Swimming Through Information

Someone mentions the word "Laminin" to you over the phone and you can instantly Google search it to see pictures, gain insightful and provocative information, gathering your sources to verify credibility. Excellent! Saves a trip to the library, calling all the friends you know in the scientific or medical field and gives you yet another piece of trivia that may be useful in a board game at some point.

Now try sitting at your computer to research "Entrepreneurial Growth Tips" ... Good luck with that! Every coach, trainer, publisher, reseller and anyone who has been paying attention to the "How to brand yourself" people ... myself included ... has a blog, website, article, etc that they have tried to optimize on the Internet, hoping people will randomly find them through all the other noise.

How do you swim through this sea of information to get to the pearls you need and can best use? How do you know what is credible and what is regurgitated, trendy fluff? It seems whoever yells the loudest attracts the most fish, but is that the right direction for you?

I am not a big name dropper. People ask me if I know some great name and I say "yes" but I usually know some deeper, negative side to their story of fame. Usually that's the information that sticks. If reputation is based on number of website hits, what THEY say about themselves, frequency of mentions and Googleability, those who are up on the latest tech-trends win.

I prefer a reputation built on what you've actually done, how you've impacted people, what those people know to be true about you.

I want people to say "Carol Carter is authentic, caring and creative. This is what she did for me ..." . I want to be known for how I help others using my inherent strengths and how I remain true to my top core values while honouring others. If I'm only known for the number of times people see my name, my reputation has no substance and can easily be destroyed.

So what is the answer for wading through the quagmire of sheer volume of information on the World Wide Web? Well ... what do you NEED to know? If you need to know how to be successful in a certain area, talk to someone who is doing it!! Network. Seek them out and ask them questions, including where to source the information they found that helped them and what reading they would recommend. Sure, take half an hour and browse the web for the latest buzz and trends, but then ASK someone in the know what they think of those trends and how valid they are. Examine them together and test their validity.

Whatever you do, when on the net, ask yourself every ten minutes "Is this the best use of my time right now?". Chances are you already know the answer.


Recommendations for the rest of the summer:

1) Make a list of questions you want answers to.
2) Do a small amount of prep research on the Internet, not only writing down potential answers, but also listing your sources.
3) Seek out successful professionals (more than one) and ask them for their valued opinions on your findings, as well as their answers to the same questions. You may just develop some very lucrative connections and/or mentors through this process!
4) Ask what books and articles the professionals recommend.
5) READ the recommended articles and books, touching base with the recommender during and upon completion of your reading.
6) USE the new found knowledge and advice!
6) Share your new found knowledge with people like you.

Enjoy! Learn! Grow! Reach out to grow others!

-Carol Carter-