Without trust, little progress will be achieved in activities requiring cooperation or collaboration with others. But how do you know who to trust – in business or life in general – especially online? This article suggests steps you can take, at least at the preliminary stage, to decide whether or not to accept a partnership offer from a new acquaintance.
A Partnership Offer or Proposal for Collaboration Should Normally Be a Good Thing
The only problem is that not everyone who comes to us will be good for us.
That’s why even if such an individual fits your idea of a dream partner (e.g. rich, successful, well connected etc) my personal experiences suggest it will often be wise to proceed with caution.
Doing so will minimise your chances of hooking up with the wrong kinds of people.
We must however accept that sometimes we may make mistakes in choosing those we team up with, and get hurt. Generally, such lessons will equip us to make smarter decisions in future.
Suggestions: Two Steps You Can Take
1. “Google” him or her
Anyone can get “written” about or mentioned on a web page somewhere. Even if s/he hardly uses the Internet. That’s why today, it can be useful to Google people – and even yourself.
I Google new people I meet a lot. And it has often armed me with very useful details about the new contact, to guide my relations and decision making.
The following experience I had years ago made me form this habit:
In 2000, I ran into a Google results listing in which my name was mentioned. It was a Yahoo groups post by some individual in the Public Relations field.
S/he posted a “Press Release”-like report about certain promotions announced in Guinness Nigeria back then. At the time, I had just been elevated from Shift Brewer, to Training and Technical Development Manager in Benin Brewery.
When I absent-mindedly Googled my name on that day, I never expected anything interesting to come up in the results page. You can therefore imagine my surprise when I saw the preview with my name in it. Naturally, I clicked to read the full page!
In the same way, you never know what you’ll find when you Google the name of that new contact you’ve made, that you’re planning to team up with.
It could be something good. On the other hand, it could something that raises cause for concern!
The above works both ways too. What will that person see when s/he Googles YOU?
The bad experience I had some months ago, in which LinkedIn.com locked up my profile on their website is a case in point. I eventually decided to do a post on my blog about it. “My story” may not appease everyone who wonders why I’m not (or no longer) on Linked In, but it’s the best I can do.
If anyone chooses to let that stop him/her from doing business with me, that would be his/her loss.
That’s why we must each regularly review how we “look” on Google and other search engines online.
2. Get Website Addresses, Online Profile URLs – and Explore In Depth
In certain societies, where trust is reasonably well established as a basis for doing business, it could be safe to assume some things.
However, in other environments, failing to carefully evaluate the person you’ve met to get a more accurate impression of what s/he is about can prove costly to you later on.
Social Media today offer can prove quite useful in this regard – though it depends on whether or not the person you’re curious about uses them.
Search the more popular platforms to see if you can find her. If you do, take a look at the kinds of posts that appear on her page or profile. You can get a decent feel for the kind of thinking s/he subscribes to from the “conversations” s/he initiates or contributes to. Also, review his/her profile friends.
During your conversations, casually ask where she’s been, what she’s done, who she’s worked with etc. Use intelligent but non-intrusive questions to get the answers you need. Listen for the pauses as s/he responds and interacts with you.
Then listen to your “feelings” based on all the above.
The steps outlined above can help you determine whether or not to continue relating with a new contact who proposes a partnership.
It’s not a fool proof strategy, but it is quite likely to help you make fewer errors in choosing people to partner or collaborate with online.
“Reading without thinking gives a disorderly mind, and thinking without reading makes one unbalanced” – Confucius
All the obsession and exercise in the world will not make you write better if you do not know enough about your chosen topic or subject.
It may appear like I’m stating the obvious, but I’ve read some blog posts and articles that make a mockery of writing on certain topics. Honestly!
This is why Google’s efforts to clean up the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) people get served with when they do online searches can be appreciated.
The bar has been raised, especially if you’re writing online for marketing exposure.
You therefore need to produce good quality content. And that requires knowing your subject well.
If there is something you’re good at, writing about it tends to be easy. You may however need to do some additional research to add more depth and variety. Quite often, the effort you make to investigate your topic to give readers value for their time will pay off via positive feedback and other ways.
One Question: Is it possible you’re trying to write on topics you do not know enough about?
If yes, I suggest you either switch to writing on topics you are more comfortable with, or devote some quality time to research the unfamiliar topic(s).
Then you can study until you feel better prepared to write.
If you do this right, you’ll easily write volumes on virtually any subject you choose.
I once wrote sixteen “750 word” web marketing articles on “hearing and speech improvement”, for an audiologist client within 5 working days by doing the above.
The Internet makes writing related research quite easy and convenient. And it often offers more up to date material as well. So, with access to the web, a “lack of adequate knowledge” should not be a difficult limitation for you to overcome – if you set your mind to it.
“The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write. They will be those who cannot learn, un-learn and re-learn” – Alan Toffer
This article is based on a real-life Facebook chat session I recently had with a prospect. It will benefit YOU:
(a). If your work involves managing salaries/payroll – because it answers questions about using Excel automation to make your work easier and less time consuming.
(b) If as a website owner you want an insider understanding of how you can handle enquiries that result from use of a Web Marketing System. I’ve written in the past about how having a Web Marketing System can help you generate pre-qualified sales leads (i.e. people looking for solutions you offer come looking for you) – even while you sleep.
The enquirer apparently came across write-ups I’d done on the subject (like this PDF). Then he sent me a Facebook friend request, and initiated an impromptu chat within a few hours after I accepted his request. In essence, the WMS enables you present yourself in a way that boosts your credibility. In the long run, that will lead to sales.
The Chat Begins
<Initial greetings deleted>
Prospect: Got some good stuff about you through the internet and am happy that I can chat with you now
Tayo Solagbade (Me): That’s good to know. Please to be able to chat with you as well
Prospect: but I have some questions. Your post about how to use excel to generate payslip fascinates me
Tayo Solagbade (Me): It’s a post that’s based on real life applications I built that have been used by my clients since 2007 – including 2 hospitals that have over 100 staff
Prospect: I maintain payroll of about three thousand five hundred staff, can I generate payslip for these at a go?
Tayo Solagbade (Me): I offer customization of my applications to suit their unique needs
Prospect: I maintain payroll of about three thousand five hundred staff, can I generate payslip for these at a go?
Tayo Solagbade: You seem to have repeated your question. But I’ll rephrase mine. I use VBA code to make the preparation of pay slips dynamic. So, in the advanced version of my apps, it would not matter what number of people you have. As long as they are in the app’s records table, it will pick them one after the other and feed them to the print0ready payslip interface. Indeed, if you wish, the application can be further extended to generate PDF files stored in a predetermined location where you can go late to print selectively.
Prospect: Ok. But can data from excel be uploaded into your apps records table?
Tayo Solagbade (Me):Yes.
Prospect: Pls, how long will you take to teach me how to
Tayo Solagbade (Me): How to do do what?
Prospect: How to use VBA code to generate pay slips for the three thousand, five hundred staff
Tayo Solagbade (Me): You have to buy my app – and order a customization. Except you want me to teach you how to build YOUR own app using Excel-VB. The latter will take more time, depending on your current level of expertise in the use of Excel. I have a method for establishing that.
As a rule, I prefer working with people who have an advanced knowledge of MS Excel, and have at least done a little Macro recording based automation. It;s not easy – but those who apply themselves can learn.
If you want a quick solution, with minimal trial and error, I suggest you order a customized version of my existing app.
Prospect: Pls, how much will it cost me to buy your application and order a customization or what will it cost me to learn how to build my own app using excel VBA?
Tayo Solagbade (Me): One moment. Just trying to find a generic email I normally send to enquirers
Prospect: Okay
Tayo Solagbade (Me): Decided to do short note at the start – the email comes AFTER it. I’m late for an appointment at the Nigerian embassy. Will have to log off the laptop. But I’ll still be able to respond to you via my Blackberry. It may take longer though.
Just ignore the name in the message.
Regarding the fees:
Option 1: You asked “how much will it cost me to buy your application and order a customization”
The advanced Excel-VB driven Payslip Generator sells for N50K as is (I just add your company name, logo, and help you transfer your records from your Excel file into the app – at NO CHARGE).
Depending on what you want application to do, the fee for customization starts from N50k It can go as far as N250K – based on past projects I’ve had to work on for clients – including a National Primary Health Care Database (NPHCDA) project that lasted from 2008 till 2012.
It handles over 50,000 records of medical facilities/personnel – including picture displays.
Option 2: Or what will it cost me to learn how to build my own app using excel VBA?
Coaching on Excel-VB solutions development starts from N100k – depending on what you will be taught.
I go about it by offering 2 aspects:
a. Theoretical coaching – on the basics and language. It comes with plenty of reading and practical exercises, designed to help you get a firm grasp of the important concepts – especially worksheet design logic and use of VBA to eliminate routine and repetitive tasks
b. Field Project– you will tell me a specific application you want to build from scratch that will be useful to you. I will then guide YOU to build it over time. You will let me see stages of your work progress, and I will give you feedback and pointers.
Until the final app is born. If need be, I’ll help you tweak it to function better or look “prettier”. Whatever I do, I’ll explain why, and how you can do it yourself.
After the training ends, I become available to you for an additional 6 months – via email, phone/Skype – at no extra charge, to help you hone your skills.
Duration will depend on you. But standard duration is 2 months – and you set the pace. We meet for 48 hours over those 2 months – be it online or in person. In between meetings, you’ll be doing LOTs of small exercises to help you master aspects of Excel-VB programming. It WILL be challenging. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy it and you’ll learn.
Got to go. Will respond by smart phone if you have more questions
Below is the generic email with some links…(it gives details of what you also get when you pay)
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Hi Prakash,
<text deleted>
In your message, you mentioned being a Training Manager and you requested to download the tutorials offered on my website – which were delivered to you via autoresponse.
I’ve recently decided to offer on demand one-on-one coaching in Excel VB driven software development to interested persons online.
How It Works
You tell me what you want to learn or be able to do with MS Excel. I’ll give you my insights and opinion to complement your expressed needs.
Then if we agree to go forward, I’ll produce easy to follow custom PDF guides and video tutorials for you, that you’ll be able to use repeatedly. And I’ll also be available via email and Skype phone/ chat to provide any support you need as you carry out practical exercises I’ll give you.
Everything I teach you will be based on the real life experience and knowledge I’ve gained from developing custom Excel software for users and clients for well over 15 years.
##Testimonial from a buyer of my Excel software##
Here’s a testimonial from a recent buyer after I sent him the new free upgrade version of my popular Ration Formulator:
=Starts=
“Hi Tayo,
Thanks for the updates. I have used it with satisfaction and transferred all my data to this 2013 version.
We are getting more and more familiar with it.
Its flexibility allows to adapt the results to our needs and possibilities. I am amazed.”
If this Excel Software Development Coaching Offer is something that interests you, and you’d like to take it further, just reply to this email stating your specific interests or needs, and any questions you have.
(NB: I’ve included below, links to videos and detail pages showing examples of the kind of applications I can teach you to build.)
2. Custom Automated Hospital Financial Records Manager
You can also learn to build a highly sophisticated application with automated charting and advanced modeless data entry forms like the one in this application I built for a large hospital here in Lagos.
There are 2 detailed videos on that page that show features and functions you can learn to incorporate into your own Excel software.
The Facebook Chat Then Ends…
Tayo Solagbade (Me):Am off
Prospect: Thanks sir, I’ll get back to you in due time.
Final Words
Like I said at the start of this piece, you may not close every sales opportunity the WMS brings to you. But over time, if you diligently work to “converse effectively” with such prospects, you WILL close more sales.
NB: This article is based on a true story. A 25 year veteran real estate expert actually made the above statement to me few years back. Details below.
What do you sell? Is it physical or digital…or a mix of both? Is it a product, or a service? The answers to those questions determine how you go about selling.
Know this however: No matter how you choose to sell, a Web Marketing System (WMS) will always be a useful addition to your marketing and sales arsenal.
The global downslide in economic fortunes makes it even more imperative to adopt a WMS. It is the key to staying profitable for the long term, in these trying times.
Even in Africa, where development is said to occur at a lesser pace, more people are awakening to using the web for business in this manner..
However, some still resist it…
A Real Estate Client Once Claimed Property Buyers Did Have Time for Facebook (True Story)
I recall a real estate client whose company has branches round the country, telling me that using Facebook for business marketing was a waste of time.
He said “Look Tayo, I’ve been in this business for 25 years!“. This happened about 3 years ago.
According to him, property buyers did not have time for social media. He claimed they usually preferred to read print publications focussed on their areas of interest, and of course watch TV and Radio. He actually went as far as saying young scam artists were the ones who spent time on Facebook etc!
This was in response to my suggestion that he let me setup a facebook page for his company, as a part of the Web Marketing System I was developing for him.
I replied that those he referred to were the old and rich persons investing in real estate. I noted that a new generation of young millionaires was emerging e.g. via the entertainment industry. And many of them were/are keen on investing in real estate.
Despite my explanation, he refused to have a Facebook page setup. So, I suggested creating at least an Article Marketing account at www.ezinearticles.com. He agreed – and I published some of his articles that had been featured in national newspapers.
Using the Ezinearticles widget, I displayed previews to the articles on his website. Then I submitted the website pages to Google, and other search engines. Before leaving, I used the PDF user guide I wrote, to coach the secretary (who functioned as webmaster), on how to use the Joomla! based website I built for them.
When A South African Company Contacted Him Via The Article Marketing, He Changed His Tune!
About 2 months later, I got a call from this CEO. He told me a South African company had called him saying they had read one of his Ezinearticles.com articles found via Google. They apparently found it to be an authoritative piece on the properties market in Nigeria.
As a result, they wanted to get his insights with regard to investment opportunities. The call lasted for about an hour. After that, they sent him a $100 Amazon.com gift voucher as a way of saying thank you.
He was excited…and surprised. But I was not. When I’d read his articles, I’d told him publishing them online would win him credibility as an authority on Nigeria’s real estate.
What he said next was also not surprising to me:He asked when a Facebook page for the company could be setup! I firmly resisted the urge to say “I told you so”…but I certainly thought it!
Those Who Say the Internet – or Social Media – Is Not Useful for Them, Often Need Proper “Education” on the Subject
The point of this story is that many business owners who say social media, or the Internet, is not for them, often lack a clear understanding to base their conclusions on. Most would therefore benefit from guidance provided by a knowledgeable – and practically competent – expert in the field.
This article offers basic insights for such persons. If you need more help to discover how YOU can make the web work for you, click here to contact me
There’s no point in saying the Internet is not for you. I’ve heard many people say that. Quite often it’s because they are reluctant to change (or are afraid) – and not that they really know it’s useless.
This resistance to change is a big problem facing many people. To find more buyers at less cost, and with less effort, dispense with such negative thinking…or you’ll be left behind!
Be honest with yourself, and take a good look around the web. You’ll find that there is hardly any kind of business that – today – cannot be found represented formally on the web.
Smart business people are daily using their creativity to adapt the web to suit their needs. And the web enables them do it on a shoe string budget!
YOU can also do the same thing from today, and it will enable you spend less time and effort to make more money!
NB: Let me start by saying this post is being made for information purposes only. And it applies specifically to the period between Monday 15th July 2013 to Saturday 20th July 2013.
In case anyone’s experienced difficulties accessing articles/content on my blog in the last few days…hostgator has now confirmed they’ve completed the migration of all customer accounts:
” onto brand new, more powerful hardware which will include the latest versions of cPanel and CentOS.”
Alert email notice announcing start of upgrade
Screenshot of email notice announcing start of my hosting account migration
In response to my enquiry, they’d replied thus:
“…there may be some performance issues for the server since the migration process will have an impact on the communications performance of both systems. This effect should be temporary.”
The screenshot below shows their email notice that the upgrade has been successfully completed for my account.
Screenshot of email notice announcing successful migration
In formulating your rations, there are four crucial considerations you need to keep in mind. I discuss them below in a question-answer format. I suggest you actively work through them in your decision making:
1. What feed ingredients are regularly available locally; in what condition do they come – and at what price?
Knowing the answers to the above will help you identify the most suitable ingredients to use as major components in your rations.
On Availability: For instance, if your farm is based in a location where maize is not available in adequate quantities, you’re likely to experience outages, if you formulate mainly maize based rations.
On Condition: Similarly, if your groundnut cake supplies often get exposed to moisture, you stand a risk of infecting or even poisoning your animals when it grows mouldy. In such situations, you may be better off settling on alternative protein sources with similar nutritional benefits, and/or reduce your use of groundnut cake.
On Price: Compare ingredient prices to discover which ones enable you minimise your costs, without sacrificing the desired nutrient profile in your formulated rations.
These 3 factors discussed above should guide your choice of key ingredients for formulating rations.
2. Are the ingredients you have chosen (or prefer to use) seasonal or available all year round?
Availability here differs from that discussed in 1, above: I refer instead, to the planting/production based availability, which is dictated by climatic seasons.
For instance, some ingredients are more abundant during the rainy season. So, when the dry season sets in, finding them in adequate quantities can pose a challenge.
Choose feed ingredients that are available for as much of your production period as possible.
Few feed ingredients can be stored for long periods without onset of spoilage or deterioration in quality. Therefore make your main ingredients those which can be readily found for most of the year.
In reality, your choice of main ingredients to choose will be influenced by what happens in 1, above.
3. Do you have substitutes that you can easily procure, in the event that your preferred ingredients are not available for any reason?
Let me put it this way: Have you explored the use of alternatives to your main ingredients? Do you have any that can be combined with your other routinely used ingredients to produce viable rations?
If no, you may run into problems. For instance, you could be forced to incur greater costs to source the main ingredients, if you don’t have viable alternatives at hand. And that will affect your ration’s cost.
Feeding often makes up 60% or more of total cost of rearing most livestock. You therefore want to achieve the most cost-effective production of your rations.
And that’s why exploring the use of viable substitutes that either cost the same, or are cheaper than your preferred ingredients, can be worthwhile. You will also want to do this proactively.
In other words, before the need to use substitutes arises, conduct trials to derive balanced ration using such substitutes. When your preferred ingredients become scarce, you’ll have a fall back formula ready.
4. What about quality of nutrient composition? Have you checked to confirm (via analysis) that the local ingredients you are using contain the expected profile of nutrients?
For instance, what if you get a supply of weevil infested Maize for use in compounding your rations? Using it would make your energy content calculations go out of sync with the actual content in the supplied grains. Your birds would therefore perform poorly, if fed on the resultant ration.
Some farmers fail to take this into consideration. And it ends up costing them greatly.
It’s like using adulterated medication when you’re ill. You’re unlikely to get well.
When the ingredients you use in your ration formulation are not of the right quality or nutrient composition, your ration will not deliver the expected performance in the animals fed with it.
The reason is simple. Your calculations are based on a certain expected nutrient composition in each ingredient. But that’s on paper. If the actual physical ingredients you end up using to make your animal’s feeds do not contain those expected nutrient levels, your ration will not be balanced.
If that happens, the animals’ performance will reflect it – and you will have wasted your money!
This is why results-focused farm business owners and/or feed mill operators often invest in periodic laboratory analysis of the feed ingredients they use.
Do this on a regular basis – at least weekly. Ensure sampling done is representative. Your efforts could save you a lot of money in the long run.
Final Words: Plan for the Unexpected
On a final note, keep in mind that beyond doing calculations o feed ingredients, you are also a manager.
Plan ahead for possible eventualities or the unforeseen – especially with respect to the above mentioned factors. If you don’t, your animals – and business – might suffer as a result.
PS: Click here to learn how my Feed Formulation Handbook and Excel-VB software can help you derive cost-effective rations.
In some parts of the world, some people get accorded authority status based on unproven wealth they display – and rarely little else. I grew up in a society where it happened (happens!)…a lot. However, authentic expert authority is not achieved by “showing money”. It comes via demonstrating verifiable, value-adding competence. This article provides insights you can use.
What Does It Mean to Be Called an Expert Authority?
An Expert Authority is one who has – by his/her achievements/contributions in a particular field(s) – demonstrated that s/he is a value-adding leader in thought and/or action.
Typically s/he has over a period of time made significant impact on stakeholders in that field. They would formally acknowledge his/her competence, and readily make reference to him/her as a result.
This can be in professional fields, and also in everyday social life.
I’ll start by giving a “non-sensitive” example.
Nelson Mandela is widely recognized as Human Rights icon. His lifetime achievements – including many ideas and thoughts he has expressed – have made the lives of millions better, earning him countless awards.
Mandela is therefore an Authentic Expert Authority on Human Rights.
Anybody Can Show Money – That Will Not Necessarily Confirm Expert Authority Status!
If no means exists to verify them, anyone can make any claims s/he likes – and we would be incapable of checking to determine if it’s the truth or not.
In this regard, developed societies (where personal records dating back to your ancestors can be reliably traced) have an edge over less developed societies.
In such places, people know they can get found out if they make false claims. So they do it less blatantly. But some daring characters still do it
Now, like I said at the start, in certain societies, some “clever” persons cut corners by “buying” authority status. This is typically done by giving monetary and other rewards to “corruptible” key players and stakeholders.
As a result, they get accorded formal attention/recognition despite having limited (sometimes no!) pedigree, and offering little useful value.
Here’s a potentially “sensitive” example…:-)
Imagine a person convicted of looting public funds while in office, a year ago, being given an award on Human Rights in the same country(or indeed elsewhere)?
That’s absurd. But it has happened…many times, in certain societies.
An award confers authority status on the recipient. S/he is assumed by others as being an embodiment of the values and ideals on which the award is based.
One would therefore naturally expect whatever s/he has done (and will do) to be consistent with what the award is about.
A dishonest – and unrepentant – former office holder, conferred with an award meant for persons who protect people’s rights from abuse? That’s not authentic authority status!
Like I said, money can buy it in some places.
But where things work, that’s rarely possible.
Final Words: To Establish Authentic Expert Authority Status – Prove Yourself Worthy
As an expert in your chosen field, the best way to establish yourself as an authority is to record achievements that make it obvious that YOU ARE!
It does not matter what field you’re in. Start by getting necessary preparation.
Mandela did not need to attend Human Rights school (if anything like that exists). Instead he set a real goal for himself to change the lot of real people.
Then he went out to make it happen. And he put every fiber of his being into doing so.
It took him time, but he eventually made it.
It was however in the course of doing it, that he recorded many achievements, attracting recognition – that eventually won him “Expert Authority” status.
Just as this works in the non-professional field, so it does also for professionals in various areas of endeavors – be it paid employment or business/entrepreneurship.
That includes lawyers, doctors, and experts in all other areas of interest and focus.
To establish authentic authority status amongst your peers, simply record achievements – via your contributions – that show you are indeed worthy.
So, even if you’re in a place where it’s possible to “buy it”, you now know better
A research team has developed a “self-repairing artificial leaf” that produces electricity from dirty water. This is a milestone achievement, in the drive for sustainable energy. Forward thinking governments of developing countries may find it useful to explore adopting this new technology.
This is a major advancement in efforts to develop alternative – and sustainable – energy sources. It has been featured in the “ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research”. The research was funded by USA’s National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Department of Energy.
How It Works
This artificial leaf works by mimicking the process of photosynthesis carried out in nature by green plants – which convert water and sunlight into energy and oxygen.
However it does not use the same complex chemical process. It is just a thin slab of silicon (referred to as a “sunlight collector”), coated with catalyst films on either side. The two films generate oxygen and hydrogen gas (on opposite sides).
When placed in water, under sunlight, the catalysts in the device break the water into its hydrogen and oxygen components. As the gases bubble to the surface, they can be easily collected for use as fuel to produce electricity in fuel cells. This is the simple principle on which this innovative device works.
The Relatively inexpensive compounds used to make the catalysts on both sides of the leaf (nickel-molybdenum-zinc generating hydrogen on one side, and cobalt film generating oxygen on the other) are said to be abundant in nature.
That eliminates the potential problem of replenishment as the devise needs to be mass produced.
Potential Applications – Individual homes in Off-Grid Locations
The research team leader is Daniel G. Nocera, Ph.D. (Harvard University’s Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy). He has suggested that individual homes lacking access to power grids/generating plants would benefit from using this inexpensive alternative.
With less than a quart of drinking water, he explained that the artificial leaf would provide about 100 watts of electricity for an entire day.
The improved version of the leaf was reported in New Orleans on Apr. 8, 2013 (during the “Kavli Foundation Innovations in Chemistry Lecture” at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society).
It has been re-designed to utilise dirty or impure, bacteria-contaminated water readily found in nature. The scientists found a way to make the leaf self-healing. Basically, the catalysts now fall apart in a manner that prevents bacteria’s access to smooth surface they need to establish their bio film. “Then the catalyst can heal and re-assemble” said Nocera.
In earlier versions of the leaf, this had not been possible. As a result electricity production got shut down as the bacteria eventually formed their bio film across the smooth surface of the leaf.
This new self-healing property represents a major advancement – especially for the needs of developing societies. There, access to clean and pure water remains an even greater challenge.
Personalized, Fast-Food Energy: A Cheap Energy Generator, Adapted to Tough Local Conditions
Millions of people around the world still lack access to basic power supply via their country’s power grid.
They will benefit from a portable, inexpensive solution like this self-repairing artificial leaf energy generating device.
Nocera stated that “It’s kind of like providing ‘fast-food energy,'” and he pointed out that his team plans to produce lots of inexpensive units that will trade a bit of efficiency for functionality. They will be aimed at getting the job done.
He used the analogy of the transition from “huge mainframe computers to a personal laptop” noting that “This is personalized energy.”
The artificial leaf offers superior benefits to existing alternative energy solutions.
For instance, solar panels are expensive, and can only generate energy when the sun is out. In contrast, the leaf’s hydrogen and oxygen can be stored and used at night.
As Nocera points out, many complicated and expensive alternative energy devices are being developed.
But that is making it difficult for them to get widely adopted on a large scale. A less expensive and simple system that works like the artificial leaf, therefore stands a much better chance of getting widespread usage.
He revealed that the team has plans to further integrate the device, with technologies used to convert hydrogen into liquid fuel, for running portable electric generators or indeed cars.
Final Words: Developing Countries Stand to Beneift The Most
Leaders of developing nations – especially those in Africa, should seriously consider cutting back on money they keep sinking into space projects, and similar “abstract” pursuits.
They would be better off exploring ways to collaborate with Nocera and his team, to get the research solutions working for their rural populations.
Doing so will translate to an immediate improvement in the quality of life enjoyed by their people!
This article should have gone live yesterday – Saturday 6th July 2013 (my 43rd birthday). But since my blog posts auto-publish on my Facebook profile, I felt it would be disrespectful to those who had taken pains to post birthday wishes on my wall. So I auto-scheduled it to publish 0400 today. Thanks a lot. I appreciate you all.
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If you do not currently use articles for your marketing, you could be spending more time, effort and money on marketing than you need to. Articles remain one of the most cost-effective tools for business promotion – and they’ve been used that way for decades. Both online and off the web.
Whether it’s Article Marketing or Guest Blogging – Using Articles for Your Marketing Can Pay Timeless Dividends!
People have access to large volumes of information today. As a result, knowing what is worth paying attention to is now more of a challenge for many.
That’s why they depend on the thought leaders to guide themselves. In every field, experts who are competent function as thought leaders. Others depend on them to review the mass of information/trends, and make some sense of it to share – via writing, speaking, and other methods.
As an expert in your own field, how do you currently do your marketing?
What combination of strategies do you use? Are you focused on serving target audiences online, or off the web – or both? What have you found to be the most effective way to attract such persons?
What do these different strategies you use currently cost you in terms of time, effort and money – compared to the verifiable benefits or returns they yield to you?
Do you know?
I ask these questions simply to challenge you to do a little thinking about the methods you currently employ to achieve your business promotion goal.
Articles Cost Less & Stick Around Much Longer Than Most Other Marketing Media
There is no doubt that not all businesses will benefit equally well from using the same methods.
However, I’ve learnt one thing from years of experience, and also observing others”
It is the fact that articles remain a universally applicable instrument for promoting virtually any kind of product or service.
The major benefits one stands to gain from using articles to promote one’s work, or business, are (among others) its combined low cost, and generally long lasting impact.
Articles enable one achieve “timeless marketing”. Be it on the web, or in print, very often an article has a much longer shelf-life than virtually all other promotional media.
And it often costs next to nothing too!
Useful Places to Publish Your Articles for Marketing Purposes
Despite attempts by some who lack accurate insight to suggest otherwise, article marketing – of the kind done via directories like EzineArticles.com – remains viable – despite Google’s algorithm changes.
So, that’s one place you can go: Articles directories.
Many website owners or content publishers regularly visit EzineArticles.com to pick up articles they use on their websites, and in newsletters they publish.
If your work meets their needs, your articles will get picked up a lot. And you’ll see the result in form of increased traffic back to your site.
This is mainly because in your article by-line (right at the bottom) EzineArticles allows you to insert a promotional block of text, with URLs of your choice.
In addition to that, you have a profile page you setup on their website, and of course people who read your articles may also choose to Google your name.
Another approach is to write Guest Posts – currently a popular strategy used in many industries.
Guest Posts are articles typically published on blogs. You’ll submit them to blog owners to consider publishing on their blogs. Again, you usually get to put in a byline that gains you traffic back to your website.
It of course goes without saying that you will also write and publish articles (and even a newsletter) on your own website or blog.
These you would actively use promote via social media, and to search engines, to get increased name recognition, and credibility.
Final Words: You Don’t Even Have to Write Them Yourself
I realize not everyone will find it easy or convenient to write articles as often as may be required.
More business persons are discovering the advantages of using articles. However due to limited writing proficiency, or a lack of time, they find themselves struggling to do it as often/well as they should.
If your schedule is too tight, you could formally engage a reliable professional (e.g. yours truly!) – to ghost-write articles or even books for you, on your preferred theme(s). You would then only have to make “editorial” input to align what is written with your preferences.
In other cases I’ve seen persons who got started in the above manner, and over time understudied their hired writing expert. And eventually, at some point, they were able to take full ownership of creating new article content.
The truth is each person must settle for what works for him/her. What is crucial is that action be taken to add the use of articles to your marketing arsenal.
Doing so is bound to boost the overall cost-effectiveness of promotional strategies you employ.
What’s more, articles provide a flexible interface, through which most other promotional activities can be given further exposure. As a result, they complement other methods – enabling you to reach a larger number of people.
The long run implication is that your business promotion efforts will cost less. At the same time they’ll get you more marketing exposure, attracting more buyers for your products and services.
At the end of the day, that is what we are all looking for!
And the easier and less expensively we can get it, the more profitable we end up being.
Which is why if you don’t already use it, you really want to give Article Marketing a try!
Less than 24 hours ago, I saw one of my most widely read and referenced farm business ideas articles (titled “Producing Good Catfish is Important, But Finding Good Buyers is Imperative!”) subjected to a more malicious level of abuse than I’ve ever seen. Naughty people periodically use other writers’ works without giving credit. When found out, many quickly make amends.I’ve experienced this with some of my articles. But yesterday’s was a new experience!
Before I tell you what happened, let me provide some background.
I’ve Been Writing on Farm Business for Over a Decade
Yesterday 3rd July 2013, was my brother’s birthday. At about 10.38 a.m I arrived in a client’s office in Cotonou, for a Web Marketing Systems development project review meeting.
But just before we started, I pleaded his indulgence to let me call my brother in Abuja, Nigeria, to wish him happy birthday.
Developing Solutions Of Different Kinds to Help Farmers
The challenge many farmers face in finding buyers for their market ready farm products –especially livestock and perishables – has always intrigued me.
For years while in Nigeria, I actively interacted with many farm owners to get an idea of unique challenges they faced, and solutions that could be evolved.
My Feed Formulation Handbook was meant to help farmers acquire the know-how to compound their own rations for their animals. This was in light of the compromised integrity of commercial livestock feed that some found themselves buying.
I got feedback from buyers who expressed the desire avoid manually doing the Pearson square computation for feed formulation.
The Menace of Content Thieves and Intellectual Property Abusers
In 2009, I wrote the above mentioned article, that attracted serious attention and interest locally and internationally. Various blogs, and websites linked to, or referenced that article via Ezinearticles.com where I published it.
Many such articles have generated pre-qualified sales leads for me. A good number result(ed) in sales of my products, and services (e.g. consultancy).
But as is common with intellectual works, I have found people using my works picked up from Ezinarticles.com without abiding by the terms.
Content publishers know Ezinearticles.com requires that they retain an author’s byine in any article they choose to republish on their website or newsletter.
That’s where we authors post short “marketing” blurbs containing one or two links leading to relevant pages on our websites. It is the small payoff authors gets for sharing their expert knowledge at no charge.
This is meant to be a symbiotic relationship. Sadly, some people – and I’ve seen this a lot in the farm business “category” – prefer to take without giving.
I’ve periodically found my articles reproduced verbatim from Ezinearticles.com, with ONLY my name retained. My entire byline is removed, including any links I added back to my website.
These people feel my work is good enough to be used on their website, and/or social media pages. But they refuse to let me get what is due to me, preferring instead to use my work to generate benefits for themselves alone.
It’s nothing new. Other authors/writers have similar experiences. We do what we can. Sometimes I’ve succeeded in getting abusers to make changes or simply take my work off their websites. Recently, I simply decided to ignore them.
Discovering a More Malicious Form of Intellectual Property Abuse
However yesterday, I encountered a more malicious dimension of abuse.
To generate sales leads based on my expertise on the subject, I had inserted (in line with a Burt Dubin tip) my mobile phone number in the last paragraph of the article.
That simple gimmick led to many people calling to consult me on how to apply the ideas in the article. Then at a point, those phone enquiries fizzled out. They just stopped coming. I didn’t know what to think.
Eventually I put it down to the reduced search engine visibility of article directories, following Google’s repeated algorithm changes.
Then yesterday afternoon, I saw that article reproduced verbatim on a blog run by a young Nigerian chap. As usual, my name was on it, but my byline was not.
However I got really ticked off when I saw that he’d replaced my phone number with his. Exactly where it appeared in the last paragraph of my article!
Less alert readers would naturally assume that that was my number!
Not believing my eyes, I called the number. Sure enough I found myself speaking to a young guy, who identified himself as the website owner.
I casually enquired about the service he was offering, and he readily asked “Do you need help with marketing your farm produce?”(he did not know it was me i.e. author of the article he’d used).
In other words, just what I aimed to do, he was now doing using my write-up – effectively denying me any benefit from my intellectual creation!
Young People Must Be Taught To Treat Intellectual Property With Respect It Deserves
All over the world we have people who steal content and abuse copyright privileges. But only in Nigeria have I consistently found people doing it so callously, with absolute disregard for the damage they do.
I say this without apology. It’s an indisputable FACT.
They abuse a system that encourages competent experts to offer such valuable works in the Internet space at no cost. Failing to see that their actions threaten the continued willingness of such people to share what they know!
This is why today, I write much fewer farm business articles for article marketing online.
Instead, I offer information products for sale to my subscribers and interested website visitors.
My probing questions soon unsettled my young friend. He said:
“There’s too much noise here. Let me call you back later.”
That was 4p.m yesterday. It’s already 10a.m today. And I know I will not be hearing from him.
However I do intend to get him to do the right thing.
If he does not, I WILL put up links to his website here on my blog, along with his name and phone number. Then I’ll inform his website host and Ezinearticles.com via a formal complaint email.
Next, each week that the abused version of my work remains on his website, I will post about it on my Facebook and Twitter profiles, and share widely.
Keeping Quiet Only Emboldens These Cheats and Other Dishonest Individuals
Saying nothing emboldens people who do these things. I refuse to be a silent victim. Anyone who abuses my work in that manner will have me to deal with, if I find out..
Our young people must be taught to develop serious respect for intellectual property.
Many learnt not to do so, from what they saw some irresponsible adults do.
The onus is on us to help them realize that they have within them the capacity, and capability, to produce original ideas and writing.
That will make them discover it’s a more dignifying and fulfilling approach.
…a multi-disciplinary blog for people passionate about reaching their goals!
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