Freebie Info Overload

Ok, I love free things. Who doesn't, but there comes a point where free stuff can be a curse and not a blessing.

I experienced that in titanic proportions over the holidays. I received an email from a list that I WAS on saying that he had 117 Christmas gifts for me. "Wow, that's awesome!" and "What's the catch!" fought for the right to be first place in my mind.

It was awesome because there was a lot of great info being offered buy 117 internet marketers. They were in the form or articles, email courses, audio recordings, ebooks, etc. Some had give away and resell rights. I needed these types of things to give away for my projects.

HERE IS THE CATCH...
In order to get the free gifts from each marketer, you had to opt-in to their mail list. You didn't have to get every gift. You could pick and choose, but that was very difficult. Almost all of them were business related and all of them had information I was looking for.

I was afraid to pick one from each topic, because I might miss the one that was a better fit for me. I wanted to compare them.

Guess what happened. I spent a horrible amount of time opting in to these lists. Some were kind enough to let me have an instant download, but most required me to go back to my email confirm my subscription and download the item through their special page where they were trying to upsell me something else. A lot of times the download link was so tiny you couldn't find it.

I don't mind people upselling me stuff. If there are products out there that will help me, I want to know about them even if it is for future reference. The problem was the quantity of info and the amount of work it took to get it.

On top of that, the website was only going to be open for two weeks, so I had to get it all done during Christmas. What's up with that?

I opted in to most of the lists and I downloaded a bunch of the freebies, then I dropped my laptop before back-up and lost all of it.

Now I am opting out of lists and downloading the freebies that I want and deciding which marketer is worth my time.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not playing the victim here. They didn't force me to do all of this. It actually taught me that I need to develop discipline in my acquisition processes - in all areas. I am a pack rat, I hate to see things thrown away, and I hate to miss a good opportunity. More than that, I like to make comparisons before I make my final decisions about anything. I am going to have to make changes in those areas of my mindset.

So many of my struggles have centered around having too many ideas filling my head and having to much information from all I am hearing and reading. I think this is why this frustrated me so much. I feel like I need to know these things, so I reach for more info.

I have a lot of things that I haven't even read or listened to yet. I had done so well in setting boundaries for myself.

1. I stopped buying any new information until I have read and processed what I've got.
2. I began opting out of email lists that I wasn't reading - even if they seemed interesting to me. After all, I WASN'T reading them.
3. I choose a few pieces on info that applied to my current projects and put all of the others on hold.

Then the freebie wave hit. Shortly after the 117 Christmas Gifts event was launched, I received notice from a trusted list owner about another freebie wave of 207 items.

However, this one didn't hit me the same way. There were no opt-in requirements and the products were about a lot of different subjects rather than exclusively internet marketing. Plus, there was no time limit pushing me to do it now and the downloads were very straightforward.

The 207 promo was a much better experience. The result of the 117 Christmas gifts promo was that I opted out of the list of the guy who sent me the offer. He sends a lot of emails and every time I saw it I thought about needing to opt out of 100+ email lists. At least for me, his participation in the promotion backfired.

I had recently opted out of the list of the guy who was doing the 207 gifts, but he has gained more credibility in my mind. I might reconsider joining after I here him speak at a conference in August.

So, what's my point? Be careful what you let into your life while you are making changes in habits and thinking. If you see something sabotaging you, get to the crux of it right away and keep moving forward as much as you can. There's a reason the term "Three steps forward, two steps back" has been around so long.

Through this experience I got a clearer picture of how clutter doesn't have to be paper and things. It can be a thought, an email or a digital file that can keep me from thinking clearly, drain my energy and prevent me from reaching my goals.

I also became more deeply aware of my fear that I might be missing something out of life if I passed on information or events that are around me. I really need to delve deeply into that one. It has been a pattern in my life and I need to find out why. I'm sure there will be more to come on that topic.

Here's to the Journey,

Deborah