185: The Hidden Trap Killing Your Business Growth
Ever feel like you're running on a hamster wheel in your business? Always busy, but not seeing the results you want?
I've been there, and I bet you have too.
In this week's episode, I'm diving into something I see trip up entrepreneurs time and time again (myself included!) - Shiny Object Syndrome.
You know that feeling when you hear about a new social media platform or a fancy tool that promises to solve all your problems? That irresistible urge to drop everything and jump on board? Yep, that's what we're talking about.
In this episode, I'm getting real about:
Why we're so drawn to the 'next big thing' (it's not just you, I promise!)
The hidden costs of constantly chasing new strategies
My personal framework for evaluating new opportunities (this has saved me countless hours and dollars)
I'm even sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I sat on a new product idea for 6 months before deciding to launch it. Spoiler alert: sometimes, patience pays off!
This isn't just theory - I'm giving you practical, actionable steps to overcome Shiny Object Syndrome and stay focused on what really moves the needle in your business.
So grab your favorite drink, find a comfy spot, and let's dig in. This might just be the wake-up call your business needs.
Key points with timestamps:
[00:00:49] Definition of shiny object syndrome and its impact on businesses
[03:22] The hidden costs of chasing every new trend or tool
[05:28] Common "shiny objects" that distract entrepreneurs
[13:06] Strategies for staying focused on your business goals
[20:32] Actionable steps to overcome shiny object syndrome
Overcoming Shiny Object Syndrome: Stay Focused and Grow Your Digital Product Business
As entrepreneurs in the digital product space, we're constantly bombarded with new ideas, tools, and strategies. It's exciting, isn't it? The promise of the next big thing that could revolutionize our business is always just around the corner. But here's the catch - this constant chase can lead us down a rabbit hole of distraction and unfulfilled potential. Welcome to the world of "shiny object syndrome."
In this post, we're going to dive deep into what shiny object syndrome is, why it's so tempting, and most importantly, how you can overcome it to build a thriving, focused digital product business.
What is Shiny Object Syndrome and Why Does It Matter?
Shiny object syndrome is the entrepreneurial equivalent of FOMO (fear of missing out). It's that irresistible urge to jump on every new trend, tool, or strategy that comes your way. In the digital product world, it might look like:
Trying out every new social media platform (remember Clubhouse?)
Switching up your marketing strategy every other week
Buying every new tool that promises to "change everything"
Completely overhauling your business model because you heard about a cool new trend
While being open to new ideas is one of the things that makes us entrepreneurs awesome, constantly chasing the next big thing can leave you running in circles instead of moving forward.
The Hidden Costs of Chasing Every Shiny Object
At first glance, exploring new opportunities might seem harmless. After all, isn't that what entrepreneurship is all about? But there are some serious downsides to constantly shifting gears:
Loss of focus: When you're always looking at the next shiny object, you're not paying attention to your main business goals. It's like trying to watch five TV shows at once - you end up missing the best parts of all of them.
Time and money drain: Every new tool, course, or strategy takes time and often money to implement. If you're constantly switching things up, you're investing in a lot of stuff that never gets a chance to pay off.
Brand confusion: If you're always changing direction, your audience might get whiplash trying to keep up with you. This makes it hard for people to know what you're really about.
Burnout: Always being in startup mode is exciting, but it's also exhausting. It's hard to enjoy your successes when you're always chasing the next big thing.
Missed opportunities for mastery: True expertise comes from sticking with something long enough to master it. If you're always moving on to the next thing, you never get to see what you could achieve if you doubled down in one area.
Identifying Your Shiny Objects
Before we talk about how to overcome shiny object syndrome, let's look at some common culprits. Do any of these sound familiar?
The newest social media platform (TikTok, anyone?)
The latest marketing trend (influencer marketing, TikTok challenges, etc.)
Fancy new software that promises to do everything except make your coffee
New courses or programs that promise to revolutionize your business
Completely changing your business model because you heard about someone making it big with a new approach
If you find yourself constantly drawn to these types of things, you might have a case of shiny object syndrome. But don't worry - awareness is the first step to overcoming it!
Strategies for Staying Focused on Your Business Goals
Now that we've identified the problem, let's talk solutions. Here are some strategies to help you stay focused and avoid the shiny object trap:
Get crystal clear on your vision: Where do you want your business to be this time next year? What impact do you want to have? Having a clear vision makes it easier to spot distractions for what they are.
Set specific, measurable goals: Break down your bigger vision into concrete goals. Instead of saying "I want to grow the business," try "Increase my monthly recurring revenue by 25% in the next 10 months."
Create a decision-making framework: Before saying yes to a new opportunity or tool, ask yourself: Does this align with my goals? What do I have to give up to pursue this?
Implement a cooling-off period: When you come across a new idea or tool, don't act on it right away. Give yourself a set amount of time (say, 30 days) to research and think it through.
Focus on making what you have better: Instead of always looking for something new, try to improve what you're already doing. Can you make your course better? Can you optimize your current funnel?
Actionable Steps to Overcome Shiny Object Syndrome
Ready to kick shiny object syndrome to the curb? Here are some concrete steps you can take right now:
Do a business audit: Take a good look at your current projects and strategies. Which ones are really contributing to your goals, and which might be distracting from them?
Define your North Star: What's your long-term vision? Where do you want your business to be this time next year?
Set quarterly objectives: Break down your big vision into specific goals for the next 3 months.
Create a decision-making checklist: Write down the criteria you'll use to evaluate new opportunities.
Implement a project management system: This will help you keep track of your initiatives and make sure you're finishing projects before starting new ones.
Schedule regular strategy reviews: Set aside time each quarter to review your progress and adjust your strategies if needed.
Keep learning, but stay focused: Instead of trying to learn everything about everything, focus on deepening your expertise in your core business areas.
Build a support system: Find mentors or coaches who can give you honest feedback and help keep you accountable.
Remember, success doesn't come from always being the first to try something new. It comes from consistently executing your core strategies and improving them over time. By developing a clear vision, setting specific goals, and creating systems to evaluate new opportunities objectively, you can avoid the shiny object trap and build a thriving, focused digital product business.
So, what's the one area of your business that you're going to commit to focusing on and optimizing over the next few months? Whatever it is, stick with it. The most successful business owners aren't the ones always jumping on the latest bandwagon - they're the ones who excel at doing a few things really, really well.
Here's to your focused, shiny-object-free success!
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Transcript:
Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:00]:
Hey there. Destini here. And today, I wanna talk about something that we all have faced at some point, and that is the irresistible pull of the next big thing. And you know what I'm talking about. That exciting new social media platform. Remember Clubhouse? The latest marketing tactic that everyone's buzzing about or that shiny new tool or course that promises to revolutionize your business. Welcome, my friend, to the world of the shiny object syndrome. It's like being a kid in the candy store, but instead of candy, it's full of business ideas and tools and courses and a lot of different things that you can just, you know, dip your toes in.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:00:49]:
And just like a sugar rush, chasing every shiny object can leave you feeling dizzy and unfocused. But don't you worry, we're gonna break down what this means, what it's all about, and how you can stay on track to really grow your business. And I really wanna define and dive into the shiny object syndrome and basically why we're so attracted to it. And that's because it's the business version of the fear of missing out. It's when you find yourself constantly jumping from one new idea or tool or another course without giving any of them a real chance to work their magic. So in our digital product world, the shiny object syndrome might look like trying out every new social media platform that pops up, threads, clubhouse, all of them, swishing your marketing strategy every other week, buying every new tool that promises to change everything, or completely changing your business model because you heard about a cool new trend. Now don't get me wrong. I do think that being open to new ideas is great.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:02:27]:
It's one of the things that make all of us entrepreneurs so awesome. Right? And that's why we do what we do because we're open to new ideas. But when you're always chasing the next big thing, you might find yourself running in circles instead of moving forward. And I'm gonna talk about why this is bad for your business. And the first thing is you lose focus on what really matters. When you're always looking at the next shiny object, you're not paying attention to the main goals in your business. It's kinda like trying to watch 5 TV shows all at once. You end up missing the best parts of all of them.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:03:22]:
The other thing is when you chase after every new shiny objects, it's a time and money pit. So every new tool, every new course, every new strategy, all of that takes time and often money, right, to implement. So if you are constantly switching things up, you are investing in a lot of stuff that never gets a chance to pay off. The other thing is your brand gets confusing. Right? If you are always changing direction, your customers might get whiplashed or your audience might get whiplashed trying to keep up with you. One day, you're on Instagram talking about this. The next time, you're on TikTok talking about this. It really makes it hard for people to know what you're really about.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:04:23]:
The next thing is is you might burn out. Always being in start up mode is exciting, but it's also exhausting. It's hard to enjoy your successes when you're always chasing the next big thing. And then you might miss out on something to be really good at. True expertise comes from sticking with something long enough to master it. And if you're always moving on to the next thing, you never get to see what you could achieve if you double down in one area. So before we talk about how to avoid this, let's look at some of the common shiny objects that tend to distract all of us, and I'm sure you can relate to some of these. The first one is the newest social media platform.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:05:28]:
And I just want you to remember back to Clubhouse, and remember when everybody was rushing to Clubhouse, they were trying to get their invite because it was invite only. I you know, I don't hear anything about Clubhouse anymore. I don't know about you. The other thing is the latest marketing trend. So influencer marketing. Right? That could be that was a big thing that was kinda everybody was buzzing about. And then the next thing was you gotta do a TikTok challenge. And there's just so many I could go on and on quite frankly about this one.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:06:04]:
The next one is fancy new software that promises everything. It promises to do everything for you except make your own coffee. So, I mean, there's tons of new software out there. I get notices from AppSumo all day, and I go there and I look at them. I'm like, oh my gosh. I might need this one day. But then, you know, you gotta dig into it. You gotta figure it out.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:06:31]:
It just takes so much time and energy to dig in to new software. And I'll put courses, right, in this category too. So new courses, new software. When you're buying all of that constantly, it just takes time away from what you should be focusing on. The other thing is completely changing your business model because you heard about someone making it big with the new approach. And this one probably hits home, I think, to a lot of us. So you hear about, well, you should be, you know, selling your digital products this way. Maybe you need to be doing them on a Shopify store instead of, you know, selling them on your website, or maybe you shouldn't be doing funnels.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:07:24]:
Maybe you should be doing funnels. I mean, there's just so many marketing strategies out there, and quite frankly, they all work. All the stuff I'm gonna talk about today works. SEO works. Email marketing works. You know? All of this works. But when you're constantly changing what you're focusing on, because there's only so much time that you have in in the day, none of them are gonna work for you. So if you're asking yourself, Dusty, I really want to self assess here and figure out, am I doing this? And here are some things to think about.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:08:02]:
So if you are doing any of these that I'm gonna mention in just a second, you probably have a case of the shiny object syndrome. And the first one is you have a graveyard of half finished projects. So go back and look at some of the stuff that you've started this year. Maybe it was a marketing project that you were going to do. Maybe it was a collaboration what you were going to do, but you just didn't get around to finishing it. Maybe it was a webinar that you were going to put together to launch your course to your audience, and it never got finished. So think about that and go back to some of the goals and objectives that you had earlier this year and really do in a self assessment and see, did I actually follow through with this? Did I actually give this the attention that it deserved and, quite frankly, the attention that it needed for me to get results from it? The next one is your business strategy changes more often than the weather. Right? So think about your business strategy.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:09:19]:
When I'm talking about business strategy, I'm talking about how you are delivering your offers to your customers. Did you start out doing freelance services? And they said, no. That's not working. Let me try coaching. No. That's not working. Let me do an online course. No.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:09:37]:
I can't sell it. Let me do a membership. Think about your business strategy. How are you delivering your offers? How are you making money in your business? The next one is you find it impossible to say no to new ideas or opportunities. I get emails almost every single day in my inbox from people wanting, you know, do you wanna collaborate on this? Here's an opportunity. Do you wanna participate? Do you wanna travel here? Do you wanna do this? Do you wanna participate in this bundle? Do you wanna participate in the summit? Do you want to sponsor this event? Do you wanna do a a lead magnet collaboration? Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes I say no. It really depends on what my strategic goals are and does that opportunity fit into those goals. And I'm gonna talk just to in just a second about how to assess those type of opportunities and stay on track.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:10:41]:
The next one is you're always more excited about your next idea than your current projects. And I get it. You know, sometimes the things that we're working on is hard. It might be boring. We might not wanna do it. I actually had to spend my day and a lot of my days last week working on a webinar presentation that I'm gonna be doing next month. And I'll be quite honest with you. I really didn't wanna do it.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:11:12]:
I'm not looking forward to the the live webinar. I actually don't enjoy doing them, but I know that it's necessary to get the results that I need and that I want in my business. So I just, you know, had to buckle down and do it and focus on that to get it done. The other thing is, and I think this is probably one of the biz biggest ones quite frankly is, you're always busy, but your results aren't improving. I'm gonna say that one more time. You're always busy, but your results aren't improving. Now that would suggest that you're focused more on those shiny objects than your goals that you had put in place. So if you're nodding to any of these, I don't want you to worry.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:12:08]:
Quite frankly, we've all been there. And the good news is there are ways to overcome the shiny object syndrome and get your business back on track. And now I wanna talk about how to keep your eyes on the prize. Now your prize will be your business goals. The first thing is is to get crystal clear on your vision. So think about where do you want your business to be this time next year, this time in the next 3 months? What impact do you want to have? So having a clear vision and goals makes it easier to spot those distractions for what they are. The next thing that you need to do is to set very specific and measurable goals. So you can break down your bigger vision of where you wanna be next year at this time into concrete goals.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:13:06]:
So instead of saying, I want to grow the business, you can make it a little bit more measurable by saying increase my monthly recurring revenue by 25% in the next 10 months. It's harder to get distracted when you know exactly what you're aiming for and what you want to achieve. The other thing that you can do is create a decision making framework. And I kind of talked about this a second ago when I was talking about all the opportunities that come into my inbox and my DMs on a regular basis. I always think before I say yes or before I jump on that next big thing or before I buy that tool or before I buy that course, I ask myself, does this align with my goals? But also, which is just as as important, quite frankly, is what do I have to give up to pursue this? So having a set of questions to ask yourself can help you make these type of decisions. The other thing I want you to do is to implement what I call a cooling off period. So when you come across a new idea or a new tool or a new opportunity, don't necessarily act on it right away. I want you to give yourself a set amount of time.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:14:36]:
It could be 30 days. It could be 2 weeks to really research it and think it through, and I'll give you an example of this. For some time, I have been wanting to do something with both of our Shopify stores that some type of a membership. So I want to have, like, a a section of the store, like a collection in the store where members can go in, and we'll have, like, you know, 30 or so resources there. And every single month, they can go in and download those resources from one set price. Now I know for me to implement this, I gotta technically figure out how to do it. But most importantly, I have to market it. So if I'm marketing something like this, that's gonna take away from other things that I need to be doing in marketing in my business.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:15:27]:
So I've kind of been sitting on this quite frankly for about 3 months. Now I think I'm getting really, really close to implementing it and launching it, but I didn't do it right away because I knew that if I did this offer, and this is a new offer, right, this would be a membership for hello content and then we're gonna do it in a hobby school, Shopify store also. I knew if I implemented something like this that I would have to spend a good amount of time marketing it, putting together the marketing materials, you know, the messaging, communicating it, and I knew that was gonna take some time to do that. So I wanted to make sure that even though I was excited about it initially, I wanted to make sure that it could really move the needle in our business. And, you know, quite frankly, I'm not even a 100% sure that it will will. I think the audience will be interested in it. I've done a little bit of research there. But, you know, at some point, I'm gonna have to pull the trigger, launch it, and then get some, you know, get some feedback from that.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:16:43]:
The other thing I want you to do is focus on making what you have better. Instead of always looking for something new, try to improve what you're already doing. Can you make your course better? Can you optimize your current funnel? Is it maybe your funnel just needs some tweaks here and there to make it work? Lot of times, it is focusing on what you're doing today and improving that. I could tell you in hobby school and in my personal brand, we ran almost the exact same events in 2024 that we ran in 2023. We actually reduced them a little bit. We got rid of some of the events that didn't perform as well as as we would have liked and wasn't giving us the results that we wanted. But the ones that did, we doubled down on those and made those even better. So focusing on what you have that you've already done and improving that, you can really, really see some results there.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:18:02]:
We've done some of the things in our current funnel. So in my personal brand, we have 3 well, actually, now it's 4 4 main funnels that we run. 1 for our newsletter profit club, which is one of our new offers. And I did sit on that for, quite frankly, about 6 months too before I launched that one. I had the the idea for it and said, you know, I really think I can make something like this work. And, you know, spent some time researching the market and then finally, you know, launched it, launched our what I called our minimal viable offer there, our minimal viable product. So we have that funnel that's working. We have the funnel for course in a box.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:18:46]:
Course in a box is that's a product that's been out there since 2018. So that product's been out there. That particular course has been out there for a long time. So we focused a lot on that particular funnel, getting that strong. We have our funnel cure, which is our offer where we help people put together the tripwire funnels. So we have our funnel for that that's working well. We double down on that. And then the other one that we have, which helps people put together an evergreen funnel for, like, their signature offer is called the evergreen funnel, and we have a funnel for that.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:19:24]:
So we have very specific offers and funnels that we have in our business. So focusing on those and making those better definitely has been, you know, something that has helped us succeed. Now if you are ready to kind of kick the shiny object syndrome to the curb, here are some steps that I want you to take right now. The first thing I want you to do is do a business audit. So take a good look at your current projects, your current strategies, which one of those are really contributing to your goals, and which one of those might be distracting from them. And it could be that you're say that you look at this and then you say, you know what? I'm going to put this one on the back burner right now. I might come back to it later, but right now, I'm gonna put it on the back burner because I don't think it's really helping me meet my goals for this year. The next thing I want you to do is define your north star.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:20:32]:
So your north star is your long term vision. What do you really want to achieve with your business in the next year? Where do you want your business to be this time next year? And then I want you to set those quarterly objectives. I like to think about it, you know, in chunks of 90 days. So break down your big vision into very specific goals for the next 3 months. And then I want you to create a decision making checklist. So write down the criteria that you're going to use to evaluate new opportunities, and this will help you make, I think, more objective decisions when somebody contacts you in your face with this new potential shiny object, whether it's a course or program that they want you to buy, whether it's, you know, a new tool that's out there, whether it's a new offer that you're thinking about developing. Have a decision making checklist, and then implement a project management system. Now mine is super, super simple.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:21:43]:
Honestly, I use Google task. So I have all of my goals for the year and what I wanna achieve in every single one of our brands there, and I have specific tasks that I'm working on to achieve those goals. Okay? So that's gonna help you keep track of your initiatives and make sure that you are finishing projects before starting new ones. The other thing I want you to do is schedule regular strategy reviews. So set aside time each quarter to review your progress and adjust your strategies if you need to. The other thing is to keep learning but stay focused. So instead of trying to learn everything about everything, focus on deepening your expertise in your core business areas, and then build a support system. You wanna make sure that you have mentors, you have coach, you have somebody who can give you honest feedback and who will help keep you accountable.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:23:00]:
So just to wrap it up here today, I just wanna say I get it. You know, I've been there with you too. It is very tempting to chase after every new trend, every new tool, every new program, every new offer, every new marketing strategy. But the truth is your success isn't gonna come from always being the first to try something new. It's gonna come from consistently executing your core strategies and improving them over time. So by developing a very clear vision for yourself and your for your business, setting very specific goals, and creating systems to evaluate new opportunities objectively, you can avoid the shiny object trap syndrome. So I want you to focus on optimizing what you're already doing well. I want you to double down on strategies that work and also become an a true expert in your niche.
Dr. Destini Copp [00:24:15]:
So I want you to remember that the most successful business owners aren't the ones always jumping on the latest bandwagon. They're the ones that excel in doing very few things really, really well. So what is the one area of your business that you're going to commit to and you're gonna focus on it and you're going to optimize over the next few months? I'd love to know what that is. You can respond back to any of the emails that I've sent out to you. You can DM me on Instagram. Tell me what you're gonna focus on, what your main focus is gonna be, and I will share mine with you also. So here's to your focus, shiny object free syndrome success. Bye for now.