Category Archives: Entrepreneurship

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

3 Strategies You Need, to Achieve Business Promotion Success

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The key to business promotion success is to – as INEXPENSIVELY as possible – get your target audience to notice – and eventually pay conscious attention to – you on a continuing basis.

One business owner who excels at doing the above is Richard Branson.

For years, I have deliberately studied him in developing ideas and strategies to reach my own target audience. And I continue to record uncommon marketing success from doing so.

Certain unique factors matter the most in achieving this kind of success.

I discuss 3 main ones based on my experience based observations over nearly a decade.

1. Keep It Real: Avoid Copying Others

“Don’t Copy. Create!” – Unknown

Notice what I said about studying Branson. I did not copy him. What I did was/is to creatively adapt what I learned from observing him, to suit my own peculiar marketing needs.

That eventually resulted in something almost entirely different.

I’ve given it a name. I call it a Web Marketing System(WMS).

If you run a farm business for instance, you’re better off developing real world relevant strategies that help you better reach and impact YOUR target audience.

Don’t waste valuable time copying methods employed by a friend who runs a restaurant.

If s/he places ads on TV/Radio, it (hopefully) would be because s/he has done the needed homework, and is sure the patronage to be reaped will offset the relatively high costs.

Margins from sales of your kinds of farm products may make it unwise to do same.

You may be better off making potential bulk buyers offers (e.g. restaurant and hotel owners like your friend). Let them do the heavy duty advertising. That will GROW your profits by reducing your cost of sales. So you will not need to increase your price to cover ad costs.

And that’s where a Web Marketing System (WMS) can help you!

Rather than burn time, effort and fuel going round town at the initial stages, you simply need to create, publish and relentlessly promote the right kind, and mix, of content via multiple channels.

Every now and then, you would make an offer and follow it up with a call to action

Here’s an Example Offer You Can Make: “Do you regularly buy large quantities of? Our farm offers a special bulk pricing with doorstep delivery of high quality eggs anytime. Never again have to worry about getting enough quality eggs when you need them. Contact us today…!”

2. Use Uniquely Creative Business Promotion/Marketing – But Always Strive to Do So at Zero Cost

In yesterday’s article, I shared an excerpt from a pep talk I gave to my kids. What I told them was based on my experiences running my own business for over a decade now:

“Even when you can afford it, you can get MORE done with LESS money, if you learn to apply Critical Thinking. Do NOT fall into the habit of throwing money at your problems…” – (me to my kids)

The truth is too many business owners, when they feel they can afford, readily succumb to the temptation to spend in order to attract customers.

They do so because it is EASIER to sit back to wait for the adverts paid for to bring people in.

The problem is however that just like you are placing yours, so are others who think like you…and MANY people think like THIS!

Unfortunately, since the ad limits the space you can use, based on how much you pay, you will often be unable to say (and/or show) as much you’d like to say, to convince a potential buyer who sees the different adverts that YOU will be a better choice compared to your competitor.

Indeed, if the competitor has more financial muscle, most buyers may conclude s/he offers better value than you do.

That happens because people have a tendency to believe “bigger (or more expensive) is better”.

But that’s not always true.

We all know the story of David and Goliath…which brings me back to Richard Branson again.

You see, the David vs. Goliath strategy is what he has always used, and advocated.

After reading Branson’s article on it, I began applying it to suit my own unique circumstances.

Today, I have many examples of exceptional sales and marketing results I’ve achieved as a result –  despite being a one man operation in a harsh socio-economic environment.

So, I’m saying you need to realize that you can use creative Critical Thinking, to achieve profitable business promotion for yourself.

Consider Branson. He always finds a way to get zero cost attention – including media exposure. Many times he has used publicity stunts, which he deliberately wrote about/shared – via multiple online platforms – to create buzz (aside from that resulting from free media coverage he got)!

Every situation in which you interact with others, is a potential opportunity to get share of mind (which is what marketing is about).

The more unusual your strategy, the more likely you are to get noticed. Just be sure to find a way to do so without having to dip your hands in your pockets all the time.

3. Entertain, While Educating and Informing

Once again, I refer to Mr. Branson.

I’ve seen photos of him playing a guitar on stage in a bar; carrying a uniformed Virgin Airline hostess off her feet…and even kissing Desmond Tutu on the cheek!

But each time he posted the photos, there was a message.

There was/is always purpose behind what he did/does.

For instance, below the photo on Facebook, in which he was show kissing Bishop Tutu’s cheek, Branson added a message to educate people about the need to tolerate others regardless of sexual preferences i.e. the need to practise unconditional love.

Now, you could argue that THAT had nothing to do with marketing his brand(s). However, if you think about it, he’s still indirectly selling himself to his target audience.

People buy from people they TRUST. By sharing that photo, with his message, Branson took a stand on the side of those being unfairly discriminated against.

On another occasion, when he shared photos taken during a visit to a country against which some western countires had issued a travel advisory, he linked to an article he had written titled “Why Travel Advisories Hurt Countries and Help Terrorists”.

The above would have won over some people who probably did not reckon with him much in the past.

And such individuals could develop a fierce loyalty to Branson that would make them go out of their way to identify with any companies they know he owns!

In other photos, he makes people laugh, and many comment about how human he manages to stay despite being very successful, and busy.

Again, this gets him more share of mind.

One important point to keep in mind: No pushy sales pitches allowed!

Richard Branson RARELY posts a “come and buy my product or service” message.

Instead, he often focuses on using entertainment to educate and inform, as a means to winning people over to feel like “buying” from his company.

A VERY effective strategy indeed. I know this because I’ve used it for years, and compared to when I used the direct selling approach, I know it yields far superior rewards.

You don’t have to copy Branson.

What you do could (should) be a variant of what he’s doing, that lets you leverage your own unique strengths as an individual.

Find what you’re comfortable doing, and then DO IT – in an entertaining way, while injecting some education and information to win potential buyers over.

Final Words: These 3 strategies when applied in implementing a well conceived WMS will ultimately yield long term lead generation benefits, in addition to helping you close sales.

They can be used offline as well as online.

However my experiences have taught me that you can intelligently use the Internet to achieve much more USEFUL marketing reach and impact faster, and expending less effort, or money.

What’s more, those who encounter your creative marketing online, can over time become your fervent advocates, who go and “preach your gospel” OFFLINE to others – bringing them to YOU!

I know this because it happens to me – a lot.

People contact me saying someone told them to.

This includes people who sometimes use the web ONLY to check mails and struggle to use the PC!

Yet their level of conviction is often so high, that they send FULL payment 100% in advance, to purchase – for instance – my Feed Formulation Handbook, its accompanying Excel-VB Ration Formulator software, and/or my increasingly popular Poutry Farm Manager software.

But you need to know how to do it i.e how to use web marketing to make the above happen.

What I have found from developing WMS for clients over the years is that not everyone easily “gets it”.

They do not readily understand how to use WMS as the powerful timeless marketing (and sales leads generating) tool it is.

And that’s why I offer a Web Marketing support/coaching service to help them.

If you’d like to learn more, about how I can help you in this regard, click here to send me a message.

 

Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, My DN Travel News, Parenting

Critical Thinking Can Save You Money (True Story)

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“Even when you can afford it, you can get MORE done with LESS money, if you learn to apply Critical Thinking. Do NOT fall into the habit of throwing money at your problems or goals…” – (me to my kids)

Here’s how 2 of my sons used critical thinking to solve – at ZERO cost – a recent power “cut” problem, which the neighbourhood electrician had earlier demanded N2,500 for…!

That Saturday Morning (in September 2014), the Lights Had Flickered Suddenly & Gone Off

We initially thought it was the usual power cut from the public power company. However, one of the kids coming in from running an errand soon alerted us to the fact that our neighbours lights were still on.

My wife and I went out to see, and soon confirmed it was true. To be sure, I told the kids to start the generator. They did so and when we changed over, nothing happened. It was obvious the current was not getting into the house’s supply line.

Now, none of us had any training (formal or informal) in electrics or electronics.

However, as I have written severally in past articles, my 11 year old son has shown an amazing flair for fixing things especially electricity related. And he’s gotten so good that in our home everyone (including his mother) readily calls on him to fix damaged plugs, replace fuses etc.

That, in addition to the many instances he had used damaged parts from laptops, mobile phones, phone chargers, and old batteries to build useful contraptions (e.g. a crude but functional rechargeable lamp) made me buy him an electrician’s kit for his last birthday present, when I  visited Nigeria.

It was this 11 year old of ours who led his 13 year old brother to begin brainstorming on what the possible causes of the current not getting into the house could be.

On my part, I was too angry, indeed frustrated, to get involved. I thought of calling the neighbourhood electrician, but recalled that the last time I’d visited, I had to contend with his excessive and arbitrary pricing of his services.

That day, I’d had to take him down to the ATM to get more cash to get him off my back for fixing a single ceiling fan and a rewriting job. I knew he’d over charged me, but since I did not know how to do it, and I did not want to leave for Cotonou without fixing the problem, I gave in.

So, when this incident happened, I told myself I would rather wait and find someone else to do it.

What I did not expect was that my kids – who I had always challenged to be curious and to think of ways to solve problems without spending money – would choose to apply what I’d told them that day.

My Wife Decided to Call In the Neighbourhood Electrician

I heard her grumble about how I’d not said anything more about the problem. Then soon after, I heard her call the electrician on the phone. He soon arrived, and promptly asked what the problem was.

She replied that she did not know, and explained that current was not getting into the house from either the public power supply or the generator.

I was in the bedroom and listening without saying a word.

Without even going round to do any checks, this chap quickly announced:

“Aha! Your kids must have put one something that’s caused extensive damage. Ask them to tell you what they put on. I’m sure they’ve cause major damage that needs to be traced and fixed”

His voice had assumed a note of superiority. He sounded sure that no one could challenge him. My wife asked him how much it would cost to find and correct the problem.

He wasted no time in saying “N2, 500” (Two Thousand Five Hundred Naira).

When I heard that, I screamed to myself silently wondering how he could arrive at such an outrageous sum without even doing any checks to ascertain that his suspicions were right.

Indeed, I wondered how he could be so sure it was not even something worse, that would cost more than what he was quoting.

But I kept my protests to myself. I let my wife respond instead. She soon told him that she could not pay that much, and asked for a reduction.

He bluntly refused and then to apply pressure on her, he said “Look, are you ready to pay or not? I have other things to do. If you’re not ready, let me leave.”

My wife told him she could not pay that much. Without saying anything more, he picked up his backpack and left.

Once I heard the gate shut after him, I came out and told my wife and kids that I was convinced it was a good thing to have let him go.

Then I announced that I intended to go out and get someone else to look at the problem and give his opinion. I pointed out how he’d used indirect threats to try forcing her hand, to make her pay up. They nodded in understanding

I returned inside and began dressing up to go out.

Suddenly I heard my 2 sons who had been brainstorming all the while, now screaming excitedly saying “Look, there’s light here!”

In response to a suggestion their mother had made, they had disconnected the plug linked to the panel, and put the wires directly back into the socket.

That had caused the little lamp on the side of the socket to come on – confirming there was current up to that point.

This meant the only reason we did not have current in the house was that the fuse in the 15Amp plug was burnt.

When I joined them, I saw what they were referring to, and told them we needed a new fuse.

Not surprisingly, our 11 year old “electrician” – who has a box in which he collects all sorts of electrical parts – said there would be no need to buy a new 15Amp fuse, as he had one stored away.

He quickly dashed into his room and returned with an old plug he’d salvaged from one of his many “scavenging” walks, and he replaced the bad fuse.

A few seconds later, the lights came back on! This happened less than 15 minutes after the neighbourhood electrician left.

Ecstatic, I called the kids together and said:

“See what I mean about not hurrying to spend money to solve a problem, or achieve any goal? Even when you can afford it, you can get MORE done with LESS money, if you learn to apply Critical Thinking. Do NOT fall into the habit of throwing money at your problems. If we had paid that man N2, 500, he would most likely have made a show of doing a lot of work, to justify taking that much. But he would ultimately, only have replaced this same fuse we have just replaced. And we would never have been the wiser!”

As they eagerly nodded their heads and high-fived themselves, I could see they understood – finally!

I knew it was a lesson they would not forget in a hurry.

Now they knew the electrician (an “expert” of sorts) could be wrong, and that THEY could solve a problem themselves if he walked away!

Nothing Is More Empowering for Children than That

Sadly, too many adults easily get stumped when confronted with the unexpected or unusual.

This makes them easily accept defeat when things turn out differently from what they expect. Children who get an opportunity to solve problems that others walk away from – by applying critical thinking – often come away with greater levels of self-esteem and confidence.

That will often prove invaluable to them in their adult lives. Those they relate with will consequently marvel at their seeming ability to defeat failure or setbacks!

The truth is however that people who achieve long term authentic successes often do so because they never stop thinking up new ways to attack a problem they have.

That eventually leads them to what we call breakthroughs – like the one my kids had. I’m so excited for them, because it means they are well on their way to success in adult life.

Challenge your kids to develop a similar passion for Critical Thinking, and they WILL do even better!

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

You Can Increase Your Profits Without Raising Your Prices (Here’s How…)

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Decide If You NEED To Read This Article (Take A Quick Quiz!): This article features my Layman’s Business Variable Costs Control Systems Awareness Quiz™ below. If you answer NO to even ONE of its seventeen (17) questions, there is a good chance the information contained in this article can help you.

Layman’s Business Variable Costs Control Systems Awareness Quiz:

The quiz poses simple questions designed to get you thinking about possible areas in which you can look to apply spreadsheet facilitated VC monitoring/control and reduction initiatives in your business.

The table below poses simple questions designed to get you thinking about possible areas in which you can look to apply spreadsheet facilitated VC monitoring/control and reduction initiatives in your business.
S/N
 Question Yes/No
1
 Do you have data to show how much it costs to find a new client or customer that “buys” from you?
2
 Do you have data to show how many people contacted/”bought” from you as a result of EACH advert you place in a particular medium?
3
 Have you used the information in 2. to decide on what advert/marketing strategy to continue using, or a new one to adopt, so as to increase your success rate?
4
 Do you have data to show how much it costs you to successfully complete a service delivery to ONE(1) paying customer?
5
 Does the EXPENSE in 4. reflect in your setting of FEES and estimation of your PROFITS?
6
 Do you have data to show how much it costs you to produce ONE (1) unit of your product(e.g. 1 bottle of juice)?
7
 Does the EXPENSE in 6. reflect in your setting of PRICES and estimation of your PROFITS?
8
 Does the data you have, cover the period of time you’ve been delivering that product/service?
9
 Do you know how to record/analyse your data using a spreadsheet to show how you’re doing regarding your expenses and/or profits week versus week?
10
 Do you know which resources/materials you employ in delivering your products/services to EACH paying client are the most expensive?
11
 Can you think of any changes or modifications you can make to your operations to reduce the expenses related to EACH of the most expensive resources/materials identified in 10. ?
12
 Do you know what the trend in your total profit margin for each product/service has been since you started it (i.e. Has it been rising upwards, going downwards, or remained at the same level)?
13
 Do you know how much you spend on marketing/sales to dispose of each batch of your product/service?
14
 Do you reflect the amount spent in 13. in estimating your selling price – and eventual profits?
15
 Do you know what the difference is between your cost of producing/delivering one(1) unit of your product/service, and the selling price you adopt?
16
 Can you think of any changes or modifications you can make to your operations to reduce cost of producing/ delivering one(1) unit of your product/service identified in 15. ?
17
 Do you have a VC Analysis spreadsheet to record/monitor, analyse and trend your data so you can keep track of 1 – 16 accurately, in order to take better informed decisions towards increasing your profits?
© 2005 Tayo Solagbade & Self-Development Academy Limited

Every business wants increased profits, and each one goes about achieving that purpose in different ways: Some employ price increases. Others make promotional offers to boost volume sales.

The problem in the latter case tends to be that they still have to spend more to get more sales, and often if not well managed, there may not be any significant difference in bottom line margins achieved, especially when competitors launch a counter event.

I describe tested and proven ways by which anyone can intelligently implement Variable Costs (VC) Monitoring/Control and Reduction initiatives – supported by spreadsheet tracking/analyses – to increase chances of routinely recording optimal profit margins even when prices remain fixed and/or competition is fierce.

This Article Is Based On Proven Real-Life Practice

The ideas, concepts and strategies I advocate for adoption in this article are based on proven practice. In fact, the case study and specific analogies used are based on real-life activities that I personally partook in over a period of six years, as a manager in a large blue-chip multinational brewing company.

Read my article titled “Use Custom Automation Of Your Spreadsheet Reports To Drive Down Costs And Increase Your Profits” for additional details of my experiences in this area, while in paid employment.

What you learn from reading the above mentioned article, will hopefully encourage you to seriously explore ways to put the information provided in this article to good use for your business.

The principles described below can be successfully adapted to virtually any business operation – be it service or production based.

If you need any help with thinking up ways/means of putting them to use, I would be pleased to help out.

Case Study

“Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only these two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and Innovation produce results. All the others are costs” – Peter Drucker

What follows is a bit of a simplistic example, but it serves the intended purpose of providing a basis for the following discussion. The logic on which this analogy is based can be applied to any situation.

African Arts Concepts Limited (a hypothetical company) uses three raw materials, A, B and C in producing their flagship brand Product Z – which sells for N14,000 naira (about $100 equivalent, using a N140.00 Naira to $1.00 US dollar currency conversion rate) per unit – in the following combination:

5 lengths of material A(N2,500.00) + 1 kg of material B(N1,500.00) + 20 pieces of material C(N,2500.00) = 1 unit of Product Z(N6,500.00 Naira or $46.43 US Dollars).

Assume other (say operational and marketing) expenses amount to N500 per unit of Product Z , the Cost Price for one unit would be N7,000.00($50.00) – approximately. That means whenever 1 unit of Product Z is sold, a gross profit of N7,000 (N14,000 – N7,000) or $50.00 USD is made by African Arts Concepts Ltd.

Table 1.0 – Costs Breakdown(Based On Normal Usage Of All Materials)

Description(Normal Usage)
Amount(Naira)
Amount(USD Equiv)
N140.00 Naira to $1.00 US dollar currency conversion rate
A.
5 lengths of material A
N2,500.00
B.
 1 kg of material B
N1,500.00
C.
 20 pieces of material C
N,2500.00
1
 1 unit of Product Z( A + B + C )
N6,500.00
$46.43
D.
 Operational Expenses per unit of Z
N250
E.
 Marketing Expenses per unit of Z
N250
2
 1 unit of Product Z(Cost Price i.e. 1 + D + E )
N7,000.00
$50.00
Note

THE PROBLEM(Common To Many Businesses)

Now imagine that a staff of African Arts Concepts Limited begins to over use (and this does happen!) material B by say 0.5kg for every unit of Product Z. The usage cost for(i.e. cost of using) Material B per unit of Product Z produced will become N2,250(N1,500.00 plus N750.00).

5 lengths of material A(N2,500.00) + 1 kg of material B(N1,500.00) + 0.5 kg of material B(unrecorded N750.00 usage cost ) + 20 pieces of material C(N2,500.00) = 1 unit of Product Z(N7,250.00 Naira or $51.79 US Dollars).

Adding the other (operational and marketing) expenses of N500 per unit of Product Z, would bring the cost price/unit of Product Z to N7,750($55.4 USD), instead of N7,000($50.00 US Dollars). In otherwords, the company incurs an – unnecessary – N750 or $5.4 US Dollars additional cost to produce EACH unit of Product Z.

Table 2.0 – Costs Breakdown(Based On Over-Usage Of Material B)

Description(Over-Usage)
Amount(Naira)
Amount(USD Equiv)
N140.00 Naira to $1.00 US dollar currency conversion rate
A.
 5 lengths of material A
N2,500.00
i
 1 kg of material B
N1500.00
ii.
 0.5 kg of material B(unrecorded)
N750.00
B.
 1.5 kg Total Material B Usage(i + ii)
N2,250.00
C.
 20 pieces of material C
N,2500.00
1
 1 unit of Product Z( A + B + C )*
N7,250.00
$51.79
D.
 Operational Expenses per unit of Z
N250
E.
 Marketing Expenses per unit of Z
N250
2
 1 unit of Product Z(Cost Price)*
N7,750.00
$55.36
*company incurs an – unnecessary – N750 or $5.4 additional cost to produce EACH unit of Product Z.

That extra $5.4 would most likely be LOST because:

(a). African Arts Concepts Limited may not detect it – except they have monitoring systems(e.g. a custom automated Variable Cost Analysis Spreadsheet) set up to alert them to such occurrences.

That batch of Product Z will therefore still be sold for $100.00 US Dollars per unit(a 20% LOSS!).

(b). Even if it is detected, little can be done to correct it for batches that would already have been produced BEFORE discovery/correction of the problem.

Multiple Negative Consequences

If continued unchecked, this over usage can quickly cause huge losses: Multiply the N750 naira ($5.4 USD) over usage by say 1000 units of Z produced in a month and you get N750,000($5,400 USD) – lost unknowingly.(That $5,400 USD over usage equates to losing 54 market ready units of Product Z!).

What will typically happen is that at the end of the month, the company would find that they have 500kg LESS of material B left than expected. This would subsequently require them to make an additional unplanned purchase of material B using money budgeted for other purposes – thereby disrupting cash flow etc.

The foregoing is one major reason why some businesses that appear to be doing well suddenly go under, or record low profits/losses! They fail to keep a grip on their real costs of operation. What has been described here is applicable to virtually any type of business – be it service or product based. One only needs to change the items of income and expenditure considered in delivering the relevant product/service.

Question: How Do I Prevent A Problem Like The One Above Happening To Me?

Answer: By Adopting Variable Costs(VC) Monitoring/Control Techniques.

I like to think of Variable Costs, from a lay man’s perspective, as those expenses you incur, which can(and do) vary depending on your ability to find cheaper yet equally – if not more – effective ways to do what you do, when compared to your current methods.

To implement a VC Monitoring/Control system, you can follow the steps outlined below – making needed adjustments to suit the peculiarities of your unique situation or need (Note that the use of spreadsheets is integral to the approach I recommend, as it facilitates sustainability of systems set up).

Step 1 : Collate Relevant Data in Spreadsheets :

Start recording and analysing your business revenue and daily operating expenses, including variable cost elements such as how much you spend on marketing, transportation, phone calls, materials usage etc.

You can easily do this by creating Excel spreadsheets with raw data entry interfaces linked to standard reporting templates(which generate meaningful output from formulas applied to your raw data).

For best results, you might find recording materials usages in the same spreadsheet, with their corresponding prices helps in deriving expenses relevant to materials usages(by simple linking of cells to be multiplied e.g.”Kgs” used by price per kg).

Step 2 : Benchmark Your Process :

You will also need to do some benchmarking by obtaining detailed industry data for businesses similar to yours. Using that data, you would derive weighted averages, upper and lower control limits etc.

These could then be charted in your spreadsheet using actual data you would periodically post. Your objective in managing your business/process would then be to ensure your Key Performance Indicators(KPIs) fall between the established control limits implying that it is performing optimally.

If during your daily, weekly or monthly recording and monitoring, you then notice any of your charted KPIs deviating outside the favourable range, you would be able to quickly investigate and correct the problem before it goes too far.

In the case study used above for example, if a target usage rate of material B per unit of Product Z produced had been routinely recorded in a spreadsheet, and plotted on say a Schewart chart, the CONTINUOUS over usage of 0.5kg per unit would have reflected in the slope of the chart – and therefore led to early detection.

Again, this is a simplistic approach. More effective methods(e.g. automated plotting of a Cusum – Cumulative Sum Deviation chart) can be easily employed using spreadsheets with about the same effort. I cover Cusum charts, and how to use them, in considerable detail in a new PDF report I’m working on.titled “Simple Performance Measurement/Process Control Tools You Can Use In Your Business”.

Question: Okay, That’s To Detect/Stop Things Getting Out Of Hand. But HOW Exactly Do I Go About INCREASING My Profits Without Raising My Prices?

Answer: By Applying Practical Variable Costs(VC) REDUCTION Techniques.

As I earlier stated, your variable costs are those expenses you incur, which can(and do) vary depending on your ability to find cheaper yet equally if not more effective ways to do what you do, when compared to your current methods.

By implication therefore, a VC REDUCTION Strategy is bound to make a difference to your bottom line profits.

Adopting this strategy means you will actively encourage/engage in the routine search for quick, easy, practical, inexpensive, and sustainable ways to drastically cut down on the expenses required to make and/or deliver your products and services to those who want them.

The foregoing underscores Peter Drucker’s assertion that Marketing and Innovation are the two basic functions in any business which can enhance its profitability. All others are costs.

Therefore To Increase Your Profits Without Raising Prices :

1. Increase Your Marketing (While Reducing Your VC):

Find more NEW customers more frequently. But in doing so, think up cheaper and more effective/efficient ways to reach more people who fit your target audience profile. Even if you already have a website, chances are there are still a number of viable ways you could use it to achieve this purpose, that you are YET to explore. Take it from me. I get so so much done at little or no extra expense using my website resources more creatively.

One reason why this is possible is because I have devoted hundreds of hours to learning web design, custom CGI programming and web marketing techniques.

If you actively work to find new customers, you create a growing pool of clients from whom you can generate referrals and repeat businesses resulting in higher sales volumes/turnover. Also, it helps you cover gaps that will occur periodically from client attrition or turnover.

ONE GOOD WAY – Use A Website:

Traditional methods of business marketing and advertising can be quite expensive especially when used for protracted periods. The dilemma of the business owner who seeks increased exposure therefore tends to be, finding a reliable way to stay in touch with(or visible to) her target audience without going bankrupt.

The answer, from my experience lies in learning how to intelligently leverage technology and the Internet to complement the marketing efforts being made offline, in a way that cumulatively lowers overall expenses incurred – resulting in increased profits over time.

Read my article titled “Zero Cost Methods To Boost Your Business Marketing and Cuts Your Costs Using Your Website” for tested and proven ideas, methods, tools and resources you can use.

2. Innovate More (By Reducing Your VC) :

Actively work to discover and implement quicker, cheaper and easier ways to deliver the same products/services to those who want them. Assume you previously could only turn out 1000 units of your product per month at a cost of $5.00 per unit(to sell at $5.75 per unit).

Then following a change in your procedures, suggested by one of your employees – who gets rewarded accordingly :-) – you are subsequently able to routinely churn out 1500 units per month at the same $5.00 cost per unit, the implications for your year end profitability are obvious.

Entrenching a continuous improvement culture in your operations will facilitate innovation – to your ultimate benefit.

Use Your Spreadsheet And Accountant

To reduce your VCs, you need to measure, record, analyse and trend your data. Many of the income and expense items you need to capture in your monitoring are likely to be the same ones your accountant/auditor would focus on in helping you prepare your end of year accounts for tax returns computation.

Therefore, at this stage you might find it useful to involve your accountant in generating the spreadsheet you want to use – or even have him give you one s/he uses, so you can adapt it for your purposes.

Justification For Using VC Reduction(Instead Of Price Increases) To Increase Profits

No matter how large your turnover or revenue is, control of your expenses is the only sure way to reasonably ensure your profits are maintained in the face of fierce/increasing competition, and/or market fluctuations. This is especially so, because you cannot raise your selling prices at will – else you price yourself out of the reach of your target customers.

Three(3) Practical Benefits Of Applying VC Monitoring/Control And Reduction Initiatives In Your Business

1. Long Term Affordability Of Your Products/Services

You will be able to price more competitively and still retain good profit margins even when market situations do not favour most other operators. You would have greater customer appeal. More customers are likely to be able to afford you i.e. your VC reduction efforts enable you price your products/service in such a way that they never become too expensive for your clients/customers.

Also, your ability to cut down your expenses without negatively affecting your product/service quality or delivery, will make it possible for you to offer lower prices/rates and depend on sales volume to sustain the same profit margins. The resultant increased customer base, will naturally afford you increased marketing opportunities, Enhanced ability to withstand/survive market place or industry fluctuations and so on.

This is easy to appreciate. A good example of a business that obviously has a competitive edge of this type in the market place is Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines.

They offer some of the lowest rates available in the airline industry, often delivering about the same quality of service as their competitors – who may not all necessarily be too pleased about it :-). If Virgin did not have the means of sustaining this practice, while remaining profitable, they would have crashed out of business long ago.

I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It’s done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking the mickey out of the consumer. – Richard Branson

2. Increased Assurance Of Sustainable/Increasing profits

Which would you prefer: More Revenue? Or more Profits? At the risk of stating the obvious, if you do not control your expenses, your revenue can increase without a corresponding increase in your PROFITS. One does not have to be in a business where billions need to be spent before knowing that this is true.

When two units – instead of one – of a raw material are used to produce 1 unit of your bottled juice, you are spending more to produce that bottle, hence your profit margin for that bottle will drop by the value of that extra unit of raw material used, be it with or without your knowledge.

Whether you know about it or not; whether you measure it or not is immaterial, and will not change the fact that you will earn a lower margin on that product.

If that then happens to many products(or a larger number of the same product), you may find at the month or year end, you get a shocking low profit declaration when you(or your accountant/auditor) reconcile expenses, revenues etc for the period.

Things could even fall apart before then. That’s when you see a company that gets plenty of business from old and new clients struggling to find money to run daily operations and make salaries payment(cash flow)!

This is why setting up a Variable Costs Monitoring/Control and Reduction System is important. It will help you keep a close watch on all the important measures of your business’ operational performance, so that you can easily, discover undesirable trends and nip them in the bud.

At the same time, you would be able to intelligently experiment with changes aimed at reducing your operations costs, and monitor their impact in order to decide whether or not make them permanent.

3. Greater Operational Efficiency In Using Labour/Resources/Time :

Uncover the invisible costs by using spreadsheet tracking. Some costs are more visible than others. It is those “invisible” cost channels that I refer to here. They are the “potential” profit drain pipes.

Do you know how to identify, monitor and control them in your business? Are you sure you’re not missing a few critical ones? Often times they are avoidable – should not be there – but because the business owner has no monitoring/control system in place, they build up over time, till they cause BIG problems.

Examples include theft/pilfering by outsiders or staff, materials over usages, idle/downtimes in different aspects of your operations, overstaffing, etc.

All these things can – and do – happen. The challenge is for the business owner or decision maker to setup monitoring systems to quickly throw up inconsistencies in the inflow/outflow etc of the concerned items.

Want To REMAIN In Business For The Long Term?

As more and more people go into business for themselves, every owner will have to contend with increased availability of the same products/services in the same market.

As has happened in the past, some will have done their operations management so efficiently that they will be able to drop their prices significantly below the market price(or refuse to increase them), and still make as much profit as (or even more than!) their rivals.

The latter on the other hand would struggle to match such price drops if their operating costs are higher – possibly resulting in their being forced out of the market.

This applies to one-man businesses as well as corporate multinationals, be they product manufacturers, distributors, resellers or service providers. The only people who don’t worry about cutting costs in order to give customers/clients stable or even lower prices, are monopolies(due to lack of competitors) and those who “buy their way” to new business.

For those who play by the rules, your ultimate objective, if your business is to GROW, will have to be to put money in your pocket, that you can spend without looking over your shoulder for creditors(or the IRS -. for taxes) and without running out of money to run your business(cash flow).

The wise owner will make a habit of continually exploring Variable Cost Monitoring/Control and Reduction initiatives, that will enable successful delivery of larger numbers of products/services at lesser cost, in lesser time, and using lesser resources.

I could go on, but I think the point I’ve made here is clear enough already. So much thinking/re-organisation will have to be done initially to develop the needed systems. But the process once started, can only get easier. And the positive benefits derivable from adopting this approach will be immediately obvious.

If You Remember Nothing Else, Remember The Following:

1. One good way to maintain and/or significantly increase your profits without raising your prices, is to reduce your Variable Costs(VCs).

2. You can reduce your variable costs by marketing more efficiently (getting more customers at lesser cost, AND maintaining them at lower expense).

I once read an article that proposed a new parameter COCS: Cost Of Customers Sold or Served). This could be adopted as a Key Performance Indicator(KPI).

3. You can also reduce your variable costs by innovating more(i.e. developing greater efficiency in your routine internal operations and/or product/service delivery).

That way, you would be able to produce/deliver more products and/or services with less effort, in less time, and using less resources. All of these would imply LOWER expenses/costs, leading to INCREASED profit retention per unit of product/service sold.

4. There is saying that : “You cannot manage something, if you do not measure it. Nor can you measure it, if you do not record it”.

Spreadsheet tracking will help you conveniently implement and sustain the process of monitoring, controlling and/or reducing your VCs. You will need to do this so as to constantly evaluate progress of your VC monitoring/control and reduction initiatives.

NB: This article is based on excerpts from the original piece which was first published in 2007 via www.spontaneousdevelopment.com – Tayo Solagbade’s former 9 year old domain name.

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Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

To Perpetually Achieve Noteworthy Success, You May Need To Be Moderate In Your Humility

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I once read the following quote in a magazine, and it really hit home with me:

“In all things, apply moderation – including moderation” – Anon

There is, in some societies, this issue of “humility” and how important it is for a person not to appear “proud” or “arrogant”. I believe it is sometimes taken too far. Indeed, my personal experiences convince me that in the real world, one needs to be considerably bold and fearless in pursuing a valued life goal or purpose.

Yes, it is not bad to be humble and unassuming, BUT it is very bad to overdo it!

In this article I explain why it is important for anyone who desires to routinely and repeatedly achieve challenging goals, to demonstrate an unshakeable belief in her ability to do so, evidenced by a readiness to speak/act assertively about it wherever and whenever necessary.

Let’s take Muhammad Ali for example.

As a young boxer, Ali often boldly voiced the affirmation:“I am the greatest!” wherever and whenever he fought. He was perpetually “talking himself up”, employing various adjectives designed to emphasise his superiority over the opponent.

What I found most impressive was the way he repeatedly predicted what he was going to do.

For instance, prior to the fight in which he won the World title for the first time, the press (who dubbed him “The Louisville Lip” for his mouthiness) widely publicised his prediction which was made in the following exact words:

“Yes I predict, and I know the score. I’ll be Champ of the world in ’64!”.

Mohammed Ali knew himself well and knew what he was capable of achieving.

I once had the good fortune to re-watch – on TV – the fight Ali had with Joe Frazier, which he (Ali) lost.

During the press conference after the fight, Frazier read out a speech in which he mentioned how Ali repeatedly said (grunting between words as Frazier’s punches hit him) “Don’t – you – know – I – am – God?”!!

Frazier said he responded with something along the lines of “Well, ‘God’, looks like you’re gonna get whupped tonight!”, to which everyone laughed.

Yes, it wasn’t quite Mohammed’s day that day, BUT can you imagine how someone could believe that much in himself to the point of comparing himself with God?

I believe Napoleon Hill, asked to comment, would have said Ali had the essential mental attitude of “blind faith”.

Phrases like “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” were credited to this legendary boxer.

One thing was clear – Ali was NOT shy. But neither was he arrogant. Cocksure probably, but not arrogant. AND he was definitely very far from being “over-humble”.

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt” – Bertrand Russel

Ali knew how important it was to be bold and assertive, and all through his boxing career he was like that. That he became the legend he is today, is no doubt a testimony to the fact that “one becomes what s/he thinks”.

Know this: You will not get yourself any closer to achieving your magnificent obsession(your valued goal) if you do not boldly and assertively speak about it.

It is not wrong to talk or speak affirmatively about what you intend to achieve. I have been doing it for years. And in the past 10 years of my life as an entrepreneur, I have successfully used this strategy to put myself to recorder newer and better levels of achievement.

ONE EXAMPLE: Late last year, I launched my unique range of pineapple peel based drinks and cake.

Then I began talking openly about renting a larger place here in Cotonou, and starting a restaurant business based on those products, with my family.

I have NOT stopped talking about it, and I AM recording MEASURABLE progress towards that goal.

For instance, about 40 days ago, after a long search, I finally found and paid for a place I like.

While I was still searching, I had already taught my kids – as early as September 2013 – to make and sell the products back in Lagos. And they had really taken to it!

Click here to see how I’ve ALREADY built this concept into a branded offering on my website.

I returned – today – from a one month stay in Lagos with them, and we carried out all sorts of Personal Achievement projects that I’d planned as part of a new coaching program I’ve conceived.

One of them was a Selling Skills Development exericise that required them to go out and find buyers for cakes they baked. This is to prepare them to be active players in the family business. Work continues still!

So you see, the key to succeeding with this strategy is to SAY it, with faith, and then TAKE DILIGENT PERSONAL action to make it happen.

Maybe you might want to watch the kind of audience you have before you say some of it, but please do talk about it!

That way you enlist others to help you stay focused on pursuing it.

This is because by talking about it to others(who have empathy for your purpose), you put yourself under psychological pressure to achieve that which you’ve told them you intend to achieve.

What then happens subsequently is that they will naturally ask you how far you’ve gone with your plans.

You would of course want to be able to give them a positive progress update, or else risk losing “face”, and not being taken seriously in future. That need to avoid appearing “unserious” would force you to remain committed to achieving your goals, sustaining you till you eventually succeed.

“Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.” — W. Somerset Maugham

So, if you want to achieve notable success on a consistent basis, seriously consider being moderate in your humility. Your success might just depend on it.

NB: This article is based first published online in April 2006 via Tayo Solagbade’s former 9 year old domain – www.spontaneousdevelopment.com – and later submitted to, and eventually published for syndication at Ezinearticles.com

 

Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Self-Development

You Need to Know Your REAL Friends – Accepting Help Indiscriminately Can get you Exploited

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When you first begin your business, you will likely be often short on cash. Those periods might force you to have to depend on others.

If you accept unsolicited offers of help from just about anyone who makes them, you can set yourself up to be ripped-off or exploited causing you major suffering/setbacks.

Read this article to learn how to avoid accepting help in a way that could get you into BIGGER trouble, than the one you needed help to GET OUT OF in the first place!

Lesson On The Use Of Deception In Business Strategy (From A Movie – And An Ancient Book)

If you don’t mind I’d like to start this piece with a narrative of the closing stages of an interesting movie I once watched titled TROY. If you do mind, then skip to the next section, as I believe I’ve put in enough from there to still convey most of my intended message :-).

It was intriguing to watch a scene in the movie, where the Greek warriors led by their famous fighting machine character "Achilles", exploited the somewhat fatalistic and excessively religious mentality of the Trojans.

They did this by placing a gigantic wooden gift horse surrounded by corpses of Greek soldiers who looked like they had been afflicted by a strange illness on an open field where it would be easily found by the Trojans.

When the Trojan King and his priests saw it, they readily interpreted it(as the Greeks had hoped they would) to mean their gods were at last fighting for them by visiting the strange illness on the Greeks.

They believed that was why the Greeks had sent in the gift horse as an offering to appease the gods of the Trojans.

Ignoring the protests of a few – including their king’s son, who proposed that the gift be burned(Achilles and his guys who were hiding inside the giant wooden horse must have been terrified to hear that!) – the Trojans had the gift horse dragged through the impregnable city gates(which had kept attackers like the Greeks out for years), right into the city center. The people then danced late into the night celebrating the "apparent" surrender" of the Trojans.

Hmm, how ironic. What they did not know was that the Greeks knew them so well, that they had expected this kind of reaction, and had played on it deliberately, to get behind the famed walls.

Late in the night, long after the celebrations had ended and all the people had gone back to their homes to sleep, the Greek soldiers hidden in the giant wooden horse gift began to emerge. Within minutes, they began taking out the guards, and killing any other Trojans they met along the way. In no time, they had opened the city gates, and let their waiting compatriots in.

The great city of Troy fell – VERY badly.

So, what really happened to cause this tragedy?

The Trojans acted naively. They too readily assumed that their "pagan" enemies who had traveled a great distance to fight them had succumbed to the power of the gods of Troy. They let what they felt – and wanted badly to see/hear – cloud their judgment of what was BEFORE them.

At the point when they contemplated what to do with the gift horse, even the most competent among them lost hold of his critical thinking skills, and succumbed instead to wishful thinking encouraged by overzealous priests.

The Greeks had done the opposite. They had studied their enemies well. They knew their strengths(from many unsuccessful attempts at trying to force their way into the city), and took pains to discover their weaknesses.

They then put together a plan to exploit the latter, in order to achieve their aims.

In my opinion, the foregoing is an excellent example of the application, by the Greeks, of the principles described in a book titled"The Art of War"(regarded as a classic work on strategy in warfare) written by Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese General reputed to have been extremely successful in war.

Consider the quote below, from that book:

“Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity: when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear you are far away when far away, that you are near….I make my enemy see my strengths as weaknesses and my weaknesses as strengths while I cause his strengths to become weaknesses and discover where he is not strong…I conceal my tracks so that none can discern them; I keep silence so that none can hear me” – Sun Tzu, in “The Art Of War”

Incidentally Mark R. McNeilly in his book “Sun Tzu and the Art Of Business – Six strategic principles for managers”translated the strategic concepts from the original book by Sun Tzu – into successful business strategies.

In his book, McNeilly describes the principle of Deception and Foreknowledge(along with five others) as crucially important for achieving success in business.

Among other things, he explained that if you wish to get ahead of your business competition, you must do a very deep level of research and analysis. Something like that done by the Greeks in the movie I just described.

I would add that this means you have to study them well enough to understand HOW THEY THINK, and WHAT makes them do the thingsthey do, the way they do them. By so doing, you will not only be equipped to anticipate their next moves, BUT you will also know what moves YOU can make that they will be UN-prepared for, and will therefore be unable to respond to.

In effect you would know how to get – and stay – ahead of them.

Sometimes A "Good Thing"(E.g A FREE Gift) May Not Be Good For You

If you are in the habit of accepting unsolicited offers of help or support from just about anyone who makes them, you can set yourself up to be ripped-off or exploited causing needless suffering/setbacks. When you first begin your business, you will likely be often short on cash.

Those periods might force you to have to depend on others.

Sometimes, people will offer to help by giving you money, but James Cook and others advice that to succeed, you will eventually have to “turn your back on handouts” and offers of charity from those who try to feel sorry for you.

Don’t let them – you don’t need that(Instead borrow money/accept help, in exchange for a part of something you own e.g a stake in your business etc). If you took the right decision about starting your business in the first place, you are not likely to regret it subsequently.

If you won’t regret it, why should you let someone feel bad on your behalf?

It can get quite difficult to keep this up however, especially with the lack of money biting away at your subconscious. But, if you are a student of success, you should by now know that it is challenges of this nature that WILL make you strong.

Adversity Can Help You Discover Who Your REAL Friends Are (NOT)!

Let me tell you one good reason why you should be grateful for adversity of this kind e.g. lack of money. It helps you find out who your real friends are(and/or ARE NOT). Adversity for a business startup/owner can often come in the form of LACK – be it of money or access to other need resources. Money issues in particular have always caused problems between people who had otherwise excellent relationships.

That’s why I always say this: For any two people(including husband and wife) to really prove they understand themselves thoroughly, let them demonstrate THAT understanding repeatedly and consistently in relation to money issues.

When your “friend” suddenly sees that you no longer seem to (note that I said “seem to”) have that spark in your eyes, that confidence with which you spoke six months earlier about your business, how does s/he behave? Does s/he still keep extending support to you – financially or otherwise? Or does s/he suddenly start telling you s/he is busy; hardly returns your phone calls, “talks down” to you before others etc?

What Do You Do With The "REAL" Friend(s) That You Discover?

But what if the person DOES keep on giving you the support or assistance as and when the need arises? Do you just keep accepting it as it comes? My experiences have taught me the answer to that question is a VERY BIG NO!

You cannot afford to simply assume that anyone would do that much for nothing. It would be unwise to even accept such. The truth is that not everyone can be that selfless! There is VERY likely to be something that person is looking to get, for helping out so much – and it may not necessarily be money.

So you’d better find out quickly, and ensure you’re willing to give whatever it turns out to be. If you find you cannot give it, then you can quickly stop him/her before letting things go too far.

Let me repeat myself. It is in your best interest to quickly ascertain a person’s motives for helping you if they ever come your way – else you might regret not doing so, much later.

No matter how well you think you know people, you can never know them well enough. I have found that human beings are always able to surprise themselves again and again. This can be especially true where money issues are concerned!

There was a Power Point slide show presentation circulated on the Internet some years ago that found its way into my outlook e-mail box in my last workplace. It was a kind of parable about life.

There is one particular phrase I took away from it which goes something like this: “Not everyone that puts dirt on your head is your enemy, and not everyone that takes the dirt off your head, is your friend”.

With reference to that parable, I will say that you may want to always watch out for the tell tale signs of people who try to use you. Some come close to you, if they think you look like you might soon get a breakthrough – they want to be around at that time, so they can claim to have been there for you(and therefore share the spotlight/moment of glory).

Others are hoping that by helping you, you will remember them when you get to the “top”, and open doors for them in return.

Again, that is if they feel you could do very well. In such instances, they “stick around”. But soon as they get what they consider strong signals that things might not turn out the way they expected, for you, their dispositions change. Always be ready for such, and take it in your stride.

Summary: The foregoing points should be in your mind when you want to take that decision to accept the offer your “friend” or “relative” has made that you save your money by moving into his/her house for instance.

At the initial stages, it might seem like a good idea, and could even be fun. But, you cannot often be sure of what an individual’s temperament will be when faced with the reality of the fact that you have at a point become something of a liability(I refer here to the possibility of tough times in your business startup lasting longer that you anticipated).

Things can get a bit nasty when the rough patches come. If the person you accepted to stay with, is not one who really believed in what you were doing from the beginning, then you will notice a change from his/her “body language”.

If unfortunately you are not in a position to – for instance – move elsewhere, you will then have to accept some not-too-friendly treatment from your "friend" till you can! That’s not likely to help you maintain the preferred positive mental attitude needed to get you through the difficult periods.

So, be careful how you accept seemingly harmless offers of assistance, or you might end up getting into BIGGER trouble, than the one you needed help to GET OUT OF in the first place!

Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, Public Speaking, Self-Development

No. 159: 5 Key Reasons Competent Experts Struggle to Make Profits!

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Many competent experts struggle to find/win clients. To make matters worse – in serving few clients they win – these experts often fail to demand adequate remuneration!

I used to be like that …years ago…but NOT anymore. I used my suffering to drive myself to find a PERMANENT SOLUTION…which is what I now share below.

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Publication: Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Newsletter

Date: Monday 15th September 2014

No:159

Title: 5 Key Reasons Competent Experts Struggle to Make Profits!

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

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No. 159: 5 Key Reasons Competent Experts Struggle to Make Profits!

Many competent experts struggle to find/win clients. To make matters worse – in serving few clients they win – these experts often fail to demand adequate remuneration!

I used to be like that …years ago…but NOT anymore. I used my suffering to drive myself to find a PERMANENT SOLUTION…which is what I now share below.

Too Many “Qualified” Experts Lack Reliable Sales & Marketing Expertise

Over the past 10 years of my life as an entrepreneur, especially while I was still based in Lagos-Nigeria, I had several encounters with individuals claiming to be “graduates” in some professional field or vocation, from popular “schools”.

My interactions with them however repeatedly revealed one major gap in their skills set: a lack of business marketing/project management skills or know-how.

By this I mean they had paper evidence to show they possessed technical skills (I had no way of verifying their competence levels though).

But discussions with them, and observation of some at work, showed an often severe shortage of crucial self/project management, as well as business marketing/selling skills.

And this often prevented them making enough money to profit from using their skills to serve clients.

Here’s Why This Problem Keeps Occurring…

I’ve given this a lot of thought, in order to understand why it continues to happen.

My conclusion is that people fail to take personal action to help themselves.

You see, while I was afflicted with the same limitation, I helped myself by reading books by experts who were successful in selling and marketing themselves to clients.

I studied the works of seasoned experts like Burt Dubin (renowned expert in business marketing and professional public speaking), Jeffery Meyer (then the owner of http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com) and  Brent Sinclair (of http://www.sitepoint.com).

The 3 of them regularly shared their experience based insights on finding and winning clients, as well as doing business profitably with such clients…

I subscribed to their newsletters and reaped timeless sales and marketing wisdom from reading their powerful write ups.

Every now and then I would sit back and think of how to adapt those ideas to suit my local situation in Nigeria at the time.

It goes without saying that I did not get it right overnight. No one ever does.

But over time I was able to develop an adaptation that worked for me in my market, in dealing with my preferred target audience.

And I have gone from sales and marketing strength to strength since then.

Indeed today, my proficiency in using my unique strategies makes it possible for me to get paid handsomely 100% up front 99% of the time I get hired.

What’s more, the clients who pay me in this manner never begrudge me for making them do so.

Indeed, I continue to get lots of THANK YOU emails, phone text messages as well as phone calls!

If YOU Are a Competent Expert, & You Struggle to Achieve Similar Results, It’s VERY LIKELY NOT Your Fault!

You see, it all goes back to how we were taught in “school” at all levels.

Teachers and lecturers simply teach us the theory, but they often forget to factor in the real world we are headed into, to help us better prepare!

For instance, I often read and hear about certain organizations offering training to enthusiastic learners on “Web design, software development etc” – which happen to be fields in which I offer niche solutions.

What I have however discovered is that most of these training events never include teaching the attendees :

(a) How to find potential customers.

(b) How to sell successfully to such potential customers.

(c) How to negotiate to win profitable jobs with the right customer types.

(d) How to plan and implement projects won to ensure completion to client satisfaction.

(e) How to use completed projects and satisfied clients to win jobs from new clients – and repeat business from existing customers.

No matter how expert you are in DOING what you do, a lack of proficiency in the above 5 areas can prove to be a fatal handicap to your PROFIT making success!

This is why I want to share my own experience based insights to help experts looking for answers to solve that problem for themselves.

Here’s what I recommend you do…

A. Identify Your Ideal Customer:

You need to first and foremost develop ways and means of identifying people in the market place who fit the target audience profile for your product or service.

These would be people who feel a compelling need for the solutions you offer, to the extent that they will gladly seek you out, and engage you in serious discussion about hiring you to do if for them.

The key to your long term profitable success will be developing a reliable system for identifying where such people can be reached in large numbers with your offers.

You will do even better if you can setup a system to make MORE of such people find – and come to – you on their own, over time.

This latter strategy is what I use to win profitable clients regularly, They come to me via phone, email, Facebook etc. I do NOT go chasing them.

If you want to read a 3 part article that explains how I make the foregoing happen, fill/submit this form to request it, and I’ll sent the links to you.

B. Decide How To Reach Him/Her:

Many times, it is better to spend time THINKING and PLANNING before you jump on to the streets and start DOING.

No matter how much money you have at your disposal, doing this will help you get better results, than if you did not do it.

Indeed, my well over one decade of experience has taught me that when you have “enough” money, it can sometimes make you less prepared to STOP and THINK about the most effective way to reach your target customer.

You tend to get “itchy pockets/fingers” – ever so willing to spend and then “wait to see what happens”.

 

I urge you to save your money for those more crucial situations when you will need it. In fact, it would be smarter for you to think and act like someone who does not have enough money!

How does such a person behave?

Well, s/he is more likely to stop and think before spending available funds, until s/he is sure it will yield reasonable returns/benefits that will move the business forward.

A lot of people think if they throw money at their business marketing, it will eventually yield the results they want.

That often turns out to be a costly mistake. And most do not recover from it.

In other words, quite rarely does that “shooting in the dark” method work.

A better approach, based on tested and proven methods, is to explore/experiment using a variety of ways to reach your intended customers, and objectively measuring which gives you the best results.

Over time, you can build on what you learn from doing so, to win more customers – at less cost.

Following years of painful struggles and hardship, when cash shortages tormented me, my philosophy has been to aim to spend as close to ZERO naira (or dollar) as possible to win every new customer.

That strategy has enabled me stay profitable without feeling pressed to raise my prices even when others less cost-conscious had to!

You may have to develop and test your own ideas, till you find something that works for you in the same way.

C. Present (& Negotiate) Your Offering:

For some people, the prospective customers eventually start coming as they market and/or advertise.

But, due to this inadequacy I mentioned (i.e. not knowing how to be profitable), instead of making good profits, that’s when such experts struggle the most!

This happens because they typically have difficulty being assertive with clients. As a result, they are unable to make offers to prospective clients on their own terms.

So they end up being arm-twisted by clients to accept to do jobs way beyond the scope agreed, working longer than they quoted for, and getting paid less than they negotiated.

In fact, negotiation (i.e. lack of smart negotiating skills) is one major area of weakness for a lot of the experts I refer to here.

They let clients “fool” them with “I want everything and more that you can do, but I don’t have enough money to pay you profitably, so please help me” propositions.

By so doing, they keep taking on jobs without getting paid enough to do them. Sometimes they end up finishing without getting paid a bulk of their fees. I HAVE see this happen several times!

And this is why such experts go from job to job barely able to make ends meet.

My advice: Always tell prospects/clients what you can do for them using simple English, not technical jargon.

Most times they will be non-techies. It is important that you help them SEE the end you aim to deliver to them in their minds’ eyes.

For instance, in discussing a web design/marketing project, you can say something like this:

“Would you not like to have potential customers discover your website on their own, without YOU having to give them your website address by yourself?”

Once they buy into your “offer”, they will ask how much – most serious prospects will ask this question at some point, before your discussion ends.

You should respond by telling them your price and giving reasons for your fee if they ask – making sure to add that a reduction in price below a certain point will mean delivery of LESS product/service.

To be able to work in this manner, you must have spent good quality time THINKING of how to cost your products/services(including your time), so that your explanations will be convincing.

NB: Some clients will tell you to do work for them at a loss, so that you can then use them to win new clients that would give you a profitable project to do.

Do NOT accept to work that way.

I say this from personal experience: If the client truly values your expertise, s/he will have no difficulty letting you make a profit in serving him/her.

D. Do Your Job – And DO IT WELL:

If/when you eventually get hired, one would hope (for your sake) that you have the competence to deliver to standard that satisfies the client.

If you do not have the competence, one would hope (again for your sake!) that you actually have one or more resource persons you can call on to HELP you get the work done on time, and to the desired standard.

Success at this point would result in a happy customer, and a completed job you can “refer to or show off” to win over more customers (like I periodically do)

Failure here could make you look very bad!

Final Words: If you are NOT making money PROFITABLY from serving EACH clients as an expert in your field, it’s likely because you have not properly developed the business side of your operations – mentioned above.

But take heart. Correcting this problem will NOT be anything close to rocket science. And it certainly will not require you to go attend an MBA class.

You just need to develop the right methods, and processes for dealing with your prospects, and your clients.

I developed mine by learning from (hard, painful) experience, and also by studying what others have written about their own experiences, and achievements.

You can do the same.

PS: If you’re looking for reliable guidance, Burt Dubin – who I earlier mentioned learning a lot from on this subject – offers proven guidance to marketing and selling yourself PROFITABLY to clients as an expert-who-speaks.

Visit his website – www.speakingsuccess.com – to read his timeless articles on business marketing and expert-public-speaking.

*************

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Have a great week :-))

Get Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring
for Africa Based Experts(PDF…Click!)

www.tayosolagbade.com - Invite me to Speak FREE Anywhere in Africa...click here!

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

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

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 Plus
 

Useful Resources for Speakers

Burt Dubin works with people who want to be speakers, and with speakers who want to be masters.

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

Burt Dubin’s monthly Speaking Biz Strategies Letter [Signup & get a 7-Part Email Course on “How To Succeed And Get Paid As A Professional Speaker“]

Get Burt’s mentoring at any of the 3 levels below:

1. Top Shelf [Click here]

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3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Publications

On Being a Master (PDF)...A Gift from Burt Dubin - Click now!

Burt Dubin’s latest book: “On Being a Master”

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Showmanship Strategems

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Burt’s Flagship Album

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No copy of this 2 CD program and 50 page Learning Guide has ever been returned.

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

Click to read article titled: 'Smart Exercising Will Keep You Fit, Healthy and Alive'...and ONE other. Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist - Tayo Solagbade - works as a multipreneurial freelance writer providing zero risk article and report writing support for website owners, while travelling slowly across West Africa as a Location Independent Multipreneur. 

NEW:Click here to download your FREE 20 Page PDF Chapter preview of my latest Book” titled “KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

lick here to download your FREE 20 Page PDF Chapter preview of my latest Book" titled "KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures - & Misadventures! - of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

Download above PDF

Using MS Excel® Solver for Least Cost Feed Formulation Can Be Easy - But Also Dangerous (How to Protect Yourself) - Click to downloadDownload above PDF

NEW PDF - 10 Frequently Asked Questions About Feed Formulation

Download above PDF

—

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

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!

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 Solagbade's Coaching Program for Farm Products Marketing Success (Verbatim Text Transcript of Introductory Video)

THEY WROTE…

“(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).

—————————–

“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).

———————–
Click here to contact Tayo… 

SD Nuggets Blog™

 New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking[Monday]:
No. 158: To Achieve Sustainable Selling Success, NEVER Stop Marketing!

Entrepreneurship[Tuesday]:
Get the Excel-VB driven Cash Inflow and Outflow Tracker app(Featuring Screenshot Images & Video Demonstration)
Self-Development/Parenting [Wednesday]:
Email to a Farm CEO About Powerful Reasons For Using a Blog

Career Development [Thursday]:
To Succeed More, You Need a Real World Understanding of the Meaning of Intelligence
Parenting [Friday]:
Defeat Traitors Using Compassion (Hint: Welcome a Judas into Your Life!)

Writing/Blogging/Entrepreneurship [Saturday]:

How to Avoid Wasting Money You Spend On Adverts
Want me to write for you? Click here to send me a message

 

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

How to Avoid Wasting Money You Spend On Adverts

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I sent huge amounts of my working capital down "newspaper advertising drainpipes", when I first started out, because I did not have a proper understanding of the important considerations for deciding on how and where to place my ads.

My thinking about advertisements, and how to use them to attract business for myself was terribly "confused".

As is very often the case when one has the benefit of hindsight, after making many mistakes and learning how it should NOT be done, I offer you the following ideas to consider in deciding how to go about getting marketing/advertising exposure for your business.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since we all differ in the way we look at issues, and of course in how we interprete the experiences we have, it is possible that you may not agree with some of the ideas offered in this article.

As I always say, THAT would be okay: Simply take what you need, and leave the rest for others to consider. Understand also that I make no promises or guarantees that the ideas you get from here will work for you.

It was not that I did not try to get help or advice from those I believed would know, but it was that – with the exception of a few – most people I met with did not somehow manage to get around to telling me(that is of course if they knew) what they knew about the subject, much as they tried to help.

Let me tell you a few things I have since learnt about cost-effectively getting marketing/advertising exposure for my self, through sometimes quite painful(AND "pocket-draining"!) experiences.

1. It Is Often Not How Big They Are, That Matters

Consider this true story. Back when I was in my teens, I was actively involved in competitive school/state level handball. At one time we had a team mate who was rather smallish(compared to the rest of us).

But he was so skillful that virtually everyone he played against had to make extra effort to keep him for scoring on EACH attack his team made. Over time he earned the nickname "Small but mighty" and all who had faced him in "battle" agreed that he was!

As I said in my article titled "How To Choose The Right Web Design Company", size does not necessarily equate to competence – or as is more appropriate to this article: "An advert’s big size will not necessarily make it more potent or effective".

It’s not so much the size that really matters, but how well crafted the message contained in the advert is. To arrive at what would be a well crafted ad, you will need to have built for yourself, in your mind, a clear "profile" or your target audience – demographics like age, income group etc.

Sounds simple and obvious doesn’t it? Which is why I felt stupid for not knowing it.

Looking back, I think I missed it because it required doing A LOT of up front THINKING before going out to pay for ANY advert. Unfortunately, THAT(i.e. "thinking") was not something I did not do much of in those early days after leaving a salaried job.

I just thought I needed to get out there, place the ads, and start responding to enquiries that resulted. Well, my empty bank account soon taught me to slow down – and learn!

What I write in this article, can save you needless, avoidable pains like those I had to endure.

2. You Need To Determine The Right Placement/Location

The placement/location of a well-crafted advert in the medium chosen can make or mar the advertiser’s efforts of getting the maximum possible exposure through it. Classified ad boxes can deliver quite good returns depending on your intended target audience.

You might want to study the different newspapers and magazines to see what type of adverts people place in them. A little 4.5 x 5cm ad box(like one of many that I came across in an edition of the UK Magazine "Management Today"), if placed on a page(s) readers know they can find advertisement, can get sighted/read as frequently as one that is a big as a quarter of a page.

But that’s not all. That kind of box advert very often has the potential of generating even greater returns for the advertiser, if complementary e-mail/internet marketing is used to support it.

3. Research/Use The Right Advertising Medium For Your Target Audience

You need to place your advert in the right news medium. Instead of putting it in a general subject news medium like many of the dailies, consider getting better exposure in a smaller, less widely circulated publication which is mainly consumed by persons likely to be interested in your product or service.

For instance you are likely to get better results by advertising in a paper newsletter titled "Weekly Insights For HR Professionals" sent out to HR Managers of companies in your area, than placing the same ad in a general subject weekly publication.

So, depending on the area of business you’re into, you will have to study extensively the most economic and effective medium of advertisement to use. A good method would be to approach those who have been using them and ask their opinion.

That most people use Tuesday Guardian does not mean you should. Sometimes, that edition can get too crowded that an advert not strategically placed to catch the eye as pages are turned will probably not be seen by any of those who need to see it!

4. What’s The Shelf-Life Of Your Intended Advertising Medium ?

Another factor to consider is the shelf-life of the medium you wish to place your advert in.
You must try to analyse how long you think it will take those you want to reach, to sight the advert. Most publications have a shelf life of 24 hours to one week depending on the type (some are weeklies).

You will have to consider this in placing your advert, because you want to be sure that as many as possible of the kind of people you want, get to see it before another edition is published and the old one becomes obsolete.

Summary – AND A Warning!

Most times you need to do A LOT OF THINKING BEFORE you decide on what advert type to place, and where. My experiences at a point made me decide upon adverts that announced my Excel VB products/services or Speaking/Coaching programs without date/time indication.

My website and auto responder addresses included in those adverts invited interested persons to find out more. This advert was then placed in a monthly publication whose readers generally had interest in the area advertised, and who often read old issues of the magazine.

Since the advert did not reflect a date or time, any reader of the old edition still found it appropriate to follow it up – getting me the prolonged exposure I sought.

Note that these techniques I have described/strongly advocated, help you to cut down drastically on your advertising expenditure. In many cases you might find that using website and e-mail marketing techniques effectively could on their own generate multiplier effects however, that is of course if the kind of people you need to patronise your business use the Internet/e-mail.

A FRIENDLY WARNING! Just in case you are "fortunate" enough to discover your intended target audience are NOT THE kind just mentioned above, I have this to say to you:

Going by the fact the fact that most advancement in societies/businesses across the world today, is technology driven, I would PERSONALLY be wary of spending much of my marketing/advertising budget targeting prospects who have an aversion for using PC/Internet resources!

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, General, My DN Travel News, My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better, Parenting, Self-Development

Defeat Traitors Using Compassion (Hint: Welcome a Judas into Your Life!)

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FACT: You can be a genius and still fail due to a "close friend’s" betrayal.

This week, I’m teaching my kids about this. "Et tu Brutus?!" Caesar’s famous exclamation is one of the classic examples of how great people responded to discovery of acts of betrayal by those closest to them.

In my personal opinion, I believe enduring the betrayal of our closest allies, friends, relatives etc, and going on in spite of it, to achieve our important goals in life, is the greatest way to succeed.

Until you have had to deal with such a situation, you probably may never know for sure just how tough you are, or how much you really want to succeed. This article offers ideas for the interested individual about how to turn this type of situation to his/her advantage.

Have You Ever Had A "Judas" In Your Life?

Have you ever had to associate with certain individuals who you later sensed and went on to discover were in the habit of giving out your personal information, or even telling what you consider confidential or "secret" to others they knew from relating with you, you did not approve of?

Some would do this in order to gain the favour of those they passed the information to. Others could do it to spite you – for instance, maybe they feel they need to bring you down, for being (what they consider) ‘too proud" or "overconfident".

Have you ever discovered that a certain person you allowed to get close to you/confided in, turned out to have sought you out so as to gain your confidence and then betray you to those who "sent " him/her? This happens all the time – especially between people or groups that compete against one another. Individuals and large corporations, nations etc all play this game in one form or the other. This article offers ideas for the interested individual about how to turn this type of situation to his/her advantage.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You may not be consciously competing with anyone. However, those who observe you may feel what you are doing affects them one way or the other. This could make them decide YOU are THEIR competition. That makes YOU a target! How do you deal with that situation when it develops? Read on for some ideas.

Welcome A “JUDAS” Into Your life!™

Let me make what should (hopefully) be a humorous addition to this chapter that might make it easier that story and you will find that it was said that Judas was "chosen".

In life, you can decide to see each person that chooses to play "antagonist", "critic" or "enemy" as the "unfortunate Judas" in your own life who is destined to help you achieve another level of success or greatness though one or more acts of "betrayal"!

Now, I will tell you that in my experience, this really does happen. And many times I have personallydiscovered that the "Judas" of my life at any point in time usually lives or works in fairly close proximity to me – denying me the convenience of avoiding him/her! As a result, I am forced to find a way to relate with the person without compromising my position.

Your Judas Will NOT Be Your "Friend" But S/he Can Help You GROW!

The truth based on the above, about the individuals described is that event they they made out to be your "friends", their actions were not those a friend would take. They were in fact more consistent with what an "enemy" would do!

So, what do you do, when you find them out? I say it depends on the circumstances. In my other articles titled, "Do You Know How To Deal With Those Who Mock And Ridicule You?" and "Why You May Want To Rejoice When Others Mock You", I suggested that the reader consider limiting his/her contact with persons who adopted a negative stance of mockery and ridicule toward him or her.

However, in this article, I am referring to persons who have taken it upon themselves to go against you – not just to taunt, mock and ridicule, but to bring you down or even harm you. Such persons would be correctly described as enemies. But rather than run away from them or hide, I want to ask you to see them as quite useful to have around!

The Dalai Lama Believes We Need Enemies

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet, who has (I understand) been in exile for some decades now, since the Chinese occupation of his country. There is a quote I read somewhere credited to this great sage, that have personally found quite instructive:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Enemies test our ability to feel compassion, and strengthen us in doing so” – Dalai Lama.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Dalai Lama Is Right

It is my belief that we need "enemies" or antagonists in our lives. They help us to keep our heads from going into the clouds, and by so doing help us stay "human" especially when we’ve been successfully forging ahead in pursuing our magnificent obsessions!(To learn what I mean by "Magnificent Obsession", read the article version of my 113 page self-help print manual titled Ten Ways You Can Use Self-Development To Create The Future You Want.)

Personally, I would “get worried” if everyone around me keeps saying they like me, and I never run into anyone who feels or acts differently. I once heard it said that “a little dose of paranoia is healthy”. My point is that it would be folly for anyone to expect that everyone else would like her. I said this earlier and I’m saying it again: there will always be people who will not like you (or will not want to work or cooperate with you). You MUST prepare – and learn how – to deal with such people.

Also, it is my opinion that we need the periodic ”tests” of our abilities posed by those people who refuse to “like” us and who give us a hard time. Just imagine if everybody liked you and always gave you an easy run. Imagine if everybody said you were their favorite and there was no single person who expressed reservations about you, or was cynical about what you could or could not do (?).

What If We Stopped Having Bad People Or Bad Things In This World?

Maybe I’ll take it a bit further – what if we suddenly stopped having "bad people" or "bad things" happening in the world? It would be quite boring and unchallenging to continue living here wouldn’t it? We lock our cars because someone could gain easy entry if we didn’t. We watch what we say because a mischievous person might report to others when we say things that are not exactly "nice" about them.

Simply put, “bad” people – or the possibility of a bad thing happening – keep us alert and “on our toes”. It is this same consciousness that makes us teach our children what they need to do to stay safe and out of trouble when they are away from us. Without the knowledge gained from the previous so-called "bad" experiences in society, we would not be wiser about how to live in this world – talk less of being able to advise our children – would we?

Now, a person that perpetually antagonizes us might eventually push us to a point where we actually develop an intense dislike (or hatred) for him. The Dalai Lama however challenges us NOT to harbour such feelings towards anyone – even when it is someone that obviously takes delight in causing us pain or discomfort. It’s ironic that most religions actually advocate this philosophy for adoption by believers and YET, many believers find that they are often unable to really practice it!

Why? Because they are human, and it actually takes tremendous effort and commitment to maintain a compassionate disposition to people who make things difficult for us, or do not like us! It’s so much easier, for instance, to read the portion of the bible where the believer is asked to "turn the other cheek" than to actually do what it says. I am sure many who read the foregoing statement will understand what I mean. When it comes to "doing" it , a lot of people “struggle”.

The secret to mastering the art of feeling compassion for one’s "enemies" or "antagonists" is to ALWAYS remember this:

Without the "threat" of a bad thing or person coming around to do us "harm", we are likely to relax to the point where we lose grip of the things we already have in control. Think about sports – the team or individual that usually wins is not necessarily the one that scores first. No, it is often the one that gets in the lead, then STAYS ALERT to – and thwarts – all attempts by the opponent to equalise till the game ends!

Like I said earlier, the Dalai Lama is right because ALWAYS, at the end of it all – maybe when I’m moving on – I find that I have become stronger due to the perpetual presence of my "Judas(es)".

Some typical benefits include increased "mental stamina", "thickened skin", "self-control" etc.

This has been my personal experience.

I am sure you will find that yours will be similar (or better) if you adopt this philosophy towards your "enemies" or "antagonists".

"To Laugh Often And Much, To Win The Respect Of Intelligent People And The Affection Of Children, To Earn The Appreciation Of Honest Critics And Endure The Betrayal Of False Friends, To Appreciate Beauty, To Find The Best In Others, To Leave The World A Bit Better, Whether By A Healthy Child, A Garden Patch, Or A Redeemed Social Condition; To Know Even One Life Has Breathed Easier Because You Have Lived. This Is To Have Succeeded!" – Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, are you ready to welcome a Judas into your life today? It could be the start of your climb to a new level of personal success!

PS: This article is based on excerpts from the original piece written by Tayo K. Solagbade in October 2006.

Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, My DN Travel News, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

Email to a Farm CEO About Powerful Reasons For Using a Blog

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Today I sent an email message to a new Farm CEO client, who’d purchased my Monthly Poultry Farm Manager app.

The email was however NOT about the app or his farm.

Instead it was about a blog I discovered he created in 2012, then later abandoned, which I wanted him to know could be VERY useful to him, if used right.

If you’re not sure why, and how regular writing and/or blogging – done intelligently and with purpose – can help you, this article offers insights you can use.

Here’s the message

“Ekene”.

I just browsed through your blog experiment, and felt compelled to send you my impressions, and a suggestion…

I know your last post indicated you got the maiden posts contents from your course work.

However, from what I read, I get the impression that you’re likely to make a good go of non fiction writing in particular, and blogging in general.

The thing is that it takes time and plenty of DOING to get the hang of it, and make it 2nd nature.

But once you succeed it can prove a powerful self (and business) promotion tool – when done right.

I say this based on the many dimensions of name recognition, and sales/marketing benefits my regular article and email newsletter marketing brings me.

That’s why I wonder why you’ve not continued with “Beyond Quarantine” and other ideas you hinted at since 2012?

If it’s due to zero comments or reactions, to the ones you did, let me assure you it does not mean anything.

For many months after I started my blog in 2012, I got very few readers and not a single comment.

But I focused on adding new useful content weekly. Then later I began doing it daily.

However, I did not stop there.

I also went outside the blog to add useful creative content in satellite websites (e.g Youtube, G+, Facebook etc), using different media (e.g audio, video, infographics, slideshows etc) to attract more of my target audience to my blog and website.

Eventually, views ramped up, and some people began commenting, but most important and useful were the sales enquiries via my email address and website contact forms for my services and products.

It’s now over a year and a half since you did this blog project.

You could be thinking you don’t need it or the time is not right. Believe me when I say you would be wrong to think either.

Give what I’ve said some thought.

From what I’ve read in your posts, you only need to narrow down to the subject and theme you’re passionate about (mine is “Best Practice Performance Improvement in Key Areas of Personal and Work Related Lives” of my target audience members).

Once you know what to write about, and identify a niche of people who want it, and who would go out of their way to get it(including buying something from you), your writing/blogging success in ANY market or industry will be INEVITABLE.

Just my heart felt opinion…

HOW I FOUND THE BLOG?

If you wonder how I found your blog, it’s thanks to Google who sent me a notification asking if I knew “Ekene N……” and 2 other persons.

I followed the link to your Google+ profile and saw the blog posts and URL to the blog.

Amazing how the web works isn’t it?

Used correctly it can reliably deliver subtle, and timeless, yet potentially powerful content propagation at zero cost.

That’s why I use it so dedicatedly!

I urge you to do the same Ekene. And there’s no better time to do so than NOW.

In your service.

Tayo

Entrepreneurship

Get the Excel-VB driven Cash Inflow and Outflow Tracker app(Featuring Screenshot Images & Video Demonstration)

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In yesterday’s issue of my newsletter, I mentioned that I would publish a blog featuring my Excel-VB driven Cash Inflow and Outflow Tracker (BCCT) app:

THIS is IT.

I built the BCCT app within 48 hours, in late 2007 during a dark period following a major setback. From late September through November that year, I sold it for just N2,500 via serious pavement pounding/door to door cold calling.

That experience earned me street smart marketing wisdom, and improved negotiationg skills. And I later used them to win high profile/profit client projects from January 2008.

Below: A one page printable flyer I used back in 2008 to market my nifty Excel-VB Cash Inflow & Outflow Tracker app, to clients/buyers.

A one page printable flyer I used back in 2008 to market my nifty Excel-VB Cash Inflow & Outflow Tracker app, to clients/buyers.

The app was originally built for small business centres, so I started out calling it “Business Centre Cashflow Tracker(BCCT)”.

Then I noticed independent consultants were purchasing it for personal use, so I began calling it Income & Expense Manager. In 2008, I began using it to track MY OWN inflow and outflow of cash, to demonstrate to potential buyers. how it works.

From 2007 TO 2009, I actively sold this app via door to door pavement pounding on CDROM for N2,500 (approx. $15 USD). Between 21st Sept. ‘07 to 28th Nov. ’07 (approx. 42 working days, I sold N41,000 worth of this app. That effort eventually led me to meet clients who hired me to build other apps for fees ranging from N45k to N200k!

See JPEG image versions of reports generated from my 2008 data (with charts) – below…

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UPDATE SETTINGS

Below: This is the settings update table in the app.

This is the settings update table in the app.

The user will post his/her preferred income and expense labels and descriptions, which will become available in the in-cell drop menu on the Raw Data Entry Table. These income and expense labels also become available in the drop menus on the floating data entry form used to post entries into the Raw Data Entry Table.

TIPS FOR USE: Clicking “Update Settings Table” on the Main Navigation Menu form (see inset above) brings you to this interface. Under “Income Source” you will type the short label for the income generating activity you wish to track. Under Detail, you will add a name/label that further describes it – especially when it occurs in variants. For instance the above screenshot shows that Phone call and Photocopy are income sources for the business center featured.

Under “Detail” the type of phone call and photocopy is specified, so that what appears in the drop menu for data entry in the Raw Data Entry Table is a combination of the specified “Income Source” and the “Detail” – see the column labeled “Category” above. The program uses these income category descriptions to assign income data entered for preparation of analysis, charts and reports.

For expenses, simply specify a name for the expense item you wish to track. It will be picked up in the Expense listing drop menu in the Raw Data Entry form.

This app was originally built for small business centres, so I started out calling it “Business Centre Cashflow Tracker(BCCT)”.

Then I noticed independent consultants were purchasing it for personal use, so I began calling it Income & Expense Manager. In 2008, I began using it to track MY OWN inflow and outflow of cash, to demonstrate to potential buyers. how it works.

This JPEG image is an example showing real life income and expense heads I used back in 2008 in the Update Settings Table

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DATA ENTRY

Below: This is the Raw Data Entry Table.

Excel-VB driven”Business Centre Cash Inflow & Outflow Tracker” (click here to request details of it, including screenshots and Youtube video demonstrations).

These income and expense labels also become available in the drop menus on this floating data entry form (see inset above) used to post entries into the Raw Data Entry Table.

Clicking the “Make Entries” button at the top left of the worksheet will load the above “Make New Entry” floating form – which will auto-insert the current date into the next empty cell after the most recent posted entry on the worksheet.

If you choose a different date using the “Date” drop menu to the right of the “Entry Type” drop menu, the form will insert that date instead (e.g when you want to post for an earlier date period).

The Year and Month are extracted from the date posted and entered into the last 2 columns to the right of the table. All the fields in this data entry table have their data filter buttons enabled, allowing the user to quickly and easily query the table for previously posted data(a painless way to find information). You can drill down using 2 or more criteria till you narrow down to the information you want.

Clicking the check box next to “Entry Type” on the form will cause the app to cursor select the “Expense Type” column on the row for which it posted the date. The user will then select either “Sales Income” or “Operating Expense” from the “Entry Type” drop menu(see inset image on top right). See video demonstration at www.tinyurl.com/bcct-demo to watch a demonstration of how this interface is used to post data and generate reports.

Monthly Automated Summaries Report

Below a JPEG image version of reports generated from my 2008 data (with charts). It is autogenerated as data is posted into the Raw Data Entry Table interface.

JPEG image version of reports generated from my 2008 data (with charts). It is autogenerated as data is posted into the Raw Data Entry Table interface.

Daily and Monthly Automated Summaries Query Interface

This is a JPEG image version of the automated query interface, which allows the user to generate dynamic, ready-to-print income and expense reports and charts using data posted in the “Raw Data Entry Table”.

JPEG image version of the automated query interface, which allows the user to generate dynamic, ready-to-print income and expense reports and charts using data posted in the 'Raw Data Entry Table'

The user can generate summaries for a date or month chosen from a drop menu.

Today, I no longer sell the app that way (obviously!), but I still offer it for sale as an unlimited use EXE version for N5,000 (approx. $30 USD).

Apart from cash to bank payment, you can pay by:

(1) Sending me MTN airtime credit or

(2) Ordering 3 physical copies of my latest paperback book ”Kukuru Danger” from www.lulu.com/sdaproducts for delivery as a gift, to an address I will supply.

Click here to contact me for details.

Watch the 3 part video demonstration below. (Note: Due to connectivity problems, only part 1 of 3 has been uploaded to my Youtube channel for now

UPDATE (13th Sept. 2014 @ 11.53a.m Lagos time. About a day ago, I succeeded in uploading parts 2 and 3 – which are now embedded below).

Click here to watch it on Youtube.

Click here to watch it on Youtube.

Click here to watch it on Youtube.