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Recently, I came across an article bashing a site that I regularly visit. The site being bashed was JohnChow.com. I read through the article and then I read through some related posts, on other sites, linked to this article that also bashed John Chow. As I looked through the articles I had to laugh. Here are some of the principal issues that people were upset about concerning John Chow. - The cars on his site header
- John talking about the food he eats
- John’s negative reviews when people are paying him for the reviews
- The ‘fact’ that John even does reviews instead of only writing content
- The poor quality of John’s content
- The look of his pictures
- John’s sometimes incorrect English (John’s first language is NOT English people)
- All of the ads on John’s site
- The ‘fact’ that John doesn’t know anything and he is trying to pretend that he does
- The ‘fact’ that John talks about ANYTHING other than making money
- The list goes on and on.
As I read the articles, I realized that a lot of people have missed the point of John’s blog. The point of John’s blog is to make money – period! The fact that he has written a pretty good e-book and the fact that he posts information on his blog to help other people are really extras. The bottom line is that his site is about making money and how HE does it. He isn’t saying it’s the only way. He isn’t saying that it is the best way. He IS saying that this is what he does and this is how it works out for him. Why can’t some of you John Chow bashers understand that? Talking about the food he eats has absolutely no relevance in the life of anyone who reads John’s blog, however, that isn’t the point. Knowing what he eats, and sometimes when he eats, and THAT he eats somehow connects us with him. It makes his readers feel he is human just like them and it makes them feel like they know about the man behind the site. It helps people feel a connection to him and what he has to say. It is psychological people! It’s the same reason that Maki over at DoshDosh posts those beautiful illustrations at the top of every post. It makes you feel like you know a little bit about the life of the person doing the writing. It makes you want to know about their lives and what they are up to and that makes you want to read their blogs. I think that people need to understand that John is SHOWING you how it’s done rather than just TELLING you how it’s done. He is demonstrating a way to blog that will help YOU make money. You don’t have to take everything he says and follow it like it’s gospel, but, if it works roll with it. Smart people know that gaining knowledge is a continual process and if someone is offering their ‘way’ of doing things, and you can see that it actually works, why not take what you can from their experience and apply it where it works for you? Why bash the person for their style instead of appreciating the fact that you CAN learn something from that person? This John Chow bashing reminds me of high school stuff. When you are in high school it doesn’t matter if you are pretty or not, fat or skinny, smart or stupid, happy or sad – people always have SOMETHING to say about you. Your hair could be beautiful and people will talk about your clothes. Your clothes and hair could be great and people will talk about your grades. All of those things could be great and people will talk about your voice. They will always find something negative to say – no matter what.
You don’t have to think that John Chow is great or that he is even smart, but the truth is that he is accomplishing what he set out to do. Take what you can from that and keep it moving. Why even waste your time bashing someone who is accomplishing exactly what he said he was going to accomplish? If he isn’t 100% correct, so what? Who cares? Is he making money online? Is he showing you how you can too? John Chow’s first language isn’t even English! How many of you can say that you are multi-lingual AND that you are good enough to write in another language AND have people actually want to read what you have to say? Who cares if it’s perfect or not? The truth is that a lot of Americans who are native English speakers don’t pronounce things correctly themselves. Who is perfect around here? Let’s remember that we can each have our own style AND exist peacefully with those who don’t have the same style as we do. We don’t have to be just like anyone else to be successful. That’s what the web is all about. Each of us has something to contribute and each of us has something we can learn. Let’s not bash those who try to impart knowledge. Hopefully all of you bashers out there can learn to take the knowledge wherever you can get it and then move on and make money online too.
John isn’t perfect. You and I aren’t either. We should all be very thankful that we don’t have to be perfect to make money. If we had to be perfect, a lot of us would be very, very, very poor!
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