Category Archives: My Ideas for Making Nigeria Better

[Video 3 of 9] MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Competition: To compete, you must be a member of SDAc’s Excel-VB club

[MS Excel Heaven™ Club & Competition Offer: Part 3 of 9] : To compete, you must be a member of SDAc’s Excel-VB club.

This is part 3 of 9 of the video narrated version of the 9 page Slideshow about the Excel Heaven Visual Basic Club & Competition.

I explain why intending competitors must join the club – and what benefits…

Click the links below to watch other videos in the series:

Videos 1 & 2: Spreadsheet Automation Can Boost Your Success [What MANY African Professionals Are Missing]

[Video 4 of 9] MS Excel Heaven VB Competition: But Why a Competition on MS Excel-VB Automation?

You can download the FULL 9 page slideshow from http://tayosolagbade.com/excelcluboffer

Video: Spreadsheet Automation Can Boost Your Success [What MANY African Professionals Are Missing]

The Justification for Adopting Custom ExcelVB Spreadsheet Automation – Many Africans still don’t get it. Sometimes Off-The-Shelf Applications will NOT meet your needs well enough! There is an industry that is MISSING on the continent, that can help reduce unemployment: It’s the Excel-VB Solutions Development Industry!

Watch the videos below, to hear me explain in detail…

 

 

Click here to download the 9 page slideshow about the MS Excel Heaven™ Visual Basic Club.

It explains how you can participate in the competition…or how you can become a sponsor.

Learn more about my home study Excel-VB workbook (here) and video tutorials, my 4 day practical workshop as well as my custom Excel-VB software development service.

 

 

SDAc’s Microsoft Excel Heaven™ Visual Basic Club & COMPETITION [For Business Users & School Kids] – Download 9 Page Offer Slideshow

(a). The Microsoft Excel Heaven™ Visual Basic club offers serious minded business users a platform to learn useful spreadsheet automation skills using MS Excel-Visual Basic.

(b). The competition provides such business users with a REAL WORLD relevant challenge that they can use to test their new skills, thereby building the confidence to deliver greater value to their employers or clients – leading to increased productivity and income.

(c). The Kiddie’s arm of the club aims to promote zero cost spreadsheet programming skills development in kids, to solve everyday problems.

Cover for the 9 page PowerPoint slideshow - click to submit a web form request to get the download link

Who is this club/competition for?

a. Paid club membership is open to all business users in all fields e.g accountants/financial/tax consultants, sales/marketing professionals, corporate executives, Quantity Surveyors/engineers etc.

b. FREE membership open to persons preparing for professional examinations at accredited tuition centres. No payment is required from the students. However, the tuition centre is required to pay the $65 USD MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Club annual membership fee . That single payment covers ALL student in that centre.

NB: Professionals (who have passed exams and already practicing) can also compete – but must join the club independently, by paying the annual fee of $65 USD per annum.

Sponsor the competition or the MS Excel-VB Club for Kids…

There are various ways you can come on board as a partner or sponsor (financial and non-financial) for the club and the competition. A special dimension is the MS Excel Heaven™ VB Club for Kids. Aimed at build income earning coding skills in school kids. Contact me for details of the foregoing and more.

The MS Excel Heaven™ VB Club for Kids:

No payment required from kids. Instead each school (or parent) pays ONE TIME membership fee.

That makes the school (or family) instant members – with FULL benefits.

Call Tayo Solagbade on +229-66-122-136 (Benin) or +234=803-302-1263 (Nigeria).

To learn more about how to join the club or compete, OR to be a SPONSOR, send a message/request the 9 page slideshow from www.tayosolagbade.com/excelcluboffer

What You Need is NOT Size, But “Fight” to Outsmart Bigger Competition!

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”Dwight Eisenhower

The Yoruba’s have a proverb that expresses a similar sentiment. It goes thus:

Kekere ni abere nkere. Ki nse gbi gbe mi fun adiye.

Translation: Don’t be fooled by the smallness of the needle. It cannot be swallowed by a chicken!

That’s why I LOVE the David-vs-Goliath philosophy advocated by Virgin founder, Richard Branson. It’s also why I LOVE Strive Masiyawa’s true life story of winning an unlikely battle against his country’s government, when they tried to stop him from launching his telecom company.

Aaaand…it’s ALSO WHY I never fear going in a direction that my HEART leads me, even when I’m told I will have to confront “bigger” or “more powerful” or “more popular” or “more successful” people.

Several years ago, I paid about 3 targeted visits to the Lagos, Ikeja office of fairly well known real estate company (with branches in major cities across Nigeria).

NB: This was when I still used to do lots of pavement pounding.

I was offering to develop a Web Marketing System for them. Each time I went there however, I never got to see the CEO. Instead it was the secretary/PA, who gently hinted me that some IT companies had sent “teams” with bulky proposals, to do presentations to the MD and key officers.

She wondered how I, coming as an individual (not even wearing a tie) thought I stood a chance.

Don’t get me wrong. She did not exactly say it…but she insinuated it as we chatted. I always confidently smiled and told her I was sure if I got a few minutes with someone in a decision making position, even if s/he was NOT the MD, that they would want to hear more from me.

Note that all this while they already have a website, but it was not doing them any real service, and had not been updated for over 3 years.

The problem was the guy who built it for them was no longer on good terms with the MD, and had reportedly even stopped taking their calls.

As we talked on my 3rd visit, I challenged the lady to get anyone she knew was most senior amongst the staff present, to speak with me. I said to her: “Tell him I said I DO NOT build websites. Instead I make websites do the work they are meant for, which is to generate sales leads and enquiries.”

She stopped when I said that. I think it was also the way I said it, while looking directly as her, smiling all the while, that got her.

She told me to give her a minute and walked into the large hall to the other end, where a bespectacled gentleman in tie was seated in a corner (In this company, they had spaces with desks. No closed doors, except for the MD’s).

As they spoke, she pointed in my direction and they spoke a little more. Then she walked back to me and said (not her exact words):

Please go and speak with that man. He is the closest to the MD and is actually the one that liaises with all those companies that have been coming to offer us this solution. If he sees value in what you say, I can assure you the MD will want to meet you.

Less than 30 minutes later, I and the gentleman were chatting like old friends…

Among other things he told me what struck him as soon as I started speaking was the fact that he could UNDERSTAND what I was saying, without being an IT person. According to him, all the other people – the teams – who had visited had come with beautifully packaged presentation folders, in colour, filled with detailed notes, and lots of technical terminologies.

Since he and the MD were not very IT savvy, they often hoped the in-person meetings would give them an opportunity to better understand what the offers really meant. What the solution offered entailed. The tangible value it would add either by helping them sell more, or saving them money, or both.

Unfortunately, most times those IT experts came down and still used a lot of the IT jargon without really breaking it down in lay man’s terms.

They failed to realize they were not communicating what they could do well enough for their prospective client to confidently decide to choose them!

He said that was what made me different:

“You apparently know the IT jargon too, but you take the pains to speak about what you do in simple language that a non-technical person can understand!” he added.

I got an appointment to come in an meet the MD the very next day.

And that meeting went so well, that less than 48 hours later I’d cashed a cheque for 100% advance payment to reinvent their online presence based on my proposal to develop for them a Web Marketing System.

It might interest you to know that my fee was actually higher than that offered by most of the others being considered by the estate agency. Indeed, the MD would later ask me – after we’d agreed on working together – if I knew how many “big” companies has made them offers.

I told him I’d been informed, and that my experiences and achievements had proven over the years that SIZE does not equate to COMPETENCE. I went on to give him a practical analogy (that I have used with success for years) to show him that NOT choosing me would be a mistake.

After hearing me say what I said, I could see from his body language that he was ready…

The rest as they say is history.

As you can see from this story, it’s YOU who can really determine how others see you. Even when they have preconceived ideas or biases against choosing you, it is up to YOU – it will ALWAYS be up to YOU – to influence how they see you to what YOU WANT. Doing that however starts with first believing unflinchingly in yourself and your ability to deliver what you promise.

Then you have to LEARN how to communicate the value you offer in a manner that will make most who need what you offer find it hard to resist you. That’s what I did with that MD and his team.

It’s what I do with most people who buy from me today, and that even though I no longer do door to door marketing or sales of ANY of my products or services.

Today, people come to me via my Web Marketing System, and after a few interactions they make payment and I deliver the promised solution.. That’s how well this works. You can adopt a similar approach. If you need help, let me know.

In case you wonder what exactly I said to the real estate company’s MD to make him choose me over the bigger providers who had previously approached him, click here to contact me.

You see, what to say, and how to say it, in order to CONVINCE people to PAY YOU MONEY for what you offer, is a crucial skill every business owner who wishes to market, negotiate and sell successfully needs to LEARN.

I can show you how to do same. Get in touch and I’ll respond by telling you exactly what I said to the MD of that company to win him over the way I did.

Final Words: NEVER discount yourself on account of what you think you lack, be it in size, possession etc

Not even if you lack money, connections or power…

Never ever think you do NOT have what it takes to get what you want – in business or life – from ANYONE.

I say this because so MANY MANY people with (seemingly NOTHING of advantage) have achieved greatness despite going up against others who had so much more than them.

How do I know? I’ve read about them!

Several years back, one would have needed to buy books to reach such true stories about such great achievers.

However, today, the web makes it possible to read all you want about such people for next to nothing. I therefore urge you NOT to waste that opportunity: Go online and use Google to find those stories start reading today, to get the INSPIRATION you need to go out there and succeed!

 

To Succeed, Treat People Right!

The magic formula that successful businesses have discovered is to treat customers like guests and employees like people” – Thomas J. Peters

I have major difficulty doing the OGA or BIG MAN thing. In paid employment it was so. As an entrepreneur, this “affliction” of mine has gotten worse. Owning things (which some use to SHOW they are OGA), also bores me. I guess I’m some kind of incurable minimalist!

But I LIKE being the way I am – because I find it helps me to stay grounded. To keep my head from getting swollen, so I can stay focussed on what really matters.

That’s why I WALK so often, and LOVE travelling by road….LOL!

And no where will you see me refer to myself as MD or CEO of anything. Plus, I plan to NEVER EVER have employees (cause I don’t want the hassle), but I WILL continue to encourage and empower people to start their own businesses (In fact, I’m working with my own kids towards launching a home based farm based business in Benin Republic).

It’s also why I dress simply and informally, often African style outfits sometimes mixed with Western elements.

No suits, blazers, ties etc for me. I did “them” a lot, back in those days in Guinness Nigeria: but not anymore. If you’re planning to invite me to give a talk, please keep this in mind :-)

As Ben Bruce said, “I want to be free.”

So I adhere to no one’s rules, and I do not try to force others to fit any particular mould.

And I absolutely refuse to go on EGO trips of any sort: No airs of superiority for me in relating with others.

Make no mistake however, that’s not to say that I suffer from an inferiority complex either. Indeed, I do NOT suffer fools gladly!

But I love to be myself, and to relate in a manner that does NOT depend on weighing people’s importance according to their status or wealth.

Example 1: Even while functioning as a Senior Manager during my time in Guinness Nigeria, Benin Brewery, Nigeria, and I NEVER owned a car and often took a N10 bus or walked to work, from my Ikpoba Hill home to the brewery.

It was only after I got attacked and robbed at 11p.m one night I was returning home on foot while acting as Production Manager that I agreed to let the driver take me home.

That night I got about 6 stitches (at Edi Ale hospital) on my wrist, where I’d been stabbed with a broken Malta Guinness bottle by 3 young men who wanted the laptop bag I was carrying.

I tried to explain that there was no laptop in it, and only company papers, but they would not listen and got impatient, when I kept trying to convince them. One then cut me with the bottle and I dropped the bag, which they then ran off with.

It might interest you to know I still did not buy a car despite that nasty experience in 2001!

I recall one colleague pestered me so much saying I was miserly, since I could afford it. For him, the car was a status statement of what one was: a GUINESS manager. For me, it was an encumbrance. If I had it, I had to worry about where to park it, and what would happen to it etc.

It was only few months to my leaving the company, just before I put in my resignation (in line with an exit plan I’d been working for 2 years), that I applied for a car loan – the bulk of which was then deducted from the money I was paid by the company when I left.

Back then I was simply too driven, too focused to readily allow anything to get in the way of the attention I wanted to give the work I was doing in the brewery.

As I have said in past articles, I often spent as much as 14 to 18 hours in the brewery most days.

Indeed, while still a shift brewer, I would stay back after closing morning or afternoon shifts to work on a PC in the laboratory department, building custom apps to solve data handling and reporting problems I identified.

Yes, I did it all in my free time!

No one asked me to do it, and I never got paid for it. But eventually, with the adoption of several solutions I developed, the recognition and rewards later came.

Example 2: Another thing I did a lot was to spend quality time getting to know my subordinates…

You see, I was a VERY high flyer in Guinness Nigeria (click here to read my resume). At a point, due to my exploits developing custom spreadsheet software adopted for formal reporting by the company, I heard through the grapevine that I was being called “Super Brewer”.

Apart from developing apps in my spare time, I also came up with creative solutions for improving operations e.g. an Operator Training Assessment module I developed as a Best Practice Facilitator, which got adopted by the Training Department for use in Operator Competency Assessment towards formal Certification.

My reputation got me noticed and I eventually got rapid career advancement opportunities – secondments, followed by promotion and then more secondments.

But despite rubbing shoulders, attending meetings with the brewery top brass, and even HQ big boys and girls, I never failed to find time to stop over at the process areas to chat and crack jokes with the junior staff/operatives.

Some were twice my age and had introduced me to their own kids who were as old as I was!

Yet these men had humbly trained me, when I was a newly recruited management trainee, sharing with me the wisdom from their MANY years of hard won experience, doing the toughest most physically demanding jobs in the brewery.

They did this knowing that I would eventually move on to assume my position as Brewer, when they would report to me as their boss.

For me, that was something that triggered a deep sense of reflection that I refused to ignore. I realized that the advantage I had of a higher education was what had given me the edge over most of them. Otherwise, their years on the job would NEVER have put them where they were.

So I resolved to ALWAYS treat them with the utmost respect and consideration and to find ways to make the feel good about working with me, my colleagues and for the company.

That led me to begin spending a lot of my time with process hands across the company.

Wherever I met them on site or off the premises, I made a point of relating with them as equals. Never did I talk down to them, and rarely did I find need to scold them.

Not because they did not make mistakes or were not sometimes rude, but because I discovered most readily acknowledged when they were wrong and they valued their relationship with me.

When I was wrong, I never hesitated to apologize and that endeared me to them even more.

As a result, when – during my shift – problems or breakdowns occurred, these men would come to reassure me that they would do everything possible to get the plant up and running. I mean both the production and engineering hands. They were my pals, but they also never failed to acknowledge my authority.

In the end my shift duty performance frequently reflected the fact that I had a good rapport with the men.

No matter which group of staff I worked with while on duty, I often got the best out of them without having to shout or exchange harsh words with them.

My expatriate boss, during one of my acting assignments, noted as much in a form he filled for me, when I was considering pursuing a Masters Degree in USA’s Pepperdine University (I later changed my mind and never submitted the forms).

But my habit of being “friendly” with the junior staff did not go down well with a few of my colleagues.

Some accused me of “reducing myself to the level of junior staff”. Others went further to say I was embarrassing other managers by being so close and chummy with shop floor operatives.

I never let what they said bother me however…

Since leaving paid employment, I have continued with the same attitude.

And it has earned me ready acceptance in the various communities I have lived in Nigeria’s Lagos, as well as in Benin Republic’s Cotonou and Calavi (so far).

In Ben Murray Bruce’s wonderful speech about change needed in Nigeria, which seems to be trending at the moment, he said we MUST pay attention to the needs of those not as fortunate as we are.

That we must look out for their interests.

I believe the first step towards doing that is to befriend them. That will help us get familiar enough with them to know what their true situation is.

We cannot stand aloof or adopt snobbish superior postures towards them. If we do, we will ignite their resentment not just against ourselves, but also against those who are ours (our families) and all that which is ours (our businesses, properties etc).

One day, when the opportunity presents itself, those of them who are most bitter about the way we treat them will act it out either by attacking what belongs to us, or REFUSING to help us protect what is ours, when others attack us.

Think about it. People you snub or mistreat can simply choose to stand by, instead of helping to call the police if they see you getting robbed after you had a flat tyre in the middle of the night, at the Estate gate!!!

That’s why I recommend that you slow down, and learn to treat others right, from today, so they can also treat you right, now or anytime in the future.

“Treat people as what they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they’re capable of being” – Johann Von Goethe

 

Join My Spreadsheet Solutions Development Club and Boost Your Productivity

Join My Excel Heaven Visual Basic Membership Club: MS Excel is available on most PCs anywhere, and it has it’s own development platform. ANYONE competent in Excel VB programming can therefore earning income developing low cost custom applications at zero cost!

Click to download flyer - Join My Spreadsheet Solutions Development Club and Boost Your Productivity

There is a HUGE Excel-VB industry across the world that most people are not aware of.

Many professionals in various fields provide custom ExcelVB solutions to clients they support e.g. Accounts/financial consultants, engineers etc. I want to help such experts become more productive and profitable.

Whether you are in paid employment or run your own business, joining this club can help you.

Required Investment: $65 USD per annum

NB: Join my Inner Circle (Fee = $500 USD) & get LIFETIME Membership(no renewals) – See http://tayosolagbade.com/uploads/InnerCircle.pdf

Membership Benefits

a. You’ll be able to invite me to give a FREE talk on Potential Applications of Excel & you get FREE access to a Home Study ExcelVB workbook & video tutorial you want from my library (See some of my apps at www.tayosolagbade.com/sdn-sell.htm)

b. You get a full personalized home study tutorial, created by me at 50% discount, based on details you provide about a specific task you do routinely in MS Excel, which you want automated.

c. You get access to my custom Excel-VB software development service (& ANY of my products) at 50% discount.

d. You get FREE access to my online one-on-one coaching (via email) on MS Excel VB Solutions Development. Any day/anytime. Simply tell me what you do in MS Excel that you wish you could do faster/more accurately. I give you tips on what to do/how.

e. You will be able to invite me to conduct my 4 Day flagship Practical MS Excel-VB Programming Workshop to ANY small groups (5 persons minimum) at a location of your choice at 50% discount.

See the seminar PDF flyer (here), and the video demos/tutorial trailers at www.excelheaven.biz or www.excelheaven.tayosolagbade.com

How to Join the Club…*

Pay $65 USD or buy products/services worth $65 USD from me: You get ONE YEAR membership. Special Offer: Pay N5, 000.00 (Five Thousand Naira) before midnight Wednesday May 12, 2015, and get LIFETIME membership.

*MS Excel Heaven™ VB Club for Kids:

No payment required from kids. Instead each school (or parent) pays ONE TIME membership fee.

That makes the school (or family) instant members – with FULL benefits. Click here for details.

I have a special interest in developing Excel-VB coding skills amongst young people from an early age.

A child who leaves school with Excel-VB coding skills will be able to easily make him/herself useful to others engaged in serious vocations. Even starting from his/her school or instritution!

Tha above is why I’m launching the “kids” version of my club.

My custom Excel-VB apps have been purchased by buyers across Nigeria, and in Canada, Tanzania, UAE, UK etc.

Click here to contact me

Learn more at www.excelheaven.biz

 

No. 192: (a) Don’t Fret Over Fleeting or Fleeing Opportunities (Hint: Why I Rarely Hurry Over Anything – Especially In Business) (b) To Achieve Sustainable Success, Closely Monitor News About Current Affairs and Politics! – [MP3]!

Many people are truly GIFTED at ANALYZING what it takes to succeed …or why failure happens. What most seem to LACK, in my experience based opinion it the WILLINGNESS (and NOT the ability) to unflinchingly persist in APPLYING the insights they possess to achieve their (supposedly) valued goals.

This is why so many people ONLY TALK about succeeding in spite of adversity, but few EVER do it…

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

Click now to view the latest issue of Tayo Solagbade's Public Speaking IDEAS page

Tayo K. Solagade‘s

Weekly Public Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS Newsletter

Date: Monday 4th May 2015

No:192

Title: (a) Don’t Fret Over Fleeting or Fleeing Opportunities (Hint: Why I Rarely Hurry Over Anything – Especially In Business) (b) To Achieve Sustainable Success, Closely Monitor News About Current Affairs and Politics! – [MP3]!

Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade [Tel: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) ]

Blog URL: http://www.tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets

Last Week: Read articles published on my blog here

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

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NB: This newsletter is published every Monday. Point your browser to www.tayosolagbade.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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GET LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP OF MY INNER CIRCLE (OVER $250 USD!) WHEN YOU BUY BURT DUBIN’S SPEAKER MENTORING PRODUCTS/SERVICES – LEARN MORE HERE!

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

1 of 2: PUBLIC SPEAKING – Don’t Fret Over Fleeting or Fleeing Opportunities (Hint: Why I Rarely Hurry Over Anything – Especially In Business)

Many people are truly GIFTED at ANALYZING what it takes to succeed …or why failure happens. What most seem to LACK, in my experience based opinion it the WILLINGNESS (and NOT the ability) to unflinchingly persist in APPLYING the insights they possess to achieve their (supposedly) valued goals.

This is why so many people ONLY TALK about succeeding in spite of adversity, but few EVER do it…

Very few people are ever willing to KEEP GOING after success in the face of adversity – regardless of how long it takes. Yet many profess faith in the same God, who the bible says “let” a faithful Job experience hardship, just to prove to Satan, that Job would not deny Him (God)!

Most people instead pursue success as if they gave God some kind of SILENT ULTIMATUM to make them succeed!

The attitude with which the carry on is as if they are saying the following to Him (in their minds):

Chairman…abeg make sure I succeed in the next 5 years O, or before my start-up capital finish O. And by the way no forget to provide shock absorber for me O, so that in case my plans enter pothole, you go take am “bo mi ni ashiri” ….make people no go dey see me dey suffer. Ehen, a don tell you O Baba… If not, me I go comot for dat business find another thing do!

For my non-Nigerian subscribers, who may be unfamiliar with Nigerian pidgin (broken) English, here’s a (“funkified” but otherwise literal) translation of the above:

Hey Big guy, I need you to set things up really nicely for me to succeed within the next 5 years or at least before I run out of startup funds. Oh and don’t forget to cushion things for me in all the necessary areas. I don’t want any undue stress, and I certainly would appreciate your protecting me from any embarrassing experiences. Hear me now, Big Guy, or if things get too harsh, don’t blame me if I quit and move on to a different business!.

Some phoney people in business who think along the above stated lines run around claiming to be “Serial Entrepreneurs”(SEs): But they are NOT authentic SEs!

A true Serial Entrepreneur will NOT leave a trail of DEAD businesses behind!

Most times, s/he would have failed quite a bit, but eventually arrived at a stage where s/he sells his/her businesses (or ideas/concepts/innovations) for profit – sometimes in order to move into a new line of interest.

In contrast, phony self-proclaimed SEs will rarely have ONE business from their past that they sold for profit or that has remained operational.

Rather, they are typically to be found – every few years – using a new business name, most likely in a new market, pursuing yet another big, fancy goal, with hefty profits to be made.

They are the typical hurry merchants always looking for fast breaks to success.

Unfortunately, the Creator (contrary to what some who claim to know and believe in him think) rarely interferes in how the “game of life” ends for EACH person.

He has set the stage, defined the rules (natural, spiritual). The rest is up to us. We have to do the work to get the results we want!

It’s just like sports e.g. weight lifting where the rule is: “No Pain, No Gain.”

You cannot lift heavy weights if you do NOT TRAIN to be able to do so. And your ability to do so will NOT improve overnight.

Instead, you MUST expend major time and effort to progressively build the muscle mass needed to progress.

“Very little of the authentic success you desire will happen without some PAIN, and possibly “suffering” of some kind (typically in form of repeated, sometimes prolonged delays, disappointments and setbacks) being experienced by you, and those around you. How you DEAL with those unpleasant experiences that occur as you work towards your desired goal is what will determine if you ultimately quality for success or not.” – Tayo K. Solagbade

Few people ever get to the point that they realize the above stated truth…

Even fewer ever get to the point that they ACCEPT that it applies to them!

Yet, many of the most phenomenal success achievers this PLANET has ever hosted – and who MOST OFUS ADMIRE – have repeatedly shared sentiments consistent with this stated TRUTH!

For instance, here’s what one of them, who happened to overcome being born deaf and mute, to achieve worldwide fame and recognition said:

 “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller

REMEMBER THIS: In order to develop the character needed to achieve lasting, authentic success, YOU SIMPLY CANNOT BE IN A HURRY. ..

Indeed, I have learned the hard way, from YEARS of hard won experience, that HURRYING is rarely a beneficial way to go about pursuing anything, least of all authentic success.

Know that whatever is to be yours cannot be taken from you. That’s a law set by the Creator.

What you should therefore focus on is building yourself, preparing yourself, to make the most of EVERY opportunity that may come your way.

Once you do that, the forces setup by the Creator (God to some), will cooperate with you, to attract what you want to YOU, at the right time, and in the right place.

You can NOT force – or worse chase – success to happen. Your success will happen when the RIGHT conditions for it to do so are CREATED in your life.

So Stop Fretting Over Fleeting or Fleeing Opportunities

Nothing that is yours can be lost or taken by anyone else. Therefore dispense with hurrying.

Instead be patient and LEARN what you need to know to get that which you want. During this period, you may experience delays, and some pain/suffering.

But take heart, because – as Jim Rohn noted – such adversity often forces the human spirit to GROW…and you need that!

This is so because the GROWTH you achieve will better equip you to intelligently pursue the goal(s) you want to achieve.

If you diligently persist in doing the above, with honesty, and integrity, AND FAITH in your Creator, you WILL achieve what is called UNCOMMON SUCCESS that makes others marvel.

What I have said above will work for you no matter what area of endeavor you are engaged in life.

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This newsletter (which I use to promote Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Products/Services) serves experts-who-speak. Starting – Monday 13th April 2015 – it has MORPHED in name and content served, to a 2 part Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, to better serve them. You just read the “Public Speaking IDEAS” part above. What follows below is the “Web Marketing IDEAS” part.

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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.

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2. Mid Range [Click here]

3. Budget Delight [Click here]

2 of 2: WEB MARKETING: To Achieve Sustainable Success, Closely Monitor News About Current Affairs and Politics! [FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD]

“If you want to achieve sustainable success in business (especially in a volatile market place like Nigeria), it’s in your best interest to develop interest in current affairs and politics, because those are the two key ingredients that really keep this country from having a stable sociopolitical climate.
And for as long as that stable sociopolitical climate does not exist, every person running a business will probably have to sleep with one eye open.” – Tayo K. Solagbade

It’s FREE for all my Web Marketing/farm business clients, and ALL members of my Inner Circle as well as for ALL subscribers to THIS newsletter.

If you are not yet ANY of the above, just send me a message here to let me know.

If you want me to send you the full MP3 recording, just say so in your message.

NB: If you’re already a client or subscriber, email me via tayo at tksola dot com and let me know you want it

Alternatively, click here to request the FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD.

******

SPECIAL OFFER TO READERS OF THIS SPEAKING/WEB MARKETING IDEAS NEWSLETTER

Did you know that as an expert in your field you can make more money by speaking professionally? Or do you already speak-for-money, but want to know how to do it better AND/OR how to make more money even when you do not speak?

If you said YES to any of the above, THIS offer is for you.

Burt Dubin can teach you to do ALL the above and more. You can learn from him via direct mentoring (regardless of distance) or using the many home study packages he offers.

Get FREE Lifetime Membership of My Inner Circle (OVER $250 USD) when you do 1 or more of the following:

1. Signup for Burt’s Speaker Mentoring Service (click here for details)…

2. Purchase Burt’s Speaker Mentoring Products up to $500 USD or more (click here to see a popular one)…

NB: Membership of my Inner Circle comes with a FREE product of your choice e.g. my custom Excel-VB software, Information Products etc. (click here for full details of what my Inner Circle members get)…PLUS you get a LIFETIME 65% discount on ALL my other existing/future products and services.

HERE’S AN ADDED BONUS YOU GET FROM ME, IF YOU BUY FROM BURT…

If, upon commencing or completing Burt’s mentoring you choose to launch your speaking business formally, I WILL (at no cost to you) develop and implement for YOU, in line with guidance from Burt, a Web Marketing System to cost-effectively promote your brand.

Click here to tell me which of Burt’s speaker mentoring products or services you are interested in.

ALSO GET MY PERSONALIZED MS EXCEL-VB VIDEO TUTORIALS (N100K) WHEN YOU BUY FROM BURT…

Buying up to $500 USD or more from Burt will also qualify you to receive my personalized MS Excel VB home study tutorial workbooks/videos – over N100k value.

Learn more on my Excel Heaven solutions website at www.excelheaven.biz

Click to visit my Facebook page (opens in new browser window)

Click here to tell me which of Burt’s speaker mentoring products or services you are interested in.

Question: But who is Burt Dubin, and why do I (Tayo K. Solagbade) think you should you learn from him?

Answer: Burt is a 3 decade veteran in the professional speaking business. After achieving top level cross continental success as an expert-speaker, he has established a reputation for mentoring some of the highest paid speakers in the world. He owns SpeakingBizSuccess.com, SpeakingSuccess.com and BurtDubin.com.

Burt helps those he mentors (experts-who-speak) to Position, Package, Promote, and Present* themselves successfully to clients (*He calls them the 4Ps). That’s why it’s no surprise that on Burt’s website, considerable space capital is devoted to useful business marketing articles as well as products.

It might also interest you to know that MANY years back, Burt established himself as one of the best marketing minds in the world. To really put this FACT in proper perspective, I’ll provide more specific details in form of an example.

A few years ago, Burt contributed an article to a powerful publication titled “The Most Effective Articles Ever – By The World’s Top Marketers“. That 574 page ebook features timeless marketing advice from 71 of the world’s top marketers – including Jack Trout, Joe Vitale, Yanik Silver…and Burt Dubin.

That’s ample proof that (in addition to Public Speaking), Burt would be a great resource to learn business marketing from!

Full Disclosure: I represent Burt as Sole Agent for his products/services, which means if YOU buy from him, I get paid.

But that’s NOT the main reason I represent and recommend him. I have benefited in many ways by learning from Burt. Through his writing, his audio recordings, and from directly relating with him.

Before we teamed up in 2011, I’d been studying his work and adapting it to succeed in my work from way back in 2002. It does not matter what part of the world you’re in. If you know how to adapt them to suit your peculiar local needs, Burt’s ideas and strategies WILL work for you. I am living proof of it!

That’s why I never tire of CONFIDENTLY recommending him to others.

If you need help putting the ideas shared above to use, let me know HERE.

Click here to tell me which of Burt’s speaker mentoring products or services you are interested in.

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

Learn about Burt Dubin’s speaker mentoring products (books, audios etc) below…

If you need help purchasing ANY of Burt’s products (like “Presentation Magic”), call me on +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic, my base) or +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria)  or email tayo@tksola.com

Have a great week :-))

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

SPECIAL PRODUCT FEATURE

“Inside Speaking Business Success Secrets”

In this offer, Burt Dubin promises to show you how to generate PASSIVE incomes streams WHETHER YOU SPEAK OR NOT.

Plus, you learn a proven shortcut to top level speaking business success across corporate markets.

CLICK HERE to get full details of what it takes to make yourself a true speaking business champion in Burt's Boot Camp V: Inside Speaking Business Success Secrets

So, with diligent persistent application of what you learn you’ll start (as Burt says)…”bringing home high speaking fees”…whether you speak or not…in a matter of weeks….

Sooner than later you’ll find you’re ready to go for Burt’s mentoring at Diamond or higher Inner Circle membership level.

The best part is: every cent of your fee to purchase this product counts toward your membership in Burt’s Inner Circle.

In other words, you effectively get to eat your cake and still have it!

CLICK HERE to get full details of what it takes to make yourself a true speaking business champion in Burt’s Boot Camp V: Inside Speaking Business Success Secrets

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

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

Useful Resources for Speakers

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

Showmanship Strategems

177 Wow! Wow!

Showmanship Stratagems

Discover these secrets of making your programs more interesting and valuable to your clients and audiences now.

more information

Burt Dubin live

Burt’s Flagship Album

This is the product to own if you can own only one. Why? Because in it you discover principles of platform mastership available to you nowhere else at any price.

You hear performance strategies you can emulate. You shorten your learning curve. You see ways to engage and delight audiences with both content and stories . . . plus you experience a bit of fun.

With its Money back if not delighted Guarantee hardly any are returned.

Find out why

Presentation Magic - Speaking Business Success

Presentation Magic

A live example, including a complete audio recording of a program Burt created from scratch–on a topic he knew nothing about and never, ever presented before! See how you, guided by your personal Learning Guide, (Presentation Magic), can do this too and thrill audiences as often as you want.

Presentation Magic Manual with new pages added plus 3 audio CDs.

more information

ProgramManual

How To Create a Great Program Manual

Discover how you can produce a precious memento of you and your program. Capture over 44 model pages you can easily adapt for your use. Engage proven principles that add value to the experience of sitting at your feet and learning from you.

This is a reprise of the historic presentation that launched the Speaking Success System.

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

more information


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

*******

NEW: Speaking Ideas: 25 Articles and True Stories for Experts Who Speak and Those Aspiring (Volume 1)

psip-LULU-BACK-coverOK

Download above PDF

******

NEW: KUKURU DANGER™: 5 True Stories About the Adventures – & Misadventures! – of a School Age Child Trying to Find Purpose in Life

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

Download above PDF

THEY WROTE…


“(Tayo Solagbade) is amazing and I think he is going to produce some impressive results online…” – click here to read full comment by Patrick Meninga (US based 6 figure income blogger who gained fame for building a $2,000 per month adsense website and selling it for $200,000).

—————————–

“Tayo, I honestly believe you are one of those who will succeed at anything he does. Your commitment and effort has been outstanding….Thanks for all your hard work since I’ve been here – you will be sorely missed. I don’t need to wish you good luck, you have the ability to make your own luck. – Andy”(R. Jones)*

*Operations Manager, Guinness Nigeria Plc Benin Brewery, December 2001 (Handwritten comments in farewell/xmas cards sent to Tayo Solagbade following his resignation to start his own business).

———————–

Click here to contact Tayo… 


SD Nuggets Blog

New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking[Monday]:

[Tuesday]:

[Wednesday]:

[Thursday]:

[Friday]:
[Saturday]:
Want me to write for you? Click here to send me a message

www.tayosolagbade.com - Invite me to Speak...click here!

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

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

Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic)

http://www.tayosolagbade.com

Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to

Farm Businesses and others.

Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and 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 as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer, to Training & Technical Development Manager, and then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy Limited.

When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes his Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS

newsletter(which he uses to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).

You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.

Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity.

====
[IMPORTANT NOTE:====

On 4th May 2014, Tayo’s 9 year old domain (Spontaneousdevelopment dot com), which hosted his website, was taken over by Aplus.net.

Within a few days however, Tayo used his advanced self-taught web development skills to build a SUPERIOR “reincarnation” of it the website http://www.tayosolagbade.com.

But updates are still ongoing to URLs bearing the old domain name in most of the over 1,000 web pages, and blog posts

he’s published.

If you experience any difficulties finding a page or document, email Tayo at tksola dot com.

Click “Tayo, What Happened to SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom ?” to read a detailed narrative about how the above event occurred :-))

Here’s an article Tayo wrote, to inspire others to defy adversity, and bounce back to even greater reckoning at what they do EVERY time:

And he wrote the one below, to explain why losing a domain name, no matter how old NO LONGER determines your online success or otherwise:

A Proven Strategy to Find Profitable Buyers Regardless of Your Domain Name

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

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

 

[2 Part Video] Tayo Solagbade’s Excel-VB Elections Results Compiler & Reports/Charts Generator – Based on INEC Nigeria’s Summary of Results for the March 28th, 2015 Presidential Elections

In this 2 part video demonstration, summary reports and charts are auto generated by my new Excel-VB Elections Results Compiler & Reports/Charts Generator, which I built mainly to demonstrate how Excel can be used to boost productivity in everyday activities.

[I began building the app around 25th April 2015. Today, 7th May 2015, I’m putting up the 2 part demonstration video, below, of the fully functional app, ready for use]

The idea here is to show the potentially limitless ways you can use Excel to boost your routine data recording, analysis and report generation in ANY field you work.

Most people think Excel is only useful for financial reporting.

NOT TRUE!

In reality ANY activity in which data handling/manipulation for trending and decision making happens CAN be improved with use of MS Excel …especially when smart functions and intelligent VBA coding is employed by competent persons.

Imagine your organization being able to click each state (or LGA, Zone, even country) on ANY map to generate instant tables and charts of products sales totals, marketing expenses and other data across your sites nationwide, for a day, week, month, year etc?

That’s what I’m trying to show with this app!

Click here to watch the 2 part video demonstration of this app in use

If you’d like to own a copy of the fully functional version, click here to let me know.

Screenshot 1 (Above): The Navigation Menu/Switchboard - a Custom Graphic User Interface (GUI) I create to help users find their way around quickly | Excel-VB Elections Results Compiler & Reports/Charts Generator - Click now to view examples of summary reports and charts autogenerated by this new Excel-VB driven app. I'm building it mainly to demonstrate how Excel can be used to boost producitivty in everyday activities.

Why You Need to Seriously Consider Taking Self Defence Lessons (True Story)

One minute we were all browsing quietly in the cafe. The next minute all hell had broken loose as a hefty chap put off the generator, then came in and slapped the smallish young man who owns the cafe!

My mouth fell open as both men staggered out of the cafe as they wrestled, close to where I was seated outside, using the WiFi connection.

The big guy was cursing aloud all the while making threats of all kinds.Other customers in the cafe hurriedly rushed out, fearful for their own safety.

Knowing he could not match the brute strength of his bigger opponent, the young cafe operator wisely took advantage of his assailant’s clumsiness to extricate himself and run to the road.

But his attacker followed him, making even more threats, while daring him to wait. At a point we lost sight of them, one chasing the other with a heavy piece of wood picked from the ground…a truly bizarre spectacle!

Someone put the generator back on as some people began leaving for home. It was 8.45p.m. The cafe normally closed at 9p.m. A few of us stayed back to guard the cafe against potential looting in the owner’s absence.

At about 9p.m, he returned looking harassed but unharmed. With him were a few friends whose home he’d run to, and who had rallied round to confront the thug.

Only then had the crazy guy retreated, but not without promising to return with his own “boys”.

As he packed up to close, I asked the cafe owner what had caused the fight.

He replied that it was because he’d refused to give the hefty 10 minutes of free browsing time to use!

We were all stunned beyond words. All that drama had been because of a delclined request for a favour?

Unbelievable!

On my way home, I reflected on the incident and an idea I’d been toying with for a few months came to my mind again.

It was the need to become proficient enough in self defence as a means of protecting onesself in situations like this which occur often in Nigeria’s violence prone environs.

You see, I have experienced getting attacked and I know being able to fight back can buy you time for help to come. And it could even save your life!

Rarely do assault cases get investigated to the point of being resolved in Nigeria. That’s why most people don’t bother reporting.

My argument however is that one can at least learn to protect onesself against bodily harm. And the way to do that is usimg some form of martial arts in self defense.

Many times people who recklessly attack others like that crazy guy did today, do so because they know most people do not know how tight back. If they were in a country like China, where martial arts learning is compulsory from an early ageq, they would think twice before challenging someone not familiar to them to a fight!

Today’s incident has made me resolve to act on my idea of taking self defence lessons. My kids will also be enrolled as well. That ability could just save their lives some day.

I suggest you give some serious thought to doing the same thing too.

PS: Tonight’s incident kept me from uploading the demonstration video for my now completed MS ExcelVB driven Election Results Compiler and Results/Charts Generator app. I am so excited about it: When it goes LIVE tomorrow, yov will find out why!

You Can Market Your (Farm) Products On TV/Radio/Print Media At Zero Cost

My 3 part article series linked below, explains why I discourage COMPETENT experts from paying to appear on TV/Radio/Newspaper platforms in Nigeria.

Part 1 of 3: Why You Need To Change The Way You Find Buyers for Your Products/Services

Read here

Part 2 of 3: Understanding How (Routine/Repeated) Use of Paid TV, Radio & Print Media Short Changes YOU

Read here

Part 3 of 3: A Passion for What You Do, Will Help You Use A Web Marketing System to Get New/Repeat Business At Close to Zero Cost

Read here

The business you do does not matter. Neither does the size of your operation. So if you are a farm business owner(my primary target audience) this can help you.

Anytime I see ads by farm businesses, small and not so small in big, expensive newspapers, I shake my head in pity for the CEO. S/he simply does not know the value and power of what s/he has!

When you join my Inner Circle, I will show you a PROVEN strategy step-by-step for getting yourself invited to appear on any mass media platform without paying ANY money. I have DONE it and I will show you how to do it!

See the benefits available to Inner Circle members in the offer PDF:

Click here

Contact me here.