Get my Customizable Excel-VB Church Records Manager FREE [N50k Value]: True Story + Screenshots Inside

In 2007, I got hired by the “Warden” of a popular large non-protestant congregational church in Lagos, to build this Excel-VB driven Church Records Manager app.

This happened a few weeks after I’d completed the maiden phase of a large automation project for his consulting firm, which involved generating dynamic reports from a National Scale Primary Health Care Database (the project continued in phases for about 4 years).

NB: The client paid for it from his own pocket as a “donation” (At the end of this post, I explain how you can get it free).

In other words, this Church Records Manager job came by way of repeat business.

I actually up-sold the idea to him while we were working on the database project, and he mentioned challenges he was having using a large unwieldy MS Excel spreadsheet to handle the different church records in his spare time.

This client remains a friend (and mentor of sorts) today.

Last year, when I paid him a visit in his office, he requested my help in resetting the app for use in the Church office, following some changes to the computer setup there.

In building the app, I’d worked closely with him (and the church’s office staff).

To meet their requirements, I recall clearly is that my habit of keeping a “black box” or reusable code from other projects I’d done, turned out to be a huge time saver.

Each time they requested for a particular feature, I often found that it was related to one that I’d taken care of in a previous client’s project, and so I only needed to make slight modifications to adapt it to suit their needs.

From generating automated notifications and reminders of members’ birthday anniversary celebrations, to allowing dynamic query of the database (using various field parameters), to enabling tracking of bank related handling of church monies for reconciliation – and more.

Due to budget limitations, my modeless floating dynamic menu driven data entry forms (like the ones in my Bank Transactions Monitor (BTM) ™Excel-VB Driven App) could not be incorporated into it, to reduce manual data entry effort required.

That notwithstanding, this basic app’s novice-proof GUI design made it unnecessary for the user to be Excel savvy. Typically, as is the case with my other apps a user could get started using it competently within a few hours of interaction.

The screenshots below highlight some of the key interfacess in the app

1. This is the Splash Screen that shows when the app is opened in MS Excel – after Macros are ENABLED.

crm00

2. After the app is fully loaded into MS Excel, this custom login form interface appears. The user is assigned a username and case sensitive password to use.

crm0

3. Once logged in, this Main Menu appears.

NB: This is a standard feature I found useful to include in all my apps. Very intuitive. Anywhere in the app, this menu can be called up by pressing the ENTER key while the cursor is on the spreadsheet. Alternatively, the Main Menu button placed at the top of the spreadsheet interfaces can be clicked to load the menu.

crm1

4. This is the spreadsheet table formatted to hold up to 50,000 records.

Note that I’ve also built Excel-VB apps that link to a backend database to retrieve data to be used for trending/analysis and report generation. However, I’ve found that clients (mostly individuals/SMEs) have preferred everything to be in Excel, because they felt their needs were relatively small. 

 

crm10

Below: Screenshots of Income and Expense Summary Reports Generated using Drop Menus 

crm8

crm7

crm4

crm3

Below: Screenshots of Income/Bank Lodgement and Expenses/Bank Withdrawals Tables 

crm5

 

crm2

Below: Dialog box shows the user lodgement details picked by the app for posting into the column for the selected bank account. A reconciliation table is auto-updated and used to compare with the bank account balances on a weekly basis.

crm6

Below: Screenshot of simple (print-ready) menu driven query spreadsheet interface

crm11

How to get this Church Records Manager FREE?

Click here to request details

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

GET BUILT-IN MS EXCEL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT

Self-Development Academy (SDAc)’s Excel Heaven™ was founded by Tayo K. Solagbade in 2002, as the FIRST provider of On-Demand Preprogrammed Custom Spreadsheet Solutions for individuals and businesses in Nigeria/Africa.

We offer Workbook Auditing/Optimisation and VBA Automation; Custom Spreadsheet Software Development; Sales; Job-Based Spreadsheet Coaching; and Consulting/Advisory Services on effective application of spreadsheets for business use.

Call +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin).

See video demos here.

Visit our Excel Heaven mini-site : here.

[Invitation] Join Tayo’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club:

1. Click here to download a 9-page MS PowerPoint Slideshow which explains in FULL details what you will be learning – and doing.

2. On the page linked here, you can watch a video version of the above slideshow, and some sample tutorials/demo videos.

[Recommended] Why Facebook founder, Zuckerberg arrived Nigeria – unannounced, yesterday (I.e Tue 30/8/2016)

LAGOS—Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, yesterday, arrived Nigeria unannounced. The 32-year-old tech enterpreneur surprisingly made a sudden visit and inspection of activities at the Co-Creation Hub, Yaba Lagos.

Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg with Nigerian tech entrepreneurs
His arrival to Nigeria is not unconnected to the ‘Facebook for developers’ workshop’ for Nigerian engineers, product managers and partners holding today (Wed 31/8/2016) in Lagos.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/facebook-founder-zuckerberg-arrived-nigeria-unannounced/.

PII 029 [Best Practice Parenting]: Could Your Child’s Teacher be Misinformed?

When a “teacher” at a religious retreat, in discussing “Creation” told children that a white couple could NOT produce a black baby, none of them raised any objection.

But when she went on to say a Black couple could equally NOT produce a white baby, 2 siblings – a 13 year old boy and a 10 year old girl – reacted.

The girl tried to stifle a giggle. But she was out in front, so the “teacher” readily noticed, and asked what was funny. She quickly said “Nothing”.

But her brother raised his hand and said “Aunty, black people can give birth to white babies”. The “teacher” promptly told him that was “not possible”, and continued with her lecture.

Later at home, the kids told their father about the incident, and they all laughed.

 

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

 

Tayo Solagbade's Performance Improvement IDEAS(PI Squared) Newsletter

Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement
IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter

Monday 29th August 2016

Logo - Tayo Solagbade's Self-Development Academy


NB: This PI Squared newsletter will be published weekly, on Mondays, in place of the Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, starting from today – 15th February 2016.
I’m reinventing my Monday newsletter content and theme, to accommodate my vision of serving the growing audience of serious minded individuals and organizations reaching out to me, with information, education. news and research findings designed to help them do what they do better.

**********

View Tayo Solagbade's video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsJoin the SD Nuggets community on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

PII 029 [Best Practice Parenting]: Could Your Child’s Teacher be Misinformed?

When a “teacher” at a religious retreat, in discussing “Creation” told children that a white couple could NOT produce a black baby, none of them raised any objection.

But when she went on to say a Black couple could equally NOT produce a white baby, 2 siblings – a 13 year old boy and a 10 year old girl – reacted.

The girl tried to stifle a giggle. But she was out in front, so the “teacher” readily noticed, and asked what was funny. She quickly said “Nothing”.

But her brother raised his hand and said “Aunty, black people can give birth to white babies”. The “teacher” promptly told him that was “not possible”, and continued with her lecture.

Later at home, the kids told their father about the incident, and they all laughed.

Now, in case YOU wonder, the kids were right – and their “teacher” was wrong: Black couples giving birth to white babies is a scientific – though remote (about one in a million) – possibility.

But it is no longer just a possibility.

It has already happened – as Google search results reveal.

The kids and their father laughed because they knew (from their online studies) about a New York post report (and a video) of such a case.

A. One example: Black Parents Give Birth to White Baby (It happened!)

1. “baby Nmachi is a blond, blue-eyed white baby born to two black Nigerian immigrant parents at a London hospital.”

You can watch the video in which the couple was interviewed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhkYTkzjQVs

2. Here’s the New York Post report http://nypost.com/2010/07/21/blond-bombshell/

B. Another example: A Black and White couple can give birth to either white or black babies or both (It happened!)

Once again, this was a one in a million possibility.

Watch the ABC NEWS video report: Biracial Couple Gives Birth to Twins: One Black, One White | Good Morning America | ABC News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e5ODsf_TEk

Learners in our schools traditionally look up to “teachers” trusting that they KNOW-IT-ALL…

But do they? Or can they?

The teacher in the above story was NOT up-to-date on the subject she was teaching.

By implication, she was doing the kids a disservice, failing to give them the most current information and education on the subject of discussion.

Had the brother and sister not had learning sessions with their father who’d shown them the widely reported news story about the white baby born to black parents, they would have accepted their “teacher’s” submission as true.

And this is the tragedy of the schooling systems we have today.

Most of them have no quality controls in place to ensure kids get accurate, up-to-date and useful real-world-relevant knowledge passed on to them.

Isn’t school supposed to prepare us for the world we are to enter after “graduating” from it?

Of course it should.

Should “schooled” people not be well informed about what happens or can happen in society?

Of course they should.

But sadly our traditional schools often tend to deliver obsolete content to learners.

This is typically because most of those who manage those schools fail to diligently update themselves to better serve their learners. To make matters worse, those “teachers” do NOT believe they do NOT know, making them end up misleading majority of the learners who may NOT explore alternative options (like the Internet) to learn more!

Conventional Schooling – or what I like to call “Academic education” provided in our schools – stopped being enough to prepare learners to succeed predictably, especially outside paid employment, YEARS ago.

Compared to the benefits it offers for achieving worthwhile success and significance in today’s world, the time we spend on it is often too much.

Half that time is better spent giving income earning Vocational Education.

Unfortunately we have wrong quality of people teaching in our conventional schools – especially out here in Nigeria.

The best among us who should be involved in teaching feel it is beneath us. So we leave it to the least gifted/competent among us who settle for teaching after failing to secure better options.

Unlike Mrs. A. A Solagbade, my Montessori trained (now retired) teacher mother, they are NOT motivated to teach. Unlike her, it was not their first love when they ventured into the schooling system.

The teaching job was a last resort for them. They therefore feel little or no passion to do it – and do it right.

Little wonder that they readily cut corners by accepting money to do unethical things like awarding marks not merited.

And of course that’s why we have Special (Legitimised Cheating) Examination Centers and people buying/selling results and certificates.

How can we expect a system like that to DELIVER authentic quality of EDUCATION???

It won’t…at least not half as often as it ought to.

Even the child that gets good grades academically without corner cutting is likely to suffer major exposure to character deforming display of morals and values by teachers, parents and other adults who openly engage in these shameful acts without suffering any negative consequences.

It would be naïve to assume that THAT will not make a lasting impression on the psyche of that child – no matter what lectures you give him/her at home about knowing right from wrong, and the value of honesty, integrity, hard work etc!

What a price to pay!

This is why I’ve taken what others consider drastic steps to control exposure of my kids to the schooling systems prevalent out here.

My kids are learning vocational skills alongside relevant school subjects on a need to know basis based on discussions I’ve had with them about what they would like to do/become in life.

Today, Computer based learning systems with teachers teaching school subjects according to the curriculum for the UK GCSE exams equivalent are accessible for interested persons.

Today, people get degrees and other certifications through distance learning.

My kids have are being trained to leverage technology to acquire Functional Education.

The Internet has proven to be a most valuable resource in this regard – when used correctly (and I have over a decade of personal experience using it that way).

Homeschooling is being embraced worldwide. You don’t have to do it 100%. Vary your use of the model to suit your needs or preferences. Just be sure not to deny your kids access to the powerful learning benefits it offers.

You see, wearing school uniform does NOT guarantee learning. Leaving home to attend school is NOT the only way to learn. Especially if you want to get a complete/balanced education.

In conventional schooling systems, out here, kids are being made to spend tooooooo much time in school reading/writing, and tooooooo little time is left for them to Think and Do and make sense/productive use of what they see and are taught.

My kids are being given that balanced mix. Indeed once a child can read and write, the thinking and doing is more important than any other schooling inputs. That’s why we have many unschooled or poorly schooled people who succeed in life by doing what they are good at.

That’s what real education is about: finding out/narrowing down to what you’re good at, then doing it to achieve the success you want in life.

It’s simple. But it works. My life is proof of it. That’s why I’m determined to empower my kids to get a similar kind of education – as against mere (mind-numbing) conventional schooling.

  1. Click here to read the story about how my (now 13 year old) son built one of his battery powered toy bike
  2. See the Facebook page on which my 2 daughters (supported by their brothers) showcase examples of baked products they create at home using the No-Oven Charcoal Stove based system.

The article linked below was published on 27th August 2014 – exactly 2 years ago. We’ve come a LOOOOONG way since then!

Prepare Your Child to Succeed by Learning to Overcome Rejection Using Persistence & PMA (Lessons from Tayo Solagbade’s Maiden “Selling Skills Development” Project for Kids)

Vocational Skills Development is an important foundation for succeeding anywhere.

In the coaching program I’m implementing for my kids, there’s a lot of verbal coaching and experience sharing that takes place daily, in addition to the experience based learning.

It’s important to realize that getting an education is not a competition to see who finishes first or best. Each child’s need will often be unique in some areas.

Parents would be wise to pay attention to what each child needs in this regard. Most teachers/schools don’t.

I do – because I have passion and vision to support my kids to overcome the annoyances I’ve encountered in society.

Speaking and writing good English is NOT enough today. Neither is getting a First Class honours degree from the university.

This article has explained why it is so.

Those who are honest with themselves will agree that the above is true. However, I know some are likely to disagree. But that will not change the reality!

Final Words

For those who may choose to challenge the argument I have made here, I offer the following words:

It is said that in order to criticize constructively, one must first of all make genuine effort to understand that which we wish to criticize.

I’ve found that to be quite true. Sadly many well schooled otherwise intelligent adults/parents refuse to see it!

I urge you to do that BEFORE you discard the ideas offered on this page.

What I’m doing with my kids with regard to vocational skills development is what all parents today need to do for their kids.

One must NOT wait for schools to come up with (what are often out here) money-collecting, watery content, vocational skills coaching programs they organize during the holidays.

Make out time to find out what appeals to YOUR child and help him/her get started. Then monitor and support his/her progress over time.

That way, anything the school does in this regard will simply be like icing on the cake. S/he would have established a foundation to build on.

It’s never too early to help your child find passion driven purpose in life – and you’ll make your parenting of him/her easier in the process!

Make out time to celebrate milestone achievements with him/her by taking photos of what s/he makes, and also recording videos of the process involved while s/he is doing it.

I can tell you from working with all my kids in this manner that doing so really makes them develop more interest and passion to do it right. and they LOVE reviewing the photos and videos afterwards.

Another thing is that such resources often come in handy if/when they have to do it again, at a time when they have yet to be fully conversant with what is involved. Being able to watch the videos of themselves doing it, provides an excellent avenue to identify steps involved, and also to detect what they did wrong, or could do better.

I’ve seen my kids work as a team countless times to use their recipe note books, in conjunction with photos and videos from past projects to repeat a baking or other project to achieve superior results.

When kids become independent learners able to challenge themselves to achieve improved performances, even in your absence, then THAT is a good sign that you are succeeding as a coach-parent.

Click here to request part 3 of a 4 part step by step demonstration video I got my 13 year old boy to make, which we plan to sell with a PDF guide online as well as during LIVE workshops I intend to help him organize for interested kids:

chika-part3

Click below (or here) to watch the highlight/promotional video I created using the first battery powered toy bike he made:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TUtfIs0iENE

I share the above videos in line with my Best Practice Parenting vision, to give interested parents an idea of what I mean when I say my home IS actually a real world school for my kids.

We have similar videos showing the kids baking bread, pizza, cookies, cakes etc using our No-Oven trademark charcoal stove system.

My vision is to open my “home-school” (online – with short stay on-site options) at some point in the future to help other people and their kids learn to use our tried and tested model.

Click here to let me know if you’d like to be notified when we go LIVE.

Related Articles:

1. Spend Time With Your Family to Create Products You Can Serve to the World As a Team

Read this article (Features over a dozen photos from our baking projects – using our trademark No-Oven Charcoal Stove):

Spend Time With Your Family to Create Products You Can Serve to the World As a Team

2. Vocationally Skilled Population – Key to African Development!

Vocationally Skilled Population – Key to African Development!

  1. SDN Blog™

    New posts from last week*

    Monday:

    [Tuesday]:

    [Wednesday]:

    [Thursday]:

    [Friday]:

    N/A

    [Saturday]:

    N/A

    [Sunday]:

    Protected: You Don’t Need a Computer Degree to Make Money from Spreadsheet Programming

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition

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 organizations 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 organizations, 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 (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he 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 computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting.

Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. 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 (SDAc).

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 The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter.

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

View Tayo Solagbade's video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsJoin the SD Nuggets community on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

Home |About | Contact | SD Nuggets™ | Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS | Web Marketing Systems | Freelance Writing | MS Excel® Heaven™ | Cost-Saving Farm Biz Ideas

How To Get The URL for a FACEBOOK Post, status or comment

This video demonstrates the steps I described in the answer to my FACEBOOK PRODUCTIVITY QUESTION (posted 4th December 2011) – which was as follows:

“Sometimes you want to tell OTHERS about a certain Facebook post, that interested you. The “Share” feature does NOT work in cases when you need to share the Post in a comment or outside Facebook(e.g. via email). You NEED the URL of the Facebook post. Do you know “How to get the URL or Link of a Facebook post or status”?”

fbk-url

Watch the video (click here now) to learn how…

View the original post of this question at http://www.facebook.com/tayo.solagbade/posts/2630753884206

Why Today’s Extension Specialists/Farm Business Support Providers Need Spreadsheet Automation Skills to Succeed Better!

As a self-taught Excel-Visual Basic (VB) Solutions Developer, I’ve (over the past 2 decades) evolved my own unique approach to using my Spreadsheet Programming skills.

And I realize others who work in the Excel-VB programming industry, especially outside Africa, who are used to the traditional approach adopted by a large majority of developers may find my “model” a bit odd.

However, the truth is my disposition is informed by a need to make a useful impact on those who NEED help, as against joining in with others to do what tens of thousands of us already do.

Do a Google search using varying strings about MS Excel based problem solving, and you’ll come up with countless links to forums and blogs that offer basic to super advanced level solutions for business and even personal use.

Not just that, there are countless offers to be had, of training, both off and on the web, using various formats/channels.

And those offering them are often quite competent, with verifiable credentials as well as demonstrated expertise in form of published works and tutorials (video and text based).

For me, especially when I look at markets outside that which I consider my primary target (i.e Africa), I see a situation in which those needing MS Excel based solutions already enjoy access to an abundance of world class quality experts to choose from.

For that reason, and also because I see major gaps in data recording, analysis and report generation related problem solving, I feel strongly driven to focus my efforts on using my over 2 decades of Spreadsheet Automation expertise to serve clients FIRST within Africa, and then any others elsewhere.

For instance out here in Africa, especially with regard to generic use of MS Excel itself, lots of training/consulting providers abound.

It is however when one wishes to go beyond MANUAL use of MS Excel, to boost productivity by eliminating or drastically cutting down on routine and repititive data handling tasks in Excel use, that the VERY poor awareness of Excel-VB programming and its potential applications, becomes apparent.

I saw this GAP in the corporate world, back when I was using my spreadsheet automation skills, in my spare time, to excel as a high flyer in Guinness Nigeria – while employed as a brewer/manager in the Technical function.

The heights to which I climbed within 6 short years, into senior management positions, as well as the massive name recognition exposure I got as a reward for my efforts in creating value adding apps that transformed workplace productivity, convinced my that custom spreadsheet automation, used correctly, was a potentially powerful weapon for achieving what would otherwise be considered impossible.

I quit my high paying job to pursue that vision in December 2001.

The journey was not smooth, and the market, being non existent at the time, took time, effort, and lots of perseverance/pain to build from nothing I.e ZERO level.

In other words, Excel-VB (or indeed Spreadsheet Programming) as an income earning vocation simply did NOT exist in the Nigerian market when I started out.

I visited the largest/best known business schools (as far back as 2002) who offered MS Excel training up to what they called “Advanced Level”.

Those of them who mentioned Excel-VB at all did so by referring to the “Macro Recorder” – and they never failed to add “Introduction to…” before it.

Simply put, very few of them had ventured seriously into the Excel-VB programming terrain that had become so familiar to me at that time.

And NONE had developed their own range of commercial quality, bullet-proof apps, like those I’ve sold internationally for years now.

So, I found it hard to connect with the facilitators I spoke with.

Indeed, in some cases, I got the distinct impression that they were worried about looking LESS knowledgeable than I was, before bosses/colleagues, so they rarely let me meet with them in the presence of others, if at all they agreed to meet.

This situation forced me to rethink my strategy, and I began to ignore the corporate world, and training opportunities, to instead focus on finding individuals and small businesses who needed custom spreadsheet apps built to solve REAL problems they faced.

The change in my focus led me to eventually get hired to build a range of custom apps for use in a wide variety of industries such as hotels, hospitals, bars/restaurants, fitness clubs, churches, engineering/construction firms, accounting firms, and of course my MOST responsive market: FARM BUSINESSES!

I found out that Mr. Tayo Solagbade is brilliant in the areas of (Web design/marketing) and Excel VBA” – Ibrahim S. – Environmental Consultant (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

Elv

That (Tayo Solagbade) is a hard worker is an understatement. It’s part of him. He loves what he does – you can see the passion…Tayo’s heart is to see others empowered and know key success principles that he knows. As Zig Ziglar said, ‘You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.’ Tayo does not hold back, and I see him achieving and accomplishing much in life because he wants others to accomplish theirs too.” – Elvis U. – Leadership Consultant, Speaker, Author and Coach (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

bsa

Mr. Solagbade is creative and in love with his job. (He) is a very industrious person. Very very committed to his work. He’s always full of ideas and solutions to problems, and for me, he is somebody that can give some great ideas to a business person that is facing some difficulties in any field you may think you are.

I’m in a clinical setting and he has been offering some great solutions to problems we face everyday. I listen to his relations with many of his clients. Some are into Agricultural sector, some are into legal sector, and he has been helping them to improve their practice, and to do better business.

He has a very good customer relationship. He knows how to relate with people, how to talk with people, how to flow with people. And he’s somebody that when you enter into conversation with him, you ke(ep) on talking without having to end it. He’s good…” – Simeon A. – Clinical Audiologist (Video testimonial transcript & Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

That last group (farm owners) have proven to be the most profitable, and after I narrowed down to them (using the Pareto principle), I have since focused my efforts on finding better ways to serve them.

As a matter of fact, despite my deliberate effort to focus on those in Nigeria/Africa, my website contacts database entries from submissions made on my Cost-Saving Farm Business website since I launched it in 2006, reveals that I’ve had enquiries about my range of solutions from farm CEOs and other stakeholders in agribusiness, from all over the world – and I do mean that literally.

Today, some of them have purchased and use my apps.

This is why I noted in an International Agribusiness paper I got paid to write, that Extension Professionals ANYWHERE in the world can dramatically boost their ability to help farm businesses of ALL sizes if they acquire MS Excel-VB (or Spreadsheet) Programming Skills.

Note that I happen to hold a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, where I graduated top of my class.

Today, in serving my Farm CEO clients, I function primarily as an Extension Services provider, in supporting them – way beyond use of my apps, to helping them learn how to make the most of their farm operations, using Best Practice Systems.

In other words therefore, I make my above proposal to Extension experts from an informed position!

This is the 21st century.

Farm businesses across the world do NOT have uniform operating procedures, and so it can be a bit hard to build an app that is at once affordable and also suitable to their unique needs in their different markets.

The viable alternative is for Farm CEOs to learn how to mould MS Excel to fill that need they have, using Excel-VB automation. Or to hire an employee or consultant to develop a simple app for them.

However, not all farm CEOs will have the time, training or money to go this route.

But an Extension professional working with government, an NGO or even a university, would most likely be better equipped to do just that.

That’s because s/he would then be able to put that skill to use in serving multiple farm businesses over time.

Many downloadable MS Excel based resources formatted for use by Farm CEOs are wonderful in their usefulness, but the authors often (wrongly) assume the farmer will have (or be willing to go get) Excel proficiency to make error-free use of them.

My experiences indicate that few of the farm owners do (or are)! As a result, more harm than good may end up being done to them.

However, if novice-proof automation interfaces like those I use Excel-VB coding to incorporate into my apps are present, more farm owners and their staff would be able to make use of those same workbook resources with little or no resulting errors.

The need for the workbook template creators in Extension practice to learn Excel-VB programming can therefore NOT be over-emphasized.

If you are an Extension Professional, or a decision maker who works with them, and you’d like to learn more about the ideas I’ve shared in this piece, click here to send me a message.

BELOW: Exceprts from my International Agribusiness Paper

In this paper, we acknowledge efforts made by extension specialists, to develop flexible MS Excel based feed formulation resources for farmers.

We however note that farmers need more time/effort saving, and robust error-resistant solutions, to derive ration formulas that yield profitable performance.

The customizable Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ is presented as an example of what is possible.

[Watch a 4 part video tutorial demonstration created for the app here]

The Need to Explore Cheaper, Local Alternative Feed Ingredients, In Formulating Least Cost Diets

Rising prices of major feed ingredients like Maize, Fish Meal and Soya beans as well as dangers associated with aflatoxin complications in use of groundnut cake, have driven many farm business owners to explore alternative feed ingredients.

But in doing so, they also have to enter uncharted territory.

Locally available ingredients which are often cheaper, typically tend to b5e less well documented in terms of their value to animals.

Farmers often have to settle for “typical values” from published reports, or send samples to the laboratory.

Different feed formulation methods exist, such as linear programming, Pearson square, and stochastic programming.

The farmer’s choice of method must be guided by the purpose of the diet s/he aims to formulate.

For instance, catfish and poultry have amino acid needs that vary greatly from that of pigs.

The farmer will have to take that into account in formulating his/her rations. But that can be a tasking process!

Low Cost Automated Feed Formulation is Needed

Software automation can make that process less tasking, and more reliable in terms of accuracy.

But feed formulation so9ftware tend to be pricey (see email excerpt in section 2.0). In addition, some – due to legal requirements – limit ingredients types usable (see sidebar) .

That’s why more farmers now adopt manual Excel formats developed by researchers/extension specialists.

Development of Customizable Excel-VB Driven Feed Formulation Spreadsheet Applications By Extension Specialists

For ration formulation to succeed, derived rations must be cost-effective, and also yield the desired livestock performance. Customizable Excel-VB solutions, featuring intelligent error- handling and intuitive “novice-proof” graphic user interfaces can give such superior benefits

Extension specialists can learn basic Excel-Visual Basic programming, and collaborate with farmers to develop software to achieve the above.

The Excel-VB Driven Ration1 Formulator™ (see Annex 1.0) was developed in 2004 , and regularly updated since then, for farmers with limited budgets, and a need to freely explore locally alternative ingredients.

It is accompanied by a 70 page feed formulation hand book (published in 2002), which explains the improved Pearson Square feed formulation technique on which the application works.

The application has been used mostly for poultry and fish farming feed formulation.

The above Agribusiness Research Paper I got paid to write in December 2013 by a European Union funded NGO based in Holland is titled “Adoption of PC-Based Feed Formulation Methods by Farmers, Feed Manufacturers and Extension Professionals, in South West Nigeria.”

Learn more about it at http://tinyurl.com/AgribizPDF

If a Farm CEO decides to buy my Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager, I’ll give him/her a PDF GIFT copy of the avove paper, plus my popular Feed Formulation Bundle 100% FREE. The bundle comprises the following:

A. My Excel VB Ration Formulator Software – see videos at www.tinyurl.com/RealRationDemo

B. My Feed Formulation Handbook – see it on sale in my online store at http://www.lulu.com/shop/tayo-solagbade/practical-livestock-feed-formulation-handbook/ebook/product-20817463.html

C. My 30 page Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients

Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients

PS: GET BUILT-IN MS EXCEL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT

Self-Development Academy (SDAc)’s Excel Heaven™ was founded by Tayo K. Solagbade in 2002, as the FIRST provider of On-Demand Preprogrammed Custom Spreadsheet Solutions for individuals and businesses in Nigeria/Africa.

We offer Workbook Auditing/Optimisation and VBA Automation; Custom Spreadsheet Software Development; Sales; Job-Based Spreadsheet Coaching; and Consulting/Advisory Services on effective application of spreadsheets for business use.

Call +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin).

See video demos here.

Visit our Excel Heaven mini-site : here.

[Invitation] Join Tayo’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club:

1. Click the link below to download a 9-page MS PowerPoint Slideshow which explains in FULL details what you will be learning – and doing.

here.

2. On the page linked below, you can watch a video version of the above slideshow, and some sample tutorials/demo videos:

here.

Vocationally Skilled Population – Key to African Development!

Update – 23rd December 2019 – new article published titled PII 184: Educate Your Child to Reliably Make Money by Herself, to Meet ANY Needs She Has – Anytime She Wants [HINT: If you are a parent to kids you REALLY LOVE and desire success for, you NEED TO READ THIS!]

[Below: Feature photo of Tanzania’s President Magufuli showing off his sewing skills]

bpp-vid11

Take a careful look at developed societies (e.g in Europe, Asia, America) and you will notice that possession of income earning (vocational) “skills” is just as valued as acquisition of academic degrees and certifications for paid employment.

Sadly the same cannot be said for Nigeria.

The crazy drive to acquire paper qualification, with little attention to ensuring corresponding real world relevant proficiency has held her, and many other nations in Africa back from developing sustainably.

This is apparent from the massive armies of university products we continue to churn out who often either end up unemployed (even unemployable!) or grossly underemployed.

With this reality facing us, the need for a new educational strategy has been apparent for a long time. But most affected nations out here seem to be at a loss for ideas on what to do and how.

However, a few are gradually narrowing down to doing what matters. And some, with their leaders showing the way.

One Example: Click here to see a photo in which President Magufuli of Tanzania shows off his sewing skills

How many public office holders or politicians in Nigeria possess any income earning vocational skills of this kind?

The truth is very few: and those that do are often NOT proud to show it off like Magufuli is doing here in a SUIT!

This probably explains why many of our political leaders/civil servants have a large appetite for what Fela once described as “Pen Robbery” in one of his hit songs.

We need more “vocationally skilled” leaders (adults/parents/teachers/leaders in politics and business etc) to be raised in Nigeria/Africa, so they can train youths with similar competences, if real sustainable development is to happen.

The report linked below indicates that Tanzania is well on her way to doing just that.

Read: Tanzania starts training tailors as regional ban on second hand clothes loom – By This Is Africa on August 24, 2016

Below are excerpts from a piece I recently sent out via Whatsapp, in which I share ideas based on what I’m doing to give my kids a more balanced exposure to “education”.

Academic education is not enough anymore. Time we spend on it is too much. Half that time is better spent giving income earning vocational education. Unfortunately we have wrong quality of people teaching in our schools.

The best among us who should be involved in teaching feel it is beneath us. So we leave it to the least gifted/competent among us who settle for teaching after failing to secure better options.

Unlike Mrs. Abiola Solagbade, my Montessori trained retired teacher mother, they are NOT motivated. The teaching job is a last resort for them.

They feel no passion to do it – and do it right. Little wonder that they readily cut corners by accepting money to do unethical things like awarding marks not merited. And of course that’s why we have Special Centres and people buying/sell results and certificates.

How can we expect a system like that to produce authentic quality of EDUCATION???

It can’t. It won’t.

Even the child that gets good grades academically without corner cutting suffer major exposure to character deforming display of morals and values by teachers, parents and other adults who openly engage in these shameful acts without suffering any negative consequences.

It would be naïve to assume THAT will not make a lasting impression on the psyche of that child – no matter what lectures you give him/her at home about knowing right from wrong, and the value of honesty, integrity, hard work etc!

What a price to pay!

My kids will learn vocational skills alongside relevant school subjects on a need to know basis based on discussions I’ve had with them about what they would like to do/become in life.

Computer based learning systems with teachers teaching school subjects according to the curriculum for the UK Waec exams equivalent are accessible for interested persons.

People get degrees and other certifications through distance learning. My kids have been trained to leverage technology to acquire Functional Education.

Homeschooling is being embraced worldwide. Wearing school uniform does NOT guarantee learning. Leaving home to attend school is NOT the only way to learn. Especially if you want to get a complete/balanced education.

Kids are being made to spend tooooooo much time in school reading/writing, and tooooooo little time is left for them to Think and Do and make sense/productive use of what they see and are taught.

My kids are being given that balanced mix. Indeed once a child can read and write, the thinking and doing is more important that any other schooling inputs.

That’s why we have many unschooled or poorly schooled people who succeed in life by doing what they are good at. That’s what real education is about: finding out/narrowing down to what you’re good at, then doing it to achieve the success you want in life.

It’s simple. But it works. My life is proof of it. That’s why I’m determined to empower my kids to get a similar kind of education – as against mere (mind-numbing) conventional schooling.

See this Facebook page (https://facebook.com/TemiandOluomasCookies above on which my 2 daughters (supported by their brothers) showcase their baked creations and share insights into the experience based learning they are undergoing.

Finally, the article linked below was published on 27th August 2014 – exactly 2 years ago. We’ve come a LOOOOONG way since then!]

[Note: (a). PMA = Positive Mental Attitude (b). The link to a downloadable PDF version the kids’ project preview]

Prepare Your Child to Succeed by Learning to Overcome Rejection Using Persistence & PMA (Lessons from Tayo Solagbade’s Maiden “Selling Skills Development” Project for Kids)

I share my ideas here to give some insight into what I’m doing.

My kids are getting an important foundation for succeeding anywhere. There’s a lot of verbal coaching and experience sharing that takes place daily, in addition to the experience based learning.

Getting an education is not a competition to see who finishes first or best. Each child’s need will often be unique in some areas.

Parents would be wise to pay attention to what each child needs in this regard. Most teachers/schools don’t. I do – because I have passion and vision to support my kids to overcome the annoyances I’ve encountered in society.

Speaking and writing good English is NOT enough today. Neither is getting 1st Class from the university. Those who are honest with themselves will agree that this is true!

It is said that in order to criticize constructively, one must first of all make genuine effort to understand that which we wish to criticize.

I’ve found that to be quite true.

What I’m doing with my kids with regard to vocational skills development is what all parents today need to do for their kids.

One must NOT wait for schools to come up with money-collecting half baked ones they do. Make out time to find out what appeals to each child and help him/her get started.

It’s never too early to help your child find passion driven purpose in life – and you’ll make your parenting of him/her easier in the process!

Read this article (and watch the video) about how my 13 year old son built his first battery powered toy bike after watching a 3 minute video I downloaded from the web on my Blackberry:

http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/pii-011-you-need-to-coach-your-child-to-be-resourceful-in-life-watch-video-of-12-year-old-building-battery-powered-toy-power-bike-from-scratch/

Click here to request a copy of part 3 of the 4 part step by step demonstration video I got my 13 year old son to make, which we plan to sell with a PDF guide online as well as during LIVE workshops I intend to help him organise for interested kids

Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUtfIs0iENE to watch a highlight/promo video I made showing the first battery powered bike he made.

I’m sharing it just to give everyone an idea of the fact that my home IS actually a real world school. We have similar videos for baking bread, pizza, cookies, cakes etc by the kids.

My vision is open my “home-school” (online with short stay on site options) at some point in the future to help other people and their kids learn to use our tried and tested model.

Click here if you would like to be notified when we go LIVE.

PII 028 [Case Study]: Using Excel-VB Automation for Smart Hospital Records Management (Featuring: A Custom app built for a Lagos based Medical Clinic)

This week’s Performance Improvement Ideas (PII) newsletter features an article from my archives.

It discusses one of several scenarios for potential application of custom Excel-VB programming as a low cost, user-friendly means to effective and efficient data handling and report generation in Patients Records Management for Hospitals/Clinics or Medical Centres.

At the end, I append a link to a PDF White Paper I published based on a research paper an old client engaged me to write in 2007, on development of a low cost networkable Hospital Management Information System (HMIS)™ for a South Western state in Nigeria.

The thinking advocated in this piece, can be successfully applied in a wide variety of situations. If you need help adapting them to suit your peculiar needs, get in touch with me using this form.

 

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

 

Tayo Solagbade's Performance Improvement IDEAS(PI Squared) Newsletter

Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement
IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter

Monday 22nd August 2016

Logo - Tayo Solagbade's Self-Development Academy


NB: This PI Squared newsletter will be published weekly, on Mondays, in place of the Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, starting from today – 15th February 2016.
I’m reinventing my Monday newsletter content and theme, to accommodate my vision of serving the growing audience of serious minded individuals and organizations reaching out to me, with information, education. news and research findings designed to help them do what they do better.

**********

View Tayo Solagbade's video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsJoin the SD Nuggets community on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

PII 028 [Case Study]: Using Excel-VB Automation for Smart Hospital Records Management (Featuring: A Custom app built for a Lagos based Medical Clinic)

This week’s Performance Improvement Ideas (PII) newsletter features an article from my archives.

It discusses one of several scenarios for potential application of custom Excel-VB programming as a low cost, user-friendly means to effective and efficient data handling and report generation in Patients Records Management for Hospitals/Clinics or Medical Centres.

At the end, I append a link to a PDF White Paper I published based on a research paper an old client engaged me to write in 2007, on development of a low cost networkable Hospital Management Information System (HMIS)™ for a South Western state in Nigeria.

The thinking advocated in this piece, can be successfully applied in a wide variety of situations. If you need help adapting them to suit your peculiar needs, get in touch with me using this form.

The Typical Situation:

A patient comes in complaining of a fever. Nurse asks for her “card number”. Patient replies that she can’t remember. Nurse takes patient’s name, and begins sifting through shelf on which patient’s cards are filed.

Shortly after, nurse asks: “when last did you come for treatment?”. Patient replies: “I’m not sure – I think it was May this year”, then she adds “Please nurse – hurry!”. The nurse replies: “Sorry, but I need to find your case file…etc” Eventually, the case note is found, the patient attended to/treated and leaves.

The Problem:

This is a common experience for many people in most – if – not all – medical centres/hospitals across Nigeria. Sometimes the time lapse between when a patient arrives and when their “records cards” are successfully retrieved for the Doctor’s attention can be quite long. Such avoidable delays can cause great frustration or even worsen the patient’s health problem.

The Viable Alternative:

A computer pre-installed with Microsoft Excel (and the rest of the MS Office Suite) is easily acquired today.

Using MS Excel, a simple, yet extremely functional Custom Automated Excel Spreadsheet application can be developed. The application will run in MS Excel, so you would not need to incur any additional costs via purchase of some prohibitively priced off-the-shelf app, which may not be easily modified to suit unique needs of some facilities.

The custom Excel-VB app would be easy for anyone (nurse, doctor, clerk etc) to use in posting patient records into a database – daily, weekly etc.

Nurses/Doctors/Clerks etc can then simply type in the surname (sometimes the first few letters) of a patient’s name into a special dialog box prompt to have the patient’s full name appear. Then s/he would click on it (or select the name from a drop down menu) to have the patient’s personal information and medical history displayed – within seconds!

Below: Screenshot of the data entry interface, with floating navigation menu for a custom MS Excel-VB driven app I built for an Lagos-Nigeria based client clinic in March 2009.

Screenshot of the data entry interface, with floating navigation menu for a custom MS Excel-VB driven app I built for an Lagos-Nigeria based client clinic in March 2009 - click to view larger image

Click here to request details about the above shown app.

A lot more is possible with MS Excel-VB automation…

Templates for periodic reviews of (weekly etc) of cases treated, emergencies, patients referrals etc, could be auto-generated by such an app. Charts comparing different ailments treated weekly/monthly, numbers of patients and other trending could be generated on screen and/or ready-to-print on paper.

Even better, the application could be made accessible from ANY computer connected to the hospital/clinic/medical centre’s computer intranet – if one exists. That way, multiple users would be able to access it.

The above are real life examples of possible ways in which custom Excel-VB driven apps can be used, that I have successfully implemented in various organizations over the past 2 decades.

Final Words: Anyone Can Do It!

The best part is that a custom Excel-VB app can be developed by ANYONE in the team, if s/he has the needed time and training (e.g. you, as the owner or your employee).

However, if competent in-house expertise does not exist, you can hire an external developer to build the app, and/or train someone within the organization to develop custom apps in-house. The latter option is likely to result in savings of money and time especially, over the long term.

If you’d like an app built for your medical centre/hospital/clinic, and/or need training on custom Excel-VB automation to build or maintain such an app, I can help you.

Click here to tell me what you need help with.

Related Article/Publications:

  1. SDAc’s Microsoft Excel Heaven™ Visual Basic Automation Club & COMPETITION [Watch the Full Video Narration of 9 Page Slideshow – by Tayo K. Solagbade]
  2. White Paper (PDF), Blueprint for a Low Cost Automated Spreadsheet Hospital Management Information System (HMIS)™White Paper ebook cover - Blueprint for a Low Cost Automated Spreadsheet Hospital Management Information System (HMIS)™

    SDN Blog™

    New posts from last week*

    Monday:

    [Tuesday]:

    [Wednesday]:

    [Thursday]:

    N/A

    [Friday]:

    N/A

    [Saturday]:

    Protect Yourself from Macro Viruses [Potential Dangers of Enabling Macros in Excel-VB Workbooks From Unfamiliar Sources]

    [Sunday]:

    Protected: THE FARM CEO (Issue 58): Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Investing in the future of African women farmers, How to keep African agriculture improving

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition

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 organizations 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 organizations, 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 (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he 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 computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting.

Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. 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 (SDAc).

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 The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter.

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

View Tayo Solagbade's video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsJoin the SD Nuggets community on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

Home |About | Contact | SD Nuggets™ | Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS | Web Marketing Systems | Freelance Writing | MS Excel® Heaven™ | Cost-Saving Farm Biz Ideas

Protect Yourself from Macro Viruses [Potential Dangers of Enabling Macros in Excel-VB Workbooks From Unfamiliar Sources]

[This article was sent to members of my Excel-VB Club earlier today, and published here without password protection so interested others can benefit]

In introducing you to Excel-VB Programming, over the past weeks, I’ve demonstrated (using screenshot images and video tutorials) the important steps regarding How-To “Enable Macro” code in a workbook to run in your copy of MS Excel.

You will have noticed warning prompts thrown up by Excel anytime you try to open workbooks containing VBA code. This happens based on the default security setting in your copy of Excel.

There is an option provided to enable macros automatically, by default – but unless you’re sure no danger of unsafe workbooks being brought in, standard recommendation is that users always leave a layer of protection by requiring macros to be enabled.

This is especially if you’re not sure of the nature of code in workbooks you open e.g if they are from 3rd party sources you are NOT familiar with.

The need to have this security feature in place/enabled arose about decade and half ago, when Macro viruses were commonplace.

I still recall switching to Excel-VB from Lotus 1-2-3 Macro programming, and reading lots of material about potential dangers associated with downloading/opening Macro enabled workbooks from untrusted sources.

Back then there were tales of people having their PC files erased/damaged. Others have had banking and other sensitive data stolen.

Since those early days however, macro viruses have dropped off the radar in terms of occurrence.

But Microsoft and her community of MS Excel-VB developers have wisely not let their guard down.

They have maintained the security restrictions and warnings in place right into the latest versions of the application.

That has proven to be a wise strategy, because, as the article featured below reports, macro viruses have recently begun staging a comeback.

Click below to read the full piece:

Macro viruses reemerge in Word, Excel files.