"Sticks and stones can break my bones..."

"...but words can never hurt me."

What happens when you get a bad review for a product you've posted on TeachersPayTeachers?  Some of us appreciate the comment, fix it (if we can) and move on.  Some of us get hurt, fix it, and hold on to a fear of failure.  And some of us post the bad review in teacher groups on Facebook with indignation, hoping to be vindicated.  I mean, so I hear....

It's easy to put down the person who left negative criticism, and that impulse is sometimes justifiable.  Yes, people purchase our products without reading all the fine print or even without looking at the preview.  And yes, there are people out there whose reviews make no sense at all. 

But I'm struck by the absence of a growth mindset around some of our reactions.  There are things to learn from these comments, too.  Does someone want a product that's editable?  Maybe it's not possible to do that for the exact product in question, but you might need to consider that for the future.  Did someone find mistakes in your product?  Fix them and learn to proofread your work more carefully.  Does someone wish your product provided something it doesn't?  If it's a valuable suggestion, tuck it away for another time. 

In our world of four-star ratings, it's easy to feel like one bad review could tank your sales.  Good news: things are never as bleak as you feel they are.  If anything, it makes the next buyer look a little more carefully at your product, and maybe leave a stronger review.

Even basketball great Michael Jordan was once quoted as saying, "I've failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."  Remember that our mistakes are proof of the actions we've taken to get this far.  Bad reviews and mistakes are the battle scars that come with being entrepreneurs so wear them proudly, and use them as source material to improve.  You're doing what a lot of other teachers aren't - chasing the dream of providing good quality, professional materials to teachers around the globe, making their already challenging jobs a little easier.