General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Success Quotes Only Work When Diligently Acted Upon

November 29, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

I once heard a famous American celebrity quoted on radio by a presenter as follows:

"Success is the result of good judgement. Good judgement is the result of experience. Experience is the result of bad judgement".

The moral – according to the radio presenter – is that FAILURES we go through in life (often as a result of bad judgements we make) actually TEACH us THE useful lessons we need to learn in order to make better judgements that will ultimately enable us achieve success.

Lots of people actually use quotes like this on a daily basis. What puzzles me however is that in spite of the fact that they KNOW these quotes…

(a) Many people refuse to view failure as offering any positive benefits.

Evidence of this shows in how they look down on those they observe to be failing.

And also in how they AVOID it or HIDE all evidence of it when it happens to them.

(b) Fewer people these days are willing to put in the needed time and effort to acquire relevant EXPERIENCE which is an essential requirement for becoming MORE capable of making good judgements.

So many people seem to be in a hurry – no time to apprentice. They want to jump in and get made INSTANTLY. If necessary, they’ll cut corners.

But long term authentic success does not come that way.

Like the radio presenter pointed out, a lot of successful people we know actually started out by recording a lot of failures, till they learnt enough to succeed.

It’s so easy to quote these famous quotes. But DOING what the quotes say is a totally different proposition.

Fearlessly applying the wisdom from success quotes CAN help us achieve seeming miracles in our lives over time.

And by the way, it is very often those people who have done it the right way (i.e. those who have achieved authentic success by following the rules mentioned above), that are able to DRAW from their wealth of experience based knowledge and wisdom to utter quotable quotes about how to do what they have done.

They are always full of experience based wisdom, which they effortlessly volunteer for use by others.

By following the same proven process, EACH one of us can also over time develop to the point where the words we say get put on marble, for others to learn from.

We can start this process by forming the habit of APPLYING the wisdom of success quotes diligently in our daily lives.

PS: This article is based on an original piece first published on 15th October 2009 by Tayo K. Solagbade via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, My DN Travel News

To Succeed, Make Your Excel-VB Software Complement Others

November 28, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

“Tayo, what is your honest opinion about commercial off-the-shelf accounting software, compared with the custom applications you build?”

I am sometimes asked the foregoing question in various forms, by prospective clients trying to make up their minds about what option to choose (i.e off-the-shelf apps versus my custom Excel-VB application development service).

Here’s a typical example of the answer I normally give them…

I have helped clients (in different professions/industries) develop 100% custom Excel-VB Driven Software to overcome peculiar limitations of traditional software (or manual/paper-based) systems that they use for their financial and operational data handling/analysis and report generation .

Accountants/Finance Managers of large organisations in particular have so far made made the most demands for my services. Excel-VB afford you the advantage of being able to extend the capabilities of your existing software – or manual systems – using my 100% customisable Excel-based software that empower you to get more work done with LESS effort via efficient time/cost-saving automation.

In other words, my custom Excel Software COMPLEMENT rather than REPLACE your existing software and/or systems.

You therefore LOSE NOTHING since your prior investment in the latter is protected.

All that I have already said above is effectively what I tell prospects/clients in general.

However, for those in my part of the world (i.e Africa), I emphasise that I DO NOT build Accounting software – except a clients specifically requests it.

Instead my applications are custom Entreprise Information Systems(EIS) which help their owners manage operations (e.g. materials usages) &/or accounting data for more reliable business decision making:

1. The commerical accounting software work well for anyone whose needs are fully catered for by the various useful features and functions they offer.

I have seen many organisations – including schools – that have found this to be so. They confidently told me they did not have any unmet needs from using the programs they chose.

2. However, the accounting applications are built to prepare accounts in line with standard reporting formats used mainly in developed societies.

As a result, they often cannot accomodate the business/accounts data handling/report generation needs/peculiarities extant here. This is due to our largely unregulated environment in this regard. That’s why many who use the programs still find themselves periodiocally/repeatedly turning to programs like MS Excel to cater for areas not covered by their commercial software.

It is the above type of situation that creates a need for the solutions I offer.

In other words, if you have a software system in place and STILL find need to do some of your important work OUTSIDE of it, then a custom solutions development service like mine is likely to benefit you greatly.

3. For prospects who indicate interest, I go further to refer them to a very insightful/experience-based opinion expressed by a financial consultant which shows that MS Excel-based solutions can indeed help OVERCOME limitations that accounting software may have.

Incidentally, this is why you will hardly find any off-the-shelf accounting software which do not offer the user an option to export data stored in them into MS Excel!

Final Words

Like I always tell my clients and prospects, if there is an alternative that works satisfactorily and is cost-effective, it would make NO sense to hire me.

It is when you have searched for one and found NONE, that my custom Excel-VB solutions development becomes relevant – and potentially VALUE adding. At this point, it WOULD be justifiable to invest in it.

Read this article: Use Custom Automation Of Your Spreadsheet Reports To Drive Down Costs And Increase Your Profits.

Need help?

Click here to send me a message or request

Entrepreneurship, Excel-VB Solutions, General, My DN Travel News

Boost Your Supermarket Bookshop or Factory’s Profits With a Custom Excel-VB Software [Hint: View Screenshots of an Excel-VB driven Pure Water Business Manager™ app built for a Pure Water Factory in Ogudu, Lagos-Nigeria]

November 27, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

UPDATE – 29TH DECEMBER 2020: Watch video demonstration of NEW version with Auto Cashbook, KPI Charts etc.

The Typical Scenario

Some bookshop/supermarket owners (especially in my part of the world – Nigeria/Benin/Africa) focus – almost exclusively – on capturing sales and recording expenses using cash registers/POS tools (sometimes in conjunction with a PC based financial reporting software).

[NB: POS = Point Of Sale].

Customers come in and make purchases daily. At the day’s end, records reconciliation is then done. Usually, income is compared with items “sold” and resulting physical stock balance of products checked to agree with “book values”.

Sometimes a few things don’t agree with their expectations.

Genuine efforts are made to resolve the differences, but without success. Somehow, the decision is taken to let it go or write it off and “start over”. Sometimes, the problem resolves itself at a later date, with someone saying. “Hey! I found the item we were looking for the other day!”

The Problem

We all know that any business, desirous of growth and profitability NEEDS to be in firm control of records of sales income made, buying patterns, expenses incurred etc, so as understand her customers interests/preferences and better serve them by supplying relevant products/services.

Even though doing so may not harm their business, continuing that way is bound to prevent them from discovering better ways to make more profits at less cost.

This is because there’s a LOT more that owners can do with data obtained from daily transactions, which when done right, would significantly boost sales and increase profit margins.

The Viable Alternative

A simple yet extremely functional Custom Automated Spreadsheet application could be developed using Excel-VBA. The application will run in Excel, so you need not incur additional cost via purchase of new software.

Below: Screenshot of the splash screen of a Pure Water Busienss Maneger app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, as it loads in MS Excel 2003. My apps are typially built to be backward and forward compatible with different Excel versions

Anyone (attendant, accountant, or manager, etc) can be taught to post routine sales/expense records into specially designed spreadsheet table – immediately sales occur – or at specific intervals through each day.

In cases where POS machines are used, the records may be posted into the app later in the day or at the weekend. Or if the POS device used has cross-compatibility, the Excel-VB app could be setup to auto-import sales records from it, to auto-generate needed analytical reports.

Below: Screenshot of the LOGIN screen of a Pure Water Business Manager app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, in MS Excel 2003.

Once the app can access the raw sales data, the manager can then use the drop down menu provided to view the summaries of products purchased/income made.

The few (if any) variances picked out would be more easily resolved, since s/he would not need to try remembering every single detail of jobs done.

The owner would be able sit back at the end of each day and review template summaries of items purchased (even to the extent of showing “which” customer bought “what”, if you desire to offer personalised services to your regular customers).

Comparison of one period with the other could be done using charts. Areas with greatest contribution to income could be easily identified and effort put into consolidating them to ensure consistency.

Below: Screenshot of the MAIN NAVIGATION MENU interface of a Pure Water Business Manager app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, in MS Excel 2003.

Final Words

A cash register/POS device DOES NOT and CANNOT offer the range of functionalities you will get from using a low (or zero cost) custom automated spreadsheet application.

You need to be able to study the trends in products purchases by your customers so you can make better decisions about what products to buy/stock next time e.g. you can then use what you learn to have your application auto alert you to predetermined product to buy/stock next time.

Read this article: Use Custom Automation Of Your Spreadsheet Reports To Drive Down Costs And Increase Your Profits.

Need help making use of the ideas shared here (or would you like to purchase the Pure Water Business Manager app featured in the screenshots?):

Click Here to send me your Customized Spreadsheet Solutions Development Request

Below: Screenshot of daily pure water bag deliveries/sales recording interface in a Pure Water Business Manager app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory

Below: MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT – Screenshot of dynamic financial report summaries auto-generation interface. Note the drop menus used to choose DAILY, WEEKLY and MONTHLY reporting options. Note the button that is clicked to generate the YEAR TILL DATE report

Below: YEAR END FINANCIAL REPORT – Screenshot of dynamic financial report summaries auto-generation interface. Note the drop menus used to choose DAILY, WEEKLY and MONTHLY reporting options. Note the button that is clicked to generate the YEAR TILL DATE report

Below: Screenshot of dynamic Vehicle Maintenance Running Expenses Schedule interface. Note the drop menus used to generate different filtered reporting options.

Below: Screenshot of data entry interface for checks/cash based expenses

Below: Screenshot of dynamic Monthly Operations Report – Note the drop menu used to auto generate the factory’s operations data summaries in a ready-to-print reporting interface

Click Here to send me your Customized Spreadsheet Solutions Development Request

Career Development, Excel-VB Solutions, General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Use Excel-VB to Create Limitless Possibilities BEYOND What Off-The-Shelf Software Make Possible

November 26, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for recording, re-organising, analysing and presenting information.

By Excel VB, I refer to Excel VBA – where VBA means Visual Basic for Applications(VBA). VBA refers to the highly extensive and flexible macro programming language developed by Microsoft for use in their MS office applications – Word, Power Point, etc.

VBA is therefore different from the Standalone Visual Basic program used (by conventional programmers) for developing “standalone” or “executable” (.exe) software applications – though it borrows many of the latter’s features.

Think of Excel VBA as being the standalone Visual Basic software built into Excel for the benefit of Excel users/developers who are not traditional-minded programmers, but who are keen to exert more control over the application to enhance user productivity.

So, Excel VB offers any interested persons the necessary tools to make the application deliver more functionality. The final product is still an Excel document, but with extra functionalities added using VBA..

Read this article: Use Custom Automation Of Your Spreadsheet Reports To Drive Down Costs And Increase Your Profits.

The truth is that using MS Excel can ENHANCE the performance of your existing data handling/analysis and report generation software. This is why most off-the-shelf data analysis apps — especially for financial reporting – have EXPORT TO MS EXCEL features, to enable their users take advantage of Excel’s more flexible data handling capabilities to make better sense of their data.

Why Excel-VB?

Below I discuss 2 key reasons why I settled on using MS Excel-Visual Basic as my development platform for solving clients’ data handling, analysis and report generating solutions.

1. I always answer this question by asking the following question: What would be the point of “Killing A Fly With A Hammer”?

Let me elaborate. If a method is available that allows us to achieve the same desired result(s) at LOWER cost, with LESS effort and in LESS time, why should we fail to adopt it?

Certain IT persons insist that developing executable applications using the standalone Visual Basic programming language is “better” as it does not limit the user to a particular user application software environment. I concede that this might be a valid point under certain conditions.

However, I point out that there are many users who have very specialised, peculiar needs that do not necessarily require complex solutions.

A lot of people today simply want to get their data recording, (re)organisation, and analysis for decision making done quicker and with less effort.

They also want to spend as little money as possible to do this. In other words, they want a cost-effective solution that gives them independence from the solution provider in the long term – without requiring them to undertake laborious skills acquisition immediately.

This category of everyday users of technology described above are the ones I believe need Excel VB solutions of the type I describe/provide. I anticipate that some of these users will over time develop an interest in acquiring advanced skills needed to develop their own solutions – which is why I also offer coaching services.

2. Another question I ask, in answering the “Why Excel VB?” question is : “Why re-invent the wheel?”

My experiences (and those of others who favour the use of Excel VB like I do), confirm that to organise, and analyse data for (financial/management) report generation and decision making, you will save hundreds of hours using already in-built, pre-programmed Excel functions compared to a situation where you used Visual Basic proper.

All the functions needed to achieve the above purposes already exist in Excel, so that you don’t have to write them all from scratch as would be the case if you were to use Visual Basic.

Even though I had always felt this way, my encounter with a similar justification stated by a Microsoft Certified Professional, Pierre Leclerc on his website, gave me greater insight and clarity, that made me decide to stick with Excel VB even though I had attended a full training course in Visual Basic in 2002.

NB: LeClerc’s website has morphed in name, shape and form/content over the years since I first found him back in 2004, to what now exists at http://www.excel-vba.com.

Important Note: The fact that one uses Excel VB or VBA does not mean one will not have need to use VB or other languages.

Over the years, the need for faster, more sophisticated, robust, and secure Excel-based software has led Professional Excel Developers to – whenever they consider it necessary – actively utilise ANY other applications and programming languages (such as C/C++, VB6 or VB.Net) to deliver better performing applications (learn more below).

ExcelVB Is Used To Develop Commercial Quality Excel Software

Today, there is a huge army of Professional Excel Developers who develop Excel-based software solutions for a living – worldwide. Their software can be found in use alongside those developed using more traditional programming languages like C++, and VB6, in some of the largest corporations in the world – including Microsoft itself..

Professional Excel developers typically would use Excel VB in conjunction with other programming languages(e.g. C/C++, VB6 or VB.Net etc) and applications(e.g. databases like MS Access, Oracle, SAP etc) to develop flexible, fast/easy to use, high performing, robust and maintenable Excel Solutions.

The implication of the foregoing is that ExcelVB occupies it’s rightful place as the true development platform that it is. Many times, it is even able to deliver a significant performance edge over other applications due to its powerful calculation engine that the developer is able to leverage – thereby saving time while delivering more functionality to users.

Read this article: Use Custom Automation Of Your Spreadsheet Reports To Drive Down Costs And Increase Your Profits.

Summary: Excel-VB Creates Limitless Possibilities BEYOND What Off-The-Shelf Apps Make Possible

For the purposes of creating custom financial and management solutions that solve your identified problems, and give you control/ownership, without burning a hole in your pocket, Excel VB offers an amazing variety of possibilities, in the hands of an adequately skilled user.

In addition, an Excel VB – better still, a Professional Excel – Developer (who in many cases will tend to be a user turned developer, and is therefore likely to easily see things from your perspective) – unlike a programmer – is more likely to be positively disposed to working with you to ensure the application meets your practical needs.

S/he will readily understand that the final application is meant to help solve a real problem(s), and will therefore build it to match those expectations.

It’s not enough to have a professional with the technical skills to solve your problem, s/he also needs to have the right attitude and background/experience – else the relationship will not work. This is where an Excel VB resource is more likely to add value to you.

I believe the foregoing are compelling justifications for choosing Excel Visual Basic over Visual Basic.

Adults Learn Best by Doing: Power User Experiential Coaching Learning Event

November 25, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

Become more productive in using Microsoft Excel through my Power User Coaching. I employ an "Experiential Coaching" technique which emphasises job-based case studies as a medium for imparting knowledge/skills to adults, so as to ensure increased retention. By "Power User" I mean a person who demonstrates:

a. superior proficiency in using an application to the extent that s/he is able to perpetually optimise its use to achieve maximum productivity.

b. the ability to quickly learn &/or master(via self-tutoring) additional features s/he has not had cause to use previously, in the same application – as the need arises.

Click here to request a sample real-life Experiential Power User Coaching workbook

Through this programme, you(or a member of your team) can become a Power User. If you desire maximum returns on your investment, choose this Power User Learning Event. Request for a FREE MS Excel Coaching Skills Matrix workbook or an Excel VB Programming Coaching Course Outline! It details all that you will learn.

Adults Learn Best By Doing

That’s why I offer a Power User Experiential Coaching/Learning Event. However, it is instructive to note here that it WILL be plenty of hard work – and ONLY YOU will determine how fast and well you learn. In other words, you must demonstrate the commitment to learn by doing the numerous exercises you will be assigned.

You will be required to manage your learning. If you do, you will end up with the ability to do everything you learn just as well as your learning facilitator, if not better. Remember it’s Experiential Learning – which implies you need to DO the exercises you will be given, in order to gain practical experience which will in turn facilitate your learning comprehension.

If you diligently apply yourself in doing the above, I can assure you that your resultant proficiency will amaze you, and those you work with.

Organisations can deliberately expose their employees to two main types of learning events on offer here. Such employees can then be challenged to develop in-house solutions that effectively address the business’ peculiar data analysis /report-generation needs as they arise.

Click here to request fully customisable on-demand coaching for yourself and/or members of your team.

Learning Event No. 1: Mastering Microsoft Excel(Power User)

This event is for those who wish to acquire advanced knowledge/skills in the use of MS Excel spreadsheet functions and formulas, such that they will be able to more quickly and efficiently organise/analyse data for report generation and decision making. Click here to Request for the FREE MS Excel Training Skills Matrix workbook. It contains full details of all that you will learn.

IMPORTANT! Please note that you cannot attend Learning Event No. 2 if you cannot demonstrate mastery equivalent to what will be taught in Event No. 1. We have practical exercises that will be administered to assess whether your proficiency in the use of MS Excel will be adequate to make your attendance of Event No. 2 a worthwhile endeavour for you – as well as for the facilitator.

Click here to request fully customisable on-demand coaching for yourself and/or members of your team.

Learning Event No. 2: Microsoft Excel VB Programming

This coaching programme is designed for Excel Users who already have considerable mastery of Excel and now wish to learn how they can combine their mastery(gained from 1 above – or from past training/ experience) of MS Excel, with sound knowledge of Excel Visual basic to automate the routine and repetitive tasks they carry out in Excel, in a way that saves them time,while making them more productive.

A person with proven competence in this area CAN become "notorious" for developing spreadsheet applications which eliminate drudgery from the process of using MS Excel to handle large amounts of data. Typically, work that takes hours or days will suddenly take minutes or seconds to finish.

The claims I make above are NOT exaggerated. They are in fact based on my personal experiences doing the foregoing:

(a). As an manager in the challenging, fast-paced manufacturing work environment of a corporate multinational

(b). As a solutions developer for individuals and businesses who use MS Excel for their work.

I am keen to encourage individuals and organisations to explore using advanced MS Excel formulas and functions, in conjunction with Excel VBA programming, to develop customised spreadsheet applications that will solve typical problems end-users encounter daily in trying to record/analyse data and generate reports.

The savings in terms of money and man-hours alone will quickly justify the investment you make – especially, when you compare what you spend with the cost of purchasing a commercial software application – or even engaging the services of an Excel VB resource like myself. Click here to request the one-page Acrobat PDF coaching outline for the Excel VB Programming learning event. It contains full details of all that you will learn.

Methodology

The two learning events described can be delivered one-on-one or to a group of up to 10 -15 people at once, so long as all the needed resources(PCs etc) are available for each attendee. If you need more information or have any queries, fill/submit this form.

1 Hour Talks, Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General

1 Hour Talk(No. 5): Proven Strategies for Using MS Excel to Boost Employee and Company Productivity

November 25, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

Key Target Audience: CEOs & Corporate Executives, Sales/Marketing Managers, Clubs/Association Presidents etc [Breakout sessions available]

“Everybody knows some Excel, but stop seeing Excel as an office program that everybody MASTERS and that is used to organize numbers in columns and make a few calculations. Excel is the best reporting application on the market and it is fully programmable with its own PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE within called VBA” – Pierre LeClerc PLI Consulting Inc

Attendees will learn proven strategies for:

> Saving time, effort, & resources in routine business data collection and recording.

> Quicker and more accurate data analysis and report generation for decision making.

> Zero/low cost in-house development of custom Excel-VB apps to do the above.

NB: Real life case studies from Tayo’s experiences developing Excel-VB solutions for SME/multinational companies over the past 2 decades will be used as examples.

In 1 hour, you will discover viable ways to get higher quality work done by your average employee, in less time, at less cost, AND at the same salary.

The results WILL boost your company’s performance through the twin benefits of reduced expenses and increased productivity, and you will NOT need formal IT personnel or skills to reap these benefits!

Visit the link below to send Tayo a message about this event:

http://www.tayosolagbade.com/contact.htm

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The faciliator – Tayo K. Solagbade – is publisher of the Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog, Owner of the MS Excel Heaven Spreadsheet Solutions Website (http://excelheaven.biz), Developer of the Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator as well as the Poultry Farm Manager, Payslip Generator, Invoice Generator, Automated Cash Book, Church Records Manager, Hotel Records Management System, Health & Fitness Club Records Manager, Clinic Records Manager etc

By way of interest, Tayo is currently adding all his products on one page for easier access.

That includes new ones he’s just launched.

See http://www.tayosolagbade.com/sdn-sell.htm

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Tayo K. Solagbade is a bilingual Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others.

He reads, writes and speaks English/French languages, and is based in Cotonou – Bènin Republic’s commercial capital.

Since 2002, Tayo has earned multiple streams of income providing personal development coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, Web Marketing Systems, Freelance Writing Services, and Best Practice Extension Support services (for farm business owners).

He is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible (see www.lulu.com/sdaproducts), the Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook, and developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator, as well as the increasingly popular Monthly Poultry Farm Manager (see http://tinyurl.com/15pfmVideos).

He has delivered talks/papers to audiences at the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Corona Schools Trust Council (and all 6 Lagos branches), Adrao International Schools, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalizers Fast Foods and others. In 2012 he was invited Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Developments Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.

In a previous life in Guinness Nigeria (Oct.1994 to Dec. 2001), before quitting to be self-employed, Tayo built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerise report generation processes where he worked.

Over four (4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. This was in addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes. As a result, he rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. Today, he develops Excel-VB apps for clients.

Tayo is an Associate Member of the UK based Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s (NIM) Young Managers competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development (SCfS-D), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy Limited.

Tayo’s talks provide practical education about using creative thinking & technology to excel, regardless of society’s limitations.

Visit the link below to send Tayo a message about this event:

http://www.tayosolagbade.com/contact.htm

Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Public Speaking, Writing/Blogging

No. 169: Achieve Superior Success by Acting Locally While Thinking International

November 24, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

“Have noble intentions. A grand plan. A mission. An objective that makes a difference. A major difference. Something transcendent everyone you know assures you cannot be done, at least not by you. Many people who know you and love you do not believe you have what it takes to reveal the greatness they do not see through the prism of their misperceptions about you.” – Burt Dubin, renowned mentor of some of the world’s highest paid experts-who-speak, and Creator of the Speaking Success System™

I first came across the above quote way back in 2001 – my last year in Guinness Nigeria.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

Publication: Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Newsletter

Date: Monday 24th November 2014

No:169

Title: Achieve Superior Success by Acting Locally While Thinking International

Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade [Tel: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) ]

Blog URL: http://www.tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets

Archive (E-mail version started 14th May 2012): Click here to view

Archive (Blog version started 24th September 2011): Click here

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NB: This newsletter is published every Monday. Point your browser to www.tayosolagbade.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

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IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS newsletter is published online on the “reincarnated” version of my Self-Development (SD) Nuggets blog. I continue to put finishing touches to the content. If you encounter ANY bad/dead links, and you can spare the time, email them to me via tayo at tksola dot com. Thanks in advance

No. 169: Achieve Superior Success by Acting Locally While Thinking International

“Have noble intentions. A grand plan. A mission. An objective that makes a difference. A major difference. Something transcendent everyone you know assures you cannot be done, at least not by you. Many people who know you and love you do not believe you have what it takes to reveal the greatness they do not see through the prism of their misperceptions about you.” – Burt Dubin, renowned mentor of some of the world’s highest paid experts-who-speak, and Creator of the Speaking Success System™

I first came across the above quote way back in 2001 – my last year in Guinness Nigeria.

Burt Dubin, by writing the above words, in one his many articles that I’ve read, touched and inspired me to get where I am today. Every time I felt I could no longer go on, quotes like the above, by him, and others, are what I reread to keep myself going.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll understand what I mean. If you’re aspiring, you’re bound to understand sooner or later, if you diligently apply yourself to the pursuit of authentic success.

Aiming for an international standard of achievement, will automatically boost your local success

It’s simple common sense. What I propose here will equip you to make the products/services you offer – and the way you package and promote them – much more compelling than if you did NOT deliberately cater for an international audience in putting them together.

I’ll give an example, based on what I’ve done over the past 12 years:

My noble intentions include…

a. Building low cost customizable Excel-VB apps for sale to individuals and businesses to help them do what they do better.

b. Training creative MS Excel-VB solutions developers, who will help those who need it to improve their personal and business performance, like I did while in Guinness for 7 years, and like I have been doing for clients within/outside Africa, over the past decade.

c. Using public speaking to inform and educate my target audience about how to do what I do, and also to help interested others learn to make money doing it like I do.

In several past articles, I’ve shared stories about how many laughed at me over the years, whenever I told them about my above mentioned plans…

When I began, I struggled to find clients to pay me to develop apps, or to provide training or give talks on Excel-VB solutions development. Soon, I found myself coming under criticism. Close relatives asked me to consider doing something else.

Not surprisingly, what they proposed most times was what they saw others doing. They wanted me to aim for something they considered more believable and that was familiar.

A close family friend who owned a business asked me “Who’s going to pay you to do that with MS Excel?”

I recall telling him what I’d done in Guinness and how it had earned me wide recognition and career advancement opportuntie4s. He replied that I would not find such interest in the Nigerian market.

I thanked him, but refused to accept what he said. Instead, I went back and did more deep thinking and decided to begin putting my stuff on the web. I knew Excel-VB solutions development was big business in many developed markets.

My experiences with Guinness also convinced me I only needed to SHOW proof of how Excel-VB solutions I offered could help businesses in Nigeria/Africa, to win paying clients.

It would not be easy, I knew, but I was sure it would be worthwhile in the end.

As I continued trying out all sorts of ideas, I became increasingly convinced that the best way to win high profile paying clients would be to use the web to attract their attention to me. I began reading up on how to promote my offers online – and I discovered article marketing.

Since I had lots of experiences from my time in Guinness to tap from, I began writing articles that narrated true stories about how I used Excel-VB to solve real life problems in the manufacturing workplace.

Later on, I began adding short tutorials/case studies supported with video demonstrations.

All the time I did these, I kept studying how internationally recognized experts whose work I admired, were doing their own self-promotion.

Then I adapted the ideas I got from studying them, in a way that I felt would appeal to my target market.

It did not happen overnight, but eventually, the enquiries began to come – from local as well as international visitors. Some were small business owners, others were independent consultants, and a few were decision makers in companies – even multinational manufacturers and oil service companies.

For instance, in 2009, I got a phone call from a Dutch expatriate working as a senior manager heading a department in an international oil service firm.

He asked to meet with me at Eleganza’s premises in the 7-Up area of Ikeja, Lagos-Nigeria.

There he told me how they’d been searching for the right MS Excel expert to help them with an in-house problem without success. They’d had many people come in, but after meeting with them found they lacked the needed depth of expertise to solve the problem they had.

One day he decided to do a Google search and my MS Excel Heaven website came up.

The fact that the search engine result indicated I was based in Nigeria caught his attention. When he spoke with me later he noted that the videos and demo apps on my website convinced him I was likely to be able to help them. [NB: I’ve am currently building a new version of that website, to suit the content repurposing I’m doing since replacing spontaneoudevelopment.com with tayosolagbade.com].

After our meeting, he arranged for me to visit the finance department for a meeting with the department’s head and an assistant on Lagos Island.

There was a large and important MS Excel workbook built for heavy tax computation data handling and report generation. The author had suddenly left the company, and no one else knew how to use the workbook.

They wanted me to help re-build the workbook to make it more user-friendly. I spent about 1 hour with the gentleman. By the time I left, we were discussing my fees, when I would start, how long it would take me to finish etc.

The next morning, I got a call from the PA to the Dutch expatriate saying the finance department had found my conversation with them quite useful and that they’d said they wanted me to start. I however eventually ended up not doing that job, because we were unable to agree on certain aspects regarding my payment.

Having said that, the point remains that I got found and contacted – at zero cost to me – by a top decision maker in a local office of a large, and well known international oil Service Company!

And that happened because of the approach I adopted in promoting my services and products – I chose to make myself LOOK bigger than I was, and to appeal to a global audience.

The oil service company that contacted me was one that MANY local experts I’d met had tried countless times to gain access to, without success. Those who learnt I got invited by them asked me what connections I’d used. I told them all I did was use my web marketing system to intelligently achieve what Michel Fortin calls Power Positioning™.

Doing so using my website, made me stand out from other providers in my local market – most of who ONLY had brochure websites, stating what they did and little else.

Many Experts Lack the Insights to Achieve Outcomes Like the Above…

They feel adopting “foreign” techniques and strategies like those I describe here would be over kill.

Maybe when not properly adapted to suit local situations that would be the case.

Otherwise, creative adaptation of “foreign” ideas can help you achieve superior marketing results locally. The results I get confirm this is so.

And here’s the best part: In the long run, this strategy is can actually reward you with patronage from international buyers, if you do it right. I am proof that this happens, because, when I started doing it, I initially got responses ONLY from Nigerians. But over the years, I have not only been getting enquiries from various countries/continents (including Australia), but I have won buyers from within/outside Africa.

In several cases, international enquirers (from North America/Asia especially) who contacted me expressed surprise on learning that I was African and based in Africa.

My phone conversation with a US based farm CEO enquirer just 2 days ago is a good example.

I should however add that in some cases, announcing to them that I’m a Nigerian, SCARES them off (I’m sure you know why)!

Now, if my offers can be so compelling that international prospects reach out to me, often thinking I’m based in THEIR part of the world, local ones are likely to be even more impressed.

Not surprisingly, over 80% of my buyers are Nigerians, who have NEVER met me in the flesh – and who send payment even after learning, from me, that I am based in Cotonou…outside Nigeria!

Final Words: Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd by Acting Locally, While Thinking International!

If you want to set yourself apart from your rivals or competitors, in a way that makes potential buyers choose you over them, I recommend you adopt a similar strategy of “Acting Locally While Thinking International”.

And if, while you’re at it, doubts creep into your mind, remember the quote below:

“I have never started a company that, at some point, didn’t cause me to have doubts. This must be a stupid idea because no one else is doing it. Why don’t people get it? Maybe there is nothing there” We all have self doubts, but as entrepreneurs we don’t let these thoughts stop us. It is only a sanity check and is a normal thing.” – Fran Tarkenton (Former American Football Star/Millionaire Entrepreneur)

Learn about Burt Dubin’s speaker mentoring products (books, audios etc) below…

If you need help purchasing ANY of Burt’s products (like “Presentation Magic”), call me on +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic, my base) or +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or email tayo@tksola.com

Have a great 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 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic)

http://www.tayosolagbade.com

Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to

Farm Businesses and others.

Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organisations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting,

freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners).

Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software.

He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organisations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods

and others.

In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.

On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region.

His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars

and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details).

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, and then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy Limited.

When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes his Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS

newsletter(which he uses to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).

You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.

Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity.

====
[IMPORTANT NOTE:====

On 4th May 2014, Tayo’s 9 year old domain (Spontaneousdevelopment dot com), which hosted his website, was taken over by Aplus.net.

Within a few days however, Tayo used his advanced self-taught web development skills to build a SUPERIOR “reincarnation” of it the website http://www.tayosolagbade.com.

But updates are still ongoing to URLs bearing the old domain name in most of the over 1,000 web pages, and blog posts

he’s published.

If you experience any difficulties finding a page or document, email Tayo at tksola dot com.

Click “Tayo, What Happened to SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom ?” to read a detailed narrative about how the above event occurred :-))

Here’s an article Tayo wrote, to inspire others to defy adversity, and bounce back to even greater reckoning at what they do EVERY time:

Succeed by Emerging from Adversity Like a Phoenix (TayoSolagbade.com launches extra Hosting plan with FREE Web Marketing!)

And he wrote the one below, to explain why losing a domain name, no matter how old NO LONGER determines your online success or otherwise:

A Proven Strategy to Find Profitable Buyers Regardless of Your Domain Name

==================

“(Tayo Solagbade) is amazing and I think he is going to produce some impressive results online…” – click here to read full comment by Patrick Meninga (US based 6 figure income blogger who gained fame for building a $2,000 per month adsense website and selling it for $200,000).

Smart Exercising Will Keep You Fit, Healthy and Alive - Click to read

Smart Exercising Will Keep You Fit, Healthy, and Alive

*******

NEW: Speaking Ideas: 25 Articles and True Stories for Experts Who Speak and Those Aspiring (Volume 1)

Download above PDF

******

NEW: Get 2 Real Life Poultry Layer Farm Start-up Business Plans (PLUS Customization)!

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Farm Management (& Performance Measurement) for Profits – No. 1 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (57 pages): Farm Business Start-up (Information, Education & Inspiration) – No. 2 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Livestock Farm Business Feed Formulation – No. 3 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (58 pages): Best Practice Farm Business Marketing – No. 3 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

NEW: KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

Download above PDF

Download above PDF

*******

NEW: EXCEL-VB DRIVEN POULTRY LAYER FARM MANAGER SOFTWARE

Learn more here

*******

NEW: Your Practical Feed Formulation (& Compounding) Home Study Video Series Is Now Available

Click here to learn more

FREE TALK: How a Best Operating Process Management Sysem (BOPMS)™Will Earn Your Farm MORE Profits!

Download above PDF

FREE TALK: 3 Zero Cost Strategies to Attract Profitable Buyers for Your Farm Products!

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NEW: Coaching Program for Farm Products Marketing Success

—————————–

“Tayo, I honestly believe you are one of those who will succeed at anything he does. Your commitment and effort has been outstanding….Thanks for all your hard work since I’ve been here – you will be sorely missed. I don’t need to wish you good luck, you have the ability to make your own luck. – Andy”(R. Jones)*

*Operations Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc Benin Brewery, December 2001 (Handwritten comments in farewell/xmas cards sent to Tayo Solagbade following his resignation to start his own business).




SD Nuggets Blog™	New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking[Monday]:	No. 167: To Succeed Authentically, be a Model of the Possible Human
Entrepreneurship[Tuesday]:	How a Real Life Restaurant & Bar Data Handling & Report Generation Problem Was Solved Using Low Cost MS Excel-VB Automation
Self-Development/Parenting [Wednesday]:	Proven Blogging Strategy That Works for Anyone Who Works it Correctly (Hint: How I’m Succeeding With My Blog Using Lessons I Learnt About Blogging from Patrick Meninga’s Interview With Yaro Starak)
Career Development [Thursday]:	Studying Music Can Make Your Child Achieve More Success
Parenting [Friday]:	You Cannot Pass Secrets of Your Success to Your Kids Via Osmosis
Writing/Blogging/Entrepreneurship [Saturday]:	Writing Can be Great Therapy to Deal With Adversity [Hint: FREE Workshop – “25 Avoidable Mistakes No One Will Warn You About In Starting Your OWN Business”]
Want me to write for you? Click here to send me a message

1 Hour Talks, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Public Speaking, Writing/Blogging

1 HR TALK (No. 4): Spend Less Money & Time to Make Customers Find & Contact You, Even While You Sleep!

November 22, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

Attracting profitable buyers NEED not cost an arm and a leg, or require sleepless nights. A better way exists – but only few know how to use it, to get measurable benefits like…

1. HIGH VALUE VISIBILITY: An online presence constantly updated with customer and search engine ATTRACTING content, that gets YOU talked about/referred to, by high profile prospects, resulting in some MAKING CONTACT with & buying from you.

2. NAME/BRAND RECOGNITION: Control what search engines say about your company/YOU as CEO, WITHOUT PAYING i.e. get sales boosting credibility at zero cost.

3. 24-7 TIME/EFFORT & MONEY SAVING AUTOMATION: Potential customer recruitment happens even while you sleep. More prospects will find/contact (and buy from/without meeting) you even though you did not advertise, and they NEVER knew you or your company: Lots of proof available!

4. True stories based on Tayo’s successful use of his zero cost WMS™, to attract and win high profile buyers from within and outside Africa.

One hour talk. Key Target Audience: Business owners, Sales/Marketing Professionals, Independent Self-Marketing Professionals [Breakout sessions available]

Visit the link below to send Tayo a message about this event:

www.tayosolagbade.com/contact.htm

About the Facilitator

Tayo K. Solagbade is a bilingual Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. He reads, writes and speaks English/French languages, and is based in Cotonou – Bènin Republic’s commercial capital.

He is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ (see www.lulu.com/sdaproducts), the Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook, and developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™, as well as the increasingly popular Monthly Poultry Farm Manager™ (see http://tinyurl.com/15pfmVideos).

He has delivered talks/papers to audiences at the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Corona Schools Trust Council (and all 6 Lagos branches), Adrao International Schools, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalizers Fast Foods and others. In 2012 he was invited Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos (click here to watch short video clip).

Over four (4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting.This was in addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes. As a result, he rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. Today, he develops Excel-VB apps for clients.

Tayo is an Associate Member of the UK based Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy Limited.

Tayo’s talks provide practical education about using creative thinking & technology to excel, regardless of society’s limitations.

Click here to download the PDF version of this Speaker One Sheet

1 Hour Talks, Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

1 HR TALK (No. 3): To Win NEW Customers Repeatedly & INEXPENSIVELY, Use Your Public Speaking For Biz Marketing™ System!

November 21, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

One hour talk. Key Target Audience: Business owners, Sales/Marketing Professionals, Independent Self-Marketing Professionals [Breakout sessions available]

Speak Professionally. Inexpensively Attract New Clients/Customers.

Boost your business marketing at zero cost, using your own PSBM™

- Tested And Proven System.
- Get repeatedly invited, acknowledged – and even paid – as an “expert-who-speaks”.
- Market your products, services or yourself to numerous potential individual or group clients at once.
- Step up to Smarter Business Marketing™.
- This talk tells you how.
- True stories based on Tayo’s successful decade-long use of PSBM™ as a bilingual (English & French speaking) multipreneur, to win high profile clients in Nigeria & Bènin.

This event is based on an article that was first published in 2006 on my website – SpontaneousDevelopment.com. The URL was www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/psbm.htm [Defunct & replaced by https://www.tayosolagbade.com in 2014 – due to loss of that domain name.]

Preview

Boost Your Business Marketing! Speak Professionally. Inexpensively Attract New Clients/Customers. Tested And Proven System. Get repeatedly invited, acknowledged – and even paid – as an “expert-who-speaks”. Market your products, services or yourself to numerous potential individual or group clients at once. Step up to Smarter Business Marketing™. This article tells you how.

WATCH THE VIDEO TRAILER – CLICK HERE

##################

Fill and submit the form below to send Tayo a message about this event. All attendees get a FREE PDF copy of the original article on which this Speaking Event is based.

Loading…

About the Facilitator

He is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ (see www.lulu.com/spotlight/sdaproducts), the Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook, and developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™, as well as the increasingly popular Monthly Poultry Farm Manager™ (see http://tinyurl.com/15pfmVideos).

He has delivered talks/papers to audiences at the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Corona Schools Trust Council (and all 6 Lagos branches), Adrao International Schools, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalizers Fast Foods and others. In 2012 he was invited Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos (click here to watch short video clip).

Tayo’s talks provide practical education about using creative thinking & technology to excel, regardless of society’s limitations.

Click here to download the PDF version of this Speaker One Sheet

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Don’t Leave Yourself Defenceless Against Falsehood: Use Smart Technology You Already Own to Protect Yourself (True Story)

November 21, 2014 Tayo Solagbade Leave a comment

[LAGOS] Mr A. “That’s a fat lie! I never said I spoke to your mother on the phone. What I said was that your husband told me what your mother said!!”

Miss. B: “But I heard you clearly. Now that mother has said she has never met or spoken with you, on phone or in person, you’re tying to save face!”

I recently witnessed the above exchange, between 2 individuals, based on discussions they held at a previous meeting – in the presence of a neutral third party.

The truth is, we each owe ourselves a duty, to protect ourselves from being falsely accused. In today’s world, the fast pace at which technology makes things happen, tends to quickly cause potentially irreparable damage of reputations, if care is not taken.

Falsehood, when carefully crafted with malicious intent, can be rapidly propagated with devastating impact on even the most “squeaky clean” personalities.

In the past, it was not so easy to achieve such far reaching impact, with falsehood. Today, tools like Facebook and Twitter, used my massive numbers of people DAILY, puts power in the hands of ANYONE with “news”.

That’s why I find it amazing how so many people fail (or forget) to make FULL use of powerful (often costly) technology tools they own

Especially to PROTECT themselves against abuse, exploitation and other forms of negativity. Today, even the phones we carry around boast amazing capabilities that make doing what I propose quite easy.

For instance, (apart from a simple double SIM Nokia) I mainly use a Blackberry 9015 3G.

Not only do smart phones display or play multimedia, they also boast powerful audio and video recording capabilities.

Indeed mine does EVERYTHING I need. For example, taking photos, recording videos/audios for use in my work (e.g tutorial videos for my Excel-VB software on my Youtube channel), and also updating this blog – even as I travel to/from the borders of countries like Nigeria and Benin Republic.

Yet, I keep coming across (or hearing about) people who emerge from a meeting or gathering arguing about who said (or did not say) “ABCD” or “1234”!

This is why I believe we must all begin to make conscious effort to think ahead, deeply and carefully too, about every single situation we choose to put ourselves in.

Painstakingly study the personalities and character of those we interact with – new acquaintances or old friends – to be reasonably sure of what to expect from them.

In cases where/when we have doubts, it may prove VERY wise to take the precaution of protecting ourselves by finding a way to document the proceedings. That could be on paper, with signatures agreeing to the contents, or via some recording of some sort etc.

A recording can be especially handy in cases where what you see/hear transpiring is something you anticipate one or more relevant parties may choose to deny in future – and which you know can affect you negatively.

In the example I gave above, Miss. B went on to backup her claims about what she claimed Mr. A said by producing a verbatim typed/printed version of what Mr. A had during the previous meeting. She explained that it was a transcript from an audio recording she’d obtained using her smartphoneg as Mr. A was speaking…and offered to play it back!

Without that kind of proof, it will often be a case of one person’s word against another’s…and little progress will be made

Yet, sometimes, such lack of authentic, verifiable proof can land an innocent person in trouble (e.g damaged reputation or even jail)!

The irony is that most people never think it can happen to them – until it does.

I say the above based on experiences I have had, in which malicious lies were told against me by persons MUCH OLDER than me, in conjunction with persons who worked for them. Those experiences made me develop a survival instinct to ALWAYS keep good records (or letters etc) and always seek document what is said during interactions that I feel may be referred to in future.

This is one of the reasons that I have invested in additional smart technology tools, apart from my smart phone, to better take the needed precautions.

And I’ve also briefed a close associate who is a legal practitioner in Nigeria, about my concerns. Indeed, he has periodically coached me on aspects of the law, and how to make them work for one’s self, in terms of rights protection etc.

Most times today’s powerful technology driven news media, gleefully propagate “news” (especially “bad news), putting a person “accused” of doing wrong, at the mercy of the Court of Public Opinion (i.e. COPO).

Sadly, the COPO is subject to all sorts of biases. Very few people can get a “fair hearing” in it!

Examples of possible exceptions will be if an accuser recants…admitting s/he lied…or if a person “accused” of doing wrong produce verifiable evidence (e.g. a recorded video/audio) that demonstrates his/her innocence.

It is my considered opinion, in the light of today’s happenings that – at the risk of acting paranoid – more people need to make deliberate use of the powerful technological tools available to them, to protect themselves in the manner described above.

I have been doing it for quite a while now, and it has proved to be a VERY profitable line of action. Painful past experiences forced me to begin doing so.

Today, not only does it enable me punch holes in attempts to give me a bad name, or exploit me, it also sends a clear message to persons with such naughty intents, that success may NOT come easily for them. Sometimes, THAT can discourage such persons from making YOU a target.

Every smart thinking adult should take precautions to avoid being a defenceless victim of some others person’s “false accusations/lies”, “mistakes”!

It’s unlikely that one can completely eliminate the possibility of it happening. However, diligent preventive action, like that recommened in this piece, can greatly minimize the chances.

Don’t leave yourself defenceless: Use what you have to protect yourself against mean spirited evil doers…and TEACH YOUR KIDS to do so too!

*********

NEW: EXCEL-VB DRIVEN POULTRY LAYER FARM MANAGER SOFTWARE

Learn more here

*******

NEW: Your Practical Feed Formulation (& Compounding) Home Study Video Series Is Now Available

Click here to learn more

NEW: Speaking Ideas: 25 Articles and True Stories for Experts Who Speak and Those Aspiring (Volume 1)

Download above PDF

******

NEW: Get 2 Real Life Poultry Layer Farm Start-up Business Plans (PLUS Customization)!

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Farm Management (& Performance Measurement) for Profits – No. 1 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (57 pages): Farm Business Start-up (Information, Education & Inspiration) – No. 2 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Livestock Farm Business Feed Formulation – No. 3 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

New Ebook (58 pages): Best Practice Farm Business Marketing – No. 4 of 4

Download above PDF

*******

NEW: KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

Download above PDF

Download above PDF

*******

Lots of people actually use quotes like this on a daily basis. What puzzles me however is that in spite of the fact that they KNOW these quotes…

It’s so easy to quote these famous quotes. But DOING what the quotes say is a totally different proposition.

Here’s a typical example of the answer I normally give them…

In other words, my custom Excel Software COMPLEMENT rather than REPLACE your existing software and/or systems.

Final Words

Need help?

UPDATE – 29TH DECEMBER 2020: Watch video demonstration of NEW version with Auto Cashbook, KPI Charts etc.

The Typical Scenario

The Problem

The Viable Alternative

Below: Screenshot of the splash screen of a Pure Water Busienss Maneger app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, as it loads in MS Excel 2003. My apps are typially built to be backward and forward compatible with different Excel versions

Below: Screenshot of the LOGIN screen of a Pure Water Business Manager app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, in MS Excel 2003.

Once the app can access the raw sales data, the manager can then use the drop down menu provided to view the summaries of products purchased/income made.

Below: Screenshot of the MAIN NAVIGATION MENU interface of a Pure Water Business Manager app I built for an Ogudu-Lagos based factory, in MS Excel 2003.

Final Words

Need help making use of the ideas shared here (or would you like to purchase the Pure Water Business Manager app featured in the screenshots?):

Think of Excel VBA as being the standalone Visual Basic software built into Excel for the benefit of Excel users/developers who are not traditional-minded programmers, but who are keen to exert more control over the application to enhance user productivity.

Why Excel-VB?

1. I always answer this question by asking the following question: What would be the point of “Killing A Fly With A Hammer”?

A lot of people today simply want to get their data recording, (re)organisation, and analysis for decision making done quicker and with less effort.

2. Another question I ask, in answering the “Why Excel VB?” question is : “Why re-invent the wheel?”

Important Note: The fact that one uses Excel VB or VBA does not mean one will not have need to use VB or other languages.

ExcelVB Is Used To Develop Commercial Quality Excel Software

Summary: Excel-VB Creates Limitless Possibilities BEYOND What Off-The-Shelf Apps Make Possible

Further Reading

Adults Learn Best By Doing

Learning Event No. 1: Mastering Microsoft Excel(Power User)

Learning Event No. 2: Microsoft Excel VB Programming

Methodology

Attendees will learn proven strategies for:

No. 169: Achieve Superior Success by Acting Locally While Thinking International

Aiming for an international standard of achievement, will automatically boost your local success

I’ll give an example, based on what I’ve done over the past 12 years:

In several past articles, I’ve shared stories about how many laughed at me over the years, whenever I told them about my above mentioned plans…

My experiences with Guinness also convinced me I only needed to SHOW proof of how Excel-VB solutions I offered could help businesses in Nigeria/Africa, to win paying clients.

All the time I did these, I kept studying how internationally recognized experts whose work I admired, were doing their own self-promotion.

For instance, in 2009, I got a phone call from a Dutch expatriate working as a senior manager heading a department in an international oil service firm.

After our meeting, he arranged for me to visit the finance department for a meeting with the department’s head and an assistant on Lagos Island.

Having said that, the point remains that I got found and contacted – at zero cost to me – by a top decision maker in a local office of a large, and well known international oil Service Company!

Many Experts Lack the Insights to Achieve Outcomes Like the Above…

In several cases, international enquirers (from North America/Asia especially) who contacted me expressed surprise on learning that I was African and based in Africa.

Final Words: Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd by Acting Locally, While Thinking International!

Learn about Burt Dubin’s speaker mentoring products (books, audios etc) below…

==== [IMPORTANT NOTE:====

Here’s an article Tayo wrote, to inspire others to defy adversity, and bounce back to even greater reckoning at what they do EVERY time:

And he wrote the one below, to explain why losing a domain name, no matter how old NO LONGER determines your online success or otherwise:

About the Facilitator

This event is based on an article that was first published in 2006 on my website – SpontaneousDevelopment.com. The URL was www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/psbm.htm [Defunct & replaced by https://www.tayosolagbade.com in 2014 – due to loss of that domain name.]

WATCH THE VIDEO TRAILER – CLICK HERE

##################

Fill and submit the form below to send Tayo a message about this event. All attendees get a FREE PDF copy of the original article on which this Speaking Event is based.

About the Facilitator

I recently witnessed the above exchange, between 2 individuals, based on discussions they held at a previous meeting – in the presence of a neutral third party.

That’s why I find it amazing how so many people fail (or forget) to make FULL use of powerful (often costly) technology tools they own

This is why I believe we must all begin to make conscious effort to think ahead, deeply and carefully too, about every single situation we choose to put ourselves in.

Without that kind of proof, it will often be a case of one person’s word against another’s…and little progress will be made

Most times today’s powerful technology driven news media, gleefully propagate “news” (especially “bad news), putting a person “accused” of doing wrong, at the mercy of the Court of Public Opinion (i.e. COPO).

Every smart thinking adult should take precautions to avoid being a defenceless victim of some others person’s “false accusations/lies”, “mistakes”!

NEW: EXCEL-VB DRIVEN POULTRY LAYER FARM MANAGER SOFTWARE

NEW: Your Practical Feed Formulation (& Compounding) Home Study Video Series Is Now Available

NEW: Speaking Ideas: 25 Articles and True Stories for Experts Who Speak and Those Aspiring (Volume 1)

NEW: Get 2 Real Life Poultry Layer Farm Start-up Business Plans (PLUS Customization)!

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Farm Management (& Performance Measurement) for Profits – No. 1 of 4

New Ebook (57 pages): Farm Business Start-up (Information, Education & Inspiration) – No. 2 of 4

New Ebook (55 pages): Best Practice Livestock Farm Business Feed Formulation – No. 3 of 4

New Ebook (58 pages): Best Practice Farm Business Marketing – No. 4 of 4

NEW: KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

FREE TALK: How a Best Operating Process Management Sysem (BOPMS)™Will Earn Your Farm MORE Profits!

FREE TALK: 3 Zero Cost Strategies to Attract Profitable Buyers for Your Farm Products!

NEW: Coaching Program for Farm Products Marketing Success

Click here to view a page I’m adding ALL my products previews/prices/offers to…

…a multi-disciplinary blog for people passionate about reaching their goals!

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