Category Archives: Self-Development

[Workshop for Kids – by a Kid] Build Your Own Battery Powered Toy Bike!

What is your child’s genius? Do you know?

Many parents do NOT know that schooling is a means to an end, and NOT an end in itself.

That’s why they focus so much on “schooling” their kids, and pay little or no attention to EDUCATING their kids in readiness for real world relevant success outside school.

This is why we have so many people who leave school with brilliant grades and go on to struggle to make impact in life.

It is why (as Robert Kiyosaki notes in his book) we see C students becoming more successful and employing A students after they all leave school.

It is also why we see UNSCHOOLED persons or school drop outs doing far better in the real world than their schooled counterparts.

I argue, as a Best Practice Parenting Advocate, that a parent’s NUMBER ONE role in giving his/her child an education is NOT to pay school fees, uniforms, textbooks etc. Neither is it to pay for access to summer school and exams.

Your primary role in your child’s education is the help him/her identify, and nurture to full bloom his/her God-given genius. This may or may NOT be along academic lines -and that is why YOU must avoid following the crowd of uninformed parents to give your child a one-sided education.

My audio podcast series titled “The Difference Between Schooling and Education” offers a LOT of real world relevant experience based insights designed to help you do your job well as a parent, so your child can thank you in future.

Like the cartoon of Einstein below shows, we are not all wired to learn or achieve in the same way!

einstein

The letter below, reportedly sent by the principal of an Indian school to parents of kids just before the exams, further underscores the point being made

ht-to-parents

And what is the point being made?

 

It is that HUMAN BEINGS have multiple intelligences and can therefore not go through life doing the same things the same way.

Each person will fare best if allowed and supported to make use of his/her unique gifts and abilities.

[EXAMPLE] I practice what I preach: Step-by-Step Demonstration Video by 12 year old

Click here to see it on Facebook. If you’d like it emailed to you, click here send me a message.

Imagine kids being able to build functional toys of this kind by themselves, instead of having their parents spend money to buy them?!

I am VERY close to each of my kids, and have spent hundreds of hours narrowing down to what they currently consider their natural passions, while controlling their exposure to conventional schooling in a way that ensures its potentially damaging effects on creativity are minimised.

[See Temi & Oluoma’s No-Oven Charcoal Stove Cookies]

Some months ago, I shared a video on my YouTube channel, of a battery-powered toy power bike built by my 12 year old son, using scrap materials he picked up from various places.

This video (click to view) is based on excerpts from a 4 part step-by-step demonstration video of my (now 13 year old) son building another of  his battery-powered toy bikes from beginning to the end, using scrap materials.

If you’d like the above step-by-step video emailed to you, click here send me a message.

I shared a video on my YouTube channel, of a battery-powered toy power bike built by my 12 year old son, using scrap materials he picked up from various places.

His 14 year old brother helped to hold the Blackberry camera, while playing background music – which we have now stripped out for copyright reasons.

I share photos along with this video clip.

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Our plan remains to organise a FREE workshop facilitated by my son during which he will teach other interested kids how to do what he does.

Imagine kids being able to build functional toys of this kind by themselves, instead of having their parents spend money to buy them?!

Related…

[Podcast] Real Reason Why Well Schooled People Commit Fraud (Tayo Solagbade’s “Difference Between Schooling & Education” Series)

[See Temi & Oluoma’s No-Oven Charcoal Stove Cookies]

ExcelVB Case Study: Code to hide the row for a cell that contains a specific text string

“Dear sir, Can you have a vb code in the condition that i want to hide (not to delete) the entire row if a particular cell has “katol”………. Please do it for me sir.

I created this Excel-VB coding tutorial in response to the above request from Pravin which he sent via my Facebook page on Sunday 18th Sept 2016 as a case study for members of my Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club

[NB: By way of interest, I’ve had to respond to Pravin’s request once before in this same manner – click here. At the bottom of this post, I reproduce a detailed message I initially sent to him, explaining why I may find it difficult to respond to future requests of this nature from him – pointing out a useful forum he can visit to get reliable answers to his queries.]

Below: A screenshot of the MS Excel Worksheet I formatted the code driven interface to fit into [Click here to download the workbook with the code]

pravin-case-study

Steps to follow

In order to to have a cell’s row hide and unhide based  on the occurrence of a specific value,  it’s best to  write code for it in a Worksheet_Change event:

  1. Open a blank MS Excel workbook and click on the Worksheet Tab labeled Sheet1 to select it
  2. Next Press Alt+F11 to access the Visual Basic Editor
  3. In the Project Explorer Window, double click Sheet1 to open that Worksheet’s code window

TIP:  You can compress steps 2 and 3 into one by simply right clicking on the Sheet1 Worksheet tab after step 1 and clicking VIEW CODE on the shortcut menu that appears, to open the Worksheet’s code window

  1. Copy and paste the code below into the Worksheet’s code window

====Starts====

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

    If Range(“CheckValue”).Value = “Katol” Then

        Range(“CheckValue”).EntireRow.Hidden = True

       

    ElseIf Range(“CheckValue”).Value <> “Katol” Then

        Range(“CheckValue”).EntireRow.Hidden = False

    End If

End Sub

====Ends====

  1. Recall from previous tutorials that I use range names to identify Excel objects I want to use code to refer to.

So, in the case of Pravin’s example, I’ve named the cell in which “Katol” appears, as “CheckValue” (the yellow coloured cell).

  1. Note the buttons to the top left of this frame – for posting the test string into the yellow cell and for erasing the cell’s contents. The code behind them is reproduced in the explanation boxes below them.

[Click here to download the workbook with the code]

Below: Detailed message I initially sent to Pravin this evening, explaining why I may find it difficult to respond to future requests of this nature from him.

I pointed him to a useful forum he can visit to get reliable answers to his queries. I reproduce it here in order to give the reader greater insight into how I do what I do, as it relates to coaching members of my Excel-VB club while working as a multi-discplinary expert.

Hi Pravin.

It would be my pleasure to send you the code to hide a cell or range. But like I told you before, I do a lot of things that require my serious attention. For instance right now, I’m modifying my Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager for a new buyer who requested changes, and after that I need to prepare 2 newsletters and also write 4 articles for a UK client. I simply do not have the kind of time others do, to respond to requests of this nature.

In other words, I’m NOT your usual Excel expert who does only Excel based work. I am a multipreneur, engaged in various vocations, that take my time.

But I have a vision to build Excel-VB developers in my primary target market of Nigeria/Africa. I happen to think YOU have lots of experts in your country or region you can reach out to.

To do what I do out here, I feel if I am to add value to someone, it is best that I empower him/her to be able, even if over time, to find out how to do such stuff and others s/he may desire to do, by him or herself

It is for this reason that I prefer to challenge any persons who reach out to me to commit to EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. I do NOT believe in TELLING people how to do things. Instead i believe in guiding them to discover how to write their own code.

So, responding to requests like yours tend to be difficult for me, especially since you are NOT in my coaching club. Unlike what obtains in YOUR country and other non-African nations, access to the Internet here is such that I simply cannot make myself available to respond to all requests. It not only costs a lot, but it also tends to be erratic in nature – plus I have a lot I’m doing.

Most importantly, and I have told you this before, there are people who run websites who invite visitors to send them such requests. A good example is http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/index.php – the forum at Mr Excel. There you can register and post ANY questions you have for experts to answer.

In my case, I am primarily focused on building Excel-VB skills in niche markets in MY country, and my strategy does NOT require that I make myself available to respond to all comers, much as I would like to.

Instead, I have to focus on serving people within my network, based on their specific needs as business users. That is why my Excel-VB club is my priority.

I will therefore end by telling you what I have told you before:

I will make out time to create a tutorial based on what you specified above for you, which I will use to teach my club members, featuring YOU in my broadcast to them.

However, AFTER I do this, let me make it clear that I will NOT be able to take on ANY requests you make in future – except you choose to join my Excel-VB Club.

I hope my offer is acceptable to you. If not, I advise that you visit http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/index.php and post your question there.

Maybe in future I’ll be able to re-invent the way I work, to take on all comers. For now, this is the best I can do.

With kindest regards,

Tayo

Related Article

Download MS Excel-VB Screen shot Demonstration Video Tutorials for Tayo Solagbade’s Introduction to Excel-VB Automation Workshop Held on Sat 19th March 2016 in Lagos-Nigeria [Includes video recorded in response to last week’s request for Excel-VB coding help from a business user in India]

Knowing How to Code Is NOT Enough for Spreadsheet Programming Success [MUST READ: FREE PDF Introduction to Excel-VB Programming by J.Latham]

[NB: This is a non-password protected educational piece for members of my Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club]

In 2007, it cost my brother-in-law (Segun Ogunlana) about $34 USD to buy me a copy of the 1st edition of Professional Excel Development: The Definitive Guide to Developing Applications Using Microsoft Excel, VBA, and .NET

Today, given the crazy Nigerian Naira Exchange rate of N430 to $1 USD, that US dollar sum comes to approximately N15,000 (Fifteen Thousand Naira).

Now, even though this Excel Bible offers a lot more than the FREE Excel-VB PDF learning resource I will talk about further down, added to the fact that it is not really for beginners, I believe (and I explain why, below) getting the PDF ebook I recommend here for FREE is really a bargain!

Below are screenshots from selected pages of this PDF

I should add here that the author got my attention the most when I saw the effort he made to provide examples of how to use FORMS(intelligently enhanced with ActiveX controls) as data sources in automating MS Excel – (as can be seen from the interfaces in my apps – click here) for the ease of use it affords users, especially those who are novices or not Excel savvy.

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I’ve never believed in reinventing the wheel:
Just knowing how to code, no matter how good you are, is not enough.

It’s important to establish a guiding philosophy to steer you right in doing what you do, if you want to succeed for the long term.

My background in Best Practice and Continuous Improvement based Performance Improvement has always helped me stay focused on what matters, which is GETTING NEEDED RESULTS and SOLVING PROBLEMS in a way that meets felt needs, resulting in progress for my clients – and, by implication, me.

Being skilled is only one dimension of the requirements for succeeding in any field.

Excel-VB Programming is no exception.

I say all this to impress upon you the importance of having the right mindset and orientation to deliver Excel-VB solutions that work for others.

A sound understanding of the experience based insights I share here can make a less skilled Excel-VB expert achieve greater success in terms of solving client problems as well as making money, compared to a rival who is more gifted at coding, but lacks these insights.

To put it simply, you will be all about using your know-how to solve user’s problem and NOT to impress or intimidate them. In otherwords, no attitude issues – which is a challenge some gifted programmers tend to have!

My understanding of the above, is why – In coaching others to program MS Excel using VBA – I regularly point them towards resources, on and off the web, that they can take advantage of, beyond whatever I may offer them, to become more proficient in VBA Solutions Development.

As I explained above, I belong to the school of thought that one must avoid falling into the mental trap of placing too much emphasis on programming or coding for the sake of it.

Instead, especially for those of us engaged in use of MS Excel to develop custom apps for busy users with unique needs, we MUST NEVER lose sight of the fact that solving the problem of our “user” is why we exist as providers.

So, we simply cannot afford to fall into the mindset of (some) conventional programmers who tend to be rigid in the way they go about doing what they do, and who typically refuse to try interacting with prospective end users in a manner that makes it easy for the latter to influence the development process.

It is my considered opinion, that to succeed in using MS Excel programming, one must think and act like a SOLUTIONS DEVELOPER and not just as a PROGRAMMER.

To do that, you will need to remember at all times that showing off your coding skills is not needed. Instead, learning how to optimally utilize your knowledge of MS Excel-VB Programming, to produce results specified by your client or employer will be the key to your long term success.

Without the above understanding, anyone who ventures into programming, especially using MS Excel-VB is likely to encounter considerable difficulty giving clients what they want, in a manner that satisfies them.

The above mentioned philosophy has over the years guided me to make efficient and effective use of my time and effort in serving clients.

So, rather than obsess excessively over coding to impress clients, I have learned to identify smart and time/effort saving ways to deliver results my clients want.

Sometimes doing that actually requires doing LESS or NO coding, and instead exploring smart techniques for using the MS Excel engine itself to deliver the desired automation.

A good example is the powerful dynamic report generation template shown below, that I created for the National Distribution Manager of a Telecoms Multinational during a private coaching session I had with him.

Click below or here to visit the page where I use two videos to show this powerful report in use (scroll half-way down the page)

Screenshot of a tutorial workbook I created several years ago, for the National Distribution Manager of a large multinational telecoms company (The Logistics Department hired me) - Click to view larger image in new window

 

Without using a single line of code, and depending ONLY on spreadsheet based features and functions in Excel, I setup the above shown interface that enabled him generate ANY scenarios he wanted at the click of a mouse on a menu item or button.

This is what I mean when I tell those I coach that the right mindset/mental attitude or THINKING is crucial to succeeding in Excel-VB Solutions Development.

[RECOMMENDED] Programming In Excel VBA – An Introduction (.pdf File) – By J.Latham

The above explained mental attitude is what makes me keen to expose those who learn from me, to resources that I have found helpful in developing myself to function competently as required.

This week, I refer you to a useful PDF resource, which – though a bit dated – having been prepared based on an old version of MS Excel, still offers considerably useful information and education for Successful VBA Programming in MS Excel.

Not only does it feature useful techniques and concepts, it also provides real world relevant examples and illustrations of virtually every aspect of VBA coding you will need to know to function competently as a developer.

Most importantly, it offers references to other expert resources, in form of highly competent/recognized MS Excel -VB professionals whose works you can study.

Now, here’s the best part: Despite offering such a comprehensive body of ready-to-use practical tips and wisdom on Excel-VB Solutions Development, this PDF does NOT cost anything i.e it is 100% FREE!

And that’s why I recommend that you download and read this PDF. Click here to visit the author’s site, where the PDF and several useful Projects Workbooks (with project code visible in the Visual Basic Editor) are available for download and study.

Like I said, it is a bit dated, but I believe it still offers useful foundation that you can build on.

Indeed it is instructive to note that there are still MANY business users who still work in older versions of MS Excel, due to the fact that they feel their needs continue to be well catered for by those versions (say from 2003 upwards).

As a developer, you need to take pains to make your solutions reasonably backward compatible, to ensure you don’t alienate a section of your target users who may be using relatively older Excel versions.

Only people who use pirated versions of the latest MS Excel will find it hard to understand why someone would choose not to install the so called latest version of Excel on his/her PC.

In developed societies for example, where piracy is not widespread, most business users do a cost-benefit analysis in order to decide whether or not to pay what is often NOT a light fee to upgrade to the new or latest version.

So, any developer looking to build and sell apps to such users would need to make his/her apps adaptable to running trouble-free on old as well as new versions.

In the course of future tutorials, I will periodically refer you to the contents of this PDF, to facilitate your comprehension of project based exercises you will be doing.

Download and read the PDF here

Click here to visit the author’s site

A Buyer’s Feedback About my Audio on Biafran Scientists’ Animal Feeding Innovations!

[Audio Podcast] Amazing Story: How Biafran Scientists Innovated Low Cost Animal Feed (During the Nigerian Civil War) Using Zero Cost Local Ingredients

************************************
A Buyer’s Feedback Within Hours of Getting the 1.5 Hour Long Audio
************************************
=Starts=

“Good evening

I really enjoyed the audio lectures you have actually hit the nail on the head and you also strengthen some of my belie(f)s and convictions about running a farm. I would also like to know the names those plants you talked about on the lectures so that I can learn more about them.

Finally I would like to get the PDF or url link to the Indian website that carried out research on alternative feed ingredients for livestock feed production. Thanks a lot. ” – Aliyu Muhammed

Sent from my iPad

=Ends=
************************************

In this audio podcast, Tayo Solagbade, using documented exploits of Biafran scientists during the 1967 – 1970 war as reference, discusses tried & Tested practical ideas for Farm CEOs to deal with feed production hardships they face today!

NB: The price for this audio reverted to N2.5k from midnight of Wednesday 7th September, 2016.

Format: AMR Audio = 6MB [MP3 = 20MB]

Duration: 1.5 hrs

Price: N2.5k

Preview: http://tinyurl.com/biafrafeed

GET FREE AUDIO SAMPLE:

Email your phone number to info at thefarmceo.net and I’ll send you Part 1 (0.5 hrs long) as a gift – along with bank payment details, in case you decide to pay, so I can send you Part 2 (1 hour long).

By way of interest, during the N1k promo period…

A long term client, Alhaji Sanni sent Etisalat airtime to my wife, at my request as payment for the audios.

A day earlier, another client, Azi Bulus had sent MTN airtime to my mother, at my request as payment.

A day after, Aliyu Muhammed – at my suggestion (since he used Diamond bank) – got a friend to do N1k online transfer via GTB to me on his behalf.

This was his first purchase from me, even though he’s been following my work online for a while.

In fact he only recently sent me the following message after reading my article linked below:

************************************
“Good day sir I sent you the link to your article as a reference. I really enjoy your articles even though I have not yet bought any of your products yet. I love your thinking I wish more Africans can think like you not just Nigerians. Best regards.

P. S.
thanks a lot for the wonderful articles. Keep it up” – Aliyu Muhammed

Here’s the URL to the article he read:

Conversation with a Nigerian in Diaspora, About Nigeria | SD Nuggets™

http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/conversation-with-a-nigerian-in-diaspora-about-nigeria

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

Get this audio free (N2.5k value) when you buy my popular Feed Formulation Handbook and software (N20.5k).

Contact me for details

Tayo K. Solagbade*
Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist & Multipreneur

*Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club & Competition

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

How To Get The URL for a FACEBOOK Post, status or comment

This video demonstrates the steps I described in the answer to my FACEBOOK PRODUCTIVITY QUESTION (posted 4th December 2011) – which was as follows:

“Sometimes you want to tell OTHERS about a certain Facebook post, that interested you. The “Share” feature does NOT work in cases when you need to share the Post in a comment or outside Facebook(e.g. via email). You NEED the URL of the Facebook post. Do you know “How to get the URL or Link of a Facebook post or status”?”

fbk-url

Watch the video (click here now) to learn how…

View the original post of this question at http://www.facebook.com/tayo.solagbade/posts/2630753884206

Why Today’s Extension Specialists/Farm Business Support Providers Need Spreadsheet Automation Skills to Succeed Better!

As a self-taught Excel-Visual Basic (VB) Solutions Developer, I’ve (over the past 2 decades) evolved my own unique approach to using my Spreadsheet Programming skills.

And I realize others who work in the Excel-VB programming industry, especially outside Africa, who are used to the traditional approach adopted by a large majority of developers may find my “model” a bit odd.

However, the truth is my disposition is informed by a need to make a useful impact on those who NEED help, as against joining in with others to do what tens of thousands of us already do.

Do a Google search using varying strings about MS Excel based problem solving, and you’ll come up with countless links to forums and blogs that offer basic to super advanced level solutions for business and even personal use.

Not just that, there are countless offers to be had, of training, both off and on the web, using various formats/channels.

And those offering them are often quite competent, with verifiable credentials as well as demonstrated expertise in form of published works and tutorials (video and text based).

For me, especially when I look at markets outside that which I consider my primary target (i.e Africa), I see a situation in which those needing MS Excel based solutions already enjoy access to an abundance of world class quality experts to choose from.

For that reason, and also because I see major gaps in data recording, analysis and report generation related problem solving, I feel strongly driven to focus my efforts on using my over 2 decades of Spreadsheet Automation expertise to serve clients FIRST within Africa, and then any others elsewhere.

For instance out here in Africa, especially with regard to generic use of MS Excel itself, lots of training/consulting providers abound.

It is however when one wishes to go beyond MANUAL use of MS Excel, to boost productivity by eliminating or drastically cutting down on routine and repititive data handling tasks in Excel use, that the VERY poor awareness of Excel-VB programming and its potential applications, becomes apparent.

I saw this GAP in the corporate world, back when I was using my spreadsheet automation skills, in my spare time, to excel as a high flyer in Guinness Nigeria – while employed as a brewer/manager in the Technical function.

The heights to which I climbed within 6 short years, into senior management positions, as well as the massive name recognition exposure I got as a reward for my efforts in creating value adding apps that transformed workplace productivity, convinced my that custom spreadsheet automation, used correctly, was a potentially powerful weapon for achieving what would otherwise be considered impossible.

I quit my high paying job to pursue that vision in December 2001.

The journey was not smooth, and the market, being non existent at the time, took time, effort, and lots of perseverance/pain to build from nothing I.e ZERO level.

In other words, Excel-VB (or indeed Spreadsheet Programming) as an income earning vocation simply did NOT exist in the Nigerian market when I started out.

I visited the largest/best known business schools (as far back as 2002) who offered MS Excel training up to what they called “Advanced Level”.

Those of them who mentioned Excel-VB at all did so by referring to the “Macro Recorder” – and they never failed to add “Introduction to…” before it.

Simply put, very few of them had ventured seriously into the Excel-VB programming terrain that had become so familiar to me at that time.

And NONE had developed their own range of commercial quality, bullet-proof apps, like those I’ve sold internationally for years now.

So, I found it hard to connect with the facilitators I spoke with.

Indeed, in some cases, I got the distinct impression that they were worried about looking LESS knowledgeable than I was, before bosses/colleagues, so they rarely let me meet with them in the presence of others, if at all they agreed to meet.

This situation forced me to rethink my strategy, and I began to ignore the corporate world, and training opportunities, to instead focus on finding individuals and small businesses who needed custom spreadsheet apps built to solve REAL problems they faced.

The change in my focus led me to eventually get hired to build a range of custom apps for use in a wide variety of industries such as hotels, hospitals, bars/restaurants, fitness clubs, churches, engineering/construction firms, accounting firms, and of course my MOST responsive market: FARM BUSINESSES!

I found out that Mr. Tayo Solagbade is brilliant in the areas of (Web design/marketing) and Excel VBA” – Ibrahim S. – Environmental Consultant (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

Elv

That (Tayo Solagbade) is a hard worker is an understatement. It’s part of him. He loves what he does – you can see the passion…Tayo’s heart is to see others empowered and know key success principles that he knows. As Zig Ziglar said, ‘You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.’ Tayo does not hold back, and I see him achieving and accomplishing much in life because he wants others to accomplish theirs too.” – Elvis U. – Leadership Consultant, Speaker, Author and Coach (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

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Mr. Solagbade is creative and in love with his job. (He) is a very industrious person. Very very committed to his work. He’s always full of ideas and solutions to problems, and for me, he is somebody that can give some great ideas to a business person that is facing some difficulties in any field you may think you are.

I’m in a clinical setting and he has been offering some great solutions to problems we face everyday. I listen to his relations with many of his clients. Some are into Agricultural sector, some are into legal sector, and he has been helping them to improve their practice, and to do better business.

He has a very good customer relationship. He knows how to relate with people, how to talk with people, how to flow with people. And he’s somebody that when you enter into conversation with him, you ke(ep) on talking without having to end it. He’s good…” – Simeon A. – Clinical Audiologist (Video testimonial transcript & Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)

That last group (farm owners) have proven to be the most profitable, and after I narrowed down to them (using the Pareto principle), I have since focused my efforts on finding better ways to serve them.

As a matter of fact, despite my deliberate effort to focus on those in Nigeria/Africa, my website contacts database entries from submissions made on my Cost-Saving Farm Business website since I launched it in 2006, reveals that I’ve had enquiries about my range of solutions from farm CEOs and other stakeholders in agribusiness, from all over the world – and I do mean that literally.

Today, some of them have purchased and use my apps.

This is why I noted in an International Agribusiness paper I got paid to write, that Extension Professionals ANYWHERE in the world can dramatically boost their ability to help farm businesses of ALL sizes if they acquire MS Excel-VB (or Spreadsheet) Programming Skills.

Note that I happen to hold a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, where I graduated top of my class.

Today, in serving my Farm CEO clients, I function primarily as an Extension Services provider, in supporting them – way beyond use of my apps, to helping them learn how to make the most of their farm operations, using Best Practice Systems.

In other words therefore, I make my above proposal to Extension experts from an informed position!

This is the 21st century.

Farm businesses across the world do NOT have uniform operating procedures, and so it can be a bit hard to build an app that is at once affordable and also suitable to their unique needs in their different markets.

The viable alternative is for Farm CEOs to learn how to mould MS Excel to fill that need they have, using Excel-VB automation. Or to hire an employee or consultant to develop a simple app for them.

However, not all farm CEOs will have the time, training or money to go this route.

But an Extension professional working with government, an NGO or even a university, would most likely be better equipped to do just that.

That’s because s/he would then be able to put that skill to use in serving multiple farm businesses over time.

Many downloadable MS Excel based resources formatted for use by Farm CEOs are wonderful in their usefulness, but the authors often (wrongly) assume the farmer will have (or be willing to go get) Excel proficiency to make error-free use of them.

My experiences indicate that few of the farm owners do (or are)! As a result, more harm than good may end up being done to them.

However, if novice-proof automation interfaces like those I use Excel-VB coding to incorporate into my apps are present, more farm owners and their staff would be able to make use of those same workbook resources with little or no resulting errors.

The need for the workbook template creators in Extension practice to learn Excel-VB programming can therefore NOT be over-emphasized.

If you are an Extension Professional, or a decision maker who works with them, and you’d like to learn more about the ideas I’ve shared in this piece, click here to send me a message.

BELOW: Exceprts from my International Agribusiness Paper

In this paper, we acknowledge efforts made by extension specialists, to develop flexible MS Excel based feed formulation resources for farmers.

We however note that farmers need more time/effort saving, and robust error-resistant solutions, to derive ration formulas that yield profitable performance.

The customizable Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ is presented as an example of what is possible.

[Watch a 4 part video tutorial demonstration created for the app here]

The Need to Explore Cheaper, Local Alternative Feed Ingredients, In Formulating Least Cost Diets

Rising prices of major feed ingredients like Maize, Fish Meal and Soya beans as well as dangers associated with aflatoxin complications in use of groundnut cake, have driven many farm business owners to explore alternative feed ingredients.

But in doing so, they also have to enter uncharted territory.

Locally available ingredients which are often cheaper, typically tend to b5e less well documented in terms of their value to animals.

Farmers often have to settle for “typical values” from published reports, or send samples to the laboratory.

Different feed formulation methods exist, such as linear programming, Pearson square, and stochastic programming.

The farmer’s choice of method must be guided by the purpose of the diet s/he aims to formulate.

For instance, catfish and poultry have amino acid needs that vary greatly from that of pigs.

The farmer will have to take that into account in formulating his/her rations. But that can be a tasking process!

Low Cost Automated Feed Formulation is Needed

Software automation can make that process less tasking, and more reliable in terms of accuracy.

But feed formulation so9ftware tend to be pricey (see email excerpt in section 2.0). In addition, some – due to legal requirements – limit ingredients types usable (see sidebar) .

That’s why more farmers now adopt manual Excel formats developed by researchers/extension specialists.

Development of Customizable Excel-VB Driven Feed Formulation Spreadsheet Applications By Extension Specialists

For ration formulation to succeed, derived rations must be cost-effective, and also yield the desired livestock performance. Customizable Excel-VB solutions, featuring intelligent error- handling and intuitive “novice-proof” graphic user interfaces can give such superior benefits

Extension specialists can learn basic Excel-Visual Basic programming, and collaborate with farmers to develop software to achieve the above.

The Excel-VB Driven Ration1 Formulator™ (see Annex 1.0) was developed in 2004 , and regularly updated since then, for farmers with limited budgets, and a need to freely explore locally alternative ingredients.

It is accompanied by a 70 page feed formulation hand book (published in 2002), which explains the improved Pearson Square feed formulation technique on which the application works.

The application has been used mostly for poultry and fish farming feed formulation.

The above Agribusiness Research Paper I got paid to write in December 2013 by a European Union funded NGO based in Holland is titled “Adoption of PC-Based Feed Formulation Methods by Farmers, Feed Manufacturers and Extension Professionals, in South West Nigeria.”

Learn more about it at http://tinyurl.com/AgribizPDF

If a Farm CEO decides to buy my Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager, I’ll give him/her a PDF GIFT copy of the avove paper, plus my popular Feed Formulation Bundle 100% FREE. The bundle comprises the following:

A. My Excel VB Ration Formulator Software – see videos at www.tinyurl.com/RealRationDemo

B. My Feed Formulation Handbook – see it on sale in my online store at http://www.lulu.com/shop/tayo-solagbade/practical-livestock-feed-formulation-handbook/ebook/product-20817463.html

C. My 30 page Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients

Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients

PS: GET BUILT-IN MS EXCEL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT

Self-Development Academy (SDAc)’s Excel Heaven™ was founded by Tayo K. Solagbade in 2002, as the FIRST provider of On-Demand Preprogrammed Custom Spreadsheet Solutions for individuals and businesses in Nigeria/Africa.

We offer Workbook Auditing/Optimisation and VBA Automation; Custom Spreadsheet Software Development; Sales; Job-Based Spreadsheet Coaching; and Consulting/Advisory Services on effective application of spreadsheets for business use.

Call +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin).

See video demos here.

Visit our Excel Heaven mini-site : here.

[Invitation] Join Tayo’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club:

1. Click the link below to download a 9-page MS PowerPoint Slideshow which explains in FULL details what you will be learning – and doing.

here.

2. On the page linked below, you can watch a video version of the above slideshow, and some sample tutorials/demo videos:

here.

PII 027: Make Money Selling Spreadsheet Workbooks You Use

The key to making money is finding a solution to problems that others around us are prepared to pay us profitably for.

If you know how to go about it, you CAN make good money selling the Workbooks you build for use in your work as a business user of MS Excel, or indeed any other spreadsheet application.

I say this as one who has done just that for well over a decade and (as I explain below, I have come across many other experts in various fields of endeavour who do the same.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

 

Tayo Solagbade's Performance Improvement IDEAS(PI Squared) Newsletter

Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement
IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter

Monday 15th August 2016

Logo - Tayo Solagbade's Self-Development Academy


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.

**********

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 PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

PII 027: Make Money Selling Spreadsheet Workbooks You Use

The key to making money is finding a solution to problems that others around us are prepared to pay us profitably for.

If you know how to go about it, you CAN make good money selling the Workbooks you build for use in your work as a business user of MS Excel, or indeed any other spreadsheet application.

I say this as one who has done just that for well over a decade and (as I explain below, I have come across many other experts in various fields of endeavour who do the same.

If there is any area of endeavour packed with potentially limitless profitable problem solving opportunities, it is that of Data Recording, Analysis/Trending and Report generating for timely and Accurate Decision Making.

We are today, in a fast changing technology driven world, whose evolution is greatly dependent on access to and accurate/timely interpretation of data.

Think about it for a moment, and you’ll see that it’s true. Everywhere you turn, “data” is being collected, reviewed, analyzed, trended and presented. Sports, Business, Education, Entertainment, Religion, Politics/Government etc!

Anyone who is able to create a useful system for helping people tasked with responsibilities for routine data handling and report generation for decision making stands a good chance of making money selling such solutions to them.

But s/he needs to learn HOW to do it.

I argue that an important foundation on which to build any such solution are spreadsheets. And my preferred platform is Microsoft Excel – because it remains by far the best reporting application on the market.

Last night, I sent out the first podcast/audio version of my Excel-VB Automation Tutorial to members of my Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club.

And it was on this same theme: Make Money Selling Spreadsheet Workbooks You Use

My purpose is open business users’ eyes to a possible goldmine of opportunities existing in form of the spreadsheet templates they routinely use to deliver value to their employers and/or clients.

The podcast I recorded was however sent to my club members via Whatsapp, in a deliberate effort to bring the club members into my Whatsapp network, where I’ve been actively supporting clients in/out of Africa (especially those in the UK, Ghana, Nigeria) since April 2016.

Join my MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club [Introductory Videos You Need to Watch]

I’ve found the Whatsapp platform exceptionally versatile in delivering varied forms of support to those I serve!

Click here to request the Whatsapp audio, by sending me your Whatsapp number and other details via the form at the bottom of the page that appears.

Think about what you do with MS Excel, for your employer or clients in the formal work you do.

Chances are good that if you’re reasonably competent in the use of MS Excel, and have been doing that work for a reasonable period of time, colleagues or co-workers who do what you do may find them your Workbooks useful templates they can adapt to their needs.

Some common examples of purposes to which spreadsheets are applied include:

  1. Preparing Pay slips

I’ve visited many forums and met various people who were in search of a template spreadsheet format they could simply modify with their personal or company information and plug data into, in order to generate needed Salaries Schedules and Pay slips, with Income Tax payments for each employee.

The basic version of my Automated Pay slip Generator app has been on sale since 2007, when I first built it for Lagos based medium sized hospital’s accounts department, who still use it till this day.

If you work use MS Excel to generate pay slips for employees or clients’ staff, that workbook you use can be customized as a template you can sell to earn passive income “as is” – without a single line of code – believe me!

  1. Preparing Cash Book Income/Expense Summaries

I’ve built 3 different types of Automated Excel-VB driven Cash Books for accountants in different organizations, based on their specifications. This told me there is great potential for money making in this area, for any competent accountant who chooses to use the ideas I propose for adoption in this article.

Considering the fact that I did not study Accountancy, and have no formal training in that field, it goes without saying that my ability to sell the Automated Cash Books I’ve built to new clients is proof that those with training in that field can do so much more, if they learn to use Excel-VB like I do.

But even with what they already know, without any coding whatsoever, the workbooks I’ve seen some of them use, if properly formatted and structured for use as templates, can be sold for good money.

Many CPAs in developed societies build and sell such workbooks with little or no code for download and use by buyers looking for simple, easy to use solutions. YOU can start from there!

  1. Preparing Tax Summaries

I know tax/audit consultants who complain of slowdown in business. Their clients are unable to pay for the traditional big budget audit projects of the past. What I always ask them is: Why not look at creating customizable template versions of the workbooks you use to generate the tax reports for your clients, then build data entry spreadsheets to feed those spreadsheets, which you can then sell to your clients, and train them to post data into.

By the end of the month or year, you could then come over to generate reports, for a smaller fee. So you would make money selling the workbooks, and/or helping to generate the tax reports. But it would cost the client much less, than the conventional work you do. The best part is that you’d be able to serve more clients, and earn passive income.

Note that I’ve used mainly examples relevant to financial reporting. However, the point I’m making here applies to virtually every other field in which data handling and report generation is done.

The range of apps (see examples below) I’ve built for clients in various markets illustrates this point perfectly.

1. Automated Church Records Manager

  1. Clients Contacts/Records Manager
  2. Membership Records Manager
  3. Hotel, Restaurant & Bars Manager
  4. Clinic Records Manager
  5. Pure Water Business Manager
  6. Manufacturing Business Manager
  7. Supermarket Business Manager

Click here to visit a page where you can click links to watch videos of the apps listed above in use

Manufacturing organizations in particular will find the “Usage Rates Tracking and Variable Cost Analysis” spreadsheet applications (like those I develop – see screenshots below) invaluable for more efficient reporting.

mbm4

mbm5

The above report formats for product costing and Key Performance Indicator auto-generation were adapted from those I’d been involved in creating for a different organisation in the past. You can do the same – and get to a point where you end up with a generic customizable workbook you can sell to clients. See Excel-VB Automation Can Boost Employee Productivity in Your Company [Hint: Custom Manufacturing Business Manager App Built for a Lagos-Nigeria based SME]

Serious Minded Business Users ALWAYS Value Problem-Solvers

That’s a known fact – which is why they readily pay to hire such persons, or buy the solutions they create.

Such people never wants to go through the hassle of re-inventing the wheel e.g. building spreadsheet tables daily weekly, or monthly to handle data, when a ready-to-use format with formulas already correctly inputted, in a print-ready arrangement is available to be had.

Except they are unaware of its existence!

Little wonder, that some websites feature simple workbooks on sale for significant sums. A quick Google search will reveal ready examples you can relate to.

Note that this is an area of opportunity for which the potential demand in almost limitless. You can literally create your own market, by focusing on a niche you identify, to meet the needs of people you deduce are NOT being attended to adequately or satisfactorily.

If you can study your target marketplace and identify the preferred format used in most organizations, you can adapt the one you have to cater for any unique features they have and offer them for sale.

Abundant elbow room exists for multiple solution providers in this kind of market, as your CREATIVITY in adapting your solution to meet the client’s needs is what will determine your success or otherwise.

Like I tell my clients, this has been the key to my success in selling customizable spreadsheet solutions in my primary target market (Africa). And I’ve quietly held back from putting all I offer into the first generation of apps I’ve offered to buyers.

Instead, I continue to study my users and the feedback they give me, towards building what I aim to be a new generation of apps designed to overwhelm users with so much powerful value, that will make them industry standard.

In other words, what I’m asking you to do, is what I have been doing for YEARS, and which I continue to do, even though at a higher level of competence.

It therefore goes without saying that I can help anyone interested in learning to do the same -which is why I launched my Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club.
Join my MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club [Introductory Videos You Need to Watch]

 

SDN Blog™

New posts from last week*

Monday:

[Tuesday]:

[Wednesday]:

[Thursday]:

[Friday]:

Get my Excel-VB driven Catfish Farm Biz Manager, Pig Farm Biz Manager or Rabbit Farm Biz Manager. First 15 to signup as partners

[Saturday]:

N/A

[Sunday]:

Protected: THE FARM CEO (Issue 57): ADVANTAGES OF SOILLESS AGRICULTURE, 4 SOILLESS GROWING METHODS, How Soilless Agriculture Differs from Soil-based Agriculture

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition

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 (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.

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

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

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

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

he’s published.

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

Click “Tayo, What Happened to

SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom ?” to read a detailed narrative about how the above event occurred :-))

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

Succeed by Emerging from Adversity Like a Phoenix

(TayoSolagbade.com launches extra Hosting plan with FREE Web Marketing!)

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

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

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

Home |About | Contact | SD Nuggets™ | Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS | Web Marketing Systems | Freelance Writing | MS Excel® Heaven™ | Cost-Saving Farm Biz Ideas

PII 026: You Can be Competent Yet Lack Confidence!

To boost your chances of making sales, you need to have sales conversations as often as possible. And that requires creating systems to generate a regular stream of sales leads/prospects.

I learnt that truth the hard way, and today, I apply that learning with diligence. My ability to succeed in making sales in spite of adversity is proof of this. I continue to have sales conversations with CEOs belonging to my different target audiences – on and off the web.

However, like I’ve repeatedly noted in my writing, I continue to reap more profitable benefits for my efforts, from those who come to me through my…

SCROLL DOWN TO READ FULL ISSUE

 

Tayo Solagbade's Performance Improvement IDEAS(PI Squared) Newsletter

Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement
IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter

Monday 8th August 2016

Logo - Tayo Solagbade's Self-Development Academy


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.

**********

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 PlusConnect with Tayo on LinkedIn.com

PII 026: You Can be Competent Yet Lack Confidence!

To boost your chances of making sales, you need to have sales conversations as often as possible. And that requires creating systems to generate a regular stream of sales leads/prospects.

I learnt that truth the hard way, and today, I apply that learning with diligence. My ability to succeed in making sales in spite of adversity is proof of this. I continue to have sales conversations with CEOs belonging to my different target audiences – on and off the web.

However, like I’ve repeatedly noted in my writing, I continue to reap more profitable benefits for my efforts, from those who come to me through my Web Marketing System.

For instance, last Thursday, I took a call from the CEO of a Feed Lot business based in Uganda, who was interested in purchasing my Excel-VB Ration Formulator app. Some days earlier, a Graphics Designer based in Ghana had called about my Excel-VB Invoice Generator.

Compared to the phone conversations I’ve had during the same period, with prospect via offline channels, I continue to see proof, that more profitable results are achievable when you make potential buyers discover and come to you, rather that you discovering and going to them.

This trend has remained regardless of the geographical location of the potential buyer who connects with me – be it within or outside Africa.

However. it is my considered opinion, that there is ONE key reason I sell so well to TOTAL STRANGERS, and it provides a foundation on which all the other factors influence the results I get.

That reason is captured in one WORD: CONFIDENCE.

By that I refer to the confidence I EXUDE or DISPLAY in every way and manner I communicate what I say I know, or can do.

It also has to do with how I communicate in response to those who choose to reach out to me AFTER encountering my marketing messages via various platforms e.g. website, blog, Email newsletter, Facebook business page, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube etc.

NB: I HAVE HAD potential buyers reach out directly to me with sales inquiries via virtually all of those media I just listed. Over 60% of them went on to buy from me. And like I noted above, I believe it was the confidence with which I handled myself that ultimately moved them to take action to buy.

Speaking, writing, and acting with confidence DID NOT however come naturally to me.

I had to learn it.

You can be competent and still lack confidence. Many people live THAT reality.

In my case, shyness was more my disposition – and INTROVERT was a word that most who knew me when I was much younger would have readily associated with me. Even when I was in paid employment, I started out that way. I was brilliant on the job, but generally a bit of a loner outside the workplace.

When there was work to be done, a little seen side of me came to the fore, mainly because my drive to NOT fail forced me to overcome the reservations I had about being in the spotlight.

So I tended to thrive in such circumstances. Over time, repeated exposure to high-pressure workplace performance situations helped me overcome my shyness and I became adept at handling myself interpersonally.

That improved social competence would prove invaluable to me when I became an entrepreneur, and began marketing my services as a self-taught provider of Custom Automated MS Excel-VB driven Software Development and Learning Solutions.

Each time I encountered rejection, my self-confident core provided the needed cushion to NOT take it personally, and to apply the wisdom I’d picked up from reading books like “Think and Grow Rich” about PERSISTING in the face of adversity, until I got a breakthrough.

It goes without saying that I had to unlearn many things I knew from school and my time in paid employment, in order to make smart progress as an entrepreneur in the real world of my society in Nigeria.

There are so many unexpected “annoyances” that deny competent persons of integrity the opportunity to get due reward based on merit. I’ve written many articles on the subject of corrupt business in the past, on this blog, so no point saying any more here.

Suffice to say that I only survived those prolonged periods of unfair rejection, and even abuse meted out to me (which were often designed to break a person’s spirit so you accepted to “join the game”) MAINLY because I had CONFIDENCE in myself and my ability to succeed at anything I set my mind on.

One other thing I had was Blind or Absolute and Unquestioning Faith that the Creator would help me find a way to succeed in business without being corrupt.

Remember though, as I hinted at the start of this piece however, My Self-Confidence did not come with me from the womb. I developed it over time.

How?

Well, I did it by going out relentlessly to DO things that challenged me, in a way that tested me to my limits (or what I thought were my limits).

In other words, I formed the habit of going out of my way to get experience at doing anything and everything I did not know how to do, or did not know ENOUGH about doing.

The drive to do this came from a realization I made that I only felt fear and anxiety when I was not sure about something. My thinking about THAT revealed that I was often only unsure about things I had NOT done before. As a result of being afraid, because I was not sure, I found that I was unable to speak, think or act with confidence.

Since I did NOT like that feeling, I decided to eliminate or reduce it to the barest minimum by taking action to do as much of those things I felt that way about, as often as possible, to the best of my ability, until I achieved a level of competence that made me FEEL confident wherever I went or whoever I had to interact with.

Today, I am able to confidently take international phone calls from experts, with backgrounds from every imaginable field, at short notice, to discuss solutions I offer.

Not just that, I readily accept invitations to give talks to audiences in ANY of my stated areas of focus or interest, even if at short notice.

Probably most notably, I have shocked many prospective clients by requesting they make payment of N10,000 (Ten Thousand) to N20,000 (Twenty Thousand) Naira, for me to agree to meet with THEM towards discussing hiring ME!

Over 90% agree to pay to meet with me, even after I make it clear they ONLY get a refund if they go on to hire me.

For those that signup, I go on to confidently provide the promised solution, and guidance, sometimes corrective in nature, to make the most of themselves, with my support.

Most importantly, my self-confidence equips me to keep going even during the (rare) moments when things go wrong, such that I am not only able to quickly resolve the problem, in a manner that earns me praise from clients I serve.

If you want to be able to excel at what you do, under ANY conditions, in relating with ANY persons, you need to develop the kind of Self-Confidence I have described here.

Need help learning to BE that way? Click here to send me a message.

SDN Blog™

New posts from last week*

Monday:

[Tuesday]:

[Wednesday]:

[Thursday]:

N/A

[Friday]:

[RECOMMENDED] Blocking Brute Force Attacks

[Saturday]:

[RECOMMENDED] How to Get Audience Attention at the Start of Your Presentation – By Efe Ohwofasa

[Sunday]:

N/A

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition

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 (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.

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

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

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

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

he’s published.

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

Click “Tayo, What Happened to

SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom ?” to read a detailed narrative about how the above event occurred :-))

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

Succeed by Emerging from Adversity Like a Phoenix

(TayoSolagbade.com launches extra Hosting plan with FREE Web Marketing!)

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

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

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

Home |About | Contact | SD Nuggets™ | Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS | Web Marketing Systems | Freelance Writing | MS Excel® Heaven™ | Cost-Saving Farm Biz Ideas

[MP3 Audio] How to Deal With Prospective Buyers Demanding Lower Prices You Find Unprofitable

This audio is a sequel to last week’s issue titled: The Secret to Succeeding Financially As a Service Provider

 

Preview: Why you should never let your target audience interpret your service as a “commodity” they can get for any fee they want, via aggressive pricing, or “haggling”.

 

I explan (using true stories) that sometimes you’ll be better off walking away from a sale, and spending your time creating more quality sales leads, instead of accepting to serve a buyer who insists on focusing ONLY on price, ignoring unique benefits s/he will reap, from choosing YOU over others.

 

To do otherwise would mean “profit-making-suicide” for you!

 

Format: MP3 Audio

 

Duration: 18 minutes

 

Filesize: 17 MB

 

Author: Tayo K. Solagbade

 

Web: www.tayosolagbade.com

 

E-Mail: Tayo@tksola.com

 

Target Audience: Tayo Solagbade’s Inner Circle Members

 

Tip: The ideas discussed here can be successfully adapted for selling products as well.

 

 

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