Curing information overload syndrome

Have you heard this one - " Success is not a destination, it's a journey".

Yeah right. I'm convinced that the person who authored this quote was not an online marketer. There is no way that he (or she) could have understood how the journey to build an online empire has become the root cause of a new condition that many budding entrepreneurs are afflicted with called "information overload syndrome". There are massive numbers of "newbies" who have unwittingly contracted this condition. I was one of them and it turns out I'm not alone.

Here's my story. A few months ago, I began my journey to learn how to build a profitable online business. I approached this task with the same excitement, anticipation and zeal that my children did on Christmas mornings when they opened their presents. Of course I want to make "oodles" of money but equally important was the thrill of learning new systems, expanding my way of thinking and capturing a way to reach thousands, even millions of people who need help with marketing strategies and building business credit. The thought of joining the ever growing community of online success stories was intoxicating.

I don't quite remember how I began my search - I think I just googled a word. It wasn't long before I was inundated with online tele-seminars, free e-books, affiliate offers, programs and of course consulting services. I literally felt like I was in a room filled with gifts, wrapped in bright colors and beautiful bows and wouldn't you know it - it was all mine for the taking.

I set out to conquer it all. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I realized that I was getting tangled up and needed to reassess my activities. You see the information just kept coming. Every time I thought I was equipped with the skills to intelligently approach the task ahead, I would receive a new offer informing me that I was missing a vital link. So I kept reading, and downloading and listening to tele-seminars and joining email lists. Gosh, I just wanted to do it the right way.

Now I felt like a child sitting under the Christmas tree, surrounded with wrapping paper and bows - exhilarated but also overwhelmed. That's when reality hit me. It wasn't an intellectual moment, rather it was the appearance of several symptoms that led to the self diagnosis of my syndrome. As Oprah would say, I had an aha experience.
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Do you share in my symptoms?
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1. I found myself consistently spending money upgrading my free programs to "gold versions"

2. After being told by so many gurus that I needed yet more tools, my confidence begin to dwindle. What if I really wasn't ready

3. I was subscribed to so many lists that I didn't have time to read them all - much less implement them

4. I was collecting quite an impressive library of e-books that individually were all very good - but collectively I couldn't seem to develop a cohesive system

   
   

5. I realized that I had it - the paralysis of analysis - I was spending so much time "learning" that I wasn't "doing"
   

I diagnosed myself with "information overload syndrome' and set out to find a quick cure. Amazingly, the answer came just as quickly as the gurus and systems did. I just had to get focused, get organized and get moving.

I found my cure. I chose three successful and reputable teachers and decided that I would commit to following their systems until I was successful. It's not that I don't believe that other systems would lead to my success. But let's face it, we only have so many hours in one day, so we have to choose the tools that are most effective.

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Here's my prescription for healing.

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1. Get focused - Narrow down what you want to accomplish. Do you want to build a large list so that you can create a warm market to sell products to? Do you want to generate additional revenue? If so, do you want to use google adwords, adsense, niche webpages or all of the above.


2. Get organized - Now that you know what you want to accomplish, choose your tools. You can do this by choosing the mentor/teacher, investing in their materials ( use all of the free information first) and dedicating yourself to following ALL of his/ her advice.


3. Get moving - Recognize that you will NEVER stop learning about online marketing. There are new tools, gurus and systems being introduced on the internet everyday. Also, the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo are constantly changing After you've focused, set your goals and chosen your mentors, it's time to follow Nike's advice and "Just Do I"

I heard a quote (on a tele-seminar of course) that said "You don't have to be perfect, you just have to get started". In the next three articles, I'll help you to personalize each of the healing steps by providing simple action plans that will also get you simplify the process of moving forward.

Success may be a journey but we all want to reach a destination point that produces both monetary and personal results. Let's just do it - together.