Drinking From The Fire Hose by John V. W. Howe

Recently, I attended a seminar on Internet business presented by Tim Knox (author and entrepreneur) and Jim Cockrum (author of The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay). During the seminar, Jim Cockrum said, “learning about the Internet is like drinking from the fire hose”. I was taken back with such an accurate saying since I have been researching the Internet for a couple of years and that is exactly what happened to me.

As is the case with most things I hear, I searched Google for more information on the saying and for the name of the person who coined it. However, I could not find any credit given for it. On Google, it was used quite often by graduate students at MIT to describe their experience in the graduate program.

The saying is so fitting for those of us who have undertaken the quest to learn all we can about what business opportunities are available on the Internet. Before the Internet, most of the research was done in the stacks of the library. There it was easy to keep focused since we were usually working on a single train of thought. With the Internet, one search generates another search and soon we do not know which one to follow in detail. I am speaking from experience, and I know that I am not alone when I say that I “have been drinking from the fire hose”.

The other saying I recently read described the situation when you have been “drinking from the fire hose” too long and you have gathered a voluminous data base of all that you have found on the Net. You start to analyze the data to chart your course for your Internet career and you cannot get started because of “analysis paralysis”. You just keep on researching rather than decide that you have enough information and take action. I can claim to have suffered from this too for a few weeks when it all just would not fit together.

Just remember “drinking from a fire hose” and “analysis paralysis” are common problems that we all face when we start researching the Internet. Just drink as fast as you can, and when you think you have drunk deeply enough of Internet wisdom, don’t forget that the reason for all that research was to take action.

TAKE IT NOW!

About The Author

John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. He founded http://www.boomer-ezine.com, www.boomer-entrepreneur.com and http://www.retirement-jobs-online.com to help Boomers (baby boomers) become entrepreneurs when they retire.