Wading through resources with your hip boots on.

I've been perplexed...there are so many resources by experts that want to help you grow your business on the internet and make lots of dollars out there, which are the right ones for me?  So how do you cut through all the crap and figure out what what works?

Here's 8 steps that may help you make a better decision before you invest some of your time, energy and money.  Obviously, the steps you take will depend upon the type of product you are purchasing.

1. Put a deadline on your decision. Know that what ever you decide is good enough for right now.  In other words, stop the paralysis of in action because you don't know enough.
2. Pick one area you are interested in making a choice and ask some of your SOI (sphere of influence) who or what they recommend. And find 3 ish (I know some of you are not satisfied at 3, but no more than 5) people and or suppliers that offer what you want.  Remember, one thing/area at a time. 
3. Be a comparative shopper and not an impulse shopper. I find it annoying when I buy a "recommended" product only to find out 10 minutes or a few weeks later there was another product I really wanted.  Have you ever tried to return a downloaded exe file?
4. Subscribe to the person's newsletter and or blog and get a "feel" for what they say (the context) and as importantly how they say it (does it connect with how your brain works or are you left with huh? what?)
5. Try out some of their "free" stuff (maybe a teleseminar, an ebook, etc) and then an initial purchase if you are looking at big dollars.  Are they more hype with tons of free stuff that will never be read and simply contains testimonial after testimonial or is there some real, systematic content?
6. Check out any active forums or list serve groups, who else is attracted to this person? Are they an active moderator in the group?
7. Listen to them speak...I got to tell you...after listening to one very smart Internet guy I was ready to buy an expensive CD package, then I listened to him speak.  Yikes...get me out of here!  His voice was so annoying I forgot what I was listening to!
8. Stick with it. One of my clients is a purchase junkie...how many client nurture programs do you really need.  Yes, each has different bells and whistles.  The truth being, if you're like the rest of us you will actually only use one because of all of the "learning time" it takes to get a solid feel for a product and really use it to it's full capacity.  Talking about full capacity, who do you really know that uses more than 20% of any programs full capacity?  Most of us learn enough to get by.  Be the minority and keep plugging away.

I don't remember where this deep quote comes from, yet it applies...."unless you take a step in one direction you'll end up where you started." 

Have some fun and be committed to taking a step this week that opens possibility.

And in case you are wondering one of the products I was checking out was how to record multiple media types into my pc.  I found a great link on Kidino's Blog and site MoneyClick.net which has some good resources.  He put together a quick and easy webpage that explains in simple steps with pictures how to record a teleseminar. 

The initial resource comes from Willie Crawford's blog.  I'm quickly becoming a fan of his diversity of online resources and lack of hype that sounds like pick me, pick me and I promise you riches beyond your wildest dream!

Check out their blogs and resources and let me know what you think. michele@advanced-approach.com