Starting an Online Business? Feeling Overwhelmed? Be Careful Who You Listen To!

If there’s one suggestion I would offer to Newbie’s starting  an online business it would be: “Be careful who you listen to”… or at least  “choose carefully” when the time is right.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t educate yourself and learn from a few people.  What I am saying is don’t  spend all your time reading everything you can get your hands on… at least not  for an extended period of time because to tell you the truth…you’ll get “nowhere”… fast!

My suggestion would be to learn a few key tasks to start with and focus on one thing at a time.  Don’t  for Heaven’s sake get into the state of analysis paralysis coupled by  overwhelm.

I meet with a mastermind group every so often and the single  most common challenge faced by many… (from beginners to even some experienced individuals)  is sheer overwhelm.

As we all know these days, there’s an abundance of free  information provided by savvy online marketers keeping us informed about new  products, tips, tricks, and advice.
There’s also an over abundance of information intended to  keep up to date with SEO Strategies, time  savers, social media strategies, blog performance information….the list goes  on. 😐

While I realize much of this information is indeed very  useful and is offered generously, it can be a heck of a turn off for someone who is just getting started.  Actually… it can be overwhelming for many of us who have been at this game for a few  years as well!

In my humble opinion, regardless of where you are in your  venture I wholeheartedly feel that getting started and focusing on mastering  one task at a time will get your further ahead than being ‘nosey’ (so to speak)  and trying to keep up with every single change, every single piece of advice  and every single “Jones” you meet!

You see things change just about every single day.  With the way technology is these days you  would have to spend 24 hours per day to keep up with every improvement,  advancement and update!

Admittedly,  there are people who do manage to keep up somewhat… and do it well…the difference is that they are experienced, they have their  business rolling full tilt and ‘this’ IS their business.  In other words… keeping up to  date on this type of information is their specialty.

The rest of us however just want to market a service,  business opportunity, or product.   Sometimes having an optimal blog or knowing every time Google  “farts“…won’t make or break our business!

Sometimes a new plug-in won’t help us… or a browser tweak  won’t make a scrap of difference.  New  tools promising advanced ways to get 10,000 subscribers per day certainly will  never do us a scrap of good either but they’ll sure as heck drag us away from
what we should be doing and likely never produce half of the things they  promise.

I’m not meaning to sound in the least bit disrespectful to  the legitimate folks who are “in the know” because I’ve learned a lot from many  of them over the years and really do appreciate a good handful of them at that.

The point I’m trying  to make is you have to walk before you can run and don’t need to be on the  cutting edge of everything at the start.

For us regular folk, new information flying at us every day does  nothing more than hinder our progress and can make it difficult to know what to  do first, what to do at all and is sometimes so beyond what we are ready for … or  might ever need.

Many people get so caught up in all the ‘new stuff’ and all  the latest and greatest tips that they don’t even master the basics.  At the end of the day they feel so deflated  they give up all together.

Again, being informed has its place and I’m not suggesting  you bury your head in the sand completely.   I’m just trying to impress the fact that in the beginning there are a  few basic steps to starting an online business.  The first one is “getting started” 😉

For example:  If you  are building a website or blog, then focus on getting the infrastructure in  place and optimize it the best you can.   You can always come back and tweak it later on… but at least get that  basic item in place before trying to learn more.

Then, adopt only two or three marketing strategies until you  master them and until you get a decent flow of traffic to your site.  If you find they don’t produce the results  you desire… then consider trying something different at that point.  DON’T jump around aimlessly either, stabbing  this one a little here and the other one a little there.  Give everything you do a little time and a  fair trial period.

I would also suggest getting involved in ONLY a group or two of individuals  in order to network.  By default you  will learn a few extra tips here and there… but I certainly wouldn’t join every group you see and spend all of your time reading each and every post.  You’ll never implement everything so don’t  waste your time taking all advice for gospel unless or until you need it.

Don’t subscribe to every list you see online.  The result will be that you will literally  get bombarded with emails and information you could do without and end up collecting  more free reports than you know what to do with.  (Many you may never get to read or it might  be so beyond your abilities or requirements you will never implement them  anyway).

Starting an online business, just like any business takes  hard work, focus, consistency and common sense.   Everything starts small and grows with time.  Everything is trial and error in the  beginning until something ‘clicks’ and starts to work.

Taking the advice from each and every self proclaimed guru,  or even every guru in their own right will never move you ahead or build your  business.  If you must follow a ‘guru’ …  choose one and stick with them.

If you try to follow everyone, you’ll be spread too thin,  your focus will be smashed to smithereens, you’ll lose consistency, and you’ll  be worn out.  At the end of each day  you’ll wonder what the hell you did or where the time went and you’ll realize  you never did put your head down and get any of your own work accomplished.

What’s worse is you might even end up emptying your wallet  on cleverly marketed ‘must have magic products’ they suggest and end up with a  collection of ‘who knows what” at the end of it all.  I guarantee you’ll definitely not feel warm  and fuzzy once the initial euphoria has worn off.  You’ll feel worse when you get your Credit  Card statement!

The moral of my rant is when starting an online business:

Put your blinders on and don’t be nosey.  Instead, mind YOUR own business!  It is impossible to stay on top of each and every change that occurs in  the online marketing world and this includes the changes that Google makes  every few months.

If you absolutely feel you must scout around and learn more  and more each and every day… make sure you limit your time on this activity to  an hour or so at max.  If you don’t you will  find you spend more time reading and less time doing and that will not get you  to where you want to be.

Last but not least be Careful who you listen to!

Though there are very well educated and genuinely awesome  mentors out there, there are also those who do nothing more than regurgitate  pure hype and are not making a red cent despite their superman cape.

If you’re a “newbie” starting an online business…take heed:

**Slow and steady will always get you to where you want to be  faster than by trying to be the Jack of all Trades.  You’ll only end up being the “master of none”  and eternally chasing the magic bullet that has never existed.

**Find a mentor or a coach if you need to be steered to keep  you focused and on track and ultimately move you ahead.

**If you’re suffering from analysis paralysis and overwhelm  due to information overload, start by unsubscribing to any lists you’re
currently on that don’t provide you with immediate actionable steps or value.

**Then make a short list of the bare necessities you need to  help you conquer the stage you’re at and consistently work on this list every  day.

**Once your wheels are in motion and you’re doing the basics  WELL… take on more.  Oh… and don’t be sucked  in by fear mongering headlines that read “If you’re Not Doing This In Your Business,  You’ll Soon Be Dead!”  (These are such a  dis-service)

Truth is… You Won’t be dead!  (or even close to it.)

How do I know?

Being totally transparent here, I’ll put my cards on the  table and admit that I have been in a place of total confusion more than once  and taken in by noise and hype.  I’ll  also confess it’s done nothing but hinder my progress and that I have found out  the hard way.

The good news is however, once I shut myself off from all  the hustle and bustle and took my own advice; I experimented with some of my  own techniques and ideas and immediately started producing measurable results.
(Even without been at the cutting edge of everything new).  Hmm … Imagine that! 🙂

If you’re looking to start a business online but have found  you’re caught up in information overload and you’re frozen stiff with eyes are  rolling back in your head like a slot machine, I hope my post will hit home, help  you re think and even restore hope if you lost any.

If you still need some common sense, solid assistance from  yours truly (That’d be me) feel free to contact me at any time and let’s see if  I can’t help clear your internal clutter,  get you on the straight and narrow and move  your forward to starting an online business!

Tagged as: analysis paralysis, information overload, internet puzzle, Overwhelm, start a online business, start an internet business, start online business, starting an online business, starting internet business, starting online business