
When you have a fixed mindset, it means you believe you’re either naturally good at something or you’re not. This means you’ll often look at negative feedback as an attack. That’s why a growth mindset is so crucial: you treat feedback as an opportunity to better your craft, rather than as a final verdict.

⏰ Take Time to Process
When faced with feedback, especially negative comments, take a step back before responding. Emotions can run high and it's easy to react impulsively. Instead, take time to process the feedback and detach yourself emotionally. Evaluate the feedback objectively and separate it from your personal worth as a creator. This will allow you to respond thoughtfully and engage with your audience in a way that helps you to grow.

🪡 Look for Patterns
When multiple people provide similar feedback, pay attention. By identifying recurring themes and patterns, you can gain valuable insights into what resonates with your audience and what you need to refine. This can help you to prioritise and strategise.

💬 Engage With Your Audience
Instead of thinking about your audience as being one-sided, where you create and they leave you with comments, think about it as a community. Instead of avoiding feedback, ask for it. And when you do receive feedback, ask for more details, respond with gratitude, and follow up with your commenter when you’ve acted on their advice. This is a great way to spark conversation, understand your audience, and build together.

The creative process is challenging, even at the best of times. Throw in some negative comments and it’s easy to be deterred. But if you want to keep playing the creator game, consider your audience as team mates. They’re helping you to become a better creator.

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How to build in public with Kevon Cheung

“Building in public” is one of those overused terms in the creator economy: you read about it, but you don’t think twice about its meaning.

I finally learned how to do it the right way when I spoke to Kevon Cheung, a creator with almost 20k followers on Twitter. He’s a big believer in using feedback to your advantage and this approach helped him earn $12,000 last month.

What’s the best feedback you’ve received from your audience?

Stay passionate,

Akta