Category Archives: My DN Travel News

Career Development, My DN Travel News

Smart Companies Rarely Neglect Older, Experienced Employees (3 Tips to Get More from Your Older Hands)

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Does your company have an arrangement in place to “mould” your new intakes into the kinds of employees you need them to be? If YES, what about your older and more experienced hands already in the system? What arrangement do you have in place for them?

How does your company treat older hands (especially those with lower qualifications), compared to new, often younger intakes?

Decision makers in companies can sometimes get carried away. As some employees age out, if they do not become “high-flyers” or super-achievers, they tend to get forgotten by those who run the company.

1. Neglecting Older Hands Can Often Backfire On Your Company!

That’s the truth – and it can happen quite subtly, until the damage has gone far, before you notice.

I say this as one who had to relate, as a bright-eyed new intake in a large corporation, with many much older hands. They felt they’d been sidelined, career-wise, and did not hide their frustration, or resentment. In the end, it affected their commitment to their jobs, and to coaching new intakes.

See how it can backfire…? And that’s just one example. I highlight others further down.

This is why I believe experienced managers – the older hands who’ve been on the job a while – need to be given incentives to stay committed to their jobs. Recognition, coupled with well planned training and development opportunities can often go a long way in this regard.

We must remember that – unlike the new entrants – older hands would have achieved some successes, but possibly reached a point where no foreseeable opportunities exist for further upward advancement.

This could naturally cause them to simply stop pushing themselves to perform optimally.

If they get passed over by way of attention, for new and bright eyed intakes to the company, the chances of the above happening greatly increase.

Your company needs a team – a well oiled team, to perform well. You therefore want ALL members to continually pitch in with their best efforts. Be they new, old; experienced or inexperienced.

To achieve the above, you must promote the “growth and nourishment” of your older and more experienced employees, alongside you fresh recruits arriving gleaming credentials, and youthful energy.

2. Older & Experienced Managers When Unhappy, May Choose Not to Share ALL They Know

Some decision makers forget this: Your young, smart recruits will often need to understudy the older hands they meet on the job. If the latter are not happy, that relationship may not go as well as you’d like.

Experienced managers offer a rich pool of talent, creativity and contribution, which if properly harnessed could be used to win the company’s battle for survival and success.

The older employees could conveniently “forget” to share powerful experience based wisdom they’ve acquired over the years. Your new “stars” would thus be faced with the need to re-invent the wheel!

3.  They Could Even Make Your New/Younger Employer Unhappy…and Ineffective!

It could be worse: Older and experienced employees can often heavily influence the climate of opinion in an organisation. They are the ones who have seen it all, been there while it all happened, and will usually have a lot to tell the newer managers about what works and what does not.

In fact, by virtue of their relative age and experience advantage, even when they occupy low formal positions in the company, they can often end up playing informal leadership roles.

By implication therefore, an organisation unfortunate enough to have disgruntled older employees in her ranks, could find it rather difficult to effectively implement a new strategy or initiative.

The dangers could in fact be more, if you fail to create conditions enabling for your experienced employees to improve themselves, and become more open minded to better methods.

For instance, they could isolate (perhaps even “emotionally crush”) your newer/younger employees!

What You Can Do

Fortunately, with good leadership and guidance, coupled with the regular implementation of training and development initiatives, you can keep the loyalty of your older hands.

Simply create a culture in which they constantly feel valued and respected. Actively recognise and acknowledge them for all they have done in the past, and for roles they still play.

Involve them in areas you know they can make useful contributions, and support initiatives and ideas they originate. No sentiments of course. What you accept must be those that truly add tangible value.

As often as practical, organise well structured training and development sessions for them, to enhance their ability to function as workplace coaches, towards sharing what they know with others.

Do the above, and more where possible.

Then watch them motivate, develop and control themselves to cooperate with new people you bring in, towards achieving the company’s valued goals.

My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Problem Solving Makes You Smarter & More Confident

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Do you really want to gain full mastery of any area of your personal or work life? If YES, then GET INVOLVED IN PROBLEM-SOLVING. Even if others avoid it, do it – and do it without holding back. Do it every day, and as often as the opportunity presents itself within each day.

Problem Solving Is a Shortcut to Useful Learning

Troubleshooting or Problem-Solving offers the quickest and easiest way to gain very useful knowledge about anything.

And I mean ANYTHING!!

Why? Well it’s because in the process of trying to solve a problem, one tends to become focused and critical – unwilling to accept irrelevancies or "convenient explanations" etc.

You find that so long as the problem remains, you feel pressured to keep challenging everything you are told. This of course will only happen if you choose to be an active player in the problem-solving process.

For instance, I once had the unfortunate experience in which my car packed up midway along Lagos-Benin expressway one evening due to a problem with the engine.

The mechanics that worked on the car that evening till late into the night would, I’m sure, not forget me too quickly. And that’s because I stayed with them all through asking questions at every step, demanding to know what they were doing and why.

I came away that day knowing much more about my car engine and how it functions. Incidentally, many people I know would actually have gone off to take a rest with instructions for the mechanic to call them when done.

After all, they would argue, "it’s not my area".

Problem Solving Challenges You to Apply Your Theoretical Learning to Real-Life Situations

So, when you engage in problem solving, you actually combine the learning of certain essential theoretical aspects with the practical application of acquired knowledge.

That’s a very efficient learning process!

Subsequently, you would be able to talk about that particular problem you were involved in rectifying, with more confidence than if you had not experienced it.

This is why it has been said that we should be grateful when things go wrong, because those are disguised opportunities to pick up valuable learning.

Final Words: Accelerate your learning – get involved in Problem-Solving!

Most people let fear of work – and of failure – blind them to potential benefits to be had from engaging in problem solving.

Through active participation in investigation of the cause of a problem, you’re likely to learn – by elimination – what is NOT responsible for it (over time).

And as you stay involved, the more likely causes, and contributing factors will become apparent to you.

That increased familiarity with the problem will boost your ability to intelligently continue exploring possible solutions to the problem.

This is the reason why we always want to find people who have had “experience” in a certain field or vocation. We expect such persons to bring with them some amount o know-how that will facilitate getting the job done – unlike someone who is new on the job, who may still be learning the ropes.

The implication of the above is that if you form the habit of engaging in problem solving, you’ll transform yourself over time into a useful resource person that others will love to have around. That applies to friends, associates, employers and even clients.

In other words it will make you better off in life!

This article was written based on excerpts from my Self-Development Bible™ titled “Ten Ways You Can Use Self-Development to Create the Future You Want”.

Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, My DN Travel News

I Have NO FARM (Yet), BUT Farm Biz Owners BADLY NEED My Help – Here’s Why!

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Preview: This write-up was first published – on April 21, 2012 – as a NOTE on my Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/notes/tayo-solagbade/i-have-no-farm-yet-but-farm-biz-owners-badly-need-my-help-heres-why/369364946438303. I’ve now moved it here, on my SD Nuggets blog, but it also auto-publishes via RSS Feed to my Cost-Saving Best Practice Farm Business Ideas website.

Any smart Farm Biz owner who does NOT allow misguided zealots to lead him/her ASTRAY, WILL discover from studying my offerings, that I can actually help Farm Business become more efficient and ultimately MORE productive.

I have remained VERY amused by the attempts being made by certain individuals to INTERPRETE the fact that I do not own a Farm Business of my own, to mean that I cannot possibly offer useful value to those who do.

I believe the RIGHT question to ask is this: What exactly am I offering Farm Biz owners?

My Answer: Today, virtually anyone can be taught to inject, spawn, and rear fish for instance. I DO NOT offer to teach anyone to do that. Neither do I offer pond construction services. Instead I offer SOLUTIONS that farm business owners NEED to setup their farm businesses for long term success.

These solutions ultimately determine how long the business lasts, and how profitable it will be. In effect I offer a unique kind of Extension Service. Get details of my approach on the website.

Going by the above, it is my opinion, that a MORE relevant question would be: Do I have verifiable competence in the provision of Agricultural Extension Services?

I ask you to consider: Have I not demonstrated through my insightful analysis of what MANY farm business owners are doing, that I have a BETTER grasp of the practical requirements for making a success of the farm business?

As I explained on my Farm Business Support Service website, I have apprenticed on farms here in Lagos, and also deliberately purchased manuals, videos, and also attended training events organised by certain well known practitioners here in Lagos. That is in addition to visiting farm businesses to see how they operate Details abound on my  farm business ideas website.

SIMPLY PUT: I am a trained and experienced manager of production processes, with graduate level professional training in Agricultural Extension Services provision. 

I DO NOT need to own a farm, to help ANY FARM BUSINESS OWNER. There are things I know, that most farm business owners do NOT. When I get to their farms, I SEE things they see, and gain insights they NEVER do, except I tell them. This is FACT.

Now, isn’t it odd that when I engage MANY farm business owners on the practical aspects of running their operations in line with best practice principles, they often fail to meet up?

Does the fact that I have been able to come up with workable ideas, concepts, strategies and TOOLS (e.g. my popular Feed Formulation Handbook, and Software), to achieve BETTER farm business performance NOT indicate that I know something that MANY farm business owners do NOT?

Answers can be found by visiting my cost-saving farm ideas website – I’ve said enough there to address the above concerns and more.

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THANK GOD: At least ONE person who has contacted me AFTER visiting my website seems to have been patient enough to do the thinking needed to appreciate what I offer: See the reproduced comments sent to me by Chairman/Multi-Tech Ventures Nig Ltd – Olumuyiwa, F.A. – at the bottom of this page.

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Today, In Nigeria/Africa, Almost ANYONE Can Own A Farm Business

Let’s stop and think about this for a moment.

Is it not a well known fact TODAY, that ANYONE, regardless of academic or professional background, can easily learn the basics of injecting, hatching, and rearing catfish or raising poultry?

Countless learning resources abound e.g. VCDs, seminars and workshops of all kinds.

Virtually anyone can learn most of the hands on technical stuff today. It’s been simplified. Just like learning to use most aspects of mobile and PC technology today is no longer a big deal.

The REAL CHALLENGE is knowing how to achieve the required level of productivity and efficiency that will enable you make a long term profitable success of your farm business venture.

It is this challenge that continues to make so many farm businesses either struggle or collapse! They do NOT have the required grasp of how to manage the batch production processes which their farm businesses are based on.

The so called experts simply teach them the technical stuff. But the more subtle skills of process and production management are neglected. Most farm business owners lack the know-how to organise their production operations. They do not know the most efficient manner to ensure optimal use of manpower and raw materials as well as physical resources like vats, ponds, water and feed.

The crash courses they attend (not surprisingly) do not show them how to use worksheets to plan for stocking and emptying of multiple ponds. As a result they fail to appreciate the need to MEASURE turn around times, so as to achieve maximum possible cycles of fish production. They also are not aware of the need to compute Key Performance Indices to enable them turn out CONSISTENT volume and quality of fish flesh. Same logic applies to poultry farming.

I don’t care where you learn from. Or how much money you throw at your farm business. If you do not have a well thought out system for managing your farm business, you are very likely to struggle.

Look around here in Lagos, and you will see so many farm businesses operating with manpower that do not have a standard operating procedure. Today, they take fish from this pond and sell. Tomorrow they take from the same pond for breeding. When they breed the fish, the process is often trial and error. Caring for fingerlings is a process fraught with avoidable setbacks e.g. infection, and mortalities.

On the sales front, as I have said elsewhere in a seperate article, little thought goes into preparing for removal of market ready stocks so as to create space for new fingerlings.

Are we to believe that a haphazard approach is inevitable in farm business management? How many farm business owners can provide easily retrievable and RELIABLE/ACCURATE data of production, waste, expenses and sales for daily, weekly or monthly intervals?

I can supply those kinds of details, and analysis done based on them, for ALL the business and personal activities I have been engaged in since 2002. I document them and regularly analyze them. That’s why I am able to decide when what a client wishes to pay to have me provide a service is too low. While apprenticing on a catfish and ornamental fish farm at Abesan Estate in Ipaja, I did the same thing.

Running a batch production process (which all farm businesses entail) is routine and repititive.

Once you know what needs to be done, and the right way to do it, it stops being a BIG deal. Nigerian Farm Business Owners need to stop wasting time focussing on who can inject a fish. Even illiterates are being taught to do that at today’s workshops!

Instead, LOOK for experts who can help you develop sustainable systems for operating your farms PRODUCTIVELY for REAL profit. 

The bank official who makes recommendations about whether his/her bank should give you a loan, or EXTEND you existing credit line, quite often will NOT have any farm business of his/her own. But if the bank is a good one, the individual they assign go do that job is likely to have a background on Agricultural Economics/Extension Services.

Just as it with other professional fields, the training provided that individual is what s/he will draw upon, combined with any experience gained post-graduation, to assess your business – or make recommendations on areas you need to improve upon.

My training as an Agricultural Extension Services professional, and my exposure to world class process management systems in a large multinational corporation (See my PDF resume), have  enabled me add value to Farm Businesses I have come in contact with.

My advice to ANYONE who owns a farm business, is to NEVER fall prey to the delusion that OWNING a farm business makes you SMARTER about running it, than someone like me. The FACT is there are likely to be MANY things I know, that YOU will need to LEARN. 

I’m not saying I know more than everyone else.

But going by what I have seen many business owners do out here (both farm and non-farm related), I am 95% certain that MANY of them need help with the stuff I have written about in this piece.

The smart ones will know better than to climb on their high horses, when it comes to exploring the offers I’m making. Waiting till when my Integrated Fish Farm starts up will be VERY unwise – because by then, I am likely to be VERY unaffordable for most farm business owners.

This article has been written as a wake up call to any farm business owners trying to make up their minds about where to go for help.

Once again, I challenge you to THINK: With all the stuff the so called experts have taught you, do you honestly believe your farm business is running as efficiently, productively and profitably as it should/can?

You may be making money. But how much are you making compared to how much you are spending in terms of effort, time, labour/manpower, feed, maintenance of farm structures, sales, marketing, power supply, diesel, petrol etc? Can you spend LESS? Can you get MORE done in less time and at less cost?

I say YOU CAN. I challenge you to invite me to your farm for 30 minutes, and I will ask you questions that PROVE that this is so. The choice is yours.

I Am NOT Interested In Competing With Anyone – But I Want To Help Farm Biz Owners Operate More Productively!

It’s time to stop fooling ourselves. Physical movement does not equate to progress. A lot of people spend years spinning their wheels – remaining in the same place. Your farm business CAN become a MODEL for others to learn from.

All I see around are people preoccupied with doing the same things that others are doing, even when they are not getting IMPROVED results.

Read the articles on my farm business ideas website (and my Farm Business Ideas Guest Posts published on other website) to appreciate the point I’m making.

Like I said, INVITE me to your farm, for 30 minutes and I’ll prove that I’m right.

PLEASE NOTE: I will come with a video camera man to record the event. I’m sure every sincere person will be OK with that. After all, I’m the one who’s going to have to PROVE that I’m not a QUACK!

Now, let me acknowledge at least ONE individual who, it appears, took enough time to evaluate all that I said on my Farm Biz IDEAS mini-site, to arrive at a reasonably accurate understanding of what I offer.

Read the message he sent to me via my website contact form – below. What he said, is in effect, what I offer to do for interested persons. It of course goes without saying, that I DO GENUINELY DO all that is stated on my Best Operating Farm Process Management website !

May 2009:

“I need a program for a new investor interested in small scale catfish farming for a start, expandable in future however. Or alternatively a link to who can assist in construction of a good catfish pond along the interest indicated above. I can’t see you rendering this service in your website that I went through, as it look like you provide other vital support services which we will need on take off. Am I right? Give me a feedback soonest. I wish to end this note by honestly commending your effort if you genuinely do all you have highlighted on your website. Thanks” – Chairman/Multi-Tech Ventures Nig Ltd – olumuyiwa, F.A.” (Ifo, Ogun State)****

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NB: It is instructive to note that anyone who submits the contact from on the farm business support service website gets an autoresponder with instructions on the next steps to take if s/he wishes to have me send a response. I took this measure after discovering many mischievious persons sending in phony request, and wasting my time (Some wanted items I offered for a fee, for FREE etc).

Why I STOPPED Updating www.iff.spontaneousdevelopment.com

There’s ONE MORE THING I need to mention: Some people may have noticed that I stopped publishing most of the new content I have planned for my Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas mini site.

This was because I could NOT find a way to automate requests for paid access to the new stuff, without giving out my bank account details. 

Another reason, was that I also discovered that some people had been visiting my site with a view to taking my stuff (including getting my publications at special offers) and plagiarising it. These are the same kind of people who run seminars on funny zero managed farms, selling printed versions of PDF materials downloaded from websites run by Agriculutural Extension Services departments of Universities based in the USA.

I do NOT exaggerate. Let me tell you a true story, to illustrate:

On one occasion few years ago, I visited the farm office of a well known Catfish Farm Workshop specialist. During our conversation, his assistant presented me with spiral bound copies of certain reports, on Super Intensive Catfish Farming operations – and told me they were for sale.

Unfortunately for him, I recognised the documents as being printouts of PDFs from a USA university (North Carolina, I think) website I had also visited (even though the cover suggested that his boss had published them!).

So I told him I could give him ALL the PDF versions of the reports if he wanted. You can imagine how the rest of that conversation went! There IS a lot of that going on out here, I must say. People LOVE shortcuts – and that applies to both the SELLER, and those who choose to be their students.

A lot of the new stuff I intend to publish on my website is relatively new. ButI have tested them out here, and know they work.

Here are some examples. 

a. Low cost Earthworm farming as a means of feeding fish and other livestock higher protein levels to achieve better growth rates, at LOWER costs.

b. Daphia rearing for fingerling feeding at MUCH LOWER costs.

c. Rabbit rearing integrated with poultry and fish farming – I have reared and bred rabbits for sale, and KNOW they are perfect for this. My extensive research has also led me to discover a community in Africa that received international funding to DO exactly this kind of self-sustaining Integrated Livestock farming.

When I finish setting up automated monetization systems on my website, I WILL resume putting up the new stuff. But this time, some of it will be premium content that needs to be paid for. 

Click http://spontaneousdevelopment.com/premium/special_report.htm to see an example of my NEW paid subscription system that will be in use across my website

FINAL WORDS: As a Farm Business Owner, you MUST think like an entrepreneur.

Doing things DIFFERENTLY if it will help you make MORE profits, is something you should NEVER be afraid of. Don’t waste time seeking approval from arm chair theorists, who ONLY know how to criticise those who are DOING something with themselves.

Those who belong to the “critics” group, and who ALWAYS exist in LARGER numbers, do NOT like me for being able to offer what works.

They KNOW I will open the eyes of MANY people, and make them smarter and MORE independent. 

Should you let them deny YOU of the benefits I can bring to your farm business operations? 

The choice is yours!

My DN Travel News, Public Speaking

No. 102: Succeed by Showing You’re Special

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YOU are special. Do YOU know that? Many do not. Yet, as an expert in your field, convincing people you can help them requires showing you are different, unique…one of a kind. That you are SPECIAL!

People are attracted by that.

But many experts do not know (or they forget) that they are “special” (every human being IS). As a result, they frequently fail to show that side of themselves. This makes them get lost in the sea of formless “experts” clients choose from!

This issue of my speaking IDEAS newsletter discusses why/how letting the world see that you are different – and therefore special – can lead you to greater success.

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Publication: Tayo Solagbade’s Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Page (PSIP) Newsletter

Date: Monday 12th August 2013

No:102

Title: Succeed by Showing You’re Special

Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade

Blog URL: http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/blog

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

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

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Click HERE to download a FREE PDF copy of the 21 minute TV Interview verbatim transcript I created!

 

No. 102: Succeed by Showing You’re Special

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

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YOU are special. Do YOU know that? Many do not. Yet, as an expert in your field, convincing people you can help them requires showing you are different, unique…one of a kind. That you are SPECIAL!

People are attracted by that.

But many experts do not know (or they forget) that they are “special” (every human being IS). As a result, they frequently fail to show that side of themselves. This makes them get lost in the sea of formless “experts” clients choose from!

This issue of my speaking IDEAS newsletter discusses why/how letting the world see that you are different – and therefore special – can lead you to greater success.

1. The Creator is Never Afraid. You Never Should Be.

There are experts who play down their abilities for fear of criticism. They let others tell them that boldly showing what they can do amounts to being proud, or over ambitious.

But nothing could be further from the truth!

God wants every one of his creations to make the most of him or herself. When you can fly and you settle for hopping from tree to tree, you do the creator a major disservice.

He has given you the gift or talent to be much more. Are you making the best use of it?

Keep this in mind: Most times our unique abilities given us by the creator are not meant for us to use ourselves alone. Quite often we are required to develop them for use in serving others (e.g. our clients) and helping them make the most of themselves too!

As an expert-who-speaks, strive to discover and develop that which makes you special. And when you do, boldly show the world – via your learning events – how you can help them with it like your creator intended you to.

2. The Creator Always Acts True to Type. You Should Do The Same.

Acting true to type basically means walking our talk in every area of our lives.

The Christian bible asks a rhetorical question: “For what has darkness got to do with light”?

I like that question, because it clarifies one’s choices in life very easily. And you don’t even need to be a Christian to use it.

There is no midway when it comes to integrity. In relation to this, Burt Dubin once said “There is no partial virgin”. And he was right.

When presented with a choice between right and wrong, honesty and dishonesty, good and bad, any sincere person will know the correct decision to take.

Here’s a true story that illustrates the above point…

A fairly wealthy client once told me that if one is due to be paid say $1 million by a company, and the person to write the cheque demands for $100,000, it would be better to let him have it, rather than risk making him block the entire payment using his connections.

According to him, where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise.

But I knew I would never accept such treatment. For over 2 decades I’ve felt this way. It however occurred to me that if I said nothing, he would assume I agreed with him.

I therefore felt compelled to let him know where I stood. So, in a respectful tone, and without sounding judgmental, I said:

“Ehm, Sir. I understand what you mean, and I really appreciate the point you make about one standing a risk of suffering major delays in getting paid (or even losing it all), especially in our kind of society. But I must be honest with you, and say that if anyone ever gives me the condition that I must give him/her a cut from payment due to me, I would not accept it.”

Taking the above stand, has in the past cost me friendships with well paying clients who engaged in that practice, and argued that there was no other way.

Yet I chose to act true to type – with faith – and tell this man the very same thing.

Know this: Never compromise on your values and morals. Doing so will cost you more than you can ever hope to gain. Your creator will open new doors of opportunities for you as needed, every time you act true to type with faith. Therefore in negotiating the terms of a proposed speaking gig with any decision maker, ALWAYS act true to type.

Over time, only people willing to deal with you on your preferred terms will be attracted to you. Take it from me – I live this stuff, and it works!

3. The Creator Increases Others. Emulate Him.

Never ever seek to diminish others – not even those who hurt you. If you do, what would make you different from them?

Only when you do the opposite will they stop and wonder: “What? He’s still willing to play fair, despite the nasty stuff I did last time? This guy is something else!”

And that will make it obvious you are definitely one of a kind i.e. SPECIAL.

Final Words: Emulating the Creator Will Make You Special…and Ultimately More Successful

I often tell people I meet that each day of my life is a miracle. Time and time again, strange – but positive – coincidences occur in my life.

They continually reassure me that one who stays consistent in acting true to type will be rewarded with whatever s/he seeks.

All that is required is faith, patience and a willingness to persist.

None of these three requires money to be had…meaning they are available to everyone…including YOU!

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

If you need more specific details of how to make use of the ideas I’ve shared in this newsletter, send me a message using this request form – with “Re: Succeed by Showing You’re Special” in the subject line.

SD Nuggets Blog™

 New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking[Monday]:
No. 101: Speaking Can Make You a “Meaningful Specific”

Entrepreneurship [Tuesday]:
Can You Market and Advertise When You Lack Money?
Self-Development [Wednesday]:
Breakthrough to Purpose – Andy Brine Interviews Efe Ohwofasa (Verbatim Text Transcript Created by Tayo K. Solagbade)

Career Development [Thursday]:
No Company Will Pay Anyone to Be Idle!

Parenting [Friday]:

Acknowledge Others, and You Will Be Acknowledged
Writing/Blogging [Saturday]:
Your Writing Competence Matters Greatly
Want me to write for you? Click here…

Click now

Have a lovely week!

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

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

Mobile: 234-803-302-1263

http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com

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

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

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

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

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

Connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.

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Have you been undecided about whether or not to become a paid speaker? Or have you been trying to get your speaking career off the ground with little success?

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

Comments?

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

Share this issue!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Get mentored by Burt Dubin - coach of some of the world's highest paid public speakersFor over 25 years, Burt Dubin has provided a variety of speaker mentoring products and services to clients worldwide.
Download this flyer as PDF: http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/uploads/burt_new_flyer.pdf

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

 

 

My DN Travel News, Writing/Blogging

Your Writing Competence Matters Greatly

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Be less concerned about how many “years of service” you’ve given, and more about how much you’ve improved over that period – Tayo K. Solagbade

Your competence as a writer will often determine how well you do in any field you choose to write  in.

We don’t often realise this, but it is quite possible for a person to have the so called “years of experience” and still not be competent.

In other words, a writer may have been “around”, writing for a while, and yet not write well enough to consistently get the rewards s/he seeks e.g. responses of potential buyers (i.e. sales leads) to sales copy on his website;  positive comments on his/herblog posts etc.

How Well Do You Write?

Is your command of your chosen language good enough?
Also, how fast – and accurately – do you write…or (better still) type?

What amount of editing and proof reading do your write-ups usually need, before you consider them good enough to publish?

How well you write, against the background of your target audience’s preferences, will ultimately determine how well you perform.

This is not a call for anyone to be perfect. I certainly can not make any claims to perfection.

You need not be a genius in English language for instance, before you can write something that readers interested in your subject appreciate.

Therefore when I ask how well you write, what I refer to is your ability to put together an easy to understand body of useful information within a reasonable period of time.

Question: Do you doubt that you can meet the standards required by your target audience?

There are people who experience this fear as a psychological obstacle. If you harbour such a fear, understand that writing – just like any other aspect of life – is a learning process.

If you’re not a native English speaker, and have to write in English, know that you are not alone. Tthere are many like you (e.g. this writer), who are also not native English speakers!

What you need to do is LEARN all you can to improve your writing. Then summon courage to put what you learn to use.

You will need to do this repeatedly, and consistently.

The more you write with a passionate focus on improving yourself, the better you’re likely to become over time.

Get Help If You Struggle Too Much…or For Too Long

You’re interested in results, not staying in school or “learning mode” endlessly. Therefore if it feels like you’re taking too long, you may need help.

Most of the writing ideas I offer on this website are meant primarily for website and business owners who desire to use writing for business promotion.

I realise that such persons may not always have free time to do as much writing as they may need – even though they may wish to apply what I’ve written here. This is because other aspects of running their businesses will periodically demand their serious attention and time.

If the foregoing describes you, consider getting support to keep your writing going, if/when inevitable “interruptions” occur.

For instance, if it takes you much effort or time to write, edit and proof read, get help from someone who shares your vision, and has reliable competence. S/he could do the editing and proof reading for instance.

If you need more elaborate and/or committed support, hire an assistant that you can count on.

Alternatively, invest in the services of a Contract Resource Person to ghost-write articles/reports, on your preferred theme/topics. If you’d like me to help click here to let me know.

My DN Travel News, Parenting

Acknowledge Others, and You Will Be Acknowledged

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[Quick tip: I recommend YOU adopt the habit described in this article as a way of life – AND coach your kids to do the same.] Some of the most successful people in the world habitually acknowledge one another – even rivals! This happens in sports, entertainment, academics, business and other fields. In certain cases, competing parties go as far as cooperating to evolve better ways of doing what they do – a strategy called co-opetition (from cooperative competition).

The above means that even when you compete, you can still work together to achieve mutually beneficial progress in your areas of focus and interest.

Many of Us Forget How Important It Is to Recognise/Acknowledge Others

It takes little or nothing to tell someone “Well done…or that was great”. Yet many who should don’t.

We sometimes feel we cannot spare the time. In addition, a few of us let our egos get in the way. They fear that acknowledging others could make then appear less important or inferior.

That is why getting a facebook page “LIKED” by people, can take major doing. And it is what makes buying “facebook” page “LIKES” a “quietly important” past time for many :-)

Exceptions Usually Occur Only In Relation to Celebrities, Close Friends and Loved Ones

When your favourite singer, best friend, or pouse wife puts up a facebook page, it’s likely you’ll instantly click LIKE.

Many other people will however be deserving of your acknowledgement. They could include professional colleagues, contemporaries…and even rivals.

I believe it takes a fully evolved and liberated mind, to formally recognise good work done by such persons, without worrying that we’ll look smaller as a result.

What Should You Do When You “See” Total Strangers Doing Great Things Worthy of Praise?

It’s easy to acknowledge people we already know. However, with the Internet bringing people – and their works – closer to us each day, we will inevitably  come across “strangers” doing great things too.

When that happens, I argue that nothing should stop us from acknowledging such persons – once we ascertain that they are who they say they are.

It is for this reason that I frequently Google new people I come across online doing things I find noteworthy. Once I get enough information to confirm their authenticity, I rarely hold back from letting them – and others in my social circle – know that I appreciate them.

Doing so costs me nothing more than some seconds to a few minutes. And yet I know – from being on the receiving end of such “feedback” – that it can boost his/her drive to continue adding value that way.

Unfortunately, many of us have become too conditioned by society, to do this. Instead, we are so focused on ourselves, and the things that matter to us.

Yet we keep expecting others to show interest in what we are doing! How ironic…and selfish.

Should they pay us attention, if we rarely pay them any? Not all. There’s no reason for them to!

Final Words; You Have to Give, In Order to Get

We have been repeatedly told that the favourite subject of people is themselves. That’s why to win them over, it’s best to get people talking about themselves while we do more listening.

In the same vein, If you want people to develop a liking for you, a smart way will be to offer them honest compliments when they do something you truly consider noteworthy.

Note that flattery has no place in what I propose here.

I refer instead to a situation in which you formally recognize useful works and contributions of others. In my case, I often give direct feedback to persons who impress me, in addition to announcing it to others in my social circle.  I do this both online, and in my daily interpersonal interactions.

A trip through my Facebook timeline and Twitter feeds will provide useful indication of what I mean.

For instance, over the past 12 months, I’ve actively shared news about Nigeria’s teenage blogging genius Bamidele Onibalusi, Patrick Meninga (the man who found fame by selling his blog for $200K) and others, whose achievements greatly impressed me.

Guess what? Even though I asked nothing in return, I’ve already been rewarded in many ways – by way of feedback, from them, and from others who came across what I wrote about them.

And that’s really how the world works. You have to give, if you want to get from others.

I did (and continue to do) that, without wanting any thing in return.

I did (and continue to do) that, to inspire others to achieve authentic success, by overcoming any challenges they encounter.

If you want to reap rewards similar to mine: Go and do likewise.

Career Development, My DN Travel News

No Company Will Pay Anyone to Be Idle!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

efe-andy-thb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Final Words

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

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

Entrepreneurship, My DN Travel News

Can You Market and Advertise When You Lack Money?

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Marketing and Advertising When You Have No Money

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

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

Marketing and Advertising Is About Getting Noticed By Your Target Audience

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. What has been the response so far?

2. How long have you been doing this?

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

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

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

But I quickly shot him the following message:

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

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

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

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

Final Words: Some Resources for Further Reading…and Action

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My DN Travel News, Public Speaking

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

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

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

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

No. 101: Speaking Can Make You a Meaningful Specific

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poor Speaking Skills Can Prevent You From Becoming a Meaningful Specific

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

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

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

But he did not find it easy…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That person is Burt Dubin.

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

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

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

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

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

SD Nuggets Blog™

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

Entrepreneurship [Tuesday]:

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

Proven Strategy for Succeeding by Winning People’s Trust

Career Development [Thursday]:

Excel by Getting Useful Ideas to Decision Makers

Parenting [Friday]:

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

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

Click now

Have a lovely week!

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

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

Mobile: 234-803-302-1263

http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comments?

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

Share this issue!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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