Have you ever had to deal with a troll?  I’m pretty sure we all have.  Unfortunately, that number has risen significantly since the rise of the internet.  I come from the last generation to have lived without the internet and while I love what it does for our business, I really detest having to deal with the amount of idiots that come along with it.  It used to be that you’d deal with them more directly in the form of a bully.  Today, everyone’s a tough guy from behind a computer.  (If you’re a troll reading this, I hope you really take some inventory of who you are as a person and begin to understand why you don’t have what you want in your life.)

Let me tell you about the trolls we get in our business.  We buy real estate in bulk from banks that most people would run away from.  They come with problems, but they also come with great opportunity because of the price at which we’re able to buy them and at the price we sell to our buyers.  We work a lot of our business on Facebook and target ads to areas in which we have properties in order to get the word out to that community that they property is available, so we get a lot of trolls local to these areas.  They may even know the property having seen it around town.  People that have nothing better to do than to scroll Facebook and comment their useless opinion.  Here are some examples:

“That house is a piece of s&%* and should be torn down”

“You guys are scam artists”

“You should be thrown in jail for selling such a piece of crap”

It goes on and on.  Initially, this really used to bother me and get under my skin, but now I really just kind of feel bad for these people.  I feel bad because I realize that they’re doing nothing with their God given potential and they know it.  So, they lash out and attack others that are taking action that they’re too damn scared to take.  It helps them justify who they are or better yet, who they aren’t.  Furthermore, I think that they are missing the opportunity to make their community a better place to live.  Who really likes driving through town seeing empty houses that need work?  Take some pride and share the post and maybe you can help revitalize your own community.  The realist in me says this will never happen, but maybe, just maybe one troll will read this and redeem their ways.  I really do wish I could help these people see that the problem isn’t a property that I’m selling; the problem is them.  The fact is, that people never change; unless they change.

If you’ve ever been a troll, I encourage you to take a good hard look at yourself and ask yourself if it’s the person you want to be.  Do you need to attack someone on their business?  Do you need to have that argument online that Trump is the best or Trump is the worst?  Do you need to belittle someone for the way they do things?  How do those things really serve your life and your purpose?  Do they make you a better person?  Do you really think you’re going to convince someone that your belief is the best?  Here’s the truth; you won’t and you’re wasting your time.  Dedicate your time to being positively productive.  The problem isn’t someone else, the problem is you.  If you get upset reading this, then that’s a good indicator that I’m telling you the truth and you need to make a change.

If you’re not a troll and have been attacked by one of these bozos, the best advice I have is just keep doing what you’re doing.  Having some haters is an indicator that you’re on the right track to doing great things.  Block them, move on and know that you’re seizing the opportunity that they refuse to.

Be great!

Ben