One question that we often get is, “Is it possible to be too negative when we do negative SEO and negative online marketing?”

Our response is: no, it’s not possible to be too negative–so long as you maintain your standards of integrity and honesty.

Let me explain!

You need to hit them where it hurts. Get low, low — we’re a fan of hitting them where it hurts. You need to.

But the challenge is, fighting hard, while still maintaining your own integrity. This is hard because you’ll feel pressure every second, every millisecond, to violate all the rules of integrity to get them.

You shouldn’t do this, for a few reasons.

First, it’s immoral — and we need to be good people ourselves, so we don’t turn out like them.

Second, if you’re immoral — then why should your clients trust you? If you lie to someone else, maybe you would lie to them, too? And, in any relationship-based business, from a job to a girlfriend, trust is paramount and must never be violated.

Third, if you lie about your client, then your claims won’t hold up to scrutiny. For example, if you complain to Yelp about illegal activity he does to get him ejected from the list–well, if he is acting illegally, then, there’s a high chance you’ll succeed in getting him removed! But if you just invented that yourself, then, he will complain, and your claim will fail under scrutiny — and it will all be for nought!

Immoral behavior, in other words, isn’t just inherently bad on its own; but it also has degrading effects on your own psychology, on your relationships with other people, and makes the quality of your work lower (since the client can fight back much more easily against lies than the truth). Is it really worth it? This marketer says a resounding, NO, it’s not, not at all!!

Therefore, today’s lesson: Don’t lie; exaggerate.