I suck at online shopping, Reader.

Here’s how a typical shopping spree will go down, illustrated by my recent purchase of new ankle boots:

1. I’ll grudgingly admit I need to replace my old boots because the leather is so worn through, you can already see what color socks I’m wearing. (Usually black, unless I’m feeling funky and go for a bright pattern or bold color.)

2. I'll go to the app for an online shopping site I have an account on (this part is important, you’ll soon find out why) and refine the search as much as humanly possible – size, color, heel height, anything I can use to narrow it down.

3. And then …. I will still be left with 2 536 893 results, spread randomly lovingly over 387 pages.

4. This, this is where the “I suck at online shopping” part comes in. Because while someone else might be able to quickly skim pages or decide to only look at the first ten until they found a couple of shoes they liked, I can’t. I. Need. To. Look. At. Every. Single. Damn. Shoe.

5. Let the madness begin: As I go looking through every page, I will favorite any and all I like (hence why I need an account). After spending three days and nights having looked through all shoes (including their reviews, of course), I’ll be left with a favorite list of “only” 78 shoes 🤦‍♀️.

6. After spending another week agonizing over how to narrow it down further, I will get it down to 30 shoes. At this point, a third party (usually my partner) will be roped in against their will to look at all the options to help me make my final selection.

7. Now comes the part DHL loves: I will order a small, tiny selection of, oh, I don’t know, 10–15 shoes to choose from.

8. Unpacking day! Once this *small* selection arrives, they all need to be tested, compared, and reviewed by third parties.

Side note/true story: When I was still employed, I ordered one of these boxes to the office. We had a slow Friday afternoon, so I decided to try them on there to not lug the returns home. This attracted a group of colleagues and soon our developer’s office (the room I’d picked to do this in) looked like the inside of a shoe house clearance sale, with women swapping shoes back and forth. The Devs were thrilled, of course.

9. Finally, three months after the initial decision to buy new boots, I’ll have found THE pair. The rest is repackaged and returned (there is a reason DHL gets chocolates from me regularly.) 🎉

Now, Reader, I know that this whole shebang is totally my own doing. But I console myself with the fact that I’m not alone in my inability to a) not look at everything—something better might just be on the next page of results after all! and b) actually make a damn choice.

It actually has a name: Paradox of choice. In 2000, Columbia and Stanford psychologists published a study about jams. They had tested a display table of jams in a food market – one day offering 24 different kinds of jams while on the other only six different types. Here’s the paradox: While when they offered 24 kinds, more people came to test them, LESS people actually decided to buy some! Shoppers were ten times more likely to buy when offered only six kinds to choose from.

Choice seems appealing at first glance, but it quickly overloads us and slows down our decision-making process (or even stops us from deciding at all!).

This overabundance of choices also happens in the online business space. Anything you need, there are 782 people and products for you. Yet, especially when it comes to moving forward to start recording that podcast or learn a new marketing strategy, you want to get into action ASAP, not spend hours googling the pros and cons of one thing versus the other.

And because getting you out of your head and into action is what I’m all about, I’ve revamped my toolbox 🧰🎉 (as promised in my last email!). Of course, there is no one solution that is perfect for anyone. But: I hope my curated list of what has worked best for me and the peeps I collaborate with gives you a good place to start.

From podcast recording gear to must-have website tools, it has everything I’ve tried and tested over five years of podcasting & online business:

Up next: Something users are thinking about it even when not using it. Their mood is changed when on it. They need to get more and more of it to get the same happy hit. They have fights about its use. And, when trying to quit, have withdrawal symptoms and often relapse.

What is “it”? Stay tuned for the next edition of the Inside Story to find out (+ how to conquer it) 😉.

Happy toolbox-browsing,

P.S. Seeing the Inside Story for the first time in your inbox? You might have missed the new name announcement! Click here to read it + what it means for you.

P.P.S: If you haven't let me know yet, reminder to click which one of these apply to you so I can send the most-relevant-to-you-info your way (simply click on the statement that matches you to log your answer): 1. I want to launch a podcast or 2. I want to grow my existing podcast​
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