The danger of the shiny object

09.09.24 04:58 PM - By Ebenezer Wey

When you hear S.O.S - What does it mean to you?

When you hear the term, S.O.S, due to everyday use of language, you would most likely interpret that acronym, as "Save Our Soul", however, when it comes to the digital marketing landscape, it means something completely different.

If you are a beginner in digital marketing or online business, one thing that is important to you, are the tools you use for various tasks, tools that help you create graphics, videos, websites, landing pages, sales pages, funnels, and deploy every other strategy in getting your business going.

As you search for the best tools that you can use, I am sure you have experienced one of these scenarios:

Scenario 1

You get an email, probably from an affiliate, about a great new piece of software, that allows you to create all kinds of graphic assets, including videos, at a great price, less than what it would cost you to get coffee for breakfast, and that it settles all your worries when it comes to graphics? and the very next week, a better, much more innovative, less expensive solution comes up, and you check out that one again, and the cycle continues every week or every month?

Scenario 2

You get a similar email or see an advert on Facebook, similar to the one in scenario 1, but this time, it's a service, a series of tasks, that promise to make you "rich" overnight, or even if not rich, at least, alleviate your condition from being without any funds to having a lot of cash flow within a minimum amount of time, without much effort, if you are not focused, you most likely would jump on that train as well.

Here's the truth:

Just like it is in technology, the world of digital marketing is also very fast-paced, and if you don't have a good grasp of the basics and a good understanding of your areas of strength, you are leaving yourself open to all kinds of distractions, and we call these new tools, new solutions, new software or services that seem to come out every other day, "shiny objects".

If you get addicted to these shiny objects, we call it "shiny objects syndrome".

If you are as excited as many beginners were, when they started, and you did not get the benefit of having a guide, a coach, or someone much more experienced in the world of digital marketing, you would most likely have gotten the "shiny object syndrome".

The only thing that can help you stop the trend, is the involvement of someone with much more experience, to help you maintain focus on the one or two aspects of digital marketing that you have identified as your area of strength or in some cases, the lack of financial resources to get the shiny objects.

Digital Marketing, just like other industries like Medicine, Real Estate, etc has various areas of specialty, from inbound marketing to outbound marketing, to chatbots, email marketing, and video marketing, and now, with the beast known as "artificial intelligence", it has become much more complicated..

A beginner in Digital Marketing is likened to a kid in a candy store, you are most likely attracted to all the candy in the store, and you run the risk of getting an ailment caused by too much sugar, in this case, "too many tools".

The sad part of this, is that most of the tools, when you review them for what they are and what they are used for, objectively, essentially do the "same thing".

However, you would not know this, at the time of purchase, because you were carried away in excitement by the words of the copywriter, who wrote the email, and the sales letter and probably did the video sales letter that convinced you to make the purchase.

The good thing is, once you understand the core basics, and you are focused on your area of strength, you become fully aware of this shiny object syndrome and will only go for tools, that actually add value to your work, and help you create quality output.

Beware of the "shiny object syndrome", it is real and it affects most beginners in digital marketing

#digitalmarketing #onlinebusiness #affiliatemarketing #growth #smallbusiness

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Ebenezer Wey

Chief Executive Officer Smart Afrikan LLC

I am an experienced project and product manager who applies design thinking to create practical solutions for personal and professional challenges. I help entrepreneurs design, build, launch, grow, and scale their products and services online with impact, driving growth and success.