If you watch American Idol at all, you’ll notice that one of the words Simon Cowell uses a lot is self-indulgent (I suppose that might be two words). He uses this word after a performer has chosen a song simply because he/she liked it and not because (a) anyone else would or (b) it was relevant and made sense.
This trend is not just found on the stages of American Idol.
In entrepreneur land, we see this all the time. People are adding service upon service upon service to showcase all of their expansive knowledge yet there is no consistency, congruency or cleanliness to it. It’s more like someone decided to wake up every day, forgetting the previous day’s ideas, and create more things that are similar yet maybe just slightly different.
Other times, we land on someone’s website only to be lost in the maze and confusion that is their site. Products? Store? Resources? Help for You? “Where do I go to just spend my money?” is probably what you will find yourself saying out loud. A few minutes later, you’ll click that tiny red x or you’ll go back to Google and go elsewhere.
The thing is, everyone can change their gluttonous ways and change their websites… It’s just that most people can’t stop doing what they are doing. The reason is usually because they are trying to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. While I commend this approach (because it involves action), you need to do it in a way that still makes sense to your consumer.
So, how can you change your ways if you air on the side of gluttony and self-indulgence? Here are some ideas.
1. Less is Definitely More
Streamline, streamline, streamline. Don’t offer six masterminds. Offer one and bundle up what you were going to spread out over six. Also, you don’t need to offer every single ebook and audio program that you own as individual products. Group things together that make sense to be grouped and offer them as packages.
2. Be Careful With Buzz Terms
Mastermind, mentorship program, bootcamp, self-study, e-book, audio program, etc. These are all words we use to describe service offerings but BE CAREFUL here. You do not want to have a mastermind and a mentorship program that offer similar things but one to a group and one to a single person. Yes, the logic sounds great but imagine looking at someone’s website and seeing two things with the same name. Without doing research and WORK, I would never know what you were offering.
3. Only Offer Things That Make Sense & That Appeal to Your Audience
This is where a lot of people fail. The general consensus is that if you’ve created it, of course people will want it! Chances are though, if it’s not highly targeted to your audience, they won’t buy it. So, instead of focusing your time on creating sales pages, setting up products, etc. focus instead on the current products that are selling.
Do you remember the 80/20 rule? If we apply it here, 80% of your income will come from the top 20% of your products. Therefore, you don’t need to spend your time on the stuff that doesn’t sell. Take it down, streamline and make your bestsellers known!
If you are guilty of doing the above, you might want to consider getting outside help and an outside perspective on this. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees and we just need to admit that and get help. 
(Editor’s Note: If you are looking for help in this area, we are here! You can purchase a one-hour call with Erin where you’ll spend the time analyzing your current websites, your service offerings, etc. to see if you are leaving money on the table by either confusing your website visitors or not packaging services up properly. Click here to purchase a one hour call and we’ll get you scheduled right away!)
Would you like to use this article in your publication, on your blog or in some other fashion? You can so long as you include this bio with it:
Erin Blaskie is the owner of Business Services, ETC – A Global Internet Marketing & Implementation Firm. Her company helps businesses from around the world take their practice online and create huge success using various internet marketing tactics. Erin herself has been featured in three print books (”Becoming an Online Business Manager” by Tina Forsyth, “My So-Called Freelance Life” by Michelle Goodman, and “The Official AWE Emerging Trends Guide 2009” compiled by the Association of Web Entrepreneurs), honored as Office Arrow’s 2008 Runner-Up Business Woman of the Year, interviewed by countless gurus and media personalities (John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, Sheri McConnell, Stacy Karacostas, Gina McNew) and featured in major news publications (ABCNews.com, Ottawa Citizen and Employment Journal).
[tags]Gluttony, self-indulgence, self-indulgent, entrepreneur, entrepreneurial, small business, solopreneur, marketing, internet marketing, service offerings, choices, Erin Blaskie, BSETC[/tags]
I had an interesting experience recently with a speaking event that I was asked to speak at. I had delivered a presentation at the event last year which was enjoyed by the participants so they asked me to come back and I gladly accepted. Last year, the event was run the way events should be run. The event organizer promoted it and was responsible for filling up the seats, etc. This year, it seemed that the marketing and promotion was put on the speaker’s shoulders.