How To Handle Internet Marketing Information Overload
You are overwhelmed with so much information that once you start trying to learn different aspects of Internet Marketing, you become stuck like a deer in headlights. If you move beyond that, you simply consume information without taking any real action or having any real direction.
You’ve now graduated from ‘deer in headlights’ to being stuck in ‘analysis paralysis’ because there is no end to the information. Every click goes down another rabbit hole and it can consume your life if you let it; or you simply give up and say you can’t do it – there is just too much to learn.
This problem exists for just about anything you look up online. There are millions upon millions of pages of information on every possible topic your brain could possibly fathom, and then some.
So the first thing you need to remember is you can’t know it all, nor do you need to. If you are still not comfortable with that notion, think of this: If you insist on reading everything you find, you will never start because the black hole that is the internet will never stop providing you with information.
You get bombarded with differing opinions, reviews, information that contradicts; who do you believe, how can you learn all this? I’ll start with one clear and simple word – focus. I know – hardly the answer you were expecting. Sounds trivial but lets dig deeper.
You suffer from some of the following:
- Email distraction – you’ve signed up for email list after email list for products and reports.
- Not enough time to read all the information.
- Starting down one path; ending up in a completely different area; then losing all train of thought on what you set out to do.
- Telling yourself you ‘get it’ but you just need some ‘more’ information – just a little more.
You can make excuses all you like, but lets be honest, you’re not focused. However, the reality is you can’t be ‘focused’ on Internet Marketing, no one can – it’s too big. You need to pick a specific area and then really focus on only that. Remember – you don’t have to know it all. You can move on to outsourcing (don’t go reading about that now, it will only distract you) but note that thousands of people do it very easily, and you can to. So don’t worry yourself about everything there is to know because you’ll end up knowing very LITTLE about everything.
I started doing just that very same thing. I kept wanting to read more, wanting to find another website. I got hooked by all kinds of sales copy telling me about the ‘secret’ information they were going to provide. Maybe you have found yourself in a similar situation. I wasn’t getting anywhere – no results, no progress. I was simply reading without doing and that wasn’t getting me anywhere.
So stop reading and start doing. You say you don’t know how to do it? I say – so what – learn as you go! When was the last time you read about something and implemented it or did it perfectly? I can bet almost never. We as human beings best learn from doing and learning from our mistakes. It’s just a fact of life that we all have to make some of the same mistakes to really get it. Imagine if someone could just tell you what not to do and you automatically didn’t do it! I for one have had to learn the hard way – by doing, making mistakes, finding solutions, taking the next step.
One example was my foray into Google PPC. I didn’t know much about it. So I read Perry Marshall’s Guide to Google Adwords and dove right in. I didn’t have a product or website to promote. I headed over to ClickBank to find an affiliate product so I could setup a campaign and drive traffic to their sales page.
I didn’t get any sales; I barely got any clicks – it was a total failure. I spent a little money, but it was money well spent because I learned a lot in my little trial run. THAT was worth it! I didn’t have to do it right, I just had to do it. You won’t do everything right the first time, so just get the first time over with; you will get better at it. People may disagree and say you should learn it well. Your goal isn’t to master everything, you can’t possibly do that. But being able to understand it is where your comfort will come from, and the intimidating ‘too much information’ starts to disappear.
I focused on PPC initially, nothing else and I didn’t go beyond reading Perry’s guide. I could have read for weeks and months about PPC but by the time you’re done reading, what you read in the beginning will be outdated and you’ll have to start over again. So FOCUS on learning from one source, get some basics and then just go do it and learn (you may fail but you’ve learned which was the goal). What’s the worst that can happen now - you learn and maybe succeed as well?
So please don’t be discouraged by information overload. You simply need to prioritize and focus. I highly recommend you read a book called The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris . It’s a fantastic book which even though it isn’t about internet marketing, is a great book that talks about how to stream line your life and make more time for yourself. Everyone and anyone complaining that they don’t have enough time should read this book. I highly recommend it as a general read. The relevant section in the book that relates to this post is the part about going on an ‘information diet’.
What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it. – Herbert Simon
Some great tools to help you get focused are mentioned in Tim’s book. One in particular which I think is fantastic is people pay very little attention to where they spend their time on their computer.
RescueTime is a small tool you install on your PC/Mac and it monitors your machine usage. Upload your machine to RescueTime (please first look at their privacy policy and decide for yourself; I personally use it) so their servers can compile all sorts of great reports on exactly where you’re spending your time; reports showing if you are you using your time productively or not so productively based on categories for specific applications. You can control exactly what RescueTime monitors; you can pause it, it’s not meant to be a net nanny. You would be very surprised not only how much time you waste online doing things that are not productive but also distract you from your focus. Give it a try for a couple weeks and see for yourself.
A great source of information on getting started is none other than James Schramko. I highly recommend everything James does and he freely provides information as well as his products. He has gone from a 0 to 7 figures a year business in about 4 years! You can read more about him on his blog Internet Marketing Speed. He has put together a free report on internet marketing tips, for more info go to his blog and download it – The Quick Start Guide To Getting Fast Results In Internet Marketing – 19 pages. I highly recommend you head over, just fill out the free form and you’ll receive his report. Here are some of the topics covered:
- Keep it simple (this is actually quite hard)
- Do one project at a time (focus)
- Daily focus
- Essential skills to master
- Effective business models for online profits
- and many more
So put all this information together and remember to focus and not give up – it will happen.
“I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous,… sickening… work ethic! While the other guy is sleeping,… I’m working!” – Will Smith
So I hope you enjoy reading James’ report and I also hope you take the opportunity to check out ‘The 4 Hour Work Week’.
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