Monthly Archives: August 2013

Career Development, My DN Travel News

No Company Will Pay Anyone to Be Idle!

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The above title states the obvious. But the way (people I call) “workplace complainers” act, one would think otherwise! What would you think of a secretary who grumbles when asked by the boss, to retrieve important files from the archives, for an urgent meeting? Or the employee who complains that s/he’s being given too much work to do by superiors? I would call such people LAZY and IRRESPONSIBLE!

If That Sounds Harsh, Believe Me When I Say It’s Not

I once observed an employee working in the foreign office of an organization I visited. Each time the boss called her, she came in with a frown on her face.

And as soon as he told her what he wanted done, she would complain about how doing that would take time/effort, and leave with the frown still intact.

This is a job that earns her a salary compatible with what top executives in some local organizations earn back in her home country. She also earns allowances. And that is in addition to free accommodation, plus others benefits on top of her salary. In fact, many of her peers don’t earn anything close to what she gets.

Yet, she acted irritated and impatient most times I saw her during my visits to the office. It was disappointing to see a grown up act that way towards a job she was being handsomely PAID to do.

The fact remains that once you accept an offer of employment, by appending your signature to the letter, it means you agree to abide by the terms of employment.

Results-focused employers rightfully expect employees to do what is required of them.

But employees who complain about work are often too focused on what they lack, and forget to be grateful for what they already have. They forget that many people who have similar (sometimes superior) qualifications and abilities to theirs, walk the streets daily, without jobs!

Adding REAL Value at Work, Without Complaining, Guarantees Your Career Success (A True Story)

In 1994, I worked for 6 months as a Trainee Sales Coordinator in an indigenous wine manufacturing company. I endeared myself to the owner through my obvious passion for getting involved in making things work.

I developed close friendships with colleagues in the laboratory section, to better understand the quality controls e.g. how they determined sugar and alcohol content in the finished products. In the process I learnt how to use the refractometer to determine “brix” – a scale of measurement used to determine sugar content.

Over time, colleagues knew they could depend on me to help if/when the need arose. When I told the boss I’d been offered employment in Guinness, he gave me a glowing reference letter, even though he knew it meant I was leaving.

When In a Team, It Is Rarely Wise to Say: “But that’s not my job!”

When you work in an organization, you become part of the team.

As a manager in Guinness, I would often go out of my way to fill in for colleagues, or to support them – anytime I saw fit – to ensure work progressed as needed.

No matter who it was (or where), as long as I saw a possibility of things going wrong if I failed to intervene, I would still go ahead and help out. What’s more, I never made a big deal about it e.g. by claiming I was overworked etc.

As far as I was concerned, it was always part of the job. I believed I had an obligation to do my best to ensure the company’s interests progressed at all times.

It is my strong conviction that every team member…every employee…who acts this way WILL always enjoy rapid career advancement in a well managed company.

Do Your Job, Plus More…and Others Will Develop Unshakeable Trust & Confidence in YOU!

I still recall a senior manager, and mentor of mine, making the following statement to me:

“Tayo, people say you’re the kind of person they can give a job to do and go to sleep.”

He said so, a few days after the send forth party for me, following my voluntary resignation to start my own business. That was in December 2001.

And he was not the only one who’d expressed such sentiments.

I’d heard it many times during my career. It explained why decision makers repeatedly awarded me high profile career advancement opportunities, ahead of even senior colleagues.

All that happened because I consistently did my work, and helped do others that needed to be done, without complaining, resulting in benefits to the company.

There is no reason for you to NOT do the same. You have nothing to lose, since you already earn a salary, and so much more to gain. It’s just simple common sense!

Entrepreneurship, My DN Travel News, Public Speaking, Recommended Websites & Articles, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Breakthrough to Purpose – Andy Brine Interviews Efe Ohwofasa (Verbatim Text Transcript Created by Tayo K. Solagbade)

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Preamble: Why I Manually Transcribe Video and Audio Presentations (Especially Interviews) – By Tayo K. Solagbade

The thumbnail image below links to a verbatim PDF text transcript of a 23 minute long video interview conducted by Andy Brine (of Become Authentic on Video) with Efe Ohwofasa (Nigerian born, UK based business coach)

This is not the first time I’ll be doing a verbatim audio to text transcription of this kind. In the past, I’ve created similar resources from interviews and presentations with other experts and professionals.

Two examples are Burt Dubin (who I represent as Sole Agent on the African continent, for his speaker mentoring products and services), and Patrick Meninga (the gentleman who achieved fame as a blogger by building a $2,000 a month adsense website while working full time, and then selling it for $200,000).

efe-andy-thb

“But why do I do it?” many people are likely to wonder?

Is it to get publicity, or to get those I feature to notice me and give me jobs? What is my real motive?

1. My main reason is that I want to help people discover proven techniques and strategies they can use to IMPROVE themselves in whatever area of endeavour they are engaged.

That’s why I call myself a Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist & Multipreneur.

I have a passion that has endured for over 20 years (right from my days as a student in the University, through my time as a high flying employee in Guinness Nigeria), to help serious minded and results focused individuals develop and implement practical strategies to do what they do better.

Due to my versatility, and quick learning ability, I have over the years proven myself to be a valuable addition to the arsenal of any group or organisation.

So many people find me to be a useful resource because my active search for practical information about what works enables me add value to them. Anywhere I go, whatever I see or read, my natural instinct is always to find ways to share it with others to help them improve their performance.

I’m the kind of person who cannot help HELPING others. I am naturally driven to be a catalyst. No matter who I interact with, I create the impression of increase. People generally find that they are better off when they leave, than they were when they met me.

Most of my clients often get much more measurable value from interacting with me, than they pay for.

I work this way not because I want to be Pope, or because I’m a priest, but because I LOVE to see people make the best use of their God-given abilities to achieve their fullest potential – NO MATTER what challenges they have to confront and overcome in life.

And that is why I pick on videos and presentations of authentic achievers, whose messages convince me they are who they say they are.

Due to the challenges of poor connectivity in my part of the world, I realise many who desire to benefit from the wonderful video and audio presentations available online may not get ready access to them – except via text transcripts like those I create.

This is why I create my verbatim transcripts and offer them free.

2. Another reason I make these transcripts is to contribute to the work done by those who create these FREE presentations.

Their willingness to share their knowledge and insights at no charge to the target audience, as a way of gaining name recognition and credibility deserves to be encouraged.

Doing so gives people who seek help, an opportunity to make more intelligent hiring or buying decisions. Their competitors or rivals, who do not offer such presentations naturally get challenged. They must show what they are made of in a similar way, if they wish to be taken seriously by the target audience.

Ultimately, a healthy atmosphere is created for “buyers” of their products and services to make safer and more rewarding purchases. By creating these verbatim transcripts I believe I contribute my own quota to the above, and I like that.

Of course, it goes without saying that all the parties involved also get to know me. And that will certainly help ME as well. But even if it did not, I would still do it.

3. A third reason is to demonstrate to the featured (and other) experts, an EXAMPLE of practical ways they can re-package and re-present the same material to achieve wider reach and impact.

In providing Web Marketing/Performance Enhancement services to clients, this is a habit I encourage them to develop. That is, to explore as many intelligent and cost-effective ways as possible, to present themselves to the target audience.

4. Lastly, I do it to distil useful learning summaries &/or develop Actions Plans for target audiences to adopt.

I am not unaware of the availability of software used for transcriptions. However, you see I also LOVE to learn – and to help others learn better. That’s why I extract or “distilled” lessons from each interview.

Forcing myself to do the manual transcriptions enables me listen REPEATEDLY to the material, until I internalise most of it. Then over a few days I let it “cook” within me, and soon enough, the “lessons” to be had from it become apparent.

I then write and publish it as a blog post – linking to the verbatim transcript. That’s what I have done with other transcriptions. And that’s what I will do with THIS one.

I have found that this method dramatically boosts comprehension rates of people. Not everyone can readily extract a useful summary of learnings, and develop action points by watching a video, or listening to an audio recording.

Final Words

It is my hope that you will find this PDF transcript useful, in reaping more wisdom from the powerful message shared by Efe.

If it helps you, I urge you to please SHARE it with others you know can benefit as well. I thank you in advance!

Entrepreneurship, My DN Travel News

Can You Market and Advertise When You Lack Money?

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Marketing and Advertising When You Have No Money

If you have limited funds and need to market and advertise, this article may interest you. Is it really possible to market and advertise successfully, when you have no (or little) money? I argue that it does. I say this from personal experience gained doing it, as well as observing others who did it.

You may not get the same results in the same time period, as persons with funds. But you CAN – over time – earn more funds using zero cost strategies, to even adopt paid marketing and advertising media.

Marketing and Advertising Is About Getting Noticed By Your Target Audience

Not everyone will consider your products useful. This is why we are advised to always define our target audience profile. In other words, try to carefully research and summarize key attributes of people most likely to be interested in paying good money to get what you offer.

Some people assume that if they don’t think you’re making a useful impact with your business promotion, they would be right. If you value the opinions of such persons, they could make you go off track.

I say this because, if you’ve done your homework – including consulting widely with those who have reliable insights – you will often have a decent action plan to guide your efforts and actions.

However, working an action plan to get the results we want can take time. And during that period of delay, even though “results may be on their way to you”, as a human being, you may suffer some doubt.

This is when you become most vulnerable to critics who may come around to lend their opinion on their perception of your progress.

I’m not saying it’s wrong or bad to take advice from others to improve the results we get. But in doing so, I suggest you remember that a lack of money limits access to resources that make things happen faster. Therefore, we may need to wait longer to see results for our marketing and advertising.

How Can You Promote Your Business Without Money? (A Real Life Facebook Conversation)

One effective and reliable strategy I’ve discovered that works, quite well too, is smart use of PC and Internet Technology to complement other efforts you make.

Recently, I had a Facebook chat with a young man who used to work in a Real Estate client company I served a few years back. He’s now self-employed and offers IT related products and services.

A few weeks before, he’d invited me to like his new facebook page. Then later on we chatted in more detail about what he was trying to do.

He explained that he was “trying to draw traffic and market my services with adverts”.

I replied saying “tell me more…with specifics. What services are you selling, and how do you advertise?”

After he supplied a list of products and services, he ended by saying “So I try to look for what people need, to catch their attention through any Tech news.”

Reviewing his response, I saw he was missing some important things.

For instance, he’d built his business promotion launch pad on a social media page. That’s not a wise thing to do. Read “2 Dangers of Using Social Media as Your Business Home” to understand why.

He also did not have a website, and was apparently not working to any specific web marketing plan.

So I asked him the following questions about the promotional efforts he had made/was making:

1. What has been the response so far?

2. How long have you been doing this?

3. Do you have a web based newsletter that you publish regularly?

4. Do you have a system to generate sales leads by capturing emails, phone numbers etc of potential clients/subscribers?

He replied that he lacked funds to operate at the level I was referring to.

But I quickly shot him the following message:

You’re wrong. All those things can be done using free resources, IF YOU are willing to do the alternative research and hard work.

There’s a saying: When in doubt, Google it!

…Don’t let a negative mind set prevent you from using PC and Internet Technology to YOUR advantage.

What I’m asking you to do is what I’ve personally done before. All you need do is THINK!

Final Words: Some Resources for Further Reading…and Action

A word on advertising. Normally, one has to pay to get it.

However, know that what you pay does not always have to be money.

Instead, it could be an equivalent product or service YOU have to offer, that the "advertising medium" provider wants. Just initiate the discussion – online and/or off the web, and integrate whatever you agree with him/her into your web marketing system.

I’ve done this many times, in so many different ways. And I learnt to think that way from reading Burt Dubin‘s articles.

The following articles will help you get started with practical ideas you can use. They were written based on achievements I have recorded for myself and my clients. Don’t forget to Google for more ideas!

1. Why You Need a Web Marketing System (Part 1)

Subtitle: Why You May Need To Change The Way You Find Buyers for Your Products and Services

2. Why You Need a Web Marketing System (Part 2)

Subtitle: Understanding How (Routine/Repeated) Use of Paid TV, Radio & Print Media Short Changes YOU

3. Why You Need a Web Marketing System (Part 3)

Subtitle: A Passion for What You Do, Will Help You Use A WMS to Get New/Repeat Business At Close to Zero Cost

4. Potential Benefits of Promoting Your Business Online Via Articles, Newsletter and Facebook Marketing

My DN Travel News, Public Speaking

No. 101: Speaking Can Make You a “Meaningful Specific”

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Most countries will gladly welcome “foreigners” they know can bring positive benefits to their people and economies. A UK based Nigerian whose amazing success story I recently transcribed from the video of a TV interview (email tayo at tksola dot com to get a FREE copy) – coaches small and medium business owners across the world.

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Publication: Tayo Solagbade’s Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Page (PSIP) Newsletter
Date: Monday 5th August 2013
No:101
Title: Speaking Can Make You a Meaningful Specific
Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade
Blog URL: http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/blog
Archive (For E-mail only version started 14th May 2012): Click here to view
Archive (For Blog version started 24th September 2011): Click here

Hi,

Please find below the latest issue of my Speaking IDEAS newsletter.

Today, he enjoys growing recognition as a competent business coach, from clients in different parts of the world. But he had to overcome poverty and repeat failures to get where he is today…

From the age of 13 to 21, he sold groceries on the streets to help his parents make ends meet. The tough times were however so unrelenting, that at a point, his father fell ill and passed on. Then things got even worse, to the point that the girl he was dating, and dreamings of marrying left him saying:

“…This is not going to work. I don’t know what you’re up to in life. You don’t have a future. You don’t have money, nothing is working for you. Your background is very poor.“

He was devastated, but eventually clawed his way back to sanity, and moved on, till he succeeded.

This guy’s story is as amazing, as it is gripping. Email tayo at tksola dot com to get the FREE PDF transcript I created, of the TV interview in which he tells it all.

E-mail your name, country, mobile number, occupation, & facebook/twitter URLs (if any) to tayo at tksola dot com, and I’ll send you a FREE copy of the 21 minute TV Interview transcript I just created!

 

No. 101: Speaking Can Make You a Meaningful Specific

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NB: If you ever find yourself wondering what else I’ve written, some days after you’ve read THIS Speaking Ideas newsletter I send out on a Monday, here’s what you can do to find out: Point your browser to www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/sdnuggets to read at least ONE new post added to my SD Nuggets blog on a different category from Tuesday till Saturday (sometimes even Sundays) in line with this publishing schedule :-)
**********

Most countries will gladly welcome “foreigners” they know can bring positive benefits to their people and economies. A UK based Nigerian whose amazing success story I recently transcribed – from the video of a TV interview (email tayo at tksola dot com to get a FREE copy) – coaches small and medium business owners across the world.

If more people like him frequented the UK from Nigeria, it’s unlikely the former would introduce steep hurdles like large cash deposits as entry requirements for citizens of the latter country.

As an Expert, You Can Follow His Example (Download the PDF/Watch the TV interview)

More experts – especially Africans – can become (like Zig Ziglar called them) “meaningful specifics”. And that can earn them invitations to help people – even in developed societies.

By meaningful specific, I mean someone with a proven ability or competence that can add tangible value to others.

Sometimes your expertise may even be the unique experience and insight you have, on how certain aspects of business and society in Africa work.

Certain institutions/interest groups in developed societies may need Africa based experts, to help them intelligently plan and implement programs meant to be implemented in Africa.

When they discover that you can help them, they’re likely to welcome you. Just like we readily welcome most people from their countries!

Whether you’re African or not, becoming a meaningful specific can help you build a reputation that can speak for you, when you apply for a travel visa!

Remember this: No matter how bad it gets, refusing to quit can help you win!

When starting out, some people faced poverty and failure…like the UK based coach I mentioned.

Today, he enjoys growing recognition as a competent business coach, from clients in different parts of the world. But he had to overcome poverty and repeat failures to get where he is today.

From the age of 13 to 21, he sold groceries on the streets to help his parents make ends meet. The tough times were however so unrelenting, that at a point, his father fell ill and passed on. Then things got even worse, to the point that the girl he was dating, and dreamings of marrying left him saying:

“…This is not going to work. I don’t know what you’re up to in life. You don’t have a future. You don’t have money, nothing is working for you. Your background is very poor.“

He was devastated, but eventually clawed his way back to sanity, and moved on, till he succeeded.

This guy’s story is as amazing, as it is gripping. Email tayo at tksola dot com to get the FREE PDF transcript I created, of the TV interview in which he tells it all.

That PDF has a link to the FULL 23 minute TV interview on Youtube.

Poor Speaking Skills Can Prevent You From Becoming a Meaningful Specific

Experts-who-speak can serve target audiences in a variety of ways. Apart from providing expert services, many offer customizable learning events to meet each client’s needs.

This implies that if you are a competent expert and have poor public speaking skills, you potentially deny yourself of powerful extra income generating opportunities.

The above mentioned business coach revealed how, in his early twenties, he used public speaking as a marketing tool, to sell over 6,000 copies of his book in Nigeria’s Delta state.

But he did not find it easy…

Like he put it, he initially lacked the self-confidence to speak in public. To overcome that problem, he took up teaching of young children at his Church’s Sunday School. Then he later moved to addressing students in primary and secondary schools. After he mastered that level, he stepped up to speaking before university students…and kept going till he found his feet.

This gentleman has since read many books on public speaking, attended coaching and personal development courses, and is an active member of the toastmaster chapter in his area.

In other words, he took personal action to become a meaningful specific. As a business coach today, he uses his speaking skills to market himself, and to also meet the needs of his clients.

For instance, h e gives talks, and organises other custom learning events attended by business owners. And his proven ability as a speaker enables him to make the most of those opportunities.

Improve Yourself: Get Help to Become a More Impact-full Speaker Today!

Interestingly, this UK based coach has told me he’s interested in hiring a seasoned mentor of professional speakers, to help him improve his speaking.

Some other person(s) would have felt contented with that level of success he’s already achieved.

But he knows he can do better, and wants to improve. I strongly believe that’s why he’s succeeding i.e. because he sets high standards for himself!

He apparently understands that success is the never ending pursuit of excellence!

You can try self-improving your speaking. Alternatively, consider saving time, and trial/error, by tapping from the wisdom of someone with over 25 years experience as a mentor of some of the world’s highest paid speakers.

That person is Burt Dubin.

I publish this weekly speaking IDEAS newsletter to promote Burt Dubin’s mentoring service – and I’ll get a commission if anyone buys from him as a result. My contact with his materials on public speaking and speaking business marketing, since the year 2000, convince me he is number ONE in the speaker mentoring business.

You can choose to purchase Burt’s mentoring at any of the three (3) levels listed below:

1. Top Shelf [Click here] | 2. Mid Range [Click here] | 3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Need More Details of How to Make The Above Ideas Work for YOU?

If you need more specific details of how to make use of the ideas I’ve shared in this newsletter, send me a message using this request form – with “Re: Speaking Can Make You a Meaningful Specific.” in the subject line.

SD Nuggets Blog™

 New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking
[Monday]:
No. 100: Nothing Can Stop YOU…Except Greed

Entrepreneurship [Tuesday]:

Is It Smart to Partner With a New Acquaintance?
Self-Development [Wednesday]:

Proven Strategy for Succeeding by Winning People’s Trust

Career Development [Thursday]:

Excel by Getting Useful Ideas to Decision Makers

Parenting [Friday]:

Do You Need Schooling to Own a Bank Account?
Writing/Blogging [Saturday]:

You Cannot Teach Experience
Want me to write for you? Click here…

Click now

Have a lovely week!

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Sole Agent For Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Service In Africa

Mobile: 234-803-302-1263

http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com

Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist – Tayo Solagbade – works as a multipreneurial freelance writer providing  zero risk article and report writing support for website owners, while travelling slowly across West Africa as a Location Independent Entrepreneur.

He’s presently based in Benin Republic, where he’s preparing an English-French Language Guide, City Travel Guides, and a Commercial Rabbit Farming Guide.

In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer, to Training & Technical Development Manager, then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Self-Development Nuggets™ blog, and Public Speaking IDEAS newsletter (which he publishes to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).

For a limited time, Tayo is available to speak to your group or organization for a moderate fee. Send e-mail to tayo at tksola dot com. You can also visit www.tksola.com to learn more.

Connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.
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Have you been undecided about whether or not to become a paid speaker? Or have you been trying to get your speaking career off the ground with little success?

Here’s a tip: Burt Dubin works with people who want to be speakers, and with speakers who want to be masters. Click here to visit his website NOW and submit a contact form message telling him what challenges you’re facing, and how you’d like him to help you. Tell him I sent you, and you’ll get a pleasant surprise offer from him.

Comments?

What do you think of the above message? Do you have any personal experience to share on this subject? Are there some other points you feel can be added, to help persons looking for answers? Please share your thoughts!

Share this issue!

Do you know anyone who might benefit from reading this newsletter issue? Why not hit the forward button now, and send it to him/her with a short recommendation. You can also use share it via your social media channels. Thanks in advance.

View Tayos video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsConnect with Tayo on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google Plus

What fears or doubts are keeping you from (a) taking up Burt Dubin’s monthly speaker mentoring, or (b) buying his products?

You can choose to purchase Burt’s mentoring at any of the three (3) levels listed below:

1. Top Shelf [Click here] | 2. Mid Range [Click here] | 3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Burt’s three mentoring packages can be likened to the seating options offered by airlines: Budget Delight (Economy); Mid Range (Business); and Top Shelf (First Class).

At least that’s how I like to think of them!

All three will get you to your desired destination of “speaking success-ville” – so long as you meet the requirements/play your part well (your fare, abide by the set guidelines etc). During the “flight”, the seat you have will determine how much personal service attention and preference the provider will accord you. It’s that simple :-)

So, make your choice:1. Top Shelf [Click here] | 2. Mid Range [Click here] | 3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Send me an e-mail with your questions via tayo at tksola dot com. In the meantime, why not get started by subscribing here to get his 7-Part Course (How To Succeed And Get Paid As A Professional Speaker) .  . . and receive his monthly newsletter (Speaking Biz Strategies Letter) at no cost.

Get mentored by Burt Dubin - coach of some of the world's highest paid public speakers

For over 25 years, Burt Dubin has provided a variety of speaker mentoring products and services to clients worldwide.
Download this flyer as PDF:

http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/uploads/burt_new_flyer.pdf

Burt Dubin now offers his speaker mentoring service to experts based in Africa. Click now to download this flyer as PDF


My DN Travel News, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

You Cannot Teach Experience

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“We can teach from our experience, but we cannot teach experience” – Sasha Azevedo

As a writer, there will be times when your knowledge alone will not be adequate.

In other words, if you’re honest with yourself, you will sometimes not have enough personal experience based insight, to do a good job writing on a subject or theme – even if it’s your specialty.

Personal experience will always be a viable source of unique writing “material” which a writer can weave into his/her prose.

Certain subjects simply cannot be understood by reading or hearing alone. They need to be experienced.

As a result they can be quite difficult to write about, if you do not have any personal experience (at least by way of observation of live events) to draw upon.

Examples of such subjects include “living in poverty” or say getting into “flow” or “the zone”.

Personal experience gives you greater insight, and equips you to do a better job of writing.

The following true story provides a good example :

A news reporter seeking an interview with the vice president of a Toastmasters’ chapter, agreed to attend the latter’s Saturday club meeting as a condition for getting the interview.

During the event, he was however surprised to be unexpectedly asked to address members on a topic chosen only moments earlier.

Later, during the interview, he asked his host about the incident. The vice president explained that the purpose was to make the reporter experience how members were trained to think on their feet by delivering spontaneous speeches.

The expectation was that he would gain better understanding to guide his writing. As the reporter himself admitted in the published interview, it worked!

Your lack of experience can make you keep drawing blanks – what some would (wrongly) refer to as being due to writer’s block.

What You Can Do?

Either get someone who has relevant experience to supply the insights you need (making sure to give due credit to him/her), or go out and get the experience yourself. It’s the most practical way to solve this problem. And what you get by doing it (i.e. the experience-based insight) remains yours permanently.

My DN Travel News, Parenting

Do You Need Schooling to Own a Bank Account?

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Sounds like a funny question does it not? Do you have a child in school (or due to start)? This article highlights what smart parents will help their kids learn outside formal school, to better prepare them to achieve financial independence in adulthood!

Schooled and Unschooled Persons Can Own and Operate Bank Accounts.

Hopefully, the above is stating the obvious. All you need to have is enough money.

Most of us can easily think up a few known names of wealthy people who never even stepped into a school. For different reasons they “missed” getting access to formal schooling, but still went on to achieve financial fortune, and in certain cases major fame.

I’ve always been intrigued by such people. In studying them (via reading and observation) I found they succeeded mainly via mastery of some unique skill or vocation.

Examples are readily found in fields like trading (buying/selling), sports, entertainment, hospitality, business/entrepreneurship, and even science and technology.

By choice, or force of their unique circumstances, these people developed unique skills and abilities to a level that enabled them acquire wealth.

Many unschooled persons who find fortune this way, usually have to be helped to open a bank account, and taught to use cheque book etc.

No one tells them “Oh you need to get a degree certificate before you can open a bank account Sir/Ma.”

Imagine telling a street kid turned multi-million dollar earning Football star, that not knowing how to read or write disqualifies him from opening an account?

No smart bank would do that. Instead, they always find a way to help that “loaded” customer make use of their banking facilities.

When You Have the Money, The Bank Will Help You Find a Way

I certainly do not qualify to teach anyone how to use the bank or a cheque. My purpose here is simply to provide a background on which to discuss this further.

To issue a cheque, the owner writes recipient name, and amount of money in numbers and letters. Then most importantly, s/he signs and dates it.

Writing a cheque is easy. But successfully exchanging it for the equivalent of cash written on it requires presenting it at the relevant bank – which should also be easy to do.

However, if there’s no money in the account on which the cheque is to be drawn, that “normally easy” task can become difficult.

Such a cheque would not be “valid” for clearing at the bank!

That’s when bank officers write on the cheque you’re given acronyms like “DAR”…meaning Drawer’s Attention Required. I’ve not seen one of those is A LONG while, but if I recall correctly, some people call that kind a “Bounced Cheque”…:-)

Now, even a rich person can issue a cheque that bounces. It could be due to an error, or a change of mind which makes him instruct the bank not to pay after giving it out. Or there may be no money in the account (maybe he’s broke, or used the wrong bank cheque

But the most important point I wish to make here is this:

Old, illiterate mega trading women in Lagos state of my home country, Nigeria, are actively courted by bank officials, to open accounts with them.

These bank workers are often degree holders who can rarely boast financial resources comparable to what these mega trading market women own.

But they are smart enough to know that getting those accounts in would boost their bank’s performance. For this reason, when the women object that they cannot read etc, the bank officers assure them they have other means to help them authenticate transactions e.g. thumbprint identification etc.

And when the women need to pay others from their accounts, the bank makes special arrangements to ensure nothing goes wrong. They simply confirm there is money there.

In other words, as long as you have money, people – be they schooled or unschooled – will be willing to look beyond your lack of formal schooling, to give you what you want.

Final Words: To Have Money, Alternative Income Earning Abilities Are Essential

In my Parenting Articles, I strongly advocate that parents avoid letting their kids receive only conventional schooling.

You need to strike a balance.

Identify your child’s natural interests, talents and abilities, which can be developed to enable him/her earn useful income. Do this while s/he attends formal school.

Do NOT make the common mistake of wanting to “wait till s/he finishes” schooling!

Let him/her get used to making money using that ability before then. That way, it will add a useful income stream if/when s/he starts job hunting.

What’s more, when s/he gets a job, it can be used to earn additional income that can only boost progress towards financial independence.

Career Development, My DN Travel News

Excel by Getting Useful Ideas to Decision Makers

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Do you have an idea you are convinced can benefit the company you serve? In this write-up, I argue (based on my achievements as a high performing employee in Guinness Nigeria), that you owe yourself, and the company, a duty to ensure you get heard. As was my experience, you may even have to bypass immediate seniors to get results!

What If No One Seems Ready to Listen to You? (My True Story)

Most successful companies are known for enabling employees at all levels to contribute ideas towards achieving the organizational goals.

As an employee, when you see your ideas get formally adopted, with recognition given to YOU, that’s likely to inspire you to do more. And the company benefits even more!

Sometimes however, decision makers you meet may be so busy that granting you face-to-face audience may prove difficult for them. Or it could be that your immediate seniors you approach with your idea may not see what you see.

I share my true story below, to give you practical insights you can use.

As a young manager in my mid to late twenties in Guinness Nigeria, between 1995 (when I was 25) to 1999, I quickly built a reputation for being innovative. I often saw possibilities others did not.

I started by developing custom automated spreadsheet applications to replace manual data handling and report generation systems in the brewing department. As word spread about how paper work took less time and effort to do, I found myself repeatedly courted (mostly informally), to help other departments put similar tools in place.

Over time, I noticed that despite great improvements in our operational output, one KPI (Key Performance Indicator) generated by my auto-spreadsheet was under-reporting our actual achieved performance. A closer look revealed the formula was faulty.

It was obvious, but I still doubted I was right. Others were at least 5 years older than I was on the job. My boss possessed qualifications I could only dreamed of at the time!

All of this made me feel I had to be wrong.

“How could they all not have seen this computation error?” I wondered.

They Listened, But Really Could Not See What I Was Seeing

I tried bringing it up with a few senior colleagues I came across. They patiently heard me out, but eventually noted that the formula I faulted had been in use for years. And reports had been prepared during that time with no one finding any fault with it.

I knew I could not blame them for failing to see what I was seeing.

They often saw the KPI figures once a week, or four times in a month. In contrast, I’d taken advantage of my spreadsheet application, to trend the reported KPIs backwards for over 12 months, and then plotted charts comparing the trend with other related KPIs.

It was the distinct contradiction I noticed between that particular KPI, and the others on the SAME process, that convinced me something was wrong with its computation.

I studied the structure of the formula, and tried modifications, until I got one that worked right. Plotting the modified KPI, the positive correlation was instantly obvious.

And that basically cemented my conviction. I knew we needed to change the formula!

Getting No Support from My Immediate Seniors, I Chose to Go Higher

If you have nagging conviction that won’t go away, you owe others a duty to act on it.

When I saw that bringing up the issue with others only earned non-committal responses, I decided to write a formal paper on it, and send to top management.

Initially, I felt addressing it to my boss would be adequate. But it occurred to me that he was likely to ask the opinion of my senior colleagues. I already knew that would do little good.

Being keen to get a change, I addressed my paper to the Brewery Manager (BM), copying my boss. In it, I briefly highlighted the KPI formula error, and proposed the modified version I’d derived, for use,

Within 24 Hours I Got a Response – and a Solution!

24 hours after I dropped off my one page paper, I got called in by my boss.

Looking sternly at me he asked “Why did you send this directly to the BM, without first checking with me?”. In his hand was the copy from the BM, on which the latter had scribbled a note to my boss: “Discuss this with Tayo, and let me know.”

I immediately apologized for not coming first to him, and explained my reasons. He nodded, then asked me how I arrived at my deductions. In the end, he instructed me to modify the formula in the spreadsheet as I’d proposed, and to inform others.

That was a great confidence booster.

Some months later, I derived a completely new weighted average KPI to complement existing ones.

This time around, I addressed my paper to my boss, who took it to the expatriate brewery head. The latter sent it to the headquarters with his full endorsement.  

This second initiative got me even more recognition than the first.

Less than a year later, I got nominated for the first of many secondments to higher positions. I had no doubts that my “contributions” influenced those nominations.

You can also achieve similar results using the above ideas.