Are You Suffering From Information Overload
By Terri Seymour
Posted Thursday, August 26, 2004
I have had several emails lately with people asking what to do about Information Overload. They spend all their time downloading fr^ee ebooks, subscribing and then deleting ezines, visiting websites and so on.
Well, let me tell you, I think we all go through that when we first come online. I know I had about 100 ebooks on my desktop along with reports, ecourses, and anything else that was offered for fr^ee. I had also subscribed to just about every ezine I could find and didn't have time to read any of them.
I finally realized that I was never going to read the ebooks, or all the ezines or any of the other freebies I had so carefully saved and foldered on my desktop.
So what I did was come to the point where I got rid of all but one or two of the ebooks, unsubbed from most of the ezines and got rid of all the reports, etc.
What you need to do is focus and get in control by cleaning out the clutter. Concentrate on you and your business and stay focused and in control. You DO NOT need every ebook/program/report that comes down the pike to learn how to build an online business!
1. Go through all the ebooks and just throw them in the recycle bin. You will never be able to read or use all of them. If you happen to find a fr^ee ebook that actually has useful and helpful info, then by all means hang onto it and read it when you can.
2. Next go through all the ezines you are subbed to. Pick out a few that you really enjoy and actually find useful information and resources in.
3. Reports, ecourses, and such are generally nothing but lead-ins for you to buy their product. There are, of course, some good ones out there, but get rid of the sales pitches.
4. Try not to go through every website on the net. Find a few that really are useful and that have a webmaster who actually responds to your questions and earns your trust.
5. Find a few good discussion groups and message boards and learn from others who have been through the same thing. This is a good way to start networking and making new contacts.
Here are a few to get you started:
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomansNetworkingCommunity)
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hbj_chat)
(http://www.ebusinesshelpsite.com/wwwboard/index.htm)
6. Talk to some more experienced online business owners and stick with the ones who actually show an interest in you and your questions and do their best to help you.
7. Don't think you have to order every ebook, ecourse, program, etc from all the self-proclaimed Gurus out there. Most of the "Secret of Success" type products are nothing but a lot of well disguised hype. I have talked to some people who have purchased just about every "make money fast" product out there and have done nothing but "spend money fast".
I have been online for several years and have found that most fr^ee information is really nothing more than a big sales pitch. You will find that the best way to learn online is by doing and learning through your experiences and yes, mistakes.
Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of very helpful and dependable people out there that produce quality ezines, ebooks and programs. I know plenty of them. The trick is to learn to sift through all the "crap" to get to the Gold! And you will. How do I know, you say? I know because I did plenty of sifting and learning through experience and by getting help from some very wonderful folks out there and you will too. ;-)
About the Author
Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com Learn to publish and promote your own ezine. mailto:subscribe@myownezine.com Sign-up for the FR~E MOE Ezine Publishing Ecourse mailto:moe-mini-course@getresponse.com You can contact Terri at mailto:ter02@newnorth.net
