This post was guest blogged by Alan Johnson, who is hosting a $1,000 contest at The Rating Blog.
On a slightly different note compared to my previous guest post, “What Bloggers Can Learn From Donald Trump”, let’s see what Mr. Trump has done wrong and where you shouldn’t follow his example as a blogger.
1 - His Hairstyle
What on Earth does his haircut have to do with blogging? Let’s analyze it for a moment, shall we? What does his hairstyle tell you?
First of all, as any person with common sense will admit, it’s just doesn’t look right. If the same thing applies to your blog’s design then you are doing something wrong. Did his hairstyle keep him from being successful? Of course not, but it hasn’t helped either (he really could have done without this “branding” aspect). Sure, people can tell you that a lot of successful bloggers have started out with a bad design, but that doesn’t make it a good approach and, rest assured, if they were to start over again, they would invest in a decent design as well (let’s face it, a lot of talented designers are working for more than affordable rates these days, so that anyone can afford to have a blog designed in good taste).
Ok, so bloggers should not treat their design like Donald Trump treats his haircut, they should treat this aspect with the attention it deserves. But aside from being just plain awful, what other message does it communicate?
His comb-over also tells us that he is trying to hide the fact that he is balding, he is trying to hide the fact that he isn’t perfect, the fact that he is only human. Never make that mistake as a blogger. No, you are not perfect and trying to give the impression that you could never do anything wrong simply makes you look foolish, always admit that even you can make mistakes.
2 - The Martha Stewart Drama
Donald Trump blamed Martha Stewart for the decline of his series, due to the fact that Apprentice 4 was airing the very next day after Martha’s version of The Apprentice. He believed that it was the main reason for his decline and that was simply not a fair approach, since problems have started even before Martha Stewart’s version made its appearance.
Never make this mistake as a blogger, never blame others for your failures. All entrepreneurs fail at some point, there is nothing wrong with that, as failure is an important part of success, as long as, unlike Mr. Trump, you admit your mistakes and learn from them.
3 - His Razzie Award
He has received the Razzie Award for “worst supporting actor” as a result of his minor appearance in “Ghosts Can’t Do It” (1990). While it’s not something which has done that much damage, he most likely regrets the decision of associating his image with that movie at this point.
The lesson? Be careful what kind of projects you associate your image with. Sure, as a blogger, every project of yours automatically receives an important jumpstart, but launching flop after flop will gradually ruin everything for you. Also, be selective when promoting a product as an affiliate. Always ask yourself if it provides value to your visitors since, if it doesn’t, even with the commissions you will be earning, such an approach will do far more harm than good in the long run.
As strange as it may have sounded initially, Donald Trump’s haircut, the Martha Stewart incident and his Razzie Award actually relate to blogging. Even billionaires can make mistakes, don’t follow their examples in such cases and learn from their experience instead.
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(11 votes, average: 2.82 out of 5)
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Haha why do you have to go hating on the man’s hair?!
I like Trump. Anyone that bashes Rosie O’Donnell by calling her a slob, a has-been, over weight and a ‘total mess’ on national television is okay in my books.
I’d have to agree with you on that one. Rosie is a piece of work for sure.
Because, he has no hair style
One thing you have to have in business is self-confidence and anyone who can wear their hair like Donald Trump has it.
He doesn’t need a hairstyle, he has trumpstyle, we should all be so lucky
It confused me at first lol, thought this post was posted twice.
Then I saw the n’t
I think you should have quit while you were on top…ie. with your previous post.
Pretty weak in comparison.
I think they could have been condensed and tacked on to the bottom of the last post for humor or something.
I wouldn’t say that his haircut has anything to do with hiding things. He goes on national TV shows with it, on the cover of books, etc. He could easily afford to give himself fake hair or whatever else, but he doesn’t.
Though it is true you don’t want to associate yourself with a bad project, the Razzie Award is virtually meaningless to who he is as a person!
Watch out. He’s going to be pretty angry when he reads this post.
Trump’s hair is almost what makes him the icon he is! Forget all the wealth and money… LOL!!!
I like Trump but I hated Apprentice… I didn’t like the way people were hired and fired like they meant nothing. Come to think of it, I don’t like any of these “so-called” reality shows, they project an image of people so wanting to be somebody but themselves. Isn’t living this life real enough? I recall that John did a post sometime back about “Second Life”… again, a waste of time. I apologize if I sound like a boring person… I am ‘not’.
I just wish they did a show about how much we can help others rather than how much we can destroy them.
Lol, well I guess his hairstyle brought him so much success, lol.
haha, the hair do is something that should be avoided most.
Trump is a pimp and I dont mean that in a good way. Another white man who gets to go around on television and exhibit his pedophile tendencies for all to see. In Canada, Stephen Harper the Prime Minister is actually trying to protect guys like this, and like Christopher Neil when he passes a law to raise the age of consent to 16. Everyone knows the laws, the way they were, were more then adequate if only it had been enforced, but Stephen Harper is on the one hand, trying to cover up the whole issue of white pedophiles preying on children in the Native Residential Schools, while on the other hand, passing a law to raise the age of consent in order to protect people like Christopher Neil.
well, instead of the usual ” i have to disagree on point one because blah blah blah ….., I would just ask one question
Do you think that the whole ‘EVIL’ image thing that john did has hurt his popularity where he could have been ‘GOOD’ and been more famous
Let’s look at it this way: John’s “evil” image is something which separates him from the crowd and, if he were to start over, he would most likely choose to go down the same road.
On the other hand, John has started out with quite a simple blog design and here is where we can make the comparison: just as Donald Trump’s hair didn’t keep him from being successful, neither did John’s initial blog design. But if he were to start over, John would most likely invest in a custom design right from the start and, the same way, I’m sure that Donald Trump would prefer it if he were to not have hair problems.
All in all:
John’s “evil” brand and Donald Trump’s “you’re fired” brand - something which has helped make both of them famous, something they wouldn’t change if they were to start over again.
John’s first blog design and Donald Trump’s hair on the other hand - something which didn’t keep them from becoming successful, yet still aspects where serious improvements were in order.
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
Good reply Alan, nicely explained.
Yes, cheers to your great explanation alan!
lol… nice post …. i dont know why u r against trump but actually nice tips given in the end…. good job john
Ok John, I have to know.. What alerting service do you use to find the posts or links back to so quickly? I just posted that 20 minutes ago and you’ve already read it.
Even Donald Trump has his flaws and let’s face it: as an entrepreneur, one should learn from what successful people did well (yesterday’s guest post) as well as from their mistakes (today’s article). Thank you for your comments and be sure to drop by and enter the contest as well
Wishing you the best of luck,
Alan Johnson
Any good things we can pick up from fellow Mr Trump?
Of course, be sure to check out my previous guest post, I’ve mentioned it at the beginning of the article
Good advice from unusual point of view! Who thought you could relate blogging to his awful hair! Came out of nowhere for me.
…But in a sense, I think his hair is a Pro as well, he’s creating a buzz with it and like they say, any publicity is good publicity (as long as it’s not incriminating, but even still…
). I think it also makes him more
Glad you’ve found it useful and as far as his hair is concerned…let’s just say that he would most likely give up a more than decent percentage of his net worth in order to make his balding problem a thing of the past
hey man, the hair style does not have any relation with how well a man is. I just don’t agree with this post. Since when this blog posting about bad-things on others?
Be sure to read my reply to Ankur’s comment, I’m sure you will understand what I was referring to
Alan Johnson
Hahaha, I hate his hairstyle anyway!! but not his money
Moin
http://www.anewmorning.com
He did it on purpose, I guess. Trump’s hair was and is still a great topic for many. I had a good laugh reading that point…
Thanks for this post.
Interesting idea to take the two sides back to back like that. Well done Alan.
Thanks Ben, it’s great to see others appreciating your work. After I’ve written the first article and after seeing that johnchow dot com readers have found it useful, it was clear that another one was in order
Alan Johnson
Here’s a short one: Trump is rich.
lame
bonoriau going to saloon today ….
This is great article that goes to show the power of controvercy and sensationalism…Go own bash the icon…We all wanna read about the hot gossip!