new information and 80/20 rule

Dear warriors,

I've always been into fitness since I was in high school and I think I know what i'm talking about.

There is new information on the latest lose-fat/gain-muscle published everyday in books, magazines and online.

The problem is, I feel, that the information is just repackaged, and really there becomes a point where you can get REALLY fit and look REALLY good if you just follow some fundamental skills and habits you could that someone could teach you in 1, 2 maybe 3 hours tops.

Then I would just say:
keep doing this, day in day out, when you see new 'information' about new latest and greatest, IGNORE IT, just keep doing what I tell you. If you do what I told you and don't get distracted, day in day out, you will achieve your goal in less than a year - no problem.

When it comes to the 'science' of "looking good" - it's all about body composition - that is - we look "good" by having a bodyfat % of less than 9-10%, where the bodyfat % is low enough to show a mild "six pack".

Okay on to my point.

I wish someone that has been doing it for years would just say 'you couldn't ever read all the information out there on internet marketing, here is what you do day in day out. Don't stop, don't do anymore research. Just do this, and don't buy new products.'

Unfortunately, I don't think IM as simple as "manipulating body composition" .. or is it?

I think I am jumping all over the place with IM even though I promised myself I wouldn't .. the new information is too 'seductive'.

I see this all the time happening to people in the 'health and fitness' industry .. and i'm guessing the 'pros' in IM see this too .. "gosh - THAT product is just like all the others, a lot of promises, unrealistic goals for that time frame, or just completely wrong"

What do you think ? I am just a big believer in "knowing NOW what I should know in 2-3 years"..... that is exactly the lure of more forums, websites, and information products!

Actually if you asked me to review 4-5 top 'fitness' products I would probably tell you the information is about the same, and I would pick ONE.

And tell you READ THIS - IGNORE THE REST for 1 year - and nothing else, this is ALL you need to know - just DO exactly as it says. You WILL achieve your goals with this. I use this method myself, it works, and it works for all the other 'achievers' I know. Stop spending money on NEW information, do this FIRST


Maybe IM is just not anywhere near that simple - too many facets - marketing, technology, trends.

Can anyone related to this post and offer some advice, especially if you can give THAT advice. Do you have a 'bible'?

I have only been in IM for a week, but I feel a bit of a knowledge 'bottleneck' - i've only got a week of experience, and already have too much information, i'm starting to see patterns, eg. listbuilding, but each product is essentially trying to differentiate themselves.

In fact in the fitness product industry, I believe the good products are essentially the same, but they are all going for a USP (unique selling proposition), to differentiate themselves from another product which CONFUSES the newbie to the basics. Differentiation is the problem!

So essential no fluff patterns I think i'm indentifying already in IM after a week

- STRONG copywriting
- LOTS of traffic
- article writing for traffic
- BACKLINKS
- LIST BUILDING
- $ = traffic x conversion rate

The best thing about user groups like forums is that people are talking in patterns of things that work because this isn't really a form of media like a magazine (selling supplements/products), tv (selling), newpapers (selling) - all differentiating for your attention and creating confusion.