While this can be a good thing – it also means we are susceptible to information overload.

Information overload inspires “inaction”. It kills creativity and leads to procrastination.

There’s got to be a way to deal with information overload

And in this article – Michael Masterson shows you how.

"One of the effects of living with electric information is that we live habitually in a state of information overload. There’s always more than you can cope with.""

Marshall McLuhan

Information Overload: How to Escape the Crush

By Michael Masterson

Stanley Bergen has a problem. As a regular reader of ETR and a new member of the Oxford Club, he’s getting so much good stuff from us (he’s especially interested in learning how to "eliminate some debt" and retire one day) that he "can’t figure out what to read."

"Don’t get me wrong," he says. "I love ETR and the Oxford Club publications, and I look forward to reading them. But it’s too much information all at once."

"What should I do?" he asks.

What should any of us do?

We live in a world that is absolutely flooded with information. Consider these facts:

· The average person receives 32 e-mail messages per day.

· There is enough scientific information written every day to fill seven complete sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

· The world’s production of print, film, optical, and magnetic content in just one year would require roughly 5 exabytes (5 trillion megabytes) of storage, about 800 megabytes per person.

So if you - like Stan Bergen - are feeling overwhelmed by information, you’re not alone. Information overload is a serious problem for just about everyone.

"One of the most anxiety-inducing side effects of the information era," Richard Saul Wurman says in Information Anxiety" is the feeling that you have to know it all." That is especially true for smart, ambitious people - people who want to improve their lives and realize that getting the right information is a big part of success.

As an ETR reader, that probably means you.

When you begin a new project or become interested in a new idea, do you have an insatiable desire to learn more about it? Do you find yourself buying - and reading - every book, report, newsletter, and magazine you can find on the subject? (That’s what I do.)

In the beginning, it feels great. You are riding high. Then, all of a sudden, you realize that you’ve become an information junkie. You’ve been spending so much time reading about whatever it is you want to do that you don’t have any time left to actually do it. You feel like crying for help.

Bob Bly calls this "analysis paralysis."

"All the information you are taking in has overloaded your circuits," he says. "You can’t process it all, sort through it, and figure out what to do first. So, instead, you do nothing. You take no action - other than to order yet another course or report to read."

Does any of this sound familiar?

Bob has a formula for preventing analysis paralysis. He calls it the 25-50-25 rule. It is based on the fact that there are only three ways to learn a process (e.g., how to start an Internet business) or a skill (e.g., copywriting): studying, observing, and doing.

The 25-50-25 rule says that you must divide your time as follows:

· No more than 25 percent of your time studying - i.e., reading books, attending workshops, listening to instructional CDs in your car.

· No more than 25 percent of your time observing - watching what successful people are already doing.

· At least 50 percent of your time actually DOING the thing you are studying and observing.

For example, if you want to sell information products on the Internet, you would spend 25 percent of your time studying material on the way it’s done, 25 percent of your time observing the way other people are doing it, and 50 percent of your time creating your first product… designing your website… and building your list.

I like Bob’s rule because it emphasizes action. And when I found out about it, I wondered if it could be applied to my daily working life. In thinking about it, I concluded that it depended greatly on what sort of work I was doing. If I was learning a new skill, Bob’s rule seemed to apply. But when I was going about my normal workday activities - creating new products and growing businesses - my time was spent very differently.

My daily working life, I realized, has three common components:

· Gathering information

· Analyzing that information and using it to make plans

· Taking action

I tend to do my information gathering at specific times. I read newspapers in the early morning, magazines during breaks, and e-mail at the end of the day. I read to encounter useful ideas. I analyze those ideas both as I’m reading them and later on, at odd moments throughout the day. I spend most of my workday - about 80 percent of it - taking action. The rest of my time - 20 percent - is devoted to gathering information, analyzing it, and making plans.

I like that 80 percent number. It corresponds with Pareto’s Law - the 80/20 rule that you can apply to just about everything.

I decided to ask some of the most successful people I know (from many different industries and countries) the following questions:

1. How much time each day do you work?
2. How much of that time do you spend gathering and analyzing information?
3. How much of that time do you spend planning?
4. How much of your day do you spend taking action?

Only half a dozen have responded so far, but their answers are interesting. In terms of hours worked, it ranges from 4.5 to 12, with an average of 9. In terms of planning, the range extends from 15 minutes to 90 minutes, with an average of 45. Time devoted to information gathering ranges from 90 minutes to 3 hours, with an average of 145 minutes.

Those numbers correspond to mine. A typical workday for me is 10 hours long, with an hour and a half devoted to gathering information and 45 minutes devoted to some form of planning.

That’s not a ton of time for inputs. And that means the minutes I spend each day taking in information must be absolutely golden.

What I didn’t expect to get from my brief survey were the comments and insights my colleagues have been sharing. They’ve not only told me how they spend their time, but have offered tricks and techniques for getting more done, faster.

Responses are still coming in. When I get all of them, I’ll be sure to make them available to you. So keep reading ETR for more details.

Next week, I’ll give you a clear and useful strategy for reading all that information you’re being bombarded with, to help you sort through the clutter. While you’re waiting for solutions, compare the way you allocate your time to the numbers above that I’ve already collected.

[Ed. Note: Information overload isn't the only stressful situation you deal with on a regular basis. For a powerful guide jam-packed with advice about how to bypass life's most difficult problems and stickiest situations, simply click here.

Get more of Michael's surefire strategies for getting ahead in business and in life inTrue Path to Profits: A Master Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Success. Find out more - including how you can get a bonus subscription to Michael's VIP newsletter, Ready Fire Aim - right here.]

All success,

Jag Foo

Basically, as humans, we are all emotional creatures. A lot of what we do are driven by emotions. And you will include buying decision in that.

Emotions are what we made us buy. And then we use logic to justify the purchase.

Therefore, if you can appeal successful to your prospect’s emotions…and press his hot buttons repeatedly…you are going to get his business.

So what can spark off his emotions, you may ask?

The short answer is put your focus on “benefits”.

Elmer Wheeler, calls this selling the “sizzle”.

“WHAT WE MEAN by the “sizzle” is the BIGGEST selling point in your proposition – the MAIN reasons why your prospects will want to buy. The sizzling of the steak starts the sale more than the cow ever did, though the cow is, of course, very necessary!

Hidden in everything you sell, whether a tangible or an intangible, are “sizzles.” Find them and use them to start the sale. Then, after desire has been established in the prospect’s thinking, you can bring in the necessary technical points.

The good waiter realizes he must sell the bubbles – not the champagne. The grocery clerk sells the pucker – not the pickles, the whiff – not the coffee. It is the tang in the cheese that sells it!

The insurance man sells PROTECTION, not cost per week. Only the butcher sells the cow and not the sizzle, yet even he knows that the promise of the sizzle brings him more sales of his better cuts.”

Wise words indeed.

To illustrate further, consider this:

• Don’t sell the toothpaste. Sell the captivating smile.
• Don’t sell the house. Sell the warm fuzzy feeling of a home.
• Don’t sell the software. Sell how much time and money it can save for you.
• Don’t sell the fast luxury car. Sell him the convenience, and his need for REAL speed!

Get the drift?

Appeal to his inner desires, and reach deep down into his longings. Explain it to him better than he can explain it himself.

And then make him imagine it in a way only he can. With that, I guarantee you, the sale will be in the bag.

And it’s applicable to both copywriting and offline salesmanship.

All success,

Jag Foo

Just to get you up to speed, here are the latest marketing blog posts I’ve written on iMarketer:

• How To Create THE Winning Headline For Your Advertisement
• How To Increase Your Sales Conversion Rate With 10 Simple Tricks
• Google These "Keywords" At Your Risk…
• The Truth About Making Marketing Decisions
• How To Give Your Social Media Marketing Efforts An Extra Boost

Enjoy the read!

All success,

Jag Foo

Watch this video on how automation can help your business save time, effort and cost…

More about WinAutomation’s features: 

When you are done, head on down to http://www.WinAutomation.com to get your free download.

You will be amazed how much time you will save just by automating some of the most mundane tasks you are doing daily. Don’t take it from me. Try it for yourself and you will know what I mean.

All success,

Jag Foo

• Pay less for your cost per click
• Rank higher than your competition without paying as much
• Provide a greater user experience for your target audience
• Enjoy greater ROI and profit!

I’ll be coming out with a digital guide book and video course on how to get great quality score in the weeks to come.

And in the meanwhile, here’s a video to show you some of the quality score I get when I manage Adwords campaign for clients.

Click the play “button” below and watch now…

All success,

Jag Foo

Click the “button” below and watch now…

All success,

Jag Foo

Am I right?

If that matters to you…read on.

3 simple tips I will show you. Nothing earth-shattering. Some of you may already know this. Pretty simple actually. And I think it will still help you.

Okay, on with the meat…

Tip 1 – Content Network Website Spy

If you are using content network for you ads to appear in, you will notice that some of the websites are giving you better quality traffic.

Meaning their referred traffic gives you better click through rate and better conversion at your site.

Now…take note of these sites. And contact these site owners if you can do a JV with them.

Maybe you can work out a deal whereby you can pay them on a per click basis with a more favorable cost per click rate than you are paying Google.

Or better still, work on a per sale basis, and give them a higher commission (e.g. >65%) than you would for a normal affiliate (assuming you have a product).

Tip 2 – Winning AdWords Ads Spy

If you want to pay Google less, you have to make sure you ad can get a high click through rate. Google rewards you for high relevancy.

But relevancy is not all. Your ad copy is a factor too!

So the only way to do this is that you have to come out with multiple variations of your ads and do a split test. Do it continuously and improve it all the time.

But perhaps you want to play smart. You want to start with an established ad that works first and improve from there. So that you don’t have to spend more testing ads that don’t work from the start.

If you are thinking that way – good. How to do so?

Why not spy on your competitors’ ads…and study what works for them?

And you take their hard work from all their testings and you use it for your own!

You can quickly do so by utilizing the free ad spy engine atWinningAdwordsAds. Real cool tool. Free to boot! They do have an upgraded version though for enhanced functionality. But hey…it’s good stuff nevertheless!

Tip 3 – Keywords Spy

You will find that not all keywords in your AdWords campaign are created equal. Some will be profitable. Some will not be.

Now…again you can test and find out for yourself. It’s vitally important you test.

But what if you can find out in advance from a competitor’s hard work and effort to see which keywords work for them…and brings in money?

If you are interested…go to Keyword Spy and Spyfu.

Cool stuff. A lot of intelligence that you will give an unfair advantage.

Alright. I will stop here.

What do you think?

As usual, I’m all ears. Shoot away folks.

All success,

Jag Foo

In fact a whole gamut of them. We are talking about common advertising and marketing methods such as direct mailers, print ads, newspaper, magazine ads, directory listings, search engine optimization, banner ads, blog marketing, article marketing…and the list goes on…

Some works well. Some not so well. Some are just a plain waste of time.

And then there are some that works well but takes a long time.

Today’s post is about an advertising method that works VERY well…and gives fast results – provided you know what you are doing.

Some of you may already be familiar with it and using it to great effect. But most of you probably have not yet.

And what is this advertising method?

Google Adwords.

Yep. Google Adwords.

If there is one marketing methods I’ve regret not using earlier, it is adwords.

Boy..how many sales have I missed out on? I wonder sometimes…

And that’s the reason why I’ve not touch on Adwords previously. Cos’ I’ve not utilized it before. But it’s all going to change now.

I will be devoting a lot more articles and posts on Adwords.

So Why Is Google Adwords One Of The Best Form of Advertising?

Here’s why:

1. You get almost instant traffic to your site.

2. The traffic you get is very targeted (depending on the choice of keywords you use), and targeted visitors convert much better.

And the fact that the visitors come to you instead of the other way round means that they are interested in your scope that your product covers and hence again – more likely buyers.

3. You only pay per click on your ad.

At least you can be sure you only pay when visitors are brought through to your site (how much you pay is another matter though as it depends on a few factors like keyword competition and how well optimized you ad is).

4. Adwords gives you the ability to split test across a variety of ads which you can then determine which one gives you the highest click through rate.

The ability to test, track and optimize is extremely important.

Because it can quickly allow you to ditch non-performing ads, you could then concentrate on optimizing those that work well, ensuring a maximum of return on investment (ROI) for you.

Now having said all these, I’m not coming here to tell you that the rest of the advertising methods are not worth doing.

You definitely could use them in tandem with Adwords in a multi-channel marketing campaign.

But say you have limited time on your hands, and there is only 1 method you can try – then it has to be Google Adwords without a doubt.

Is Google Adwords Expensive?

Dude…are you kidding me?

It’s not so much about cost. It’s about the net profits you can obtain.

If you can get $2 out of every $1 spend…will you spend that $1?

Is Google Adwords A Guaranteed Route To Success?

Nope. The only things that are guaranteed in life are death and taxes.

Google Adwords can be a very powerful tool in your marketing arsenal – provided you know how to utilize it efficiently.

It’s like having a Ferrari. It useless if you don’t know how to drive it.

I’ve seen people spending money on Google Adwords. But their sites do not even have an opt-in mechanism or a call-to-action to buy a product.

These people are just throwing money down the drain.

These stuff – I will leave it to another day to discuss.

Meanwhile, I just want to bring your attention to this powerful marketing tool. If you those that have totally not heard of it before, and you are looking to sell something – then you must explore the option of Adwords.

If you have been on the fence before, use it.

You can be sure I will be talking a lot more on Google Adwords in future.

As always, I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this. I’m all ears.

All success,

Jag Foo

But one based on cold hard statistics gathered from his prospects and customers’ actions.

For example, if you are a pay per click marketer, you will want to know which of your keywords, ads and landing pages converts the best.

This is vital because you don’t want to be shooting in the dark. Because that can mean 2 things – you take longer to get profitable…and you spend a lot more advertising that you should be.

Or because you don’t know what is working.

Fortunately, there are a lot of good tracking softwares out there.

And among the best…and a free one at that is prosper202.

It’s powerful. It gives in depth statistics. And it’s free. Can’t ask for more.

I use it for my PPC campaign myself. Excellent software.

It does what I just described and a lot more…

Here are some screenshots:

A good friend, I recently got to know, in the Warrior Forum, Derek Krein, has came out with a mini training course on tracking with Prosper202.

And not only that, it also covers on how you can use Prosper 202 to track other web links, banner ads, site placement ads and articles.

Solid stuff.

Here’s the link to Derek’s training course:

=> http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-special-offers-forum/39485-alert-dont-throw-money-away-track-sales-conversions-like-pro-9-95-a.html

Check it out.

Meanwhile, let me know what you think?

Do you track? If you are a PPC marketer, what do you track with?

Jag Foo

When it comes to email marketing, a lot of marketers usually like to focus on one thing.

The size of the list.

"How big is your list?" That’s the perennial favorite question of many.

And understandably so.

 A lot of us have an obsession about size.

You know. People say size matters. Okay, maybe yea, for your spouse. It does. But let’s not go there. =)

When it comes to email marketing, while there is no doubt that size IS a major factor, however the more crucial question should be…

Is Your List Quality?

Yes. All else being equal, Quality should ALWAYS take precedence over QUANTITY.

Of course, having both quality and quantity is the ideal case.

Unfortunately in life, things are often not as ideal as we want, don’t you think so?

Why I emphasize about quantity is because for whatever marketing dollar we invest, we have to aim for the highest possible return of investment.

We want to be effective and efficient in our marketing.

Having said that, here are several issues for you - the email marketer - to seriously ponder…

- Do you talk often to your subscribers?

- Do you offer value to them?

- Do they respond to you?

- Did they opt in to your list in a permission based manner?

- Did you do a double opt in for your list?

- Have they ever bought from you?

- Do you have a consistently high open rate and click through rate?

- Do you have a low unsubscribe rate?

- Do you get few or zero spam complaints?

If the answers to all are yes, then you know you are on the right track.

Well done. And keep it up. That’s the way to go.

In fact for the last point I mentioned, if you can consistently maintain a high click-through rate AND conversion rate, your profits are see a marked improvement.

I once helped a good friend of mine, together with another, who is a stock investor, to maintain his email list. This list pertains to the investment niche.

As we only recently set it up for just a few days, the list size is very small. Positively minuscule in fact. Merely 71 subscribers.

What we do is that we constantly talk to the subscribers. We shared freely. Built a relationship with them. Make them feel like we are friends to them. No different from you and me.

Soon, there is the "TRUST" factor being established there - a major component for marketing success.

You can take a look at the email statistics below when we sent out a broadcast message. 95.8% open rate and 42.3% click through. Not bad even if we do say so myself!

By the way, the broadcast message was for a meet up to a sharing session. We did the email copy as we usually would. Sold them the benefits of attending. Place some limitations to induce urgency and so on…

Okay, so here’s what eventually happened…

Well, obviously the copy must have worked. Our relationship definitely have played a part too. Cos you know what…?

More than 100 people signed up for the sharing session even though we only had 71 people in the list. So there were some of these people must have told someone!

Ahhh….the power of word of mouth marketing.

And we haven’t even got started!

So there you have it. E-mail marketing can be potent - if done the right way.

Did you do yours the way it should be?

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