I could have named this post “information overload”, “offer overload”, or “email overload”. No matter. If you have been trying to make sense of the internet marketing puzzle for even only a few weeks, you’ll know what I am talking about.

You are not alone. Any time this topic is mentioned on a forum or in a blog post, it draws a heap of replies from newcomers crying “me too!” and from more experienced marketers confessing “me too and here’s what I do about it”.
I have mentioned it in earlier posts I know, but it’s a topic that cannot be hammered home too hard, nor too often. It’s something that most of us are challenged by constantly.

Here’s the thing: The “make money online” niche is a lucrative pond and you have just become a fish in that pond. What you need is real food and this pond has that, but it also has many glittering distractions. By now, you are probably familiar with terms like “target market”. This target market now includes you. Remember this when you see the next glittering enticement in your inbox. It’s probably fish-bait!

The answer to distraction is Focus. Ask yourself these questions:

• What stage am I at?
• What do I most need to learn?
• Have I got something already that will help me with learning it?

If you are like me, you will already have a clutter of stuff on your hard drive; stuff you’ve never read, stuff you’ve forgotten you have, even stuff you have bought twice (yes, it’s true!)

Identify the next thing you need to learn and concentrate on it. FOCUS. Focus all your attention on it until you have it mastered.

Don’t buy something that covers a different topic no matter how “buy-now-before-it-runs-out/the-price-goes-up/my-super-special-bonus-runs-out” compelling the sales letter is. All you need right now is stuff that will help with the thing you are focused on right now.

I have found that a good way to deal with an offer for something I don’t need yet is to file it in a folder called “thinking about”. I’ll look into that folder about once a week and delete most of them. The thing about these “must-have” products is similar to the thing about the house you miss out on when buying real estate: there’s always another one.

To a rewarding internet journey,

Sue