Are you taking enough action in your business or your life?
Or, are you like so many other entrepreneurs, on-line marketers and any one who uses a computer with internet access, getting overwhelmed by the
information overload? At times I feel as if I am getting swamped, spending hours reading about exciting new developments but not being productive.
In previous posts, I have mentioned Empire Avenue, the Social Media trading game where you can trade shares in your social media persona. It is also a wonderful site to meet some very knowledgeable and interesting people. I have been involved in it for about 8 months.
Recently, a number of high-profile players have dropped out. Most are quoting the amount of time needed not only to play the game competitively, but to nurture all the new contacts that the game generates.
It is perhaps not a coincidence that the number of people dropping out seems to have increased since Google + opened its doors to new members a month ago. Yet another new toy to explore, and even more pressure on our limited time.
I am hearing more frequently than ever that for many the information overload is having a serious effect on productivity, not only for solo entrepreneurs, but also people in salaried positions in bigger organisations.
It seems as if any one with any involvement in marketing, the media, or the internet, is caught between a heap of rocks and a whole lot of hard places.
- Between keeping abreast of all the latest developments and putting them into practice.
- Between increasing our networks in each of the new channels and maintaining a good relationship with our existing contacts.
- Between learning all about Google+ and keeping our twitter, Facebook, Linked In and other “friends” engaged.
Learning new stuff is important, but unless we take action and use the new stuff we spend hours learning, we are spinning our wheels.
Not to reduce the importance of technology at all, but let’s remember that people ran huge and successful business empires 200 and more years ago when the only form of correspondence was a handwritten letter.
The great European trading houses bought and sold shiploads of cargo to and from destinations around the globe without computers, telephones, calculators, typewriters and certainly without text messages and Google +.
So access to the latest and best technical wizardry does not guarantee success, it might even slow it down through sheer distraction.
Here is a short fun video of Sue and I with 2 of our horses that reinforces the need for action.
