How do you manage "Search Overload"?

I love these commercials!  But, until I began my online writing career, I didn't realize just how true they ring!

When I first set off on this endeavor, creating an online writing business, I spent countless hours researching.  I Googled terms close to my interests, such as "freelance copywriter", "freelance copywriting", and "making money online".  What I found was an immeasurable, almost unmanageable, amount of information. 


Overwhelmed, I began to research more narrowed terms, from "creating a website" to "SEO strategies" to "social media".  Again, endless information to sift through. 

Inundated with information and facing an overload of resources, I needed help with my help!

Trying to research such broad terms, even those I felt were more narrow in scope, resulted in "information overload".  I had all these ideas and terms and strategies bouncing around in my head; like air molecules, the more information I accumulated, the more rapidly they bounced off one another. 

To stop this accumulation of information, I realized that I needed to focus on that which was meaningful, helpful, and relevant to my immediate needs.

So, I created an action plan: a systematic approach to creating, building, and sustaining my online writing business.  With an action plan, I delineated steps to follow.  And, with these steps, I have been able to narrow my queries down to manageable searches.

The steps I have identified are as follows (it's important to note that these steps are cyclical, constantly being revisited, otherwise one's business becomes stale and stagnant):

1. Create a focused, relevant Website
2. Collect and upload my Portfolio pieces
3. Spread my Wings via Social Media groups
4. Drive Traffic to my site through content-rich Blog Posts
5. Sustain customer loyalty with insightful, immediate responses to their feedback 

Now, I search for resources that directly relate to my immediate needs.  Of course, I sometimes stumble upon an ebook or blog post that sounds too tantilizing to pass up, so I save a copy on my computer, in a corresponding folder, for future perusal.

Always open to new ideas and insights, I am curious as to what have been your strategies to managing "information overload"?