In my first Entrepreneurship class in college I had a teacher named John. John was not just a part time teacher but also the CEO and co-owner of a corporation that brought in an estimated 75 million dollars in 2007. During his introduction on the first day he mentioned that he spent literally half his day researching information to better his venture.
This brings up something that many in business neglect or forget all together. The importance of research. The old saying ‘there’s no such thing as too much information’ is so true that a man who runs a large corporation spends half his time doing it.
On top of this neglect, in the age of new media, people gather information more inefficiently than ever. I am no stranger of starting with research and then floating through web pages until I end up o the Best Buy website browsing this year’s new toys.
This is a problem on many levels when you need to gather as much information as you can to be successful in what you do. With the exponential growth of technology and resources, keeping up to date can be difficult but necessary.
The key point is to focus and simplify your research as much as you can. Here are some ways to keep up to date in the information age without wasting time and money.
Face it, the cheapest, fastest, most up to date information comes from one place - The Internet. Unfortunately, the internet is a bustling metropolis of words, pictures, videos, and more. This can cause you to waist a lot of time checking sources for updated information.
Instead, let the information come to you via RSS feeds. There are tons of RSS Reader services available through websites you already use like Google or Yahoo!. Most noteworthy sites will have an option to subscribe with RSS prominently displayed.
Use Databases
I am sure most of you have heard the expression “Google It.” Well the problem with this generic method is that it finds all the results and displays them as if all the web was in a big popularity contest with Google’s Page Rank being the deciding vote.
Instead, using databases can target your searches and find the content that will be really beneficial to you. These databases have more valuable information because they are updated constantly, cost money to subscribe to, and the information provided has no adgenda like getting you to buy a product or sign up for a website service. It is just simple data.
But It does cost money. Or does it? As my business partner is notorious for saying “There is always a way around it.” The problem with price is easy to get around. Go to your local community college library. Use their computers or ask the librarian for a username / password for the mass database they use. They will assume you are a student and give it to you. Bingo! You now have free access to universal-unbiased information.
Do not copy and paste information. Ever.
It is the most inefficient and pointless way to gather data. Why do people do it? They think it saves time because they can just gather it and read through later. The truth behind this is that it will only clutter your research and you will most likely end up skimming everything and not absorbing it. Instead take great notes to organize everything.
Take Great Notes
There is a huge difference between taking notes and taking effective notes. Most people take notes on one or the other end of the spectrum (yes, there is a note taking spectrum). Way too many notes with too much useless info -or- not nearly enough notes with no means to form conclusions. These two are equally inefficient.
The key is to take in the right information, bullet point the imporant concepts, and keep it organized. The right information means info that is directly related to what you are trying to find.
Bulleting key points serves two purposes. 1. It allows you to make sure you have just the essential points with no clutter and 2. it makes you remember what information you just pulled. You can review your notes all day but if you cannot organize it in your mind it is all pointless.
Lastly, figure out an organization system to keep notes in order and easy to reference. (great way to organize in the link below)
Tim Ferriss, Author of The Four Hour Work Week and self proclaimed “Note-Taking Geek,” has some great tips on note taking here which I now am using myself.
Create Your Own Database
Especially with modern organization tools, there is no reason why you should let any information be lost in the shuffle after collected. Compile all your notes into one system. Use your computer and/or simple filing methods to keep all your information in order.
This serves two functions. First it allows you to easily grab any data you need and second it allows you to study trends over time by when they were imputed into your database. For this second reason I recommend using a category and period method of database keeping.
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Photo by JOHNNIE W@LKER
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I will definitely take better notes..