Information Overload - A Necessary Evil? ~ Search Marketing

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Information Overload - A Necessary Evil?

Do you think it's humanly possible to avoid going through this "information overload" phase when learning how to make money online?

Maybe for a trained mind.

My own journey on internet marketing is perhaps like most others - easily influenced by what we read and often feel "yank" in different directions by various teachers and their teachings.

It's very demoralizing, but can I blame it on my own lack of focus and discipline?

Look at the numerous temptations and promises of "quick fix" solutions out there disguise in crafty sales pitches that speaks right into our hearts. It's so difficult not to react to them in the way they HAVE predicted we will.

Ya, sounds scary, but if you've been in any decent copywriting classes, you'll know how words are used to manipulate minds. Sure, copies that target at a reader's "wants" are marketing 101 that has worked for centuries. It's unfortunate that most buyers don't know what we really "need".

The best defense against such sales tactics or even a scam is perhaps Wisdom; the ability to identify what's crap and what's not. How can we gain this "wisdom"?

I wish I can suggest better ways, but one of my response to my subscriber was: "...In general, there's lot to pick up from various stuffs and you'll be confused at some stage and even get dishearten. We may just need to go through this 'information overload' phase before gaining sufficient base knowledge on what's out there, then focus on something and practise it to gain competency. Enjoy your journey ;)".

At least that's true for me; I've gone through enough "internet marketing" craps out there until I'm "wise" enough to spot the same crap being rehashed into something else. When you've reach that stage, then you'll be in better shape to focus on what you've settled down to do and not be easily swayed.

Tell me if you've better approach to attain "crap immunity"...

This post is spawned off from a question from the same subscriber:

"Is there any PPC book/blog/forum/software I can get to cut through the "crap"? I don't intend to short-cut the learning process but there are indeed tonnes of crap out there and it does take time to sieve through all of them before landing on the right place."

Answer: Yes, there is and it's none other than from Google's own learning center @ http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter

Also get feeds from http://adwords.blogspot.com/

The above gives you the textbook lessons on PPC (well, start with Google Adwords first). Once you "graduate" (complete all the quiz!) from the learning center, then you'll have known at least half of what I know about PPC. The rest is more about putting it into practice and sharpening your skills through experience.

That's also when you'll get to appreciate the more interesting PPC strategies and tactics around. But first, do understand that this is not gonna be a short journey; are you prepared to focus or are you still at the information "gathering" (not overload yet) phase?

Next, I'll try to touch base on why I think PPC is great place to start for newbies - unlike what many once-bitten-twice-shy newbie at PPC may think. Now you know why I've to cover some grounds (ramblings) on my take about blogging and SEO for traffic along the way?

Add your comment!


( 3 comments )
Anonymous said...

Hi - great advice. I think the main difficulty for anyone new to internet marketing is seperating the bullshit from the genuine info.

It's best to avoid anyone who claims they will make you rich in a short amount of time.

Hans Chee said...

Hey Catherine! Glad that our wave length sync ;)

These are marketers that chose to exploit human nature. We all know that it's sad but it's true that hypes and "magic pill" solutions sell well.

Most people are lazy and WANTS those solutions. Look at the weight loss industry what sells better.

So then it's a economic decision for marketers; sell to such a huge profitable market and make tons of $, or be a mr. nice ethical marketer who can does only average. Such dilemma always hunt me even till today.

I visited your Success Passcode blog before (which is why you could have found mine). A deep impression of it is a phrase you wrote along the line that "... if our life's objective is to be rich someday, then most part of our life will be miserable - because getting wealthy is not an overnight process...". I can't locate that post on my visit just now.

However, I like this quote from your home page too: "And the truth is, none of them are wrong. But you have to do what you feel happiest doing, and that isn't necessarily going to be the thing that makes you a multi-millionaire."

Cheers,
Hans

Anonymous said...

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