Category Archives: My DN Travel News
Protected: Think Like a “Problem Solver” and NOT a “Programmer”, to Make Money With Your ExcelVB Coding Skills [Hint: Meet The Man Whose World Class Web Based Learning Resources Helped Me Take My Problem Solving Excel-VB Solutions Development to the Next Level!]
[Recommended] A Tried & Tested Six Figure World Class Internet Marketing Success Coach
[Recommended] A Tried & Tested Six Figure World Class Internet Marketing Success Coach
If you’re keen to learn how to cost-effectively achieve Long Term World Class Quality Internet Marketing success, you may want to stop what you’re doing and read what follows below about a rare expert, who’s done (and helped others do) it for decades!
This is a short post I’ve written to introduce a Warrior Forum discussion page where knowledgeable Internet Marketing pros responded to an enquirer’s request for guidance on whether or not solutions offered by the Internet Marketing Coach mentioned below, were worth investing in.
I refer to…
[Recommended] A Tried & Tested Six Figure World Class Internet Marketing Success Coach
Terry Dean…
NB: Neither the forum members nor Terry Dean have asked me to do this, or are even aware I’ve done it. in other words I get no rewards for writing this, and only do it, because I want to.
Click here to read the request.
if you’re asking who Terry Dean is, the rest of this post offers details and links to useful resources you can study.
I’ve followed Terry Dean since 2001, my last year in paid employment, when I used to read his reports about making a living online.
Yep.
Like the guys in the Warror Forum noted, he’s been around for quite a while – and is still going strong!
What’s more, the fact that he still continues to command top ratings among those in the upper echelons of Internet Marketing worldwide, proves that he truly knows what it takes.
But what I’ve found most attractive about Mr. Dean over the years is the fact that he always keeps his coaching and business simple.
You won’t catch him using complex SEO jargon or going overboard in use of web based technology. His email newsletters and webpages remain as simple and basic as ever in terms of how they are presented, and what they communicate.
And yet this man is well known in the markets he serves for not only developing systems that earn him millions, but also for helping thousands of clients to do the same.
This is the kind of expert virtually anyone can learn from. You won’t need to be a tech guru to work with him.
This is why I’m linking to the review page below about him, which he probably does not know about!
It is also why I offer you the URL below to view a Google results page with links to learn more about him.
Most importantly I showcase this man because he embodies what I call “Silent Success”.
For instance, the last thing you can associate with him is HYPE – so people looking for quick fixes or free rides in fancy cars may not “like” him. See his Facebook business page here.
If truth be told, most business owners – especially in my part of the world – engaged in learning or practising Internet Marketing, have probably never heard of Terry Dean.
I’ve found that my primary target audience in Africa, due to their different mental attitudes online, need a finetuned adaptation of ideas proven to work in developed societies. That’s what I try to do for those who hire me.
Yet if you move amongst the communities, online and off the web, in which the very best experts in this field interact (e.g the Internet Marketing
Superconference held in USA), you’re certain to discover he’s reverred. Some call him a legend.
I’ll end by saying the least you can do, especially if you’re from my part of the world, is to signup to join Terry’s free email newsletter mailing to tap from some of his experience based wisdom.
What are the things he feels matter the most for Internet Marketing success achievement?
What does he think you should focus your time and energy on?
How does he do his own marketing?
What does he think about many of the wonderful promises being made by a lot of Internet Marketing coaches?
Does he make use of Social Media marketing, and how much does he depend on – or recommend it – for achievement of Internet Marketing success.
Why does he NOT like being called a “Guru”?
You’ll be surprised by what you learn. And you’ll be the wiser for it, I assure you.
I say this based on smart insights I’ve gained from reading and adapting ideas from this man.
Click here to learn more about Terry Dean.
Good luck!
Build & Sell Your Own Excel Software: FREE Workshop Introduction to Excel-VB Automation [For ICAN/ATS Tuition Centres and Other Business Users] – Tayo Solagbade’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Club
Last Wednesday (25th May 2016), I had a 1 hour meeting with the CEO and other team members of an ICAN/ATS tuition centre in Ojodu-Lagos, and they indicated interest in having me facilitate 2 runs of my workshop for their students.
The title is to be: Build & Sell Your Own Excel Software [Introduction to Excel-VB Automation]
They asked about the fees and I explained that the centre simply needs to pay the $65 USD annual membership fee and that will entitle all students enrolled with them to access my online tutorials and workshops FREE (but once a student is no longer enrolled in the centre s/he will not be allowed access and wiil have to join the club by making payment independently, if s/he wishes to continue).
This afternoon I sent them the PDF invoice, since the CEO had told me they would like it to hold in the first 2 or 3 weekends in June.
If/when they pay the club membership, I’ll send invitations to all my existing club members, to attend, if they’re interested.
But you don’t have to be an accountant or a student in an ICAN/ATS Tuition Centre to access my ExcelVB club or workshop
Of course you don’t. And that’s why I’m writing this blog announcement.
The truth is every serious minded user of MS Excel who wishes to maximise his/her productivity NEEDS to learn how to use ExcelVB programming to automate most of what s/he does in MS Excel.
Now, there’s a wrong mindset many business users seem to adopt when they hear me say “MS Excel Programming”.
Quite often they conclude they will need some kind of serious formal IT certification level training as a prerequsite for automating their work in MS Excel.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
You see VIsual Basic for Application is a programming language developed mainly for use by USERS who want to intelligently use automation to boost their output to the next level of productivity.
In essence ExcelVB is a coding language you and I (I.e ANY motivated user) can learn to use to get Excel to do what we want and how we want it.
As with most other things in life, ExcelVB programming cannot be mastered overnight.
But it is fairly intuitive, and with diligent persistence any user can develop proficiency in it, to extent that s/he can build and sell branded, robust custom software for clients at various levels.
How can I be so sure?
Well that’s because I’ve been building commercial quality spreadsheet software for over 2 decades for business users in various fields, and industries.
I did it for over 5 of the 7 years I worked in Guinness Nigeria, where at a point I learned through the corporate grapevine that I was being called “Super Brewer” by colleagues.
This was probably due to the fact that they knew:
1. the apps I developed were formally adopted for brewery level reporting, having replaced manual reporting systems in the departments I worked.
2. I did all that work in my spare time, when I was off duty from shifts or after close of work (after I got promoted to 9 to 5 senior positions)
3. I did not have any IT training or background in programming or software development. All I hold till this day is a 2nd Class Upper Division Honours B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services
As you can see from the above, I began just like any other person who knew nothing about IT, but had a data handling and report generating PROBLEM that badly needed solving!
If I could develop myself through self-study to the point that I now sell my apps to international buyers, then so can you.
And that’s why I launched my ExcelVB club and offer membership to you, including free weekly tutorials (downloadable videos/PDFs) and monthly LIVE workshops.
Interested? Click here to send me a message?
If you run a tuition centre, do your students a favour and signup your centre so they can all get FREE access.
Indeed you will be able to attract more student enrollments by informing them that they’ll gain FREE access to the club tutorial through your centre!
Call me on +234-803-302-1263 or +229-66-122-136 for details.
Related
Become a SUPER Accountant, Engineer, Marketer, Insurance Broker or Spreadsheet Business User: FREE Workshop Introduction to Excel-VB Automation – Tayo Solagbade’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Club
Do you routinely use MS Excel spreadsheets to get your work done, but sometimes wish you could do so FASTER, with LESS effort and in LESS time?
If YES, what I have tell you below has to do with an opportunity that can change your life forever – and I mean that literally!
Over the past 13 years, I have worked closely with seasoned Chartered Accountants/Auditors especially and in some cases Quantity Surveyors, to develop applications for their companies using MS Excel.
What I noticed was that many of these professionals were good with MS Excel, but they lacked my ability to program Excel
I believe that by helping these kinds of professionals learn to program MS Excel for their purposes, they will spawn a new brred of skilled professionals that will expand the market I have created for spreadsheet solutions out here.
Are you an Accountant/Auditor, Engineer/Quantity Surveyor, Marketer or Insurance Broker, who uses MS Excel spreadsheets for routine data handling and report generation?
Or let me ask: Does your work require you to carry out elaborate data collection and analysis for formal report generation purposes.
Do you routinely use MS Excel spreadsheets to get your work done, but sometimes wish you could do so FASTER, with LESS effort and in LESS time?
Your spreadsheet needs to be laid out according to certain rules, to make preparation of reports and subsequent automation effective and efficient. There are so many powerful ways to setup/use spreadsheets to make your work easier – even without VBA code driven automation.
If you belong to any of the groups I have described above, you are very likely to be at least an average or intermediate level user of MS Excel.
Indeed it is possible you are widely considered an “expert” by those you work or relate with, because very often, you solve other people’s problems using your spreadsheet skills.
That’s why my offer of personal, confidential coaching in MS Excel Automation using Visual Basic is likely to be a NATURAL progression to the NEXT HIGHER level of competence that will appeal to you.
Believe me when I tell you that what I can TEACH you to do with MS Excel is nothing like anything you may have done in the area of using MS Excel, or indeed in automating it.
GET STARTED: Fill and submit this form on my website to request details of how to get started
Remember that acquiring this new competence can effectively help you earn more recognition, respect and INCOME from others.
With my help that seeming dream become a reailty for you, IF you let me help you.
Fill and submit this form (click now) on my website to request details of how to get started.
Call me on +234-803-302-1263 or +229-66-122-136 for details.
Related
2. Visit the page below to watch a video introduction to my ExcelVB club
PII 016: How Long Should Good, Lasting Change to Prosperity Take to Implement in a Badly Abused, Nearly Crippled Socio-Economic Entity? [Real Life Case Study of a Struggling Multinational Manufacturer That Turned Its Fortunes Around vs Prospects for a Nation’s Economic Revival]
We all have a right to voice our opinions on any issue, but we also have a responsibility to make such contributions from well informed and objective perspectives.
What you’re about to read is a true personal story. The education and information I offer through this article can help many – if they keep an open mind.
You see, most of us have known the manufacturing multinational the story below is about, for most of our lives.
Most of us drink their products without sparing a thought for how they keep their operations running profitably to pay salaries and declare dividends to shareholders. This, despite their having to deal with the erratic and harsh climate in Nigeria’s socio-economic environment – that we all complain about!
SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE
Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter
NB: This PI Squared newsletter will be published weekly, on Mondays, in place of the Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, starting from today – 15th February 2016. I’m reinventing my Monday newsletter content and theme, to accommodate my vision of serving the growing audience of serious minded individuals and organizations reaching out to me, with information, education. news and research findings designed to help them do what they do better.
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How Long Should Good, Lasting Change to Prosperity Take to Implement in a Badly Abused, Nearly Crippled Socio-Economic Entity? [Real Life Case Study of a Struggling Multinational Manufacturer That Turned Its Fortunes Around vs Prospects for a Nation’s Economic Revival]
We all have a right to voice our opinions on any issue, but we also have a responsibility to make such contributions from well informed and objective perspectives.
What you’re about to read is a true personal story. The education and information I offer through this article can help many – if they keep an open mind.
You see, most of us have known the manufacturing multinational the story below is about, for most of our lives.
Most of us drink their products without sparing a thought for how they keep their operations running profitably to pay salaries and declare dividends to shareholders. This, despite their having to deal with the erratic and harsh climate in Nigeria’s socio-economic environment – that we all complain about!
Despite all that goes wrong in Nigeria, companies like this one I served in continue to forge ahead, doing what they do.
Few of us however ever stop to wonder:
How do they do it, when our governments struggle? How do they recover when things go wrong for them?
I have been a part of those processes in such companies, and that is why I know we can all learn a lot from those who run those organisations and keep them going for decades like they do.
In the rest of this piece, I share my insights based a true story from the first 4 years of my stay (between the ages of 24 and 28) in that company.
If you keep an open mind, I guarantee you will come away with useful insights.
I once had the unique privilege of participating in a major change implementation process involving turning around the fortunes of the Nigerian arm of multinational socio-economic entity run by European expatriates in collaboration with Nigerian colleagues.
That experience is what equips me to see what most others miss (or simply refuse to see). It gives me an advantage of a superior perspective.
For that reason I feel obligated to share my insights, with reference ti a bigger socio-economic entity like Nigeria, especially in light of the uninformed conclusions I see many drawing, in a bid to assess the current government after its first year in office.
I was recruited as a Graduate Management Trainee (Technical Function) in October 1994 along with 11 others.
The organisation was limping badly – operationally and financially, following the devastating ban on wheat importation, and as a result of poor management, that had necessitated appointment of the new leadership that welcomed us.
They told us we were to be trained as a new generation of managers, in the drive to get the company fully back on its feet, to achieve improved output and profits over time.
The changes that had to implemented were varied, harsh, and sometimes not popular. Cost cutting was commonplace, and in production it manifested in form of frequent Variable Cost Reduction trials.
To implement needed changes, the parent company had sent in “PH” (his initials) – a reputed no nonesense turnaround specialist with an intimidating track record of getting desired results.
Sources in the grapevine had it that he’d risen through the ranks, right from the shop floor, and so knew the business inside out. He wasted no time in asserting himself, and soon began pushing belt tightening Best Practice initiatives requiring smart repair and maintenance of decades old machines considered spent, with a view to producing output rivalling that from new plants!
Some old (Nigerian) hands in senior positions kicked against the proposed changes and new philosophy openly and behind closed doors.
PH and his team took note but kept pushing. We the new breed were soon inducted, trained and redeployed to different sites.
Periodic restructuring, retrenching and retraining of other staff also happened as time went on.
PH left at a point I cannot recall, but not before the needed initial strategic changes had been set in motion. People willing to ACCEPT the new ways of doing things had been retained, while those assessed to be unwilling or unable to adjust, had been let go.
I’ll never forget the phrase “a lean and fit organisation”.
That phrase was drummed repeatedly into our heads. That was what the new company envisioned was to evolve into.
By 1998, a new workplace philosophy and culture had been entrenched, and many of us had been assigned key roles to play – some (like me) getting trained by the company’s corporate Best Practice Champions to facilitate workplace organisation changes in our breweries.
Around this period, the desired results had began to emerge in form of consistently improved outputs and sales.
The Variable Costs Reduction initiatives enabled us evolve ways to lower operating costs without losing output or damaging product quality.
The result was that profit margins grew without the company needing to raise selling prices. I saw this happen and it excited me greatly. This is why today I keep telling my Farm CEO clients to find ways to increase their profits without raising prices, as a means of mitigating the harsh impact of the rising input prices they face.
At a point, we had done so well – with those same old machines previously considered “spent” – that money made from sales had been enough to purchase a brand new bottling line, reportedly one of the fastest in Africa at the time!
Suddenly, all those wise “senior managers with many years on the job” who’d complained about the futility and needless hardship of producing with such old, leaky and rickety machines looked silly – on hindsight!
At least to me they did, because I’d been opportuned to witness the BEFORE and AFTER realities of the “changes” that had been implemented during the 2 to 4 year period that had passed!
I went on to play more active roles in influencing many more positive workplace changes (using my self-taught spreadsheet automation skills) by drawing inspiration from what I’d witnessed and participated in with regard to improving production operations in the company.
What I knew gave me the conviction to push my ideas, initiatives and solutions forward, even when supposedly wiser/more experienced senior colleagues scoffed or raised objections often to preserve the status quo.
I kept pushing knowing that I could over time develop my approach or strategy in a way that would deliver results they would welcome.
Guess what?
I did!
In fact, by the time I quit the company to go into self-employment building and selling custom spreadsheet apps for a living (as I’ve been doing for 14 years now), I’d gained companywide recognition for using my spreadsheet automation skills to develop apps that replaced paper based data handling and report generation in the departments I worked. Click here to read details in my resume.
So much so, that other departmental and sectional heads approached me to help them develop similar solutions for use by their team members.
Over 4 of the custom apps I built were adopted for formal brewery level reporting. The best part of my story was that I did all that in my spare time while still working full time in the company as a brewer/manager.
I got no extra pay, neither was I given time off from work (I should add that it never occurred to me to ask, because I enjoyed doing it)!
As a result, I tended to literally live in the brewery – leaving late (sometimes past midnight) and arriving early (often before 5a.m).
So you see, I had it tough during those early “change” years in that company, but the results that I saw accrue to the company and to us, the individuals in it, (though they took 2 to 4 years to arrive), taught me that real lasting change from a bad socio-economic situation to one that is close to the ideal one desires, will often not happen quickly or without prolonged pains/hardship.
To think otherwise would be foolhardy.
What matters is having the right leadership driving the change.
The decision makers in the company I worked for ensured that happened, and success came as a result.
Now, coming back to Nigeria…
I believe Nigerians chose the right leader – in Muhammadu Buhari, during the last (2015) presidential elections – to drive the needed change.
However, compared to the company I worked for, Nigeria is a much larger socio economic entity.
At the risk of stating the obvious, it is an entire country with multiple nationalities of people numbering a quarter of a billion people!
In addition, Nigeria has suffered myriad forms of abuse at the hands of a series of leaders.
On top of that she has detractors (actively working to create difficult conditions for progressive governance), who unlike the CEO of my company, the nation’s president cannot simply layoff or ask to “leave”!
All of the above, and more, make any suggestion that Nigeria’s fortunes should have improved within one year of a new leadership in power, too much of an irresponsible joke.
It took the company I worked in close to 4 solid years to regain any semblance of the stability it desired, despite the times not being as harsh as they are today.
This is why I believe that to expect Nigeria to get back on its feet faster, or to judge the new government incompetent after only one year in office, following extensive bastardisation of the nation’s resources that happened before it took over, makes no sense whatsoever.
As far as I’m concerned, I only expect to begin seeing tangible fruits of this new government’s current labours from 2 full years after it has been in power.
And I’ll only be prepared to pass any form of judgement on their performance at the end of their 4th year in office.
So times are hard, but they are the result of preceding years of mismanagement which this new government has to start with. Like it happened with the company I worked for, tough decisions and changes will have to be taken, made and endured by everyone involved.
Complaining and blaming the current crop of leaders will not help matters. Instead we must join our hearts and hands to support this new team to succeed – for all our sakes!
New posts from last week*
Monday:
[Tuesday]:
[Wednesday]:
[Thursday]:
[Friday]:
Evaluating and improving Your Poultry Layers Farm Performance – Useful Resource URLs (Based on Real Life Correspondence With a Farm CEO)
[Saturday]:
Common Sense Evaluation of ROI from Your Social Media Marketing (Hint: A Busy “EMPS” Driven Facebook or Twitter Page is No Guarantee of Sales)
[Sunday]:
Protected: Selling Your ExcelVB Solutions – Example of Promotional Strategy: Boost Hospital/Clinics Records Management Using Smart ExcelVB Automation [Hint: Custom MS Excel-VB app built for a Lagos-Nigeria based Medical Clinic]
Protected: THE FARM CEO (Issue 47): Meet “IFAMA” – the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan, Purpose and Mission of IFAMA Regional Chapters, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
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Tayo K. Solagbade* Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist *Creator of the Mastering Adversity for Perpetual Success Achievement Coaching Program Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organizations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners). Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software. He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organizations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods and others. In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region. His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details). In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy (SDAc). When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter. You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook. Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity. ====
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Protected: THE FARM CEO (Issue 47): Meet “IFAMA” – the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan, Purpose and Mission of IFAMA Regional Chapters, International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
Protected: Selling Your ExcelVB Solutions – Example of Promotional Strategy: Boost Hospital/Clinics Records Management Using Smart ExcelVB Automation [Hint: Custom MS Excel-VB app built for a Lagos-Nigeria based Medical Clinic]
Common Sense Evaluation of ROI from Your Social Media Marketing (Hint: A Busy “EMPS” Driven Facebook or Twitter Page is No Guarantee of Sales)
Quick Take-Away:
My growing web marketing success achievements over the past decade, using my customizable Web Marketing System to sell digital products/services to buyers within and outside Africa at zero cost, make me an authority on this subject.
Take it or leave it.
As usual, I pull no punches in expressing my views. This needs to be said, and I’ve decided to say it, if others won’t or can’t say it, or don’t see/know it.
Let me begin with a statement of undiluted fact:
If you want to really experience the true (zero cost, time and effort saving) benefits of Internet driven high-quality-buyer attracting marketing, do NOT – and I repeat DO NOT EVER – stoop so low as to engage in the use of “EMPS”.
That acronym (EMPS) has nothing to do with Science’s Electro Magnetic Pulse…
Instead I coined it to mean “Ego-Massaging-Parapo Self-Promotion” (where “Parapo” translates to something like “Clique-based” in my native Yoruba language).
EMPS is something I see periodically practised by groups of self-acclaimed experts (especially in my part of the world) who thrive on arrogant-self-promotion.
“Arrogant” in the sense that they self-promote with no regard for what the larger market comprising their ideal target audiences NEEDS from them.
As a result, 9 times out of 10, their marketing communication tends to include lots of back patting amongst themselves, with VERY little else that persons seeking VALUE can take away.
Go to their walls or pages and each of them has his/her own photo posted along with every bit of content – even repetitively.
They typically LIKE one another’s Facebook pages and follow one another on Twitter, then get friends and relatives to do same.
Outside that, very little that is ORGANIC happens as a result of the marketing they do.
Simply put, their marketing is frequently all about them and others in their “parapo” and how “good” they look.
What they refuse to “get” is the truth that Google’s search engine algorithms are NOT designed to factor ego-massaging in rating content quality to serve serious minded searchers!
Consequently, you don’t catch them, or their websites, or other web resources they own getting indexed and thrown up in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for total strangers, in need of their solutions to discover and contact them.
And that’s what proves that their approach is wrong I.e the fact that they rarely have such true and verifiable web marketing success stories to share.
The Internet is a living thing – an organic medium. To think otherwise in using the World Wide Web based on THAT Interconnected network of computers, while doing your marketing, would be equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot.
That’s why crooked marketing does not last long on the web, and it often costs more in terms of time, effort and money required to keep it going.
On the other hand, authentic marketing, done with a clinical focus on relentless creation and propagation of useful quality information and education NEVER fails online – can often be done at zero cost for as long as one wants.
Quality content based web marketing works because the Internet is no respecter of physical (office or brand) size, social status, educational level, bank account size or even connections.
If you choose to use paid adverts for instance to drive your online marketing, it does NOT follow that a bigger sized ad banner will get you more attention from serious prospects than a competitor with a smaller paid one!
But I’m not even talking paid marketing or advertising here.
Those who follow my work online know that my focus has always been on self-promotion via creation of name/brand recognition at zero cost.
I argue that the person who has nothing but his/her idea or solution, can come online and succeed in earning money from buyers, by making intelligent use of zero cost organic search engine based marketing – like I have successfully done for years now!
My niched self-promotion success online and that of better known others in this regard (e.g Jumoke the bread-seller turned Internation model’s unplanned version), prove YOU CAN start out as a complete noboby both offline and online, and over time have your name in the consciousness of hundreds, thousands or more of your target audience, on and off the web, just based on the content that you (or indeed others – as happened for Jumoke) put online about you(rself).
You need to understand that today’s offline world gets directly impacted in real time by what happens online
Decision making by leaders in government, business, religion etc across the world is today influenced by agitation implemented entirely online.
I don’t need to give you examples, I’m sure.
Even in Nigeria’s offline world sometimes shrouded in mystery, blogs and social media based campaigns have since gone on record for their roles in changing the course of events in the lives of people who previously would have been considered lost causes e.g think police cases initially destined to be swept under the carpet…
The web works the same way in business.
That’s why your web marketing competence is crucial to your marketing success both online and offline!
Accept that truth now, or remain relegated to the background in marketing relevance when using the web!
Today’s mass media – TV, Radio, Newspapers – wisely take their cue from what’s trending online.
So if, for instance, you want them to talk about you without your paying them a kobo (Americans would say “a dime” – but I’m not American) – just use the web in a way that gets them to notice you.
They don’t have to like what you say or do, or how you say or do it. Just go ahead and say or do it in a manner that is hard to ignore and that is worthy of being talked about, or reported – aka NEWSWORTHY.
To get noticed that way, you need to develop a Web Marketing Strategy or Plan – and it needs to be implemented based on a system that is self-perpetuating.
That will generate organic traffic of mainly total strangers interested in what you sell, way beyond what any EMPS networks can possibly deliver to you, leading to real selling opportunities that could put real money in your pockets if/when you close a sale(s) with those prospects that connect with you.
I see experts who keep showing off high numbers of likes, comments and followers, but who cannot boast of even 0.5% sales converted from all of it combined.
Yet their facebook and twitter feeds remain busy due to streams of conversations with their ever admiring “likers and followers”.
If those “likers and followers” are mainly EMPS click-buddies with whom you’ve agreed to cross promote content, then very little real-potential-buyer attraction is likely to happen for you, outside of that circle.
If that suits you, keep doing it!
Personally, I cannot waste my scare time resource like that, because I have a bigger God-given Vision I”m pursuing, to make a difference helping others as a Multi-disciplinary Performance Improvement Specialist
I don’t know about YOU, reading this right now, but I do NOT just want to be liked on Facebook and followed on Twitter, for instance.
Instead, I use those platforms because I want to have quality sales conversations, and ultimately close some sales – while helping those who need me!
So I prefer to be liked and followed by people who have potential to become buyers of solutions I sell. If that means having a small number of “likers and followers” to show, so be it.
Get this: The number of people you connect with does not always matter in selling.
If for instance, you land a long term supply contract with Strive Masiyawa’s Econet Wireless, to serve all their offices worldwide, the income from that ONE single client could dwarf all you earn from 100 other smaller clients combined.
Who says you can’t get noticed and land such a contract using your web marketing? Masiyawa himself has continually written that it’s happened to others and it can happen for anyone.
My point in essence is that you’re better off having few high paying buyers or clients to serve, than having hundreds of low paying, bargain seeking ones to deal with as a result of poor marketing.
What I’ve learnt from studying many brands marketing online is that a busy facebook or twitter page is no guarantee of sales.
Some websites, blogs and social media pages are high maintenance (in terms of time/effort/money expended to keep them going), but low to zero income generating channels for their clueless owners!
Indeed, my experience as one selling custom Excel VB software and other unconventional products and services online indicates, is that you CAN repeatedly make sales to people who do NOT even bother to subscribe to your website newsletter, or like your Facebook page, or follow you on Twitter, before they call you up on phone, send you a sales enquiry via email or web contact form, and ultimately buy from you.
This has been my reality over the years: I’ve made sales that way MANY times!
So you see, the number of likes and followers you get on Facebook and Twitter, are important – but what matters more is the INTENT of those liking and following you on those platforms.
Indeed, persons who have not even liked or followed you (as my online success story continues to show) may be even more likely to buy from you than those already in your network!
That’s why you need to keep thinking big picture when posting promotional content on your pages. Don’t focus only on those “talking” to you there, and patting you on the back, screaming how they love your posts.
Quite often the talkers rarely do more than that (I.e talk): some derive feelings of validation from being paid attention by THE page owner. That’s all they’re there for.
But you’re in business to make money, so you (should) know you need more than that for your efforts!
That’s why I recommend you do the following:
1. Ask yourself how many of them fit your target audience or ideal client/buyer profile.
2. Then of those that fit in, ask yourself how many have ever purchased your product or service at market price, without making it look like s/he was doing you a favour.
How many did you count?
I dare say they will be less than 1% of the total number of talkers you find yourself responding to most times.
For a presumably busy expert of your stature, that’s not a productive use of your billable effort and time!
Such people may be interested in you and what you have to say, but they may not be driven to NEED what you sell!
To sell successfully, you need to attract and connect more with people who need solutions you offer, and are willing to pay the price you request for it.
Maybe you need your ego massaged periodically by admirers.
We’re all human after all 
But your sales and marketing success depends less on “ego tripping” and much more on having quality content created and propagated using an intelligent time, effort and cost-saving Web Marketing System!
Pay those massaging your ego too much attention and they’ll do 2 things to you – both starting with the letter “D”, and both bad I.e they will DISTRACT and DRAIN you.
You deserve better than that!
Evaluating and improving Your Poultry Layers Farm Performance – Useful Resource URLs (Based on Real Life Correspondence With a Farm CEO)
[Tip: This is a publication for Farm CEO members of my Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas club, which I’ve left without password protection, for non-members to read and benefit. Enjoy!]
Times are hard for business owners today – especially in Nigeria. (Hint: Read
“My Dear, We Have To Sell The Range Rover. Nigeria is Broke. No Money To Steal” – Mazi’s Humour & Satire )
So if you serve people belonging to that group, you need to find ways to help them getter results at lower costs, if you want them to pay attention to you.
No one has any free money to spare for experimental projects anymore. You’ve got to demonsrate to them specific, tangible benefits that can accrue to them.
And after you make your sale, it will be in your long term business profitability interest to remain as passionate as possible, in helping them with tips, coaching as well as new ideas and resources they can study, explore or use to make progress towards their valued
goals.
I practice what I preach, so you can be sure I do the above. I’ve done it for years in fact.
Example: Below, I share excerpts from an email message I recently sent to a Farn CEO who bought my Poultry Farm Manager and Ration Formulator sofware few months ago and is looking for ideas to boost profits by improving Hen Day% and other farm KPIs.
Dear (name removed),
I’ll send you a zipped folder cotaining the 1st 37 PDF issues of The Farm CEO newspaper later. All clients get FREE lifetime subscription. If you’d joined the Facebook group you would have received it 2 months back.
I featured some writeups on alternative feed ingredients in some editions. It’s 17MB and cannot be sent from my BB due to the data limit.
Below are the URLs to some other potentially useful articles you can read.
1. Cassava root meal as substitute for maize in layers ration – SciELO
Click here to read
NB: The challenge for you will be how to get enough of this viable alternative ingredient in the desire form for use in achieving successful feed formulation
2. Story: After Resolving Layers Feeding Problems, Selling Increased Eggs Output Became a Headache
Click here to read
3. Practical Poultry Farm Business Performance Calculations
Click here to read
NB: I wrote this popular article around 2006. It explains the calculations used to generate the HDP% and other parameters in the PFM app.
4. Nigeria Finds Sorghum a Good Alternative to Maize in Poultry Feed
Click here to read
5. Effect of Replacing Maize with Brewer’s Dried Grain in Broiler Feed
Click here to read
6. Effects of Partial or Total Replacement of Maize with Alternative Feed Source on Digestibility, Growth Performance, Blood Metabolites and Economics in Limousin Crossbred Cattle
Click here to read
7. Utilization of cassava in nonruminant livestock feeds
Click here to read
8. Effect of Dietary Maize Substitution with Sweet Potato Meal on Performance of Growers (10-22 weeks) and Subsequent Egg Production (23-35 weeks)
Click here to read
9. 5 Powerful Tools for Accurately Measuring Your (Farm) Business’ Health | SD Nuggets™
Click here to read
10. 5 Proven Ways to Boost Farm Profits without Raising Prices
Final Words
I’m often corresponding on phone, Whatsapp, email and Facebook with my clients in various markets.
In the last 48 hours, I’ve done a lot of that with one in the UK, another in Ogun state Nigeria, and just yesterday morning, one in Benin Republic’s Cotonou.
I feel blessed to be able to say my devotion to serving them with my heart and soul, continues to add value to them in a way that they appreciate.
It pays to serve with passion. Your clients will love you for it.
If you’re a client looking for a provider to hire, choose one who demonstrates that s/he truly cares with a passion, for you and your business. Otherwise you may end up throwing your money away!
Need my help? Click here to send me a message.