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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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IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS newsletter is published online on the “reincarnated” version of my Self-Development (SD) Nuggets blog. I continue to put finishing touches to the content. If you encounter ANY bad/dead links, and you can spare the time, email them to me via tayo at tksola dot com. Thanks in advance
No. 171: To Achieve Your Goals, Stop Hesitating!
“I have succeeded in whatever I have undertaken because I have willed it. I have never hesitated, which has given me an advantage over the rest of mankind.” – Napoleon
On 2008-06-06 at 01:48:46, Ben Oshionya wrote (from Port Harcourt) via my website request form:
“I am excited by this website. You seem to be doing a lot of good to farmers, Tayo. Keep it up. I ran into this website during my search for feed formulation information. Hope I have come to the right place.”
Since 2006, when I launched my Cost-Saving Farm Business Ideas website – www.iff.tayosolagbade.com(Click!) – I’ve had countless farm business owners, support experts and enthusiasts, contact (and/or buy from) me.
The day Ben sent his message, I was in a manufacturing client’s office in June 2008, training the accounts officer to use the Manufacturing Business Manager app, I’d just finished building.
But I did not own a Blackberry at the time, and so did not see the message immediately. Instead it was when he called me on my mobile line to ask a few questions about my Feed Formulation Handbook and software bundle offer, that he told me he’d sent a web form enquiry.
Our conversation proved to be quite interesting, especially when he asked me for details of a bank account he could make payment to. He’d complained that the bank I’d stated payment details for in the auto response he got to his enquiry did NOT have a branch close to his farm’s location – which was far away from the city. So, he wanted to know if I had an account with any of the other more popular/well established ones.
At the time, I had not yet setup the kind of elaborate system I now have, that enables me receive payments from both within and outside Nigeria/Africa. For I did not have my other account details on me at the time. Back then the online banking system was not in place.
When I was not forthcoming in my responses, he said:
“Tayo, I don’t understand you. The products you offer are such that will definitely attract the serious interest of many farm owners. How can you not make proper arrangements to ensure they will have no difficulties sending you payment? Unless you’re telling me you do not wish to get paid, the way you’re operating makes no sense. Please let me know how I can send you money to buy the products in your email response. There are so many banks in Nigeria today, with branches that I can reach more easily than the one for the bank you use!”
That proved to be a wake up call for me.
You see, up till that point, I’d not had anyone complain about the SINGLE payment option I’d provided on my website. Ben’s feedback made me sit down and THINK carefully about how to make it EASIER for intending buyers to send me payment.
It occurred to me that if he’d not been someone with conviction, my inability to offer him an immediate alternative could have made him develop doubts or second thoughts about buying.
And that could have led to a last minute loss of that sale. Luckily for me, Ben was a true entrepreneur, in terms of his mental attitude. He knew what he wanted and had convinced himself I could provide it. That sale went through, and since then I’ve made many others – via a variety of channels, both on and off the web.
Between June 6th when Ben made that call and June 21st when he called me from Port Harcourt to confirm the package* had just been handed to him, we had exchanged many phone calls and text messages as we explored options to get him the product.
*Note: The package he got comprised a physical copy of the Feed formulation handbook + Autorun CDROM containing the Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator software, as well as Acrobat PDF copies of the handbook + manual and 5 others. You can get details HERE!.
My experiences over the years have taught me that people considering making a purchase will often be in a phase where they are trying to be sure they do not throw their money away.
That insight has guided me over the years to offer as much information as possible to help them overcome that mental barrier. Judging from the growing range of places I now have buyers/users of my various products in and out of Africa, I believe I’ve succeeded in addressing that challenge to a great extent.
However, despite one’s best efforts, what I have come to realize is that some people will still struggle to take that final step to buy. It’s not peculiar to me. It’s something that happens in all societies. Having said that, the truth remains that sending payment to me, as a Nigerian poses its own unique challenges for most prospective international buyers who discover the solutions I offer.
I have stated in past articles that about 80% of this blog’s traffic comes from outside Nigeria/Africa – and over 90% of my Excel Heaven Spreadsheet Automation Facebook page fans from from Asia, America, and Europe. Very few of them are black or African!
The power of my Web Marketing System is such that it makes many from developed socieites reach out to me to find out how my my Excel-VB driven Poultry Farm Manager software costs, using my website contact form, without realizing I am NOT based in the same part of the world as they are.
Many times I get enquiries from people who contact me only to express surprise (sometimes shock) when my response indicates where I am based.
In one recent instance, a Farm CEO based in the USA, sent me a phone number on which I could call to speak with him, after I replied that I needed to ask him a few due diligence questions before responding to his enquiry about price.
When he picked the call, I started by telling him I was a Nigerian based in Cotonou, but that I periodically visit Nigeria. His surprised response was “Nigeria?!” – and I said YES.
I went on to ask him all the questions I had, and then asked if he wished to ask me any. He replied that he had none, and that he would expect my email response to his enquiry about the product’s price etc. I sent him that response within 24 hours of the call. That was about 2 weeks ago.
I’ve gotten no response from him since then. I cannot be sure why. It could be due to his NOT being sure about the risk…or it the price is outside his budget.
What I have done, however, is to ensure I am NEVER found wanting as regards delivering what I promise.
So, for those who have had the courage to take that crucial leap of faith, I’ve gone out of my way to ensure I over deliver. Indeed, I plan to send EVERY single one of my 2014 buyers a special end of year gift offer, as my way of thanking them. And that email offer will also announce a new price regime from my product and services.
That special End of Year offer will be dispatched to ALL subscribers to my mailing list on Friday 12th December 2015. Watch out for it!
IMPORTANT NOTE: ANYONE who already got a formal offer from me for ANY of my products/services will NOT be eligible to take up this offer. Also, every one of such offers WILL expire by 31st December 2014.)
Final Words: Those who achieve their dreams are often those who rarely hesitate, and who take the greatest risks!
One thing I like about the business owners I mentioned, like Ben, is that IN SPITE of the risks (what with the news we hear daily of people our here who ask you to pay into their account, and never get back to you!), they still went ahead to contact, and send me payment, to get the product(s) they wanted.
In life, those who get what they want – and therefore succeed – are often those who are willing to take a risk …people who do NOT HESITATE (like Napoleon said in his quote below).
“I have succeeded in whatever I have undertaken because I have willed it. I have never hesitated, which has given me an advantage over the rest of mankind.” – Napoleon
I also happen to be like that. Many close to me have accused me of being too willing to trust people – sending payments to purchase products/services I decide I want. Sometimes I’ve ended up being duped. Most times however, I’ve ended up better off. In all cases, the experiences have served to make me smarter for the future!
That’s why today, I am achieving successes on and off the web, that VERY few people from my part of the world, are known for.
As 2015 approaches, I continue with the same attitude, and I KNOW it’s going to take me to even greater places for MANY more years to come.
If you want to make the most of yourself, take it from me: You NEED to adopt a similar attitude!
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 :-))
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