In this conversational segment, the hosts discuss how small‑business owners can master public relations by controlling their narrative and handling criticism with grace. They cite Taylor Swift’s high‑profile feud with Kanye West as a case study: Swift addressed the conflict directly through her song “Look What You Made Me Do” and used it to reinvent her image, turning a challenge into an opportunity. The speakers then shift to the digital realm, emphasizing the importance of promptly and professionally responding to negative Google reviews, turning complaints into trust‑building moments. To illustrate human tendencies that can undermine effective PR, they employ a rubbernecking metaphor—describing how people instinctively stare at accidents (or crises) and urging listeners to stay self‑aware, avoid getting stuck on negative events, and keep moving forward.
Next one, mastering public relations and media. Control your narrative and handle public relations with grace. So after a very public feud with Kanye West, Taylor managed her image by addressing the issue directly through her music, Look What You Made Me Do, and reinventing herself. Then this approach allowed her to control the narrative and turn a challenge into an opportunity. I guess that's really important for business owners too, especially small business owners. Then you get Google reviews and I love it when I see owners of businesses address the complaints that people put up onto platforms like Google.
That's a great point, Amy. What we have to realize It's human nature to rubberneck, to stare at the train wreck, and also at the same time complain that other people do it. So next time you're on a highway and traffic stopped and everyone's looking at the car accident, watch your own behavior. At least I'll talk to my own. I was like, why is everyone slowing down? It's just a car accident. We hope everyone's okay. Move forward. Why are they rubbernecking? And then as the accident comes by, here goes my eyes. I'm like, oh my God.
There goes your neck. Oh my God, that wheel.
Yeah, we accuse others of what we do. So when it comes to the PR, defending or accusing others is inevitably, I think, one of the worst things we can do because it aggravates a problem. Someone says, Mike, your business sucks. I'm like, well, you suck. You know, I don't suck, you suck. I also know from this rubbernecking that whatever is said ill of me is that is gonna get the most attention. So when I have— Profit First has like, I think, 8,000 or 9,000 reviews online. So say it has 8,000 reviews. Yeah. You go to it, you're not gonna read 8,000 reviews. You're not gonna look at the car speeding by, you're gonna look at the one that crashed. So I know you're gonna go to the 1-star and what you're What they're doing there is people are not saying that 1-star is accurate. They're saying, how is Mike managing this? Is he ignoring it? And sometimes it's appropriate to ignore it. Other times, is he responding defensively? Well, now that gives me the icks. Or they respond professionally. You ever go to a restaurant where it has like, you know, has 75-star reviews and, and 1 1-star review? I, I read the 1-star, right? You know, horrible service, nasty staff, they, they spit in my food. And then I see the owner's response saying, we did have you here on such and such day, we tried to move you to a new space, as you may recall, but you were unwilling to move to this other table because you demanded to sit at the table in the entryway where it's most noisy. You did have a member in your party that was coughing, and they coughed on your food, and you returned the food because they coughed on it. Now you start kind of bullet-pointing what actually happened, and it's like, wow, this place is truthful and integral, and they got a Lulu in their hand. And that 1-star now flips to becoming actually your real 5-star. Exactly.
