Shiny Object Syndrome?

[Guest mrclean0325]

This is a term you hear all the time. The definition for most is you keep jumping from one thing to another, buying every WSO, course, ebook, joining a another new program, or just basically flitting around  and it is viewed as a bad thing in most cases.

 

What I have seen over the years, and from my personal experience, it is not a matter of jumping from one thing to another and buying everything in sight - it is trying to find something, anything, that ACTUALLY works for you.

 

Over the years I have bought and joined a LOT of stuff. Some of it good and some of it wasn't worth the time effort, or money. From these experiences I have found a few things that may be helpful.

 

1. You first need to determine your "comfort zone". Starting out at something that is way over your head will always result in failure. You have to use what talents and abilities you have to get started. If you can't write, don't start creating Kindle books or WSOs. If you hate social media, don't do something that involves social media. Stick with what you know and can do.

 

2. Educate yourself! Learn everything you can find on how to sell online. Learn how to do the things you need to know like how to set up an affiliate link and make a banner clickable on a website. Nothing earth shattering. Everything you do online has to do with websites and you should have an understanding of it and how they work. You need to keep about new things. You couldn't ride a bike the first time or walk did you?

 

3. Welcome failure and mistakes. I have made a ton of mistakes. Each one I learned TONS from.

 

4. DO NOT ASSUME - ASK QUESTIONS! If you don't know something or are unsure about something, ask questions. Don't be a sheep just following some 'GooRoo". Don't assume something works the way people tell you. Do some research. There are a lot of urban legends and myths floating around and if you fall into them, it won't be good. Be like you live in Missouri and have them show you. If they say it will bring you 10,000 in a month, how does that work? What EXACTLY makes it work. What do you have to do and know to make it work for YOU. There may be something "hidden" and assumed on the creators end. Like having a few hundred dollars to invest, an ability you don't possess, or something else that will monkey wrench things.

 

I have bought too many "newbie" friendly course that required a lot of stuff and money I didn't have access to. Like it used paid advertising with little instruction on how to not lose your shirt. Or failed to mention you had to "bend the rules" of some sites to get it to work. Or had to spend money on other products and services that were out of my price range. They may have also left out the fact they have multiple accounts to make the money they say, all in breach of the sites TOS. Just the facts ma'am.

 

5. Be realistic. If there was a way to make $10 Grand a month doing no work - I would have found it by now. It is possible to do but starting out is not a realistic goal. Even a hundred a day is not realistic starting out. Figure out how to make just $5 a day to start without spending 16 hours doing it or all your grocery money. You don't want to get yourself into another "JOB" you will end up hating and making less than a real job.

 

6. Be willing to walk away. I have seen, and done it myself, too many people keep pouring sand down and ant hill. You have spent SO much time, effort, and money on something that just isn't working and don't want to admit defeat. You then become the addict and can't let go. The firm rule I have created is to give something 90 days. At the end of 90 days IF I did everything I was supposed to (run ads everyday and whatever else the program said is required) and don't see where it is going anywhere - I stop. If I have not made enough to even cover the cost in 90 days and don't see it happening anytime soon - I stop.

 

Many will have issue with this, but i have found it to be helpful. Yeah I know the "Field of Diamonds"and all but 90 days is long enough to get a feel for what is happening and look at the FACTS and numbers.

 

7. LOOK AT THE "NUMBERS". You have to do something that has some mathematical probability of success. If you spend 16 hours each day for 90 days and have as many people leave as they join, will it work? If you do the same and can only make $2 a day, will it work? What are your projections? Will it work better if you continue? Will it grow? Can you keep up with the pace to make it work? Does it work for your overall goals to keep going? If you can't answer "YES' honestly, then walk away. You just had another learning experience you can use to look for another opportunity that may work better.

 

This will prevent you from continually "betting on the come" which is a gambling term and is appropriate. You are hoping it will make you some money. This is lottery thinking and you need to avoid it at all costs. If you know your "numbers" from past experience, you can figure it out before you even start. If you only need 10 sales to break even and make it start paying for itself, what does it take to get those 10 sales? Do you have the resources to get them (money/time)?

 

8. Trust, but verify. You can cut out a lot of crap by looking to see if what you are going to attempt is actually being used in real life. My forte is writing and I gravitate to things having to do with making money writing. I bought what I thought was a great course on writing books and putting them fro free on google Play. They would have ads in them to monetize them. It would require an investment of time and money for the software and everything involved. Before I went any further, I went to Google Play to see these books as it was said a lot of people were doing it. Couldn't find a single one. I looked on other stores and found nothing. You see the stores won't allow this type of thing.

 

I had the same experiences with Fiverr, eBay, and Kindle courses. There was absolutely nobody doing what they were teaching and if you did it like they told you to do it, you would have your account banned for life. If you do join a program, look at the forums. If nobody has posted anything in a couple years...not good. Or they post about payment problems, also not good. If the blog that is supposedly making so much money hasn't had a post in months or years, not good. Even worse when the examples sites don't exist anymore. you find a lot of these in testimonials that have websites on the sales pages.

 

9. Time IS money. Many will spend a lot of time and consider it "free". Just because it doesn't cost you any money it is NOT "free". You are trading time you will NEVER get back. Yes, the freedom you get from working at home for yourself is great, but if you are only making $2 an hour doing it is it worth it? You have to get away from trading time for little money. Granted there are all kinds of factors that go into this. You have to consider if the time you are investing could be used better doing something else. Some have little options in this I know and even $2 an hour is better than nothing for a lot of people. You only have so many hours in your life and you have to use them wisely.

 

10. You have to build an audience. No matter what you do online requires you to have someone to talk to about your offer. Online, you and your offer don't exist until someone clicks a link. If there is nobody clicking your link, you have no chance of making anything. Your audience can come in many forms. It can be an email list, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, a forum, a group, Google Hangouts, LinkedIn, newsletters, mailers, postcards, or many other means. It is just getting in a group of people who may be interested in what you have to offer and a way to communicate the offer to them in a way that is not "spammy".

 

 

I hope some of these will help you find a way that works for you to make money online. They are really common sense yet do seem to escape most people. It may take a bit of time to find what works and is easy for you to do. Once you get started you can make corrections and improvements from there. I know it is hard to become personally detached from something but it is necessary or you will find yourself a years from now doing the same things and wondering why it isn't working.

 

[Clare Bowen]

You're awesome for sharing your valuable advice   Very helpful, thank you

[captkirk]

I see Mr. Clean have been around the block a few times! Great Info!

[nabboo]

This is really great information that all new online marketers should be aware of.. most people just think they can make millions online without any knowledge. That's why they fail to make any money at all.. instead they lose money!

[mysfibiz]

You are right mrclean and reading your post just reminds me of all the programmes that I've tried before.

 

Find the right one for you and work it!

[davepilgrim]

Sound advice, as always Leonard :^)

[trv369]

good info! thanks for sharing

[vginasands]

I could not have written that better myself.  The shiny object syndrome is what I think about when I get those WSO mailing telling me about the guy who just made $20,000 in a day.  WSO is almost why I don't buy from the Warrior forum anymore.  Most of the products have so many upsales that if I could find a way to just click out I would not buy anything.

 

It finlly dawned on me after years of following the gurus is that if the first product your created was going to solve ALL my problems why do you come out with a NEW Product solver every month.  And, If your product worked as well as you say why aren't you spending all your time actually  Doing your magical money making thing rather than selling it for $6.73 .

 

Great Advice.  I could go  on and on but Well said

[dragon4]

thanks for this info and advice 

[dswival]

Thank you for this advice! 

[cristinz]

Good advice. It's very easy to jump from one program to the next without ever getting anywhere.