If you are in the process of building your home business or an internet business of any sort, you might have encountered information overload. Here is my story of how I got out of it.
5 YEARS AGO...
Five years ago it started with a dream. I had read in a relationship book that was giving advice to women that if a guy didn't figure out what he wanted to do in life by age 25, that he probably never will.
I was 25 back then and it hit me like a ton of brick. Until then, I was a drifter, always looking for the next shining thing. I traveled to and fro, doing odd jobs and sometimes sleeping on park benches.
It is then that I decided that I would dream up a lifestyle that I would enjoy and that I would then look for a path to attain that lifestyle. I wanted to have a mobile lifestyle, I wanted to be able to pick up my stuff and go whenever and wherever I wanted to. The only path I could imagine for someone like me who only had a post-secondary education in cabinet making was...learning how to make money with the internet.
THE INFORMATION OVERLOAD BEGAN
I'll be honest with you, I struggled a LOT the first 2 years. I kept a full-time job and worked on my online business at night. I truly wanted this lifestyle.
I didn't know HOW I would make money so I started with the affiliate marketing gigs online. I had to learn about blogging, SEO, advertising, wordpress, branding, sales copy, mindset, etc.
All of it at the same time.
Needless to say that I could feel my head throbbing at night before bed. I would even go to bed with audio recording that would teach stuff about goal setting or conversion tracking.
HOW I GOT OUT OF IT
There is a very steep learning curve at the beginning and I wish I had learned to pace myself. But I really started having a breakthrough when I started implementing the strategy I am outlining below.
Fundamentally, the issue is an imbalance in the input to output ratio. There is too much information coming in and not enough coming out. I discovered that knowledge are "tool like" and having a lot of knowledge without them being used is tough on the system.
Learn, Do, Teach
This is where blogging saved my sanity. A guy online I was listening to proposed this strategy and when I started implementing it, I felt the confusion dissipate. Basically, when you learn something new, implement it as soon as possible. If you can't implement it, don't bother with it or store it somewhere for later.
When I learned something about SEO, I started implementing on it my blog. Then, I turned around and started writing about what I did as if I was trying to explain it to someone who was brand new to internet marketing.
If you can't teach something, it's because you don't understand well enough. Writing and teaching what I had just learned forced me to truly wrap my mind and deepen my understanding of what I had just learned.
HOW I WISH I HAD STEEMIT BACK THEN
I blogged almost everyday, sometimes twice a day, for almost a year without making any money. But looking back, it was totally worth it.
I gained the ability to write a 500 words article in less than 45min in a second language, I learned to persevere, I learned how to persuade and write in a way that is engaging and finally, I learned how to network online and get allies.
I believe that most people here have no idea how lucky they are to be blogging on this platform. Not only do they get crazy good SEO built into their blogs but they also have monetization built-in.
Even if you were to make only $1 on your post, you are 1000x more successful then when I got started on my first year of internet marketing. So please, don't complain in the comment section of my post about how you don't get any upvote. It just doesn't sit well with me as you can imagine.
Last remark...
One big trap I fell in is that I confused learning with action. Learning became an excuse not to take action at some point. So make sure that you balance what you learn and what you do with what you learn. Knowledge is power only if it is applied after all.
I totally agree when you talk about the process - "learn and do" because internet knowledge is something you should implement as fast as possible or at some point it can be already too old. However, I am not sure about teaching. Could you comment, how does it make you better? You mentioned that blogging helped you to write and think better, but the same result can be achieved not by teaching, but for example by writing review articles. Don't you consider teaching as giving up more information to your competitors?
Teaching can help you understand stuff much better. Check out Feynman's technique https://medium.com/taking-note/learning-from-the-feynman-technique-5373014ad230
Thanks for the comment. To answer...
How does it make you better?
Why blogging?
Am I not giving information to my competitor?
Well, that makes sense. Thank you for the explanation. I think the fact that I used outsourced articles written by others, made me at some point not so much experienced. Will try to do better :)
yes bro,...,.,..,,.,
Well said
Absolutely on point @cryptoctopus. I have written 3-6 2000 word articles for a website for the past 8 years. I wish I would have had Steemit for even a portion of that time. The returns are phenomenal here. I like your final point even more. Learning is not action. Action builds the path to the future of your dreams. Thanks for posting this.
Awesome post thanks!!
** slight correction "3-6 2000 word articles each week"
All those complaining are mainly those who don't have long term goals, they will quit very early, that's for sure!
I still remember when i started as a trainee chef in 2001, it was really hard and i really put all efforts and time to achieve the goals i set...I wanted to be exec chef! And yes after 11 years my dream became true, I was finally exec chef of 2 famous 5 stars hotel in Mauritius + i got the opportunity to travel the world too!
It was really worth the pain at the beginning!
Now my dream is to teach youngs and people who want to learn from my experience, it is again very hard to have just started but i am positive about being successful one day!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us all @cryptoctopus!
@progressivechef
good post
I definitely relate with information overload, to the point of feeling frozen by it!
There's so many options & things I'm interested in & yet, frozen...often by not knowing when to stop taking in information!
Maybe I just need to drift along a little longer.
I've only started dipping my toes into Steemit, while reading a book on it (that I think you may have co-authored actually!), but I already believe I'll love it once I can find my voice & stop getting overwhelmed being a knowledge sponge!
very nice,.,.,.,.,.
Hahaha your name can relate to your comment!?
Sorry you didn't enjoy the read. :)
with internet today we can receive so many information in second and because of it there is like 90% of people have information overload. i like your learning pyramid, by my experience its true that then you teach someone material then you learn more about this material yourself and understand it better. Action is must have, because idea/knowledge without action is just idea :)
wow,,,,,,,,,,,.............
A feel a lot of positivity coming from your post . And very motivational for those that are struggling now . I also have started a business with my brother recently and man , it's a struggle and lots of time and investments are going on but reading this makes me not want to give up . You start to learn slowely from your mistakes to make your business stronger , every successful person goes through mistakes and learns from them . But with Steem , it helps you to expand and learn from one another . Thanks for that !
Yes I agree, this guy gives a loads of positivity :)
I have been in Steemit for only two months, I was struggling with monetization of my WordPress blogging before Steemit, but here my posts (in Turkish) started earning immediately
It was the very same information overload for me when I first came in contact with Amazon-FBA. And me simple-loving brain wasn't able to take the information. Than, because it was easier to understand I started a dropshipping business, but still there was an overload of information and it took me months of daily reading and researching until I got the whole idea - months of lost money and wasted time.
I wished too, that I would have known steemit at this time, as it was the very same time when steemit was founded. But I am still more than happy, that I found it 3 weeks ago.
I hope that you will do a blog post about your "Last remark..."
Because... well, I feel I have always had trouble with that, because on many things I would never get started. But, then again, if I didn't have a clear idea in my mind what I was going to do, I would just waste my time and materials doing nothing. err... getting nothing done, except more sawdust.
But often, the act of turning wood into sawdust would give much better understanding of what I wanted to accomplish / how to do it.
Anyway, would love to hear your thoughts.
Well, I'm gonna be 25 this year and I'm sort of in this realm. Gave up on a regular job and I'm still trying to make a living blogging outside of Steemit. Luckily Steemit came and helped me a little financially.
very informative, my friend. And to think, the information age is just starting . . . always checking in on you for great articles.
That's true! I am a licensed teacher. Being a teacher means opening your mind to helpful information that you can use to teach your students and by that you have to know well about the topic, if you are teaching a skill make sure to master that skill before teaching it. But teaching doesn’t mean that you should be the “best” in the room. You also have to open your mind with your students’ opinions because most of the times It is the teacher who learns from their students. It is the students who motivate us to strive to be a better teacher. Thus, we learn most by teaching.
First
Thank You for sharing your insightful and helpful story @cryptoctopus.
Second
learn do teach which @binarybits completely agrees.
Third
I believe I understand your handle now, you got ME with your tentacles @cryptoctopus.
THANK YOU! I have been feeling the same on here and after reading your words, my doubt are evaporating...
Steemit is so much MORE than what people recognize! Anything you want to do you can move towards, emopowered by a platform like none before!
I really appreciate your thoughts on this and hope that others will take advantage of the real potential we are all sitting on here.
I mean, seriously! you can share your thoughts on ANYTHING and make a living. Once Steemit reaches a hefty population, a new ecosystem will form and humanity will be able to actualize dreams, limited only by imagination!
Steem on!
@wuji
For a wall of text based on experiences i didn't mind reading through it! Often times when i started dating i would not go out telling myself i needed to research game, attraction, and seducing. I eventually came to a conclusion that learning was an excuse to not go out and going out taught me more than watching videos or reading books.
your struggling gaved u best reward my friend amazing <3
Learn, Do, Teach <3
btw now u are married will give great experience to the life hacks haha
good post my friend @cryptoctopus
so.. are you can come to my blog :D
i just follow you
listen from one ear , and remove from other
Great post, i wish more posts be like this :)
Nice article - I've been there as I'm sure many have in this interweb age. I'm glad you mentioned the importance of the process (re: your daily blogging experience) - It's super helpful to be reminded that "nothing is lost, everything is transformed" into usable experience. Like wax-on, wax-off. Even if it didn't make any money, it sharped your sharing skills and language skills. Good lesson and great reminder. Cheers!
Good post man have a good day
Nice post @cryptoctopus sir, i just like to say that the greatest challenge that internet users face is information overlaod and i really appreciate the way you encounter with this challenge.
Same for me but with music. WRITE MORE. PLAY MORE. and suddenly you're better. half of satisfaction is "action"
I read your post twice, to be sure not to miss any information. That's how much I like it. You use common language to explain very big and crucial facts. And most of all, you help your reader! I (the reader) thank you for your time and effort! Keep up the good work!
i read ur whole post sir again and again and i hope i understand corrctly , and i know ur efforts and ur struggle 5 year agonand u get the good way to be get this success, to start with the affiliate marketing gigs online with SEO, advertising, wordpress, branding, sales copy, mindset, is ur good step and u was get this knowledge about it and i also learen from this to make the online work which i have no skills still i only work in steemit not any more and try to be learen and more research to make some good from online
its good sir that u struggle and get more good in online success and also earning and share with us ur method that u choose and start work on online also in start we all faces that problems but if we try to get more knowledge and with many search hope we will find the better way like u and we also start and take a good step to hope we get a good success like u but for it we need some hard work,,thanx sir to share some about urself and ur work in start to specially to and control the start difficulties
please follow me
Positive and motivational Post @cryptoctopus Totally agreed with you #steemit is the best platform
that's why small groups are good too, because you have to directly discuss and formulate in your own words as well
That's great to see that you didn't stop learning at all Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.
and you finished it in a great way "Knowledge is power only if it is applied after all." that true !!
im 30 and still dont know what to do , no goals , nothing. Any suggestion how to find goal? i see you learned some Seo , do you have first steps for newbies ? im thinking to start my blog but im not sure will i have traffic or not, because i tried like 5 years ago , posted 30 posts and zero traffic
i am sure most of them are in the same stage. even me now in the same stage. ofcourse not yet understood fully. this is a very good article and useful for people like me. thanks
Not just data overload, the internet also full of vague information. We dont know what is right and wrong.
good story..and good idea.thanks
What are the odd jobs you have done? How is your online business right now?
You have to practice / repeat things you have learned, and the best way to practice / repeat is to try teaching someone new. The new person will ask questions which you might not ask - which help you develop your knowledge.
best story of your online blogging carrier
Wow. This is so great and it really speaks to me. I learned so much in the last 15 years, read every book on self-development and success, but didn't implement much. I started blogging few years ago, and was begging family members and friends to read my stuff! Now I don't write as much, but I am constantly learning. For example, I teach English online, but I am looking for ways to sell my our courses. So I read a lot about marketing and the psychology behind buying. I guess you could say I take action now because I do implement what I learn, but it's a long process that needs (as you mentioned) perseverance. You made a REALLY good point about people who complain about not getting upvotes etc. I don't think their complaints are only about not getting enough upvotes. I think they complain about everything that doesn't go their way in real life so Steemit is no exception. On the other hand, there are people who enjoy the process of writing and sharing experiences, and if they are rewarded in the process, they are grateful. If they are not, nothing is lost.
One thing I would add to your article from my experience is knowing when to quit.
Over the last year i've been to rock bottom and back dealing with the stress of applying to dental school and a bad break up, which allowed me to develop a better sense of who I was. A stronger intuition, which I have been using as my guide to navigate through tough decisions.
One of those decisions I had to make was deciding if I wanted to create an e-commerce business or invest in crypto and start a blog here on Steemit.
I believe that after committing ~ 20 hours to a craft you become proficient and obtain enough of an understanding about what it entails. I understood the pluses and minuses of owning my own internet business and realized that it didn't quite resonate with me the way Steemit did. So I quit.
I don't like the word quit, because I'm very driven, but I understand the power of passion and focus, and if you aren't investing them in something that resonates with you then you will struggle to reach your true potential.
Really smart post and I'm happy you share this with us. The only thing you forgot to mention is that Knowledge without Practice will not get us to far. But combine those two rules together after time if you really work hard you should reach your main goal. Upvoted because it truly deserves it!
Great story
Thank you very much for this great information, really very interesting especially for beginners to understand your strategy which can follow it to be successful bloggers in this amazing platform.
You seem to have realized your dream. Honestly I still have mixed feelings on Steemit, I get your point how it is helping in more than one way. My vocabulary gone up a lot since I started here, besides that I am slowly building up a "network" and make money in the same time. But it is this last factor, "the money" which also changes the motivation in a sorts of greed. Anyways I am still learning and sort of finding my place into all of this...
As always great advice. I tried to start my own blog and then I tried to create a dogecoin faucet in order to make some money on my blog. I hit a brick wall and felt like the time I was putting in was not equal to the money that was coming out and I stopped.
I agree with you 100% that people don't know how lucky they are to be on steemit and making money for their blog. I think one important aspect that you also skipped out on is that steemit has no minimum payout like other sites do. This is also a great advantage of steemit.
Omg. That is so great information for me. I actually want to start a small local business and I need to make a business plan to obtain the money from the government to start it, but the process needs a lot of paperwork and tons of new information for me. I start to feel overwhelmed by the amount of things coming. Your post was just in time. Upvoted :)
Hoy he tenido suerte al encontrarle. Tengo muy poco tiempo en steemit, me trajo un amigo y me dijo que acá podía hacer cosas. Lo que Usted dice de internet es muy cierto: demasiada información, demasiados contenidos y pocas metodologías, lo cual es un problema. Me gusta mucho mas lo metodológico, me abre mas caminos hacia el mañana.. Ahora bien , el mundo financiero que se mueve en internet es impresionante, es difícil reconocer "la verdad", lo relativamente seguro, la incertidumbre es mayor en internet. En steemit estoy en la búsqueda de escenarios y creo que poco a poco estoy consiguiéndolos, digamos que estoy en una etapa de observación y la hago participante a través de los comentarios y de llevarme a mi blog lo que mas me ayude a poner en practica las acciones que quiero desarrollar en esta plataforma. Gracias por compartir su experiencia, eso es muy valioso.
Exactly what I needed to know right now. I've been struggling with this since I graduated from college last three years ago. It's exactly like what you wrote, "there's a lot of coming in, and there's few coming out." All of the information we gathered in our mind, but there's a few out come.
What I learn about this blog is that,
We wanna learn the easy way, but the truth is we HAVE to learn the BEST way.
p.s.
I always like your blogs, it is so informative and fun.
God Bless and a Nice Day! 😊
Oh my God ! I had chills reading the beginning of this article I am EXACTLY in this situation. I am French and at 25 I decided to give up my job to do what I really like. Computer development and everything related to the web. And indeed the overload of information quickly began. I was submerged and then I calmed down and read and watched video on the brain and mind and it opened a lot of doors for me. Today I am still struggling to find a viable economic model in the long term but I am so motivated that I no longer feel like working. And finding words like yours every day gives me strength to continue. So I can only thank you for this article and I want to read more about you so I'm starting to follow you today. Thank you again and see you soon!
I think "information overload" happens for those who perhaps have FOMO. Some people just don't want to miss out on that "next" piece of information. But with so much information out there, it's just best to take on face value the information that is learned, and simply just take action on it, and edit along the way. I used to be that person who would always need to get every detail correct or down before I started on a project/task at hand. And that's what happened, I'd never start because I'd think I was not ready.
It's just best to step away from all the information out there (from gurus, to DIY, etc.) and just CREATE. People need to take action like you said, and make creations, share them with others and get feedback is the best way to learn without getting information overload in my opinion.
I agree with you. Getting paid for blogging was unheard of ... and we had to depend on SEO. Now everyone has no excuse for blogging. I am new. Just got in last week.