Issue 119: Info Overload
By Paul Evans
http://www.nicheologyprofitletter.com
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-don’t forget http://www.budurl.com/jenniferandpaul
Last night was a football banquet for the team my youngest, Steven, played on. One of the cool things was a highlight video. One of the uncool things was the projector and sound not working well.
Coach looked over at my oldest, “Sam can you come up here and get this working right?”
Sam moved to the front.
“Parents,” coach said, “This boy knows more about computers and technology than anyone in this school – including the teachers. You’re going to want to hire him one day.”
Well, I recognized my cue, so I yelled, “Don’t wait! Hire him now!!!!”
… Moving on to the “serious” portion of the program …
Information overload.
I hear it all the time. People complaining about information overload (IO). There’s just too much to take in and too much to consider.
Here’s the secret to controlling IO…
Selectiveness.
Become biased with what you give your mind and your time to. Instead of believing every email or thinking every new product is the answer – become discerning. Give your time and attention only to the things that will help you grow your business.
Answer these 3 questions before investing time and money…
01 : How will this specifically impact my business or life?
If you cannot state that succinctly in under 10 seconds you don’t need to place your time and attention there. When you’re bored and have plenty of time and money on your hands it’s OK to chase vapor. But until then stay focused. Know specifically how the information will help or avoid it.
02 : What will I DO?
Write down how you WILL take action on the information. Again, be specific. Set a time and date for the implementation. Then get it done.
There’s way too much dreaming going on in internet marketing and not enough action – not enough working.
Sure, there’s a lot of piddling. A lot of half-done projects. But how much completion is taking place?
When you read or learn something that will be helpful stop and do it. Do not consume more information until you have taken action with what you already know how to do.
03 : Am I fairly certain of profitability?
In another article I wrote about the 3 primary focuses of online business – traffic, list and offers – not much really exists outside of that. And if you’re buying stuff or investing attention in things not directly related to those three things then chances are it will not make you more profitable.
Put your time and focus on things that are already proven to make people money. Don’t chase the trend or wind of income. Stay centered on the fundamentals and the things proven to work time and again.
Success is NOT an Accident,
Paul
http://nicheology.com/secretpassage
Great post Paul and good comment Alex! The key is to focus on at least one biz model and get it going, then you can “diversify” and look at other biz models and income streams.
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Thanks Paul. You are so right. This is something I suffer from but of late I have started narrowing down the information I focus on. I must focus if I am going to make it in Internet Marketing, so I have to choose a Mentor or Coach and go from there. Hope I can afford a good one as I have been burned before.
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This is right on track for me. There have been a huge number of launches over the past few weeks, and my inbox has been hit hard by everybody and their mother promoting everything! I found myself very tempted to “just take a peek” at what they were offering, but recently I joined up for Simple Six Figures and have decided that this is where all my focus will be until I see it through to the end. So thank you for your endless wise advice!
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Paul
Great insight. I think anyone who’s been building a business for more then one day has experienced some form of information overload. It’s critical to select a mentor and follow the advice. Not just the information that you like. This way you figure out if the information and training actually works or not. Avoid going from person to person. It will work if you work it and you can’t work it if your are scattered and unstructured.
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Paul,
Once again you have taken a super stressful issue and provided concrete, actionable steps for dealing with it. Priceless advice for dealing with the constant IO that clouds my ability to make decisions and act on them. Thanks for sharing this great, 3-step formula!
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Paul,
I have taken back control of emails.
Now I stopped opening email in the morning during my most productive energy time. Then during the afternoon
only open my top mentor/friends.
Thanks for the great tips as always.
Gail
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Sound advice coming at the right time; will print this page and tape it to my computer’s tower
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01::How will posting this message specifically impact my business life?
It will because I recognize and support those who are adding value to building my business. Paul is one of them!
02::What will I do?
I need to write down that I will write down what I will do! I keep forgetting to WRITE IT DOWN!
03::Am I fairly certain of profitability by writing this post?
No, I am not certain, but again, giving is always better than receiving.
Thanks for the encouragement Paul!
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Right on Paul!!
I started to come out of my Information Overload when I realised that there are lots of different Business Models and that I only had to get one of them working!
So then I asked myself – is this email/eBook/etc about MY business model? If not then I happily ignore it.
All The Best
Alex
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