Shiny objects

In our last issue, we met Bob. Bob set out to start up his own online business, but ended up drowning in information and left himself overwhelmed and confused on what to do next.

And when we left Bob last time, I talked about how Bob needed structure and order… and he needed to implement “just in time learning”. He needed self-imposed tunnel vision in order to weed out any incoming information that took him off his goal or simply was talking about something which isn’t yet relevant to Bob.

Let me give you a classic example…

Let’s say our friend Bob here has a niche in mind. He’s even started his site up for it. He’s written a few blog posts, perhaps. But, his email list is still practically non-existent and he has yet to make his first buck online. So, Bob is still in the early phases here.

But, Bob is subscribed to some “guru” who is pretty big into podcasting. Bob listens to that podcast. Loves it, in fact. The host of that podcast even publishes income reports and Bob finds it motivational. So, the “guru” launches a course all about podcasting. And it sounds freakin’ awesome to Bob.

But, let’s back up here. And let’s talk a little sense into Bob, shall we? 🙂

Bob is already overwhelmed. We’ve established that. But furthermore, if we look at where Bob’s “business” is at this point, it is still incredibly early. I mean, he’s got a website, but he’s clearly not really established on a proper foundation yet. His approach is unproven, and that’s proven by the fact that he hasn’t made any sales yet and has barely any email list.

Those are the facts. Now, given that…

Does it make any sense at all for Bob to even consider purchasing his favorite guru’s new course on podcasting? Is podcasting added to his current situation going to be of any help? NO! He’s not ready for it right now. Truth is, podcasting is a great medium, but if you pile it onto an unproven foundation, it can still so splat.

Truth is, a lot of guru courses out there really suck at the basics. They almost assume that you already have a proven model going in. Sometimes it is made worse because said guru really doesn’t have much experience in any other market besides teaching other wannabe marketers. So, the advice doesn’t do very well at dealing with people who are still at square one.

So, it leaves Bob hanging.

If we look at our 5 phase Roadmap…

Bob is constantly seeing stuff out there which goes in Phase 5. Phase 5 is often some sexy stuff. 🙂 But, Bob isn’t in Phase 5. In fact, Bob is in Phase 1. Maybe Phase 2.

Bob has no business buying anything that is aimed at a Phase 5 business. All it will do is compound his confusion and make the overwhelm worse.

It doesn’t help that all these launches are taking place around Bob. But, truth is that that’s just how things work. All those gurus are in the business of selling, ultimately. And many of them are good at it. It isn’t their fault that it isn’t right for Bob.

Bob needs to have the discipline to know. Bob needs to take personal responsibility for not getting “shiny object syndrome”. If necessary, maybe Bob needs to put himself on an information diet. Stop paying attention to so many things.

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What phase is your business in?

If you feel you’re in the same situation as Bob, definitely check out The Online Business Roadmap.

– David