Welcome to the 1-Star Club: How to Deal with Haters on Apple Podcasts

Life is all fun and games when people are five-starring your podcast all over the place. But what happens when someone one-stars your show or leaves you a bad review in Apple Podcasts?

Well, it feels bad, of course. But we can transform that negative energy from random haters into something that benefits us.

Subscribe to Podcasting Step by Step for free to hear how I embraced the one-star review and used it to benefit my listeners and me.

Life’s too short to worry about how we can appease the haters. Focus on the people who already love you and you’ll soon forget about those sad souls who have nothing better to do than sit at home dishing out negative ratings and reviews. What a depressing life. Photo by Nik.

I will never forget my first one-star review. 

My other podcast, Postcard Academy, had received a lot of positive ratings and reviews, and so I was merrily coasting along, happy with all the positive feedback. 

Then I started Podcasting Step by Step, and was 1-starred almost immediately.  Not only that, the rater-hater then went over to my other podcast and gave me my first one-star there, as well. 

I knew I’d eventually get one-starred; that’s the price of putting yourself out there. So my initial reaction was, “That sucks, but moving on…” But I had a hunch that this would weigh on my mind later, and I was right. 

Later that day, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why doesn’t this person like me? What did I do wrong? Do they not like my voice? Is this a competitor out to get me? Is my work really worth one-star? Should I just quit now and stop sharing my content with people?” 

These thoughts sucked my energy and attention for the day. And the thing is, I knew what I should feel. I should shake off that person’s rating and say to myself, “Bless and release. That person can go search for the content they do want. I’m not going to chase them and try to win them over. My work is not for them. My energy is not for them. I am here to serve the people who need me and want to hear from me.” 

But I still felt bad and couldn’t help having a brief pity party for myself. “Why do they dislike me so much that they’d give me a one-star rating? I don’t want to do this anymore.” I indulged in these feelings, giving myself the afternoon to feel bad, with the understanding that I would then have to shake it off.

So how did I pull myself out of ‘poor me’ and get back into the swing of things? 

Talk out your feelings

I talked to people who would understand the sting I felt.

Years ago, I didn’t talk about things that upset me. I’m generally an easy going person and I like to maintain that feeling. I like to keep the peace. And I guess I didn’t like sharing embarrassing or uncomfortable stories.

But now when something bothers me, I talk it out and it always makes me feel better. And so I talked to several podcasting friends about feeling bummed out about the bad rating. And this is a potentially embarrassing situation, admitting that someone dislikes something you did so much that they’d take action to let you know. 

But I felt a weight off my shoulders talking to my friends. So, commiserate with your fellow creators, who wear their negative ratings and reviews as badges of honor that they’ve made it.

Know that any show worth its salt will attract haters

When you stand for something, there are people who will react against you. I would rather stand for something positive in this world than let an anonymous stranger dictate what I say and how I feel. This isn’t always easy.

Even though I knew I wouldn’t let haters silence me, once in awhile, I would think about that negative rating, and it would irritate me all over again. But my conversation with Libsyn’s Rob Walch, who I interviewed a few episodes ago, really shifted my mindset:

“If you do not have a one-star review on your podcast, you don't have an audience. You have not done anything. You haven't pushed a boundary. You’ve not done something good. Because you have to do something to get an emotion out of somebody that they're willing to go and put a one-star review. If your show is just milquetoast and people aren't even willing to put a one-star review, it’s not going to grow.”

I knew that what Rob was saying was true before I spoke to him, but something in the way he said it actually made me feel this was true.

This conversation was a great reminder to me of who I want to be talking to on my podcasts. What is the conversation I want to have with you and the world? It made me want to niche down even deeper, to be even more clear about who I want to serve, who I want to interview, and who i want to build relationships with. 

Now, I truly don’t worry about one-star ratings. Do I wish they weren’t there, yeah. I’ve spoken before about how I think ratings and reviews are too easily gamed and distorted and part of me wishes they would go away, despite my love of reading listener reviews. 

Go all-in on your true fans

Since my conversation with Rob, I now look at one-stars more as a curiosity than an annoyance. What kind of person goes out of their way to one-star a podcast? 

And that is all the brainpower I will give the haters. My mind doesn’t try to fill in the blanks of why they don’t like me, because I don’t really care. The benefit of the one-star review is that it reminds us of who we are really showing up for and want to connect with. A bad rating and review refocuses us on our core message and purpose. 

I did an exercise in 2019 to get clear on what my mission, vision, and values are. For background, in case you don’t know, I’m an American living in the U.K. for no reason other than I love it here. I first moved abroad on my own at age 18, also in England, where I spent a summer scrubbing bathtubs and serving breakfast at a hotel in the Lake District. I later moved to Italy and became an Italian citizen, and I’ve spent the majority of my adult years living abroad and traveling. I want to help others explore the world more and experience this kind of life if that is what they want to do. 

My mission 

Help people feel deep in their bones that ‘someday’ has arrived and give them the tools they need to take action on their dreams today. 

Help fellow world wanderers share their message, connect to their community, and build their brand and business through the magic of podcasting.

Build confidence in people and help them find their voice through podcasting.

I want to double down on this. To be even more specific about who I want to serve and to repel all the one-star givers who don’t share my values. I embrace those one-star ratings as reminders that I will show up 110% for those who want to learn and grow and create something positive in this world, and I won’t waste any time trying to appease the haters and naysayers who want company in their misery. Life is too short.

Ask, ‘Is it true?’

It might take you awhile to get comfortable with the idea that there will be people who don’t like you and/or your work. This is normal. And while most of us will never completely give 0 Fs about what other people think, we can get better at letting irrelevant opinions go. 

If someone leaves you a negative rating or review, ask yourself if what they said is true. Maybe there is a smidge of truth, some feedback we can learn from. We should encourage listeners to send us useful feedback via email, survey, or however you prefer. But we shouldn’t pay any attention to irrelevant comments, like, “I don’t like her accent.” “I don’t like this person’s politics.” “I don’t like podcasts about this topic.” “My podcast on this topic is sooo much better.”

My hater did not leave a review, so I couldn’t question what they said. But the one-star review did make me wonder for a moment: “Am I putting out bad work?” Then I asked myself, “Is this true?” And the answer is no. 

I might not be perfect, but I’m definitely producing a show that’s worth more than one-star (and so are you since you’re following a podcast about podcasting and making the effort to improve your show). So my one-star ratings aren’t about the quality of my show. They’re about my message, and if someone doesn’t like it, then, “Goodbye!”

Now I truly feel ‘bless and release.’ That hater is free to go somewhere else to find what they’re looking for. I’m not trying to win them over. My work is not for them. My energy is not for them. I’m showing up for you.

Spread the love

In addition to asking yourself ‘is this true?’ if someone writes something negative about you, go and write something positive for someone else. Writing positive reviews for shows you enjoy will really help you feel better. Doing anything nice for someone else will make you feel better. 

I mentioned my mission earlier, and that I’ve also written down values to guide my life and the choices I make, including how I show up in life and what I share on my podcast. 

My top value is something I say every morning when I wake up, “You will never have this day again. Make it matter.” 

If you were told you had one week left on this Earth, and you could spend it however you wanted, what would you do? I certainly hope you wouldn’t spend it thinking about a one-star rating or review. More likely you would spend that time doing something you love with people you care about. And that is how we should spend most of our days.  

Life is too short to wallow in the low places and to let negative people rob us of our time and attention and energy. 

To sum all of this up 

When people hate on us, of course we’re going to be upset, and it’s OK to wallow a little. But stay in that place too long and we start to make up stories in our minds about why strangers don’t like us. Those stories aren’t true and they won’t make us feel better. Sharing our feelings will. Reminding ourselves who we are and what we stand for will. Reading positive reviews or emails or other messages people send us will. And reminding ourselves that our days are numbered, and choosing to live our best lives in the little time we have left will. 

If you have been one-starred, welcome to the club. Embrace it. Your show actually means something. Focus on the fans you already have and new ones will follow.

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