e-Books, Webinars, Special Reports and other sublime devices of torture

A few different blog posts I’ve read recently point to the same problem: way too much online information. With search engines and people gobbling up free stuff like e-books, webinars, tipsheets, special reports, and other forms of e-info out there, it seems that we’re facing a crisis of information overload.

By now, we know that content satisfies search engine appetites and helps drive SER’s, and we’ve all hopped on the bandwagon. I find myself agreeing with the bloggers saying that the content bandwagon’s beginning to look more and more like one of those clown cars at the circus. Everyone’s got content to read, download, print, or view on-demand – the internet’s bursting at the seams with information.

If you’d rather stick pins in your eyes than watch yet another webinar or have bamboo shoots shoved under your fingernails before downloading and half-reading another e-book, maybe the problem isn’t really too much information, but rather too much of the WRONG information.

I get several emails every day urging me to sign up for webinar after webinar on seemingly every e-marketing tool and technique going. The reality is that there’s only so much time in the day, and I’ve probably actually attended only 2 out of the 20+ webinars I’ve signed up for in the last few months. Chances are good that I’ve missed a few usable morsels of information. For the most part, though, the unfortunate reality is: probably not. Most of the tips and tactics shared by these companies are things I’ve already learned on my own or picked up through research and reading, and practice in my own businesses.

So how do we, as busy professionals, separate the good stuff from the crap? What ‘free’ information warrants an investment of our time to read, view or engage in, and what doesn’t? Ultimately, it’s up to us and our experience level or interest with the subject matter. For example, I likely won’t attend a webinar on successful email campaigns, given my past experience and expertise on the subject, unless it appears that the session will impart something new. On the flipside, I read a lot of blogs and other information on social media and emerging practices because that’s one of my specialties.

However, if a software company that I just created an account with were encouraging me to participate in a webinar that would provide tips for using their software and improving my results with great insider tips and information, chances are I’d invest the time, whether live or on-demand.

There’s a lot of free information floating around in cyber space these days – it’s up to you to figure out what’s going to be worth your time. Even if you learn just one new thing, I’d say that’s time well spent.

Lisa-May Huby, Director of Marketing