Help!: Marketing Information Overload

I read an interesting article by master copywriter Bob Bly today in the Early to Rise newsletter. He was commenting on the vast amounts of information available to people who are learning a new skill or job. In this case, he was talking about people who want learn how to be an effective marketer.

He said, “You are interested in some aspect of marketing. ..But you are overwhelmed by all the information being offered on the subject…So you go ‘information crazy’…buying every course, attending every conference, reading every e-book, listening to every recording…Before you know it, a month, six months…or a year has gone by and you are no closer to your business or career goal. That’s because you’ve spent all your time reading, studying, and learning the thing you are interested in…rather than actually doing it.”

Bly calls this “analysis paralysis.” It can also happen to the solopreneur who is looking for “just one more good marketing strategy.” (I know because I’m guilty of it myself.) After all, there’s always one more article or book to read, one more blog or web site with good stuff. Right?

But there’s a new wave lapping on the shores of the Information Age. It’s called the Age of Advice. The problem is not just all the information out there. It’s what does it mean. Who can make sense of it? Where is the really good stuff and who can help me apply it to my career or business or life? That is where the Age of Advice comes in. Some experts are pointing to a new trend: people are actually starting to pay for services that sift though all the information, gather the best and help them apply it to their own lives and businesses.

At risk of being accused of “shameless promotion,” I will dare to say this: That is what marketingyoursmallbiz is all about: taking the vast amounts of information out there, sorting the good from the bad and delivering the most valuable nuggets to our readers, in our free weekly marketing e-tips (click here to sign up) and in our monthly membership subscription e-zine (click here to learn more). Here at marketingyoursmallbiz.com, we are firmly planted in the Age of Advice.

My questions for you: Do you ever feel information overload or “analysis paralysis”? What do you do to cope?

Comments

[Bruce Colthart]

Judy - I think you're spot-on, both in your forecast of the coming Age of Advice and of the validity of sites like this that attempt to filter, analyze and recommend new information.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday while washing dishes and I thought I heard the guest use the phrase, "through the comb." I don't know if it's a real phrase-in-use (haven't gooogled it yet) nor can I remember its exact context...but my ears pricked up because I'm consciously (and otherwise?) desperate for help combing through what might be valuable, actionable marketing info for a solopreneur and what's perhaps more valuable to someone else.

I foresee real growth in the information filtration/recommendation/wisdom sector. Sites like this are the vanguard.

[Judy Dunn]

Thanks for commenting, Bruce. I rather like that: "through the comb." There is so much stuff out there and how to sort the good from the bad? That's a real problem.

It's been said that getting information from the internet is like trying to drink from a fire hose. And it can be so time-consuming, especially for solopreneurs who are doing it all.