Hello,

I am launching a new kind of advert agency this year, and I'm in need of businessmen who are selling one thing or the other and would like me to help them with it. I want to test my plan to see if I can actually solve people's problems.

It's primarily for businesses in Nigeria. Let's comunicate through this thread.

Thanks,
Seun.

Well Seun I don't know if this fits into what you are looking for but I'd like to advertise my business:

Getting married or celebrating a birthday or any other event? Then call on Nxlevel Events for the most digitalized video coverage with the most excellent post production on CD you have ever seen. Lets help you create lasting memories. Prices from N200,000 for a 2 day coverage.

Yes, this is exactly what I am looking for. Some questions for you:
1) Are you willing to take clients from all over the country, or just Lagos?
2) How much would you pay for a lead - the phone number of someone who has indicated interest in what you have to offer? 500? 1000? 5000? (considering the fact that the product is worth 200,000 naira!)

we take clients from all over the country and hope to expand outside the shores of the land too, soon. however, outside lagos attracts additional fees of travel and hotel accomdation which will be determined at going rate.

well i guess we would be able to do as much as 5per cent for effective leads.

How do I know if a lead is effective? That would mean I have to trust you. I may be able to trust you, but my intention is to help hundreds of businesses to advertise their wares. I can't possibly trust all these businesses to give me accurate information about how many of my leads have been successful.

What I want is to be paid for "promising leads" i.e. "people who are interested". I give you the phone numbers, you pay me the money, and then you follow up. It'll now be left to you to make sure that those promising leads do not walk away without patronizing you. A promising lead is someone who has read your ad in detail and wants to learn more. How much would you pay for that?

m

i agree that follow up on leads is my business but am not sure of what to pay for promising leads, so far we have sourced our own business, i don't know can you suggest a figure?

It kind of hard to pay for promising leads seun.
I have come to realise that about 60%(my rough est.) of those who call for advert enquries are calling just to know or might not be your market.So if so how exactly will i quanitify that?
-you will need to prove to me the quality of the lead(which i dont know how right now).But u need to consider that giving a lead is like a mini % of the buying process.
Ok, lets me ask this; would i pay for the intial advert or just pay per lead?May be that will help shed more light on your idea.

If the advert is misleading or incomplete, many people wil call to find out more and might decided to opt out when they learn about the details. But if the advert I show them contains almost everything they need to know about your product or service, then most of those who opt to contact you will be people who are willing and able to pay for your service.

I don't think one can predict this ratio in advance. What you can do is monitor the means I'm using to promote your product and then pay me a fee that depends on your estimate of the percentage of the leads that are going to become paying customers.

For instance, if you're paying 5% commission on something worth 200,000 naira (i.e. 10k) and you estimate that 40% of those who drop their names and phone numbers are going to become paying customers, then you'll just pay 40% of 10k for each good lead (that is, 4k).

i think that will still boil down to u having to trust me cos how do you accept what i determine as probable leads on which to base the percentage?

Seun:

If the advert is misleading or incomplete, many people wil call to find out more and might decided to opt out when they learn about the details. But if the advert I show them contains almost everything they need to know about your product or service, then most of those who opt to contact you will be people who are willing and able to pay for your service.

I don't think one can predict this ratio in advance. What you can do is monitor the means I'm using to promote your product and then pay me a fee that depends on your estimate of the percentage of the leads that are going to become paying customers.

For instance, if you're paying 5% commission on something worth 200,000 naira (i.e. 10k) and you estimate that 40% of those who drop their names and phone numbers are going to become paying customers, then you'll just pay 40% of 10k for each good lead (that is, 4k).

trust me seun most nigerians dont read advert before they respond,
Then how would you know the lead you gave is good? or qualifies for a commission?
Im curious here cos has much has it sound as a great idea you have to be sure it worth ur while.

though i wont mind to use such services sha!!

Argh, I think I have been misunderstood. I can only assume they are good. You determine how much you want to pay for leads and I supply those leads. The guarantee I can offer is that these are people who have gone through the information offered and have decided that they want to be contacted.

UPDATE: thanks. So, diyobdw, what do you sell?

mobile email solution seun
see www.openhand-nigeria.com for more info.

Hi Seun,

I would like to advertise the opening of my branch in Port Harcourt. You can browse to http://www.webonlan.com or send an email to sales@webonlan.com for more details.

Thanks
Medube

I'm trying to determine how and when to start this. Thanks for volunteering!

Is it only businessmen you want to take on? What about politicians who want to campaign for the 2007 elections?

Seun:

You are beginning to prick my curiosity, more so for your pragmatic approach to running this site. I am an Advisor/Consultant for traders/investors of U.S Derivative Markets, specializing in Equity Options. I have a web site that showcase my services. I have trained over 1,000 Wall Streeters over the years. There's a newly developed program which is intended to enlighten Nigerians on how to cash in on Options market.

I will contact you as soon as I settle down in Abuja.

Regards.

Skidoc: I won't mind working with politicians, too.

well i have a site that i want to advertise it's www.9jafinest.com, buzz me and lets know the deal or just mail me on michael@9jafinest.com and well i also have a directory that just came up today and would be fully operating by the end of the week, it's called www.whatuwant-ng.com[/size][size=8pt][color=#990000][/color], it's a sells spot and also online directory. so mail me on info@whatuwant-ng.com for any additional information you may need

www.whatuwant-ng.com to place yourself in the nigerian market

Very soon, I'm going to start mailing all those who have volunteered with more specific terms. The Internet Advertising Management product that has evolved from this discussion is no more going to be a pay-per-lead system. The model has been simplified and I expect that every sole proprietor, small company or enterprise will be able to benefit from it.

4real: How much money on average do you make from each person that visits your website? This is in a bid to determine how cost-effective your campaign might be.

well i don't charge per hit, you pay me to place your products on my site you can check it here
http://9jafinest.com/consultation.htm.

diboyw, I am a bit confused about the information available on openhand-nigeria.com. Can you describe your ideal customer in detail? I was going to mail you, but I had to ask this question first.

Seun:

diboyw, I am a bit confused about the information available on openhand-nigeria.com. Can you describe your ideal customer in detail? I was going to mail you, but I had to ask this question first.

expect my mail shortly!! for detail.
But briefly is Fast, secure, real-time access to your business email, calendar, contacts and tasks from almost any mobile device from anywhere in the world.Can be ued by and any business which involve alot of moving a roundand use emails alot like;Be it a large firm or one man businesses.
• Executive staff:- can give access, authorization or approve  proposals from their phone while on the golf course or hotel room.

• Lawyers:- can access contracts, brief and get instant information from the office and make amends while in court or when traveling.

• Sales executives:- At a meeting with client can make informed decisions with the standard of formality required by accessing the company’s internal database systems.

• System administrators:- can log into their network off-site to perform routine functions and attend to emergencies.

• Journalist:- can instantly send breaking news or cover an event and send the reports to the office, be assigned new task, view and reply mail without having to be in the office.
e.t.c
Benefits of OpenHandTM
• Immediate access to time-sensitive email allows timely interaction between field staff and the support staff in the office.
• Time spent talking to colleagues is reduced as diaries can be updated in real-time.
• Responding to emergencies with the standard of formality expected by your clients.
• Overall operations are more efficient, paperwork is significantly reduced, and field information is immediately available at the office.
• It is a useful communication tool for advance party during field work.
• Enable executives make faster and more informed decisions, regardless of their locations.
• Receiving and responding to email messages while in traffic or at the airport waiting to board a plane, can literally add many hours each week to an individuals’ productivity.
• Collection of data from offsite/field staff is automatic; aiding time effectiveness and easier reporting.       …and many more!!
Talk to you soon!!
www.openhand-nigeria.com

But, supposing I have GPRS/WAP capabilities on my pone (MTN/Vmobile/Globacom) won't I be able to access my email on the go using the email client that comes with the phone? What's the advantage of openhand compared to accessing email over a GPRS/WAP connection?

Seun:

But, supposing I have GPRS/WAP capabilities on my pone (MTN/Vmobile/Globacom) won't I be able to access my email on the go using the email client that comes with the phone? What's the advantage of openhand compared to accessing email over a GPRS/WAP connection?

You can only access mail with your phone client when the server is under your control.Corporate mail systems will not give you acces via the usal means(POP, IMAP, SMTP ).
Your enterprise mail is suppose to be more confidential.(seun@nairaland !!! not seun@gmail.com)
With openHand the connection will be seamless as if you were veiwing your mail from your desk in your office.Also note that you will have access to groupware data too.(calendar, contact, tasks, schedules, notes and public folders).
www.openhand-nigeria.com

Ok, I'm sold on it. I'll contact you soon.

ok i wait to here from you

I have been to busy to execute on this one. I apologize profusely, and I will make my Adwords optimization services available for free to those that have volunteered. I need to get my first employee before venturing into this.

Who type of employee? i mean for wot task?

Moderating the forum full-time in a way that furthers my objectives, sending and recieving emails, promoting the site, et cetera. I haven't been able to make any other sites/projects work because I am always coming back to do more work on this one.