Do you or someone you know suffer from shiny object syndrome? Interestingly, to those who are starting a business online, it can be the single biggest cause for downfall (and frustration) and yet for the rest of the internet marketing industry, it is a boon. What’s up with that?

Shiny object syndrome: chasing the next “big thing”, the current fad or the easy button, the chasing of which causes so many distractions that primary business objectives are not (and can not be) met.

The sales pitches are fierce, promising cash at the push of a few buttons and for only $27. Of course, you hope that it’s true, you want it to be true. You hope that this one additional thing will be the piece you’ve been missing, that it will present you with what you need to at last break through and start making money.

Logic says that if someone had the easy button, it wouldn’t be sold for a mere $27 but your hopes, dreams and perhaps a bit of desperation, pushes your doubt aside and you think that for $27, you can afford to give it a try…

The internet marketing industry relies on you to give that new thing a try. You are no doubt fully aware of the multitude of offers in your inbox and you’ve likely only scratched the surface of those available. In that respect, we can be our own worst enemies.

Your mindset is at the root of the issue. Your mindset can be the difference between success and failure. The internet industry is counting on you being the consumer and not the business owner. As soon as you make the mindset shift from “consumer” to “business owner”, you’ll care very much about the $27 dollars and unless and until you have the income to cover it, you’ll think twice about spending it. You’ll care about the ROI and whether or not the investment is one that makes sense. As long as you remain in “consumer” mode, you’ll continue to chase the ever elusive easy button.

How do you go about doing that? One sure way is by running your business as a business. At minimum, you should be tracking your monthly income and expenses. If the income doesn’t support additional expenditures, hold off on them. Better yet, you should have a plan that details your annual production and projected income. Does that make you yawn?

Another great tip that I’ve picked up is to stick with the basics until you have mastered them. In other words, focus on building your site and pick at most 2-3 tactics to try, then work on those until you master them. Only after your have mastered them should you consider adding to your arsenal. This tip applies to overcoming overwhelm as well but I think it has value here in avoiding the shiny object until you are ready for the next new thing.

Focus on the basics first. Prove to yourself that you have selected a great niche, that you can build a list and that you can sell something to that list. Until you do that, don’t even think of expanding.

It might not sound sexy or like fun to you but any way you slice it, unless and until you look at your business as a business, it is nothing more than a hobby… and an expensive hobby at that.

What do you think of shiny object syndrome? Do you have or have you used other tips/techniques to either avoid or get out of shiny object syndrome? Please leave a comment and let us know about your experiences.

Google announced three new search features this week that I for one, can’t wait to try.  The first of the three that Google revealed is Instant Search which is going to give us even faster results when actively searching for something on the web.  This one doesn’t have my heart pumping quite as fast as the other two simply because they already return pretty darn fast results but it still is a very ‘nice to have’ feature.  As a blogger, I’m all for speeding up search and by the same token, research.

The second new feature is very cool indeed.  Google is bringing voice search to our desktops.  If you use voice search on your mobile device already, you already know that this is a very fun feature.  It enables search by way of speaking to the Chrome browser and off it goes.  (Yes, you need to be using Chrome in order to check it out.)  This new feature will be extremely handy for multi-taskers or those who have accessibility needs for one reason or another.

You do still need to launch Chrome and click on the microphone manually (unless you have other software to do that part) but imagine if you will, what it will be like when you can do those two things by voice control?  You’ll be able to drive your searches from across the room or while your hands are otherwise completely occupied!  I’m thinking of an example such as  cooking, have your hands in the dough or stirring the risotto and desperately need to check a recipe.  You could be in the middle of any manner of things and want or need to do a quick search and this feature could be a godsend.

If you want to try it out, (in Chrome) just look for the small microphone symbol to the right of the search box and click that…then simply let Chrome know what you want to search for by speaking it aloud.  Not to worry if you don’t yet have a microphone symbol.  Google says it will take several days to get these new features rolled out to all users.  Just hang in there a few days and then give it a whirl when you can.

The third new feature that really gets me going is for Google images.   We are going to be able to drop an image directly into the images search box and Google will let you know where it was taken (given that it is a known location and not your dining room or backyard, of course).  I’m extremely excited about this new feature as I have a number of photographs that I would very much like to better identify and this will (I hope) help me out.  In fact, I know someone who has a very old, unsigned oil painting with no knowledge of the origins and we are hoping that this new feature might shed some light on its history.

For that matter, you might be able to use this new feature to identify all manner of items or possible treasures.  Imagine if you will, that you have a hand-me-down cha cha from your family…something with a pattern on it that might make it identifiable or what if you want to know what breed of dog you just saw in the park.  It sounds as though all you will need to do is snap a pic and dump it into Google to learn more.  It just seems to me that this new feature has SO much potential that I can’t wait to play with it.

A fourth feature (I know, I said three but if you’ve read this far, you deserve another) announced today is Google’s new “Me on the Web” tool that alerts you to mentions or data leaks of you on the web and allows you to more easily find the tools to remove information leaked.  If you are concerned about your privacy, this could be a very handy tool for you.  You can read more about it in this PC World article about “Me on the Web“.

Can you imagine everything you might do with these new features?  If you have access to them already and can give them a whirl, we’d love to know what you are able to do.  Please leave a comment and share.

Breaking news that you’ll love!

Have you heard about the Facebook “Send” button? It allows for integrating email with Facebook for sharing which means that you can now not only “Like” great content, but send it via email when you want to share the content more privately.

When using “Send” you have the option of either sending to a friend’s Facebook mail or to an email account such as Gmail. How great is that?

There are already a number of blogs that have picked up on this news and are sharing the information but here is a great start…Chris Farrell posted a video on his blog that demonstrates the “Send” button use and installation. I think you’ll really like it so go check it out right now and then come back and let me know what you think.

Got it? It’s really very cool, yes? So tell me, are you running right off to put a “Send” button or perhaps a combination “Like/Send” buttons on your site?

Are you using video yet to help build your business?  In keeping with my commitment to bring you great resources for building your business, I want to share this review of one of the BEST classes that I’ve taken to date… bar none. It has recently been promoted by some of the big guns (including John Carlton) so I know I’m not alone in my assessment.

You’ve no doubt heard about and seen many video class offerings lately because the fact of the matter is, video works.  Video sales letters can convert 2x better than text so it is in every online marketer’s best interest to learn how to use video effectively.

This particular class is Video Sales Letter Workshop 2.0 (VSLW2.0 for short) but it’s not just any video workshop.  This workshop is led by Lou D’Alo and Chris “Mr. Moneyfingers” Haddad, a powerful partnership.  Lou is stellar at guiding students through the process, keeping them involved, motivated and moving forward.  Chris is the guru’s (secret weapon) pro at creating compelling, high converting video sales letters (commanding up to 30k a pop), who spins, or ‘riffs’ on the fly like crazy.

During the workshop, Chris not only teaches his system (a system that works without yet having a product or the need to be on camera) but provides hands-on guidance on video of your own.  He provides that guidance through feedback and “hot seats” during which time he does his ‘magic’ for you.  That is one of the things that first grabbed my full attention (actually a few things).  I learned a number of things and got great value just from listening to the promo video!  (If you want to check it out for yourself, and hear Chris do his magic, here is the latest).  Lou’s leadership, complimented by Chris’ talents and system creates a truly dynamic learning environment.

While the initial reasons I signed up were because of the team and the opportunity to learn how to create the videos without having to be on camera, I was thrilled to have also gained access to the community.

• Chris’ spin or ‘riff’ – It is hard to fully appreciate this one until you hear Chris in action during a hot seat but once I did, I wanted more.  (If you want to hear him for yourself, check out this workshop video). I was also attracted to the idea that if I were to do a ‘hot seat’ Chris would do his magic for me!  Priceless!  I’m still in awe of Chris’ talent, so much so that I’ve listened to the recent guru promos to hear more even though I’ve been through the class.
• Creating effective video without having to be on camera – Transitioning to video can be much more challenging than it first sounds so the idea that you can still create high-converting videos without first overcoming that hurdle is very attractive.
• Learning environment – I have yet to run into another class that was as dynamic and interactive as this one.  The camaradrie established among the students was amazing.  Granted, this is highly dependent upon the students involved however, I also believe it had a lot to do with the leadership and structure of the workshop.  Included in the workshop was a contest that got everyone running at full speed.
• Contest?  – Yes, Contest.  This wasn’t one of the reasons that  I took the class but I do believe it contributed to the participation level of the class.  Students worked hard to win the contest because the 1st twelve to finish were entitled to 15 minutes with Chris and the winner got  an hour of Chris’ time.  Again, Priceless!  That exploded the competition.

The downside was that in order to fully participate (and join the contest), it did take a lot of work. As with all courses, you get back from it what you put into it.  The work was fast-paced, but fun and if you do the work, you exit the workshop with a video that converts.

In summary, Video Sales Letter 2.0 Workshop is one that I highly recommend.  I learned a LOT and thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.  If you get a chance to take this one, jump in.   Even if you are not in the market for a new course right now, at a minimum you need to check out the VSLW2.0 Promo Webinar Replay to get tons of value (Chris gives you his exact, step by step formula) and to hear Chris do his thing.  I know you’ll be impressed!

After you’ve listened to the video, please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Are you as impressed with Chris as I am?

First things first, to give credit where credit is due, Belinda Cunningham is the creator of this great idea.  As I understand it, blogs that are nominated pay it forward by nominating 10 blogs of their choosing for the award, listing them on their site for their readers to check out, thus spreading the word of great blogs and providing cool back links.  Belinda writes blog – she’s written a lot about Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich book and her take on that fine piece.

To that end, I am honored to have been one of Rob Wilson’s nominees.  Rob is the man behind Rainbow Traffic Solutions Rainbow Traffic Solutions I’ve enjoyed reading Rob’s blog and learning a bit more about traffic networks. He runs several and posts all the news on his blog. If you aren’t yet familiar, you just might check it out.

There are so many quality blogs out there that it has taken me a while to determine which 10 I would like to introduce you to but at long last, here they are.  A couple of these have been previously nominated however, I believe that they or worth repeating so that you, my readers, have a chance to learn of them as well.

My list of nominees includes;

1. Passion 101 Dr. Adam Sheck’s blog is all about bringing the passion back into your relationship (what’s not to love about that???).  Dr. Sheck provides advice for both men and women, monthly teleseminars and offers an opportunity to ask him questions directly.  I’ve been enjoying his blog for several months now and find it well worth checking out.
2. Creating Healing and Love Dr. Erica Goodstone focuses on healing and love.  She really writes some powerfully inspirational posts that make us (at least they make me) stop and think about what is truly important in life.  You really ought to stop by her blog.  You can tell her writing comes straight from the heart.
3. The Robin and Judy Show Robin Van der Merwe and Judy Hasenack provide a wealth of useful information for online marketers  and bloggers.   Whether you are a newbie or seasoned pro, this is a great blog to put on your reading list.  You are sure to find something new and interesting to learn about.
4. Automarker Karin Boode provide one of the only sites I know of that focuses on social bookmarking. Yes, I’m sure there are many but this is the only one that I regularly frequent.  This can be such a critical element for any online marketing effort that it is a good one for my list.
5. Peter Fuller MBA CA Peter provides Home Business Solutions for “Zoomers” (boomers with zip).  What’s not to love about that?  I suppose I have a predilection to his blog since our customers are very similar.  Peter is a Chartered Accountant MBA who is offering information and reviews of various online business strategies.  It’s well worth your time to check out his site.
6. Colette Kenney is a very bright, shiny star in the relationships industry.  She coaches and counsels to both singles and couples, nudging her clients towards greater levels of trust, intimacy and forgiveness.  Colette’s style is refreshing and conscientious.  I think you’ll enjoy her blog (and her) quite a lot.
7. Lesly Moments by Lesly Federici, “the Green RN”.  Lesly’s blog is always fun to check out. She talks about education, business, mindset and touches on all sorts of very useful topics (including holiday shopping).  She also does many of her graphics/drawings herself and they are always a delight to see.
8. Deborah A. Ten Brink Deborah takes a fresh approach to blogging by combining her passion for outdoor escapes with her online business.  You’ll get the idea the moment you visit her blog and enter into an online garden setting that reminds us to remember what is important in our lives.
9. I Should Have Listened to my Mother by Nancy Burke Barr, JD, aka “Mentor Mama”.   As she states herself “My posts  cheer you on, nag you to learn marketing laws & urge you to dress for success.  No hype here,  just old-fashioned hard work & common sense”  It’s all fine and well to learn the ins and outs of online marketing but we mustn’t forget to learn about marketing laws along the way.
10. Natalie Louise Natalie is a bit of a kindred spirit from down under.  She has a wonderful blog full of online business tutorials and tools that are helpful to all online marketers.  That’s probably why I like her blog so much…you can tell she just loves cranking out value.  You’re sure to find some delightful tidbits.

Sadly, I honestly wanted to add about 1/2 dozen more so it was quite difficult for me to choose.  Perhaps I’ll post another blog to let you know about another few for your amusement.  In the meantime, what are you waiting for?  Check out a few of these blogs but do be sure to come back and leave a comment letting me know what you think of my selections.  Too heavy in one area or another?  Did you find them useful and was this fun for you?  Do you know of a site that I should have included?