5 Step Solution to Information Overload
I received an email this week and this is one of the comments they made:
“No one person or place has all the answers. So you find the “experts” to get your info. Then one contradicts the other on certain info and so you look somewhere else. Which adds to the ADD I’ve already suffering from. It’s a vicious cycle. Who do you trust?”
If you’re looking for ANYONE (and I do mean anyone including me) to give you all the answers, you’re already coming at it from the wrong angle. “Experts” are of course going to give different info and even contradict one another because they are each unique individuals. They have developed systems which work for them and their online business.
What works for one may not work for another. For example, I tested a video landing page that autoplayed. It worked great for me. A client I have in a professional market tested autoplaying on his video and it decreased his response. Do autoplay videos increase conversion or hurt conversion? You have to test it (test results so far indicate the more likely your customer is in an office or public environment the less likely autoplay will work for them).
I’ve said many times that I failed my way to success online. I found everything that didn’t work…and simply stumbled upon the best parts to keep using.
The ONLY way to get “all the answers” is to test in your market. Even then I’ve been doing this for more than 13 years and I don’t have all the answers. I don’t know anyone who does. I do know though if you try to combine 5 different systems from 5 different gurus you’ll simply end up with a MESS.
That’s kind of like pulling 5 recipes out of your cookbook and trying to mix them all together. Please don’t invite me over for dinner the day you try that.
My advice is to subscribe to a dozen people’s lists.
1. Now unsubscribe from anyone who only sends you ads and never provides any free content.
2. Look for more “honest” results. Now unsubscribe from everyone who is constantly telling you how easy it is to become a millionaire online.
We’ve now probably eliminated 7 or 8 of the lists you were on. For your final steps:
3. Look for people where you identify with their teaching style. You understand them and what they’re saying.
4. Find a model you want to commit time and effort to. If you’re not willing to honestly WORK hard for the next 3 to 6 months on this system, don’t waste your time.
5. Now focus and do it. Turn off all the other noise (I always tell clients not to buy anything you won’t use within the next week).
Now you have an option of what to pick and go after. I don’t know a single successful person who buys “everything” out there all the time and tries to listen to a multitude of sources. I can almost hear the objection now, “But if I only go after one system for the next 3 months, I’m not learning everything.”
No one said you had to learn everything. This isn’t college. There isn’t a professor about to give you an “F” next week. You have to simply learn a system you can follow!
Here’s something I’ve never really heard anyone talk about. After coaching many clients, I’ve found many clients THRIVE once they find the right connection for them. What do I mean when I say this?
I’m not going to name any names but let me give you a few “general examples” from actual clients. I had a client who produced several digital information products. No matter what we did in promotion they would just do OK. They never “thrived” in this business model even though it is one of my favorite models. The moment they decided to “consult” with others about the basics of their internet business (such as getting autoresponders and websites up), they immediately thrived. They hit their grove.
I’ve seen another client who had this with joint ventures. When doing joint ventures and recruiting affiliates, they did well. They made money. But it’s only when they drill in and focus on Adwords that they do extremely well (it fits their personality). Because they know they can make money with jvs they often waste their time here if I don’t watch them and keep them on track.
A third client claimed he was “burned out” even though his business was making more money than ever before. Knowing his situation I knew the real answer was he was getting bored because everything just worked smoothly. He needed a new challenge so we added a couple of things he has never done before to his schedule.
What works for one person is not a guaranteed fix for everyone else. That’s why I often publish “list” posts. When I publish a list of 21 Ways to Add More Subscribers, should you run out and do all of them next week? NO. You simply should pick and choose the right ones that fit you and your business.
If you tried to put all the strategies in place, you’d go insane. Or you’d simply run around in circles like the mouse trying to get the cheese.
I could call this post the “The Beginner’s Hamster Wheel” if I wanted Because that is what it is often like for beginners online. They chase expert #1 for a while, buy a bunch of products, and then move on to guru #2.
Let’s make this clear. You shouldn’t be looking to experts to give you ALL the answers. They simply point the path to take.
That’s all I can really do for you through an information product. I point out the path and then I warn about some of the dangerous I faced. “Look out for that alligator in the pond!”
That’s what I do in my products. If you’re looking for a good serious of blueprints for starting your online business, I’d recommend checking out The Truthprints which are available here…
Will they give you ALL the answers? Nope. Some answers in YOUR NICHE will only be found by testing. My product simply points the way and gives you a good foundation for getting there. Will you run into problems? Probably. Murphy’s Law is alive and well in technology.
When I buy a map, I don’t always expect everything to go smoothly on the way to my end location. On our way down to Florida we had a flat tire…and several other problems. Construction held us up for hours. It wasn’t the map’s fault. But we EVENTUALLY got to the destination. It’s the same with your business. There will be problems. There will be issues. And things won’t always go as planned.
Just keep moving and testing till you reach your destination. Get OFF the hamster wheel though of buying all the new product launches. You won’t get anywhere by going in circles!
Related Entries:- 3 Steps to Becoming a Guru
- Free Teleconference Series
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- Great Blog Posts from Around the Net
- Selling Is Simply Knowing the Right Questions to Ask
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13 Responses to “5 Step Solution to Information Overload”
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Hi Terry,
Very “cut to the chase” post. This was my problem real bad for awhile and once I hit rock bottom, I realized that there wasn’t anything else to know and that my real problem was not taking action on what I learned.
It isn’t until you can clear away the noise, that you can actually here yourself think and once you can do that, you can begin to take action.
Now things are starting to get interesting and there is cash flow.
Thanks for your help,
Nando
Terry –
When one is a newcomer to internet marketing it seems that there is so much to learn that it’s tempting to listen to everyone. And I admit it took me several months to figure out whose advice I trusted and wanted to listen to.
Now I have only a very few email/newsletter subscriptions, often in different areas, and whose advice I act on. Of course, you are right up there at the top of the list.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
http://www.twitter.com/ZimblerMiller
This right here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth…
Dr. Eli Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints says that goal setting gives you a decision procedure with which to decide on your priorities and your biggest constraint.
This post really is about first things first. If you don’t “fight the good fight” in deciding your values, your strengths, weaknesses and deepest interests, it’s all too easy to flit about from one coach to another, one system to another, or even one business to another.
Thanks Terry.
Gogo
http://www.StrategicmarketingWebsites.com
Terry -
I confess that I’ve been an info junkie for most of my life. However, I’m very action oriented. It’s not a contradiction to be both, but I do know too many people who feel they need to learn “just a bit more” before they act. Some of that stems from a generational thing, I’m discovering. People in their 20’s and 30’s behave much differently than people in their 50’s and 60’s. That testing mode that is so necessary in online endeavors isn’t as well understood or embraced by the older generations who learned that you business plan, consider all the “what if” scenarios and move forward only after you’ve fully prepared! What was necessary in the past to fully prepare for success is death in today’s world. The most successful people I know are simply going for it and adjusting as they go. Such behavior would have been foolish in pre-Internet days. Old habits die hard sometimes. Just my observation about paralysis by analysis…
You and Jimmy Brown are two of my favorite “experts.” I like you both and find you both honorable in how you approach your business. I’ve also trusted both of you with my money (investments I’ve made in your products) in the past. I suspect I’ll do so in the future, too.
LK
Brandwashed…
You might wonder why I asked you to tell me your favorite brands a couple weeks ago. The reason I did this was to prove a point: brands are powerful.
In a world of information overload, brands are even more important. They give us a decision shortcut ….
Some great advice in this one … don’t buy anything you won’t use within a week.
You don’t need to know everything … just what works for you.
If you only took those two pieces of advice and followed them you would be well ahead of the game.
Thumbs up! I have since unsubscribed from many so-called gurus. What they are sending are just offers and promotions for other gurus. No substance at all. Now that I have clean up my mail box, I find myself more efficient.:)
Terry,
Great message. What you have said are very true and I totally agreed with you. It took me a long time to understand that online biz required effort too, not simply set a website and expect to make alot of money after that. What works for others may not necessarily works for an individual because we are all different individual.
I’m very selective which guru to follow and model now, and for those experts who sent out emails to thier lists that only sells and with no content, I have unsubscribed from thier mailing list. It helps me to stay focus on what I am doing to building my own biz.
Excellent post! I could not agree more with your very practical tips on how to weed through the millions of lists that we all eventually end up subscribed to. Weeding your lists down to those that really add value to what you are trying to accomplish will help you reach your success point much faster.
Another consideration is to evaluate the most effective way you take in information. Some people are fantastic about reading their email, while others get really overwhelmed and end up reading (and more importantly acting on) none. If you find that you are not that great about keeping up with your email reading, you might be surprised to learn different methods might be more successful for you. For example, I have unsubscribed to most blogs coming to my email because I found that having the feeds go to a sorted RSS (and more recently to my Twitter stream) was a much more effective method for me to read the content. I can skim the highlights quickly to determine if I want to read everything and if I do, I go to the link. In fact, that is how I got this posting today.
To your success!
Stephanie
I kinda did the elimination process you described, and you are still on my list as a valuable teacher. I find that there is a lot to learn from you.
Hopefully my Hamster wheel will come a full circle soon. The learning process is actually dragging on in my case as I don’t have too much time to devote to it online.
Terry
I have followed you for many many years even before the netbreakthrough days and watched you grow into a huge success story, I am one of those that tried everything that came my way and totally understand the confusion and information overload that can be experienced through this medium.
It is important that if you have a need to find a mentor or, I hate using this term “guru” that you evenually focus on somebody that you can trust and who provides information in a way that is easily understood and easy to apply.
This is exactlly what I find in you, the information you provide “Free” is second to none let alone that info contained in your products.
Your comments in this post are so typical of the down to earth information that you supply. I have tried them all (well maybe not all but over 8-9 years I have seen many so called “guru’s” come and go) and you have always provided excellent advice and products.
The comments in this post are so profound and to the point, operating a business on the internet is not so easy, the start up stage which is the critical time where so many can go wrong, particullarly if you are new or not yet savvy to the way things work, trying to gather too much information to set up the “perfect business” and fail because of confusion or finding it hard to put “all” of the information together.
If only they realised there is this little treasure chest of information called Terry Dean providing most of what they need.
You have been an inspiration over many years, keep up the good work.
Thank you.
John McDonnell
Melbourne, Australia
I like the structure and plan like steps you have put in place, I think these are good for anyone to listen to and take note from there are so many different ways in which to tackle the same issue but with your steps I think they are a great starting ground. I have only really just started out in making money on the internet
I’m glad I had the chance to read this article. Truly, focus is most important factor to success! Effort plus knowledge must go together. Finally, knows what topics or ways that will surely works for you.