Time (and Sanity) Saving Tips To Get The Most Value From Bundles

Ahh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year… bundle season!

If you’re running an online business, you likely know exactly what I’m talking about. Bundles are a great way to get your hands on a bunch of great resources, usually for free or at a very discounted price.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through one of them I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can review my full disclosure policy here.

Take, for example, the Becoming Boss Bundle. This is a bundle that has over $4,000 of free templates, mini-courses, and other business resources FOR FREE!

I've contributed my new Stop Writer's Block Action Pack ($70 value) in the bundle, and I'm super excited about the other amazing resources in it.

The contributors to the bundle offer their usually paid products for free (or with the purchase of a premium goody bag, in this case), bringing an insane amount of value to YOU, the consumer.

Bundles are one of my favorite ways to get my hands on business-building resources at an affordable price, especially when I was still in the boot-strapping phase of business.

The Problem With Bundles

But there’s just one major problem.

It’s overwhelming!

You see, when you sign up for products in a bundle, you’re opting into receiving emails from the people whose product you’re gaining access to (that’s the whole point from a contributor standpoint—they give you their product, and in return, they receive your email address to keep in touch after the bundle is over.)

If the bundle is as big as the Becoming Boss Bundle, though, you can immediately see why this would be overwhelming.

Even if you only sign up for a handful of gifts, it won’t take long to get overwhelmed by the emails, logins, content, etc.

So today, I’m sharing my best sanity-saving bundle tips to help you, as a consumer of a bundle, get the most out of it and actually use the resources you need instead of getting overwhelmed in a sea of unread emails and never logging in to any of the bundle products after the initial sign up.

Because it doesn’t matter how good the resources are; if you don’t actually consume and implement them, they are a complete waste of time. And you don’t have time to waste!

How to make the most of any product bundle (without losing your mind):

1. Decide on your goals before signing up for anything.
   When you have access to a bundle that contains hundreds and hundreds of products for free or at a discount, it can be tempting to sign up for as many of them as you can so you don't “miss out” on anything. I did this myself when I first heard about bundles—how could I resist?!
   
   But, as my biz coach Sadie Smiley often points out, you need to sign up for things strategically or else you'll be overwhelmed (and not take action on anything). So here's what you should do BEFORE you sign up for a single product (I don't care if they are all free. RESIST THE URGE!).
   
   Define your goal or goals at whatever stage you're in in your business. So for example, if you're trying to grow your presence on Instagram, don't sign up for a bunch of free Pinterest or SEO resources. Try to focus on one or two primary goals, especially if it's a big bundle like this one.
   
   Then, take a quick inventory on what you actually NEED. If you've already paid for an Instagram course, do you need to sign up for a free one too? (The answer is no… I promise. FOMO is not a strategic business decision!)
   
   After those two steps, you can *ALMOST* start signing up for stuff. Check out the next tip before you hit submit though!
   
   
2. Create a new email address for the bundle OR use the “+” hack for Gmail.
   As a bundle contributor, it feels weird telling you to create a new email address for bundles so the emails don't clog up your inbox, because of course I'm hoping you'd want to hear my super awesome biz tips after you sign up.
   
   But on the other hand, I totally get the inbox overwhelm (the app I use for email stops counting the number of unread emails at 999… it’s probably best that we never find out how many there really are in there ?).
   
   Then, I learned a new hack from Carrie of inspirationalzest.com that I like even better, and it allows you to be even more intentional (and strategic) about the emails you let into your inbox.
   
   If you're a Gmail user, you can add a + to your email address with a qualifier to help you keep track of what's coming from where. For example, my Gmail email is sparklewithgraceblog@gmail.com. Instead of just using that to sign up for everything, I can do this instead: sparklewithgraceblog+lizzysparty@gmail.com.
   
   You can put anything you want after the plus sign and it will all still go to your Gmail account. I've started doing this for all kinds of different things, like adding “+FBad” when I sign up for something from a Facebook ad. This can also help you verify who has your info and whether or not they've given it to someone else if you use “+brandname” (put in the actual name of the brand) whenever you sign up for something from a different brand.
   
   The possibilities are endless, but this will really help you remember where everything is from later on, and will also be helpful when searching your inbox for products from a given bundle.
   
   
3. Keep track of what you opt in to.
   This may sound obvious, but it's easy to get caught up in the moment when signing up for a bunch of shiny new products and then later forget what you even signed up for! You can keep track however you like, from physically writing it with pen and paper to using a simple Google sheet, or even a Trello board.
   
   I like to write down the name of the product, the name of the creator, what bundle it came from, the link to sign in, and what login credentials I used. Trust me, taking a few minutes to do this while you're signing up in the moment is going to save you so much time later when you're trying to remember what you signed up for or how to access it!
   
   
4. Make a plan to go through your new content.
   Bundles are only helpful if you actually USE the stuff you sign up for, so make sure to come up with a plan of attack. I like to sign in to a product/course immediately when I opt in to it and take a quick peek at the setup. If it's a short video series or training, I make a note to go through it ASAP. If I have time right then and there, I like to just do it then so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
   
   But if it's something that is more involved, or will take more time than I have in the moment, I'll write it on my tracker and then decide when I'll go through it. As a busy mom juggling my business with raising a family, I try not to use my uninterrupted work time to go through trainings. Instead, I usually listen to them while I'm driving, doing dishes, or cleaning up around the house.
   
   It really doesn't matter how you plan to approach it, the important part is to make an actual plan so that these new digital products and courses don't just end up collecting digital dust.
   

So now that you’re armed with a plan of attack, make sure to check out the Becoming Boss Bundle before it’s gone for the year.

I'd love to hear what YOUR favorite time and sanity-saving tips are for bundles too! Comment below and share what you do!