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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. 184: To Succeed Profitably, Know What You’re Worth…& Protect Your Integrity!
If a client company’s decision maker demands gratification, as a condition for awarding YOU business, what would YOU do? In this article, I destroy the myth some – misguided – “experts” perpetuate, that, to succeed, one must give in improper demands from crooked client company representatives!
Giving in to such demands, no matter how well off you end up, WILL spell doom for you, in terms of your ability to actualize your God given potential!
I’m from a society where “wise” business owners believe you have no choice but to agree to do anything asked of you by even crooked decision makers…or fail.
I disagree, and have done so for over a decade…YET I succeed today in spite of my position!
This is a pet peeve of mine, but I’ve avoided writing about it for a while. However, I recently had a conversation with an old acquaintance, and was shocked, to hear him say I needed to accept this practice, so I could grow the speaking arm of my business.
So, I decided it was time to do yet another piece, for the benefit of others unsure of what to do.
Here are some excerpts (NB: He had indicated interest in having me develop a Web Marketing System for his business)
===Starts===
Me: You see a Web Marketing System will help you sell MORE than the products you have in your business. It can also be setup to help you generate extra passive via sales of your “knowledge”. Remember I told you I returned from Cotonou last Thursday (5th March 2015), to deliver a talk to a group of CEOs and Network Marketing Professional?
Old Acquaintance: Yes? So, what about it?
Me: Well, I’ve since used the 2 hour MP3 audio recording of my talk from that day, to create a new DVD Information Product that I offer for sale. Just like other Excel-VB software products, it’s basically digital, and was produced via monetization of my expert knowledge on a specific subject. I use my WMS to promote this growing range of products to my target audience, even as I continue earning income delivering my core solutions to my clients. The best part is that now, I focus on selling access to my Inner Circle membership, where members get my products at hefty discounts, to make more sales faster. So you see…
Old Acquaintance (cuts in): You know, I think you’re missing something. From what you tell me, the response you’re getting is so good. Why don’t you consider doing more talks/training events on a regular basis – especially in organizations?
Me: No, don’t let’s go there. Years ago, I decided I would no longer try to win speaking/training gigs with companies and organizations in Nigeria. With few exceptions, they often have crooked persons in charge of decision making where hiring of external consultants/trainers is concerned. And those crooked people habitually make all sort of silly demands for gratification that I refuse to give in to.
Old Acquaintance: Look Tayo, you always have the wrong attitude towards people out here. Nigerians are very easy to handle once you know how to deal with them!
Me: Really? Am I missing something here? Are you telling me the impressions I formed from a decade of mostly wasted time trying to sell my learning events to various organizations are not accurate? Or you want me to believe things have changed, and that the rot has been eliminated?
Old Acquaintance: Hold on, let me tell you how it works. First of all, when you go to these people you must not think of yourself alone. You have to understand that you need to offer the guy something of value in return for what you want to get – which is payment.
Me: What do you mean, something value? Of course they will get something of value. Is that not what I offer my speaking/training service for: to impact value on the attendees (i.e. the members of that organization), that will leave them better off than before I came in???
Old Acquaintance: No, no no! It goes beyond that. In fact, that’s not what matters. The decision maker is the one I’m talking about here. He is going to want something tangible for himself. For instance, if you say your fee for each prospective attendee is N15, 000.00 (Fifteen Thousand Naira), and there will be 20 attendees, you can tell him you want your total payment of N300, 000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) untouched. However, to appease him, and get him to cooperate and allow you to win the project, you can tell him he’s free to “add on top” of your total fee, any amount he chooses (e.g. 50,000.00), to arrive at a Grand Total (N350, 000.00), which you will then put on the invoice you submit to the company. On receiving payment you will then simply pay him the portion belonging to him!
[As he finished saying the above, he looked at me like he’d just given me some kind of unprecedented secret formula for success. It was all I could do to keep from screaming. I was irritated to my bones!!]
Me (Shaking my head in disbelief): Do you realize that you have not told me anything I did not know? Look, I discovered all that you told me years ago. I always knew it was the norm in some circles. Remember I also worked back in Guinness as Technical Training and Development Manager, and had to relate with LOTS of external trainers and facilitators. I will NEVER accept to do business that way. And the reason is simple: What I offer as a speaker/trainer/coach is VALUABLE enough command the kind of payment I require for my services. Any decision makers who seek personal benefits to choose me to add value to his/her organization’s members does NOT know what his/her proper role should be.
===Ends===
Back when I was in paid employment, NEVER ONCE did I demand gratification of ANY sort from those I paid on behalf of the company, to train our personel
No single consultant can claim to have had such an encounter with me.
Since becoming an entrepreneur, and finding that most people in such positions do it, I resolved I would do business in a way that would NOT require going to speak/train at such companies or organizations.
That is why today, I use Public Speaking mainly as a business marketing strategy. So, you see, getting paid to speak only comes to me as a bonus!
In any company with smart management, it won’t be long before they SEE that such a crooked decision maker is NOT hiring the best experts to develop their valuable human resources.
When that happens, s/he will NOT last long in that position.
NB: Any company where people who engage in this bad practice REMAIN for long is unlikely to be a place where the best management talents flourish.
If you are an expert-who-speaks it’s best to avoid getting hired by such crooked decision makers.
This is because they will rarely be interested in what you can do to help the company.
Instead, they will only focus on what they can get you to do for them.
The problem is that what they will want you to do for them will rarely be a smart priority for YOU as an expert. It will most likely make you look bad in the long run.
Even more importantly, you will no longer need to put in your best effort to get chosen.
That may feel nice in the short run, but it’s like a boxer who wins matches by paying off judges etc. S/he will over time feel little need to put in the needed hard work at training and in competition.
Then one day, an opponent with immensely superior skills will appear, and even the biased judging will fail to help.
Aside from the above, giving in to demands for gratification in exchange for award of client projects will also leave you compromised, in a way that could even open you up to blackmail or worse.
None of these is worth the trouble.
What’s more, in most parts of the world, these practices rarely pay off in the long run.
Indeed, if you aim to excel by succeeding at an international/world class level at what you do (like I do)…to fearlessly rub shoulders with the best of the best, ANYWHERE and at ANYTIME, then you really do NOT want to engage in this crooked way of getting hired.
Here’s what I recommend: Call the bluff of ANY decision maker who makes such a demand of you!
Don’t cause a fight or make a scene.
Simply tell him/her that you cannot work on such terms. Then walk away.
But don’t go and sit down feeling sorry for yourself.
Resolve (like I did, a long time ago as a start-up) to use the magic power of Web Marketing, mixed with creative, persistence in offline marketing, to create a compelling brand presence for yourself.
That will over time make serious minded decision makers drop their biases and accept YOU on YOUR terms, to deliver the solutions you offer.
That’s what I did. It is what I continue to do. The results I get confirm that this strategy works.
It was why, in May 2012, I was selected to be the Guest Speaker at the Annual Entrepreneurship Lecture, hosted by Yaba College of Technology’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Development.
If you adopt the approach I recommend, YOU WILL get chosen, without needing to compromise
…and even if you don’t, my approach ensures your marketing works so that you get more sales leads and even earn passive income via monetization of your knowledge and know-how.
You simply cannot lose!
If you need help putting the ideas shared above to use, let me know HERE.
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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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