Why Info Products cause ‘stuckedness’ and how to get unstucked
Hi, My name is ‘insert your name here’ and I’m an Info product addict
We’ve all done it. Bought great info products – ebooks, audios, pdfs, ecourses etc – that are highly recommended and guaranteed to change our lives and send business through the roof.
We all have our favourite teachers, and if they recommend something as being great then we have to get it, right? Because it will help us grow our business, right? So we buy more products. And more. And we keep on buying. And downloading and saving them to the hard drive.
You know that folder(s) on your hard drive that’s full of ebooks, video’s, downloads, pdf’s etc that you haven’t looked at since the day you bought them? How do you feel when you look at that folder? Guilty? Upset? Overwhelmed? Waste of money?
Yeah, all of those feelings, right? Let me tell you a secret – you’re not alone. Really. Many, many people have a stash of info products and have never looked at them. I’m not going to tell you how much I’ve paid over the years for courses that I’ve never started, let alone finished. And hopefully my hubby won’t ask either…. I used to be as guilty as anyone else on this one.
There ain’t no magic bullet
People buy information products in the hope that ‘this one’ will be the magic bullet that rockets them to instant stardom, money and orders pouring in, clients on waiting lists, kudos on the ‘net. And it doesn’t happen.
No product is going to do this for your business. None. Not any. Because all those info products, they’re just tools. You have to use them, and use them in the right way.
So why buy information products?
Because they’re useful and will really help you grow your business. If you use them properly. The problem is that people often don’t use them properly, if at all. They download them, save them, and plan to get to them soon. Unfortunately ‘soon’ never arrives, the novelty fades and the lonely product sits there unused.
So you get stuck into them and start reading
Learning is good, yes? The more you learn the better you’ll be at running your business, yes? Sorry, but the answer to that is often a no.
Too much information is nearly as bad as no information. When you do decide to get stuck in and work through the courses and ebooks you end up with a head full of ideas and no place to start.
Information overload is very real and paralysing. When you’ve got a head full of ideas all bouncing around, and more information being packed in on top, it’s like being in a room crammed full of people all talking at the top of their voices.
Step outside with me
It’s time to get out of the room.
Turn off the noise.
Focus on just one thing.
Realise there is no magic bullet.
The answer to information overload is…
Taking action.
Give your mind a break – chances are that you’ve already read enough ebooks and know what you need to know. See, we get so caught up in ‘learning’ that we stop ‘doing’. We think we have to do things perfectly, and know everything about it, before we can start.
It’s true that we do need to have a certain level of knowledge in order to run a business. It becomes a problem when we think that we have to know everything in order to run a business.
Focus on one thing and put it into action
So here you are – you’ve got a stack of info products, all useful, all highly recommended, and I’ve just told you to stop reading them. Here’s what you need to do to break out of the information overload and get your head right.
Firstly do a brain dump. Every idea, every thought about your business, get it out of your head. Write down the ideas. Paper or on the computer, doesn’t matter. Mind map if it helps. Just get them out of your head. Then save it somewhere so you can find it later.
Back to the information products.
Pick one. Just one. And work through it – do all the exercises or worksheets as you go. Apply every technique in it to your business. Set aside an hour a day to do this. It’s not a race, take your time.
When you’re finished with the first info product, take a break for a couple of days. Then pick another one and work through it the same way. Every exercise, every technique. Rinse and repeat.
Still don’t know where to start?
If you really can’t pick just one info product or you don’t know what you’re trying to do, I recommend starting with our Quick’n’Dirty Business Plan ebook.
Writing out a business plan will give clarity and direction – and from there you’ll have a better idea of what you need to do for your business.
Leave a comment and tell me what you decide to work on and how you’re going, ok?
Melinda is the founder of SuperWAHM.com and started this site to share her best work from home ideas to help other Work At Home Mums become more financially independent and able to spend time with their families.
@ Josh, lovely to see you here and thank you for the lovely compliments! Great point you made, and a great way to keep motivated. 🙂
@ Melissa, I often print them out and put them in a ring binder. Easy to file, not so easy to throw in a bag to read while I’m out.
@ Marc, isn’t it funny how we did this stuff in school, and then we forget how it applies to adult life? Maybe that divide between what we learned then and how we work now isn’t as wide as we thought….
Melinda,
I really like your blog and the acronym, keep it up! As a fellow e-book addict as well as part of the problem (I have created 10 and counting) I find that the best way to get the most out of an information product is to take the one tip that really stikes your fancy and act on it immediately.
Then, if you get a positive result, you will want to keep working on the other tips in that same book. Once you finish with one product, move on to the next instead of trying to play with all of your toys at the same time.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
.-= Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last blog ..Critical Marketing Tip Leaked By Last Sardines Ever Made =-.
This is very true. I generally print out ebooks & have them bound so I can read them…. but often they end up gathering dust. So, I’ve stopped getting them until I’ve read the ones I already have. Time to dust one off & work through it 🙂
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Educational Resources =-.
Thank-you for this post. It is sooooo true. Luckily I am have only a couple of e-books, but I do have too many hard books that I really should knuckle down and go through one at a time and slowly. If I go to strong I tend to fizzle out after the first 3 chapters put the book on my self and then a couple of months later buy a new one and do the same. So I am going to pick one book and read the whole thing, like you said – just an hour a day so I don’t get overwhelmed.
Great post Mel. It’s coming up to end of year exams here. Soon we’ll have lots of adults giving advice on studying and breaking down what you have to learn into bitesize chunks.
Makes perfect sense. Did the same myself when I was in school.
Not once have I done the same since leaving school. So thank you for the reminder!
.-= Marc´s last blog ..The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – A review =-.