How to Avoid FOMO in Your Online Business to Save Money, Time, and Energy

As an entrepreneur, especially an online entrepreneur, FOMO is really, really real. 

There’s carts closing and new platforms and shiny new things we want to buy all over the place.

But you can successfully navigate FOMO and also confidently avoid spending time, money, or energy on things that you don't really need (yet) in your business. 

In this post, let’s talk about some real strategies to prevent FOMO and conscientiously decide what to do with this thing that’s caught your attention.

Recently, I was having a conversation with my friend, Marcy, about a new platform we were both considering for marketing funnels, specifically for digital downloads and courses. 

It looked really awesome, and we had heard from some friends who were early adopters that it was, in fact, awesome. 

Marcy had gone ahead and purchased it, but once she started to look around inside, she was overwhelmed. 

She realized that in order to be able to take advantage of the new platform, she’d have to spend a lot of time and energy to move all of her assets to this one platform. And ultimately, because of the nature of her offers, she didn't actually need something that robust. 

I had also seen the new platform, and was considering it. 

I knew that it could potentially be amazing for my business. 

But when I sat back and looked at how my business is structured, I realized that it would be a huge process to move everything over. I could have paid somebody to do it for me, but then I’d be out that money too, for something I don't really need. 

My whole business is not centered around selling lots of passive products or things that need these robust funnels, so for me, it just didn't make sense.

But even knowing this, I still had FOMO.

What if I don't get it right now, and the price goes up, and I regret it later? I’ll be so bummed out! I’ll feel so stupid!

I was going back and forth with myself: Shouldn’t I lock it at this low price point now, even if I'm not even going to utilize it for a few months? Or should I wait and pay more later? All the cool kids are going to be early adopters, and they'll get it at this better price, and they’ll be leveraging all of this amazing funnel technology. And I won't have it! Is that going to be detrimental to my business?

Ultimately, I decided that while I might use the platform in the future, I'm okay with paying more for it when it makes sense, i.e., when the benefit outweighs the cost.

Money isn’t the only investment we can sink into FOMO

When there's money involved, it's a little bit easier to admit you don’t need something. But it can be tricky when we're talking about the investment of our own time.

Often, we rationalize spending our time on something, whether or not we truly need it, because we feel like we must be taking advantage of any free resource that we possibly can. 

Clubhouse is a great example of this. 

While this can be a great asset for entrepreneurs, between giving talks and listening to other discussions, you could be spending hours each week on this platform. 

Tik Tok is another one.

We look at it and think, well, it's this free marketing channel that I can use to grow my business. So shouldn't I be doing that? If I were smart, wouldn't I be leveraging that? 

But it doesn't matter if you're investing money, time, or energy – it's still an investment, and it's still taking you away from something else that you potentially could be doing.

Now, if you are somebody who loves speaking, teaching, and connecting in that way, then Clubhouse might make a ton of sense, especially if your other marketing channels are rockin’ and rollin’ for you. 

But if you are just heaping Clubhouse onto an already chaotic workweek and marketing plan, then it's just going to be another thing that is going to keep you spinning your wheels, feeling like you're throwing spaghetti at the wall, week after week. 

Here’s what to do to prevent or short-circuit FOMO in your business

What I like to do for myself and with my clients in order to prevent or short-circuit FOMO is to think about what the big picture vision is, and then create a simple sustainable marketing plan. 

Obviously, the big picture vision for all of us is to make more money, and have more time, more ease, and more fulfillment, but there are definitely different ways to get there. 

It's really important to think of what that looks like for you. 

Does that look like impacting as many people as you possibly can – thousands, or even hundreds of thousands – with your work? Or does it look like serving fifty people a year? 

And what would you really like to be doing? 

• How many more clients would you like?

• What types of work do you want to do with people?

• What kind of impact do you want to have?

• How much more money do you want monthly? Annually?

From there, I think about a simple marketing plan that will help you obtain and achieve your big picture vision.

Simple is not always sexy, but simple works.

It’s also important to note that simple does not mean small results. 

It's something that you can do that gets results.

And it's also something that you can do consistently, so that those results can be consistent.

Start with a Simple, Sustainable Marketing Plan

If your goal is to get five more clients for the year, your marketing plan is going to be entirely different from someone who wants five thousand new students for their course. 

Your marketing plan is going to be low key, and you likely won’t need a ton of different platforms. 

If you got ten clients last year from Instagram, then you know you can double-down there to easily lead those extra five clients to you. 

Then, think about increasing your visibility and connection by speaking to other people's audiences, or hosting workshops, and having coffee chats. 

For the person who wants five thousand new students, their marketing plan is predominantly going to be paid ads and other paid PR, but you don't need those things to get five new clients.

Once you have your simple, sustainable marketing plan that’s working for you, you can decide what to do with the thing you’re feeling FOMO over.

You’ve got three options:

1. ADd iT TO yOUr PLaN.

Only add something new if it is going to amplify your goals and make your life easier!

If you already have something that is simple and working, then you can consider adding in something like Clubhouse, or TikTok, or a new software… 

But only if it’s aligned with you, your business, and your business structure. 

2. pUT IT oN yOUR PArKInG lOt LIsT.

You can, of course, buy something or sign up for something now, taking advantage of the low price if it’s a purchase, and use it in your business later.

In other words, you can put it on your parking lot list. 

This is a running list of things I want to do in my business, but that aren’t urgent. 

An example of this is TikTok. I really enjoy scrolling the app, and sending funny videos to my friends, but I haven’t gotten around to using it for marketing yet.

It might remain on my parking lot list forever! 

Periodically, I come back to it and ask myself, is now a better time? How do I feel about it? Do I really want to be creating TikToks for my business? Or do I not? 

And I constantly revisit it. And I can constantly say “no” or “not now” or decide to revisit it in three months, or six months. 

Saying no now doesn't mean “not ever.” When you put something on your parking lot list, you reevaluate it periodically.

3. DECIdE tHAt uLTIMaTELy, yOu DOn’T nEEd IT

Here’s the thing.

Just because something has the potential to be really freakin’ good doesn't mean you need it.

Let’s pretend there was an easy way to figure out how much revenue people have made, directly or indirectly, from being on Clubhouse. 

It's probably a lot of money. 

But just because it could potentially get you more business does not mean that you need it. 

There are also plenty of people who are not on Clubhouse, and who never will be on Clubhouse, and who have wildly successful businesses! 

There are people who none of us have ever heard of who are making multiple six or seven figures in their business and are barely even on social media. 

Those people are acquiring clients through totally different means. 

Just because something is really freakin’ good for others, doesn't mean you need it.

Design your business based on you, not everyone else

It's really, really crucial to design your business based on you, and then double down on what works for you.

Simple is not always sexy. It doesn't always get talked about. People aren’t doing workshops and webinars on it. 

But it works. 

There's no right or wrong way to do it.

So think about your strengths, your time, and your energetic capacity, and then build out offers, systems, and a marketing plan that centers around that.

Then track what is actually working, and where your clients are coming from. Ask yourself: 

• What are the things I’m doing that are really resonating with people?

• Do I want to do more of it?

• Do I have the capacity to do more of it?

• And what is not working?

Because maybe there is something that is bringing people to you, but you find it absolutely draining, and you don't want to keep doing it. That's okay. 

Drop what is not working, keep what is, and do more of it. 

When you ditch what doesn’t work, it actually opens up time for you to try that new thing. If it's a right fit, then you can take it off your parking lot list and start to put into action. 

Simple is just the name of the game. 

It's not to say that you can never do stuff that's slightly out of your comfort zone or that you can never try new things.  Often things feel a bit more complicated at first because they're the first few times that we're doing something. 

But do aim for the easiest path. 

Everything does not need to be a giant production in order for you to get results. 

So the next time that you are feeling FOMO, go through this process, and really ask yourself: 

“Is this something that I actually need, or am I just feeling FOMO in this moment?”