Death to BullSh*t and Info Overload!
First off, there is a really good reason for the title of this post so bear with me for just a moment. Also, if you are sensitive to any bad language or you have kids near you that can read, please don’t go any further. Alrighty, that out of the way, let’s get down to it.
I know many of you reading this work like I do each day. I’m in my home office and it’s usually pretty quiet in here. BUT, my work environment – my “digital office” – is SO VERY noisy! There are days that the noise in this business is SO loud that I literally have to get up and remove myself from it to avoid becoming over-whelmed.
The internet is a very busy, loud, noisy, and overwhelming place once it’s no longer your playground and it becomes your “office”.
My friends and family think I’m nuts (for more than one reason, to be quite honest….lol!), but they can’t understand how someone who works online for hours and hours on end is never on Facebook to see that picture, or this post, or that like, or what he said, or what she wore. On top of that, my cell phone is on silent most of the time because the sound of it ringing or alerting me to a text is many times that “last straw”.
And that has GOT to be a reason why they think I’m absolutely NUTS. How in the WORLD can ANYONE in this day and age not be attached to their cell phone 24/7?
Heck, if I actually leave my “office” and get away from the noise, my cell goes in my purse on silent unless I am without my hubby. My kids/family/friends know that if they really need me, to call my hubby.
I simply have to get out and around people and get away from all the digital noise.
Ironically, when I do get out around people, THEY all have their heads down focused on their phones!
(btw, I have a theory about that and I’ll get to it in a moment)
I’m sure that me admitting these things has now brought more folks over to the “Jennifer is Nuts” Fan Club – and that’s ok, I wear it well =)
Thing is, the internet, or anything digital that HAS internet, is not entertainment to me. Instead, it is a very, very loud place of business – and a business that many have burnt out and left because they did NOT say, “Death to Bullsh*t and Info Overload!”
And that, right there, brings me to the reason behind the title of this post.
I came across something today that totally fit in with how I feel about all this – and WHY I am the way I am.
There were stats and thoughts shared that I absolutely had to share with y’all. Some of the stats will blow you away – I know they certainly made me say, “WOW, No Way!”
This is a SlideShare presentation from Brad Frost called: Death to BullSh*t!
Just use the arrows at the bottom to scroll through at your own pace.
Trust me, there WILL be at LEAST one thing in there that really gets your attention (and you’ll also be armed with lots of crazy facts and stats to impress your friends and family with).
My thoughts and notes are below the presentation.
Jennifer’s Notes
- Guess how many photos are uploaded to Facebook every DAY? Answer on slide #15
- Guess how many hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every MINUTE? Answer on slide #26
- Guess how many emails are sent every single day? Answer on Slide #30
- This one is a real wing-dinger…. Guess how many WEBSITES are created every DAY? Answer on Slide #31
- This stuff is just in our face every day, all day…. like the picture on Slide #40
- Guess what year we hit “information overload”? The answer on Slide #46 shocked me.
- I’m still wondering if the QR Code shown in Slide #71 had any chance of being effective. I know I’m showing my age here, but I grew up on the beach and I remember the CopperTone Girl being there….not a QR Code!
- And what a crazy stat on Slide #91 – You’re more likely to survive a plane crash than __________.
- And yes, Slide #99 drives me NUTS! Does it drive you crazy, too?
- I wish I could change one thing on Slide #107. The last picture of the person… I think the head should be facing DOWN. That’s how EVERYONE is these days 99% of the time… looking DOWN (at their phone…at their computer…at their iPad, etc etc). I think we’re gonna end up stuck that way!
What’s that my Grandmother always said when I was little? “Jenni Anne, if you keep making that face, it will stick that way!!!”
- The quote on Slide #108 I wrote down and posted near me. SO true!
- I really think the word emphasized on Slide #116 is probably the “secret” to doing well online these days. Help people _______ the BS.
- And a Yes, Yes, Yes to Slides 125 – 127!!
- I love Slide #132 – THAT is the “sweet spot”. You do NOT have to know “everything” – just know enough…and care about it.
- Slide #135 – which part do YOU want to be in? Here’s a little tip (ok, a BIG tip) – if it’s on the big right side, remove it. Try to keep as much as you can over on that other calm side.
So, what did you think? How many times did YOU say, “Wow!” ??
Oddly, I feel a little less nuts now, but a good bit scared of the noise that is yet to come. I love it “in here” – and LOVE what I do.
Thing is tho, when we do what we do, ESPECIALLY when you’re trying to make money online for free, we HAVE to get out there right smack in the middle of the noise. Overwhelm is around every, single corner.
What’s funny to me is that I used to run tournaments for 100’s of guys at a time. Just me against them in their natural habitat (the golf course….haha!).
Trust me, THAT was LOUD and overwhelming at times (no offense guys, I loved that job too). Ironically, to get away from THAT and relax, I spent time on the internet!
My how things change! (also makes me feel that there should be more golf played in my near future. What once was the noise is now the calm).
May I ask – How do YOU deal with the noise and potential overwhelm?
Let’s talk about it…. Comments are open.
To add: I just found out that he has a video presentation for these slides here in case you’d like to watch it:
https://vimeo.com/63437853
Jennifer
~PotPieGirl
Hey Jennifer,
I can so relate to your post! In fact, I couldn’t get myself to finish all the slides… Found them to be too much noise as well 🙂
I have 7 kids and work online just a few hours a day. So blocking out noise becomes super-important. When I work I don’t take phone calls. I use Facebook, Skype, or email ONLY if I need it to get that day’s tasks done.
But I still wish I was better at blocking out the noise.
Sara
Hey Sara!
7 kids… now THAT is noise! I’m sure you are an expert at blocking it all out!
Thanks for stopping by!
The cream always seems to eventually rise to the top. Sites that allow user-submitted content, search engines, etc., will have to continually get better at letting the good stuff rise, otherwise they won’t survive and they’ll lose to someone that does it better than them.
Few years back, I used many “anti-bs” tools in my web browser, like Ad-block for example. But then I realized that when you try to make money online you basically can’t afford to block bullshit. Because bullshit is part of your own living.
You can’t block ads on other pages if you want to learn how to earn money by placing ads on your own pages. You have to notice how ads are placed on other websites, what kind of newsletters are coming to your mailbox, how annoying popunders work… all this stuff is something you should know of and it’s usefull to experience these bullshits affecting you directly.
It’s really a paradox.
Exactly – we HAVE to get in the noise! It’s how we learn and test….
“they can’t understand how someone who works online for hours and hours on end is never on Facebook to see that picture”
Online friends are the worst… they don’t realize that when I’m sitting at this computer, I am BUSY… I don’t sit here for hours on end doing nothing just waiting for them to chat me up… oh well, I made my bed when I opened the door in the first place…
Offtopic: Jennifer, I purchased Micro Niche Finder last month using your affiliate link… I hope it gave you an extra jingle in your pocket… 🙂
Thanks AnnaBella! I think I’ll buy me some noise-cancelling headphones now….lol!
Am I the only one who saw nothing new in that presentation? Five or more years ago some major internet marketers were preaching that same tune, albeit with words rather than pictures.
Kudos to you for finding and sharing this slide show, and double kudos to you for so adeptly utilizing it in your blog post, but are you serious that this is new information to you? That’s where I find myself unwilling to suspend my disbelief, neither disrespect nor offense intended.
While not ALL of it was new to me, there were things there that I didn’t already know and I enjoyed the presentation of it all together…so I shared it.
The slides were for a live presentation he did – link to the video above.
Seriously, PPG…Death to BS the same day you promote via email a $300 autoblogging, spun content (Super Spun!) software?
Autoblogging spun content flies in the face of EVERYTHING this slideshow is about.
Jeremy, can’t you unsubscribe from the email list?
Sorry you saw the email as that… I see it differently as I usually do – I rarely judge things on face value and prefer to be creative in my thinking and NOT use things like everyone else is.
Regardless, no matter how wonderful one’s ‘message’ is – we all still need resources to get the word out and to get found.
If it’s more effective for me to hire a piece of software to post really good content to my “resource” sites each day than it is for me to hire someone to post to my sites each day, so be it. It isn’t “auto-blogging” in the way that everyone is screaming about – it is a way of getting good stuff done FOR you. And, it doesn’t have to be used that way – that’s just one feature. If one thinks outside the box, there is a lot of value in it. In fact, this conversation lets me know that perhaps I should explain more in-depth to my folks what *I* see regarding that tool.
Thanks for stopping by!
I am genuinely interested in your “outside the box thinking” for how to use autoblogging software in a way that isn’t just clogging the net with spun-BS and making any site that uses it Panda-bait.
Autoblogging has bad connotations and that is understandably so. Most people use it the tools to create splogs.
However, there’s a big world of datafeeds out there. There’s lots of them that contain quality content. With a bit of creative thinking you can combine several sources of quality content and make it valuable to visitors. Also, you don’t need to spin content. When I am shopping online for a product, I often go to youtube to see what people say about it, look up reviews, and try to find the lowest price.
You can aggregate all that information for someone and make it easy for them.
Autoblogs are bottom feeders. They usually only rank for super long tail keywords and usually when there is next to nothing for the search engines to show. Google is a lot better at it’s job – acting as a filter so the good stuff rises to the top.
The “Noise” on the Internet is what I like to call “Time Wasters”.
Found your blog via this post PotPieGirl, and it really helped me realize not only what was overwhelming me, but also how I was overwhelming myself and others! Thanks, I’ll be peeking 🙂
Hey Jennifer,
Guess that qualifies me as NUTS too.
I don’t do cell except when travelling and rarely pick up at home when I don’t recognize a number. Hate getting phone pitched by affiliate managers and merchants. Prefer they email ALL the goods in one go… which I would have to access anyway after wasting time on a call.
Learning to ignore the noise, or choose the noise you hear, is a very good thing.
Cheers,
Ros
I started to feel this way a couple of years ago. When I first started to use Facebook I felt like I didn’t have a real life anymore. The same with Twitter.
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