₦airaland Forum

Has Nancy seen how America is gradually falling in global rankings for healthcare, education, happiness? They are currently moving like third-world countries with their nappy-time leader.

BlackViper:
These are the heroes of FreestuffNg and Hachenoire 😂😂😂

So on top of all the bragging and sponsored mouthpieces, this is the best they can do?

It's all part of the game for the former KGB-turn-President. It's a multi-pronged approach.

Old habits die hard.

Tight underpants are not good for men

Seems Morocco is more forward-looking and equitable than their Arab counterparts.

Hopefully she does well and opens the door wider.

That her party name though

BUT WHAT ABOUT WORKING FOR FREE?

Some people say: never work for free. Your skill has value from day one.

Others say: always do free work at the start to build a portfolio.

Here is the honest answer: free work makes sense in exactly ONE situation — when you are getting something of equal or greater value in return.

That value can be:
— A strong, detailed written testimonial you can use publicly
— A portfolio piece from a well-known or well-regarded brand
— Access to a network or referral pipeline that would take you months to build alone
— Clear permission to use the work as a sample to show other clients

Free work is an investment — but only if you define clearly what you are investing for.

Free work with no testimonial, no portfolio piece, no referral, and no learning?

That is not investment. That is exploitation — and it happens more than it should.

If someone asks you to work for free, ask yourself: what exactly am I getting from this? If you cannot answer that question clearly, the answer is no.

APPROACH 2: CHARGE BASED ON THE RESULT, NOT YOUR TIME

This is the mindset shift that separates people who earn properly from people who stay stuck in the "affordable" lane forever.

When a client hires you to manage their social media, they are not paying for your time.

They are paying for more customers, more visibility, more trust in their brand. When they hire you to write their website, they are not paying for words — they are paying for the ability to convince visitors to call them, buy from them, or walk into their shop.

So when you price, ask yourself: what is the value of this result to them?

A small business in Lagos spends N150,000 on a poorly designed banner that nobody clicks.

If your email copy helps them convert even TEN new customers who each spend N20,000 — that is N200,000 in revenue from your work.

Is N50,000 for that copy expensive? Not at all. It is a bargain.

When you understand the result you are delivering, you can price it relative to that value — and defend your rate with confidence when a client tries to negotiate you down.


APPROACH 3: THE BEGINNER'S PRICING FORMULA

If you have no idea where to start and the above two approaches still feel abstract, use this simple formula:

Step 1 — Estimate how many hours the job will take you honestly.
Step 2 — Decide what your time is worth per hour to you. Be realistic but not insulting to yourself. For most skilled beginners in Nigeria, N3,000 to N8,000 per hour is a reasonable starting point. For international clients, $10 to $20 per hour is a good start.
Step 3 — Multiply hours by your hourly rate.
Step 4 — Add 20% for revision rounds, admin, back-and-forth messages, and the mental energy that every project costs you that you cannot bill line by line.

Example: A social media content calendar for one month.
Estimated time: 8 hours.
Your rate: N5,000 per hour.
Base: N40,000.
Plus 20% buffer: N48,000.

That is your quote.

Not N10,000 because you are afraid.

N48,000 because that is what the work is worth and what your time costs.

There are three simple approaches that work well for beginners. Use whichever fits your situation.

APPROACH 1: RESEARCH WHAT OTHERS CHARGE AND POSITION SLIGHTLY BELOW

This is the easiest starting point and it requires no guesswork.

Go to Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook groups in your niche and search for what people with your skill are charging. You will find people posting their rates openly — or you can simply observe what the general range looks like.

For context, here are some rough market rates for some of the skills we discussed earlier:

— Social media management (one platform, one month): N40,000 – N150,000
— Graphic design (single flyer or post): N5,000 – N25,000
— Graphic design (full brand identity): N80,000 – N300,000
— Copywriting (one webpage): N30,000 – N100,000
— Video editing (one short-form video): N10,000 – N50,000
— Content writing (one blog article): N10,000 – N40,000
— Virtual assistance (per month, local client): N50,000 – N120,000
— Virtual assistance (international client, per hour): $5 – $20

Now that you know the range, position yourself in the lower-to-middle band — not at the very bottom.

You are not the cheapest option.

You are the newer, equally capable option at a fair introductory rate.

If the market rate for a service is N40,000 to N100,000, your starting rate might be N35,000 to N50,000 — with a clear plan to raise it after your first three to five clients.

Mistake 1: Charging nothing or nearly nothing to "get experience."

There is a version of working for free that makes sense — we will talk about it shortly. But most people who charge N2,000 for a service worth N40,000 are not doing it strategically. They are doing it out of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of seeming too expensive, fear that they are not "good enough yet" to charge properly.

Here is the thing: the price you charge tells the client how to value your work before they have even seen it. A N2,000 flyer design and a N25,000 flyer design create completely different expectations in the client's mind — even if the designer is the same person.

Perspective.

Low prices do not attract grateful clients. They attract clients who will manage you, question every decision, and expect unlimited revisions because they feel they haven't spent enough to keep quiet.

And in my experience, most of those who pay well don't give you that much headache.


Mistake 2: Guessing a number randomly with no logic behind it.

"I'll say N30,000 and see what they say."

Then when the client negotiates, you don't know what to defend or let go of because you had no basis for the number in the first place.

You just throw a figure and hope.

Pricing needs to be based on something real — not your fear and not a random number.

SO HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY SET YOUR PRICE?

At the very least, this aide knows that the fuel situation is an issue.

If the rule of law matter in Nigeria, the President will call the governor to order.

Yes, the governor can and should be informed. BUT his permission is not necessary. But it looks like that's what politics has devolved to under this administration.

Will there be a report after the period to show the results of this programme? Can't just be for the fun of it. There must be measurable impacts.

The Chinese and Indians have improved their system in such a way that they do this targeted foreign education deployment to strengthen their local and foreign policy ranks. We should take a cue.

Israel is seriously overplaying their hand. And the US is largely allowing them to have their way with reckless abandon. Yes, they were attacked but this didn't start in October 7, 2023. No country should be allowed to act with such impunity.

Not to mention the actual costs in lives, properties and resources. And future costs.

Aftermath: Israel and the Gaza War.

The same Rotimi Amaechi now asks Nigerians to make him vice president come 2027 so he can continue leeching on the public treasury and keep the predatory lifestyle he has grown accustomed to.

The presidency is not a soup kitchen and will not be a soup kitchen for Rotimi Amaechi.

No one can speak more to Rotimi Amaechi’s unfitness for the office of Vice President than Rotimi Amaechi himself.

Politicians can just be so ridiculous. Well, he handed them the weapon.

But wait, how did he buy the form for almost 100m?

Unpopular opinion: regardless of the very shady background of this man, it can't be denied that he's a political juggernaut. He knows the political game like the back of his hand.

But how has that translated to improved governance for the nation? Hmm....

And then you wonder how most men in the industry are still married and their female colleagues, not so much. The reality says a lot.

It's just a job fellas...

Until the marriage is gone.

Entertainment and Nigerians are like 5 and 6 (regardless of the situation of the country). I know we have to wind down at some periods but the dedication some have to this show is ridiculous. Chai!

A short-term solution will be to digitize the operations of the port. And once that's done, use that leverage to improve the logistics. Busier port cities around the world have done this seamlessly. Why are we not learning to make lives easier for ourselves?

Whatever led you to this path, your only response in life to people that have hurt you is for you to rise like a phoenix, such that their betrayal gives you the fuel for you to rise so high they can't even touch you.

Don't live in hurt, pain, resentment or regret.

It will be tough but your future self will thank you.

That must have been tough but tough times never last, only tough people do.

I hope he gets back stronger. It's been over a decade!

Let's tackle the question that makes most beginners freeze completely:

"How much do I charge?"

Let me start with a story.

There is this guy I know — Let's call him D-Kay. Smart. Great talent for design and motion graphics. Sharp with colours, images and videos. When he decided to start offering design services on the side, he was genuinely talented but not exposed. He's actually better than most of the people charging N150,000 to N400,000 per project.

But when his first potential client asked for his rates, D-Kay panicked.

He thought: "I'm new. I have no portfolio. I don't want to lose the job by asking too much."

So he said: "Just give me whatever you can."

The client gave him N20,000 for a 15-page magazine design — a job that took him eleven hours across three days.

He did the work. He did it well. The client was happy. But boy, he was exhausted, underpaid, and — worse — he had now set a price in that client's mind. When the client referred him to someone else, he said " D-Kay is affordable."

Not talented. Not reliable. Affordable.

And that reputation followed him for the next four months.

This is the trap. And almost every beginner falls into it — not because they're not smart, but because nobody explained the rules of pricing to them before they started.

So let's fix that now.

And if you have tried any of these channels and options before and it worked — or didn't — share it. Let's learn from each other. This thread is for real conversations, not just motivational nodding.

Follow the thread. Let's build.

CHANNEL 5: DIRECT OUTREACH TO BUSINESSES YOU CAN SEE CLEARLY NEED HELP

This is the one most people avoid because it feels uncomfortable. But it is one of the fastest routes.

Go to Instagram. Search for small businesses in your city or your niche. Look at their page.

Is their bio incomplete? Are their captions weak? Do their graphics look like they were done with Microsoft Paint 2003? Is their engagement terrible despite having followers?

You now have something to say to them.

A short, helpful message.

Not "I am a designer please work with me." ❌

Instead: "Hi, I came across your page and noticed your profile photo is looking a lot like low resolution — it may be affecting how people perceive your brand. I'm a designer and I can send you a cleaned-up version for free if you'd like. No strings attached." ✅

That offer of something free and specific builds immediate goodwill.

From that conversation, paid work often follows.

And if it does not, don't give up.

This approach works especially well for:
— Social media managers approaching businesses with inactive or poorly managed pages
— Copywriters approaching businesses with unclear or badly written websites
— Designers approaching businesses with poor visual identity
— VAs approaching busy professionals whose response time or organisation looks chaotic

Look for the visible problem. Offer the specific fix. Start the conversation.

ACTION POINT FOR TODAY — Two things.

Pick at least one:

OPTION A (< 15 minutes):
Write your "announcement message" right now. One short paragraph: what you do, who you help, and how they can reach you.

Send it as a personal message to twenty people in your contacts — not a broadcast.

Real messages.

Today.

OPTION B (30 minutes):
Find three Facebook groups relevant to your skill and join them.

Spend the first week reading and understanding what people in those groups need.

Then start engaging — answer one question per day.

Do not pitch anything yet. Just be useful.

If you do both, even better.

NOTE: Your first client may not pay your ideal rate. They may be a friend who needs a discount, or a small business with a small budget. That is okay.

Your first client gives you something more valuable than the money right now: experience, a testimonial, and proof that you can actually do this.

Take the work. Do it excellently. Ask for a short testimonial at the end. Then use that to charge the next person properly.

That is how this starts for almost everyone.

Take action today. Remember, only action-takers see results.

CHANNEL 3: LINKEDIN (Especially If You Are Targeting Corporate Clients or Diaspora)

LinkedIn is where businesses post their needs professionally. In Nigeria, it has grown significantly and a lot of decision-makers — HR managers, marketing directors, startup founders, consultants — are active there.

A complete LinkedIn profile with a clear headline works passively for you.

Instead of: "Graduate | Looking for Opportunities" ❌

Write: "Freelance Copywriter | I help Nigerian SMEs and startups write content that attracts customers" ✅

That one change means every person who visits your profile immediately understands what you do and who you do it for.

Beyond your profile, engage with posts in your niche.

Comment with insight, not just reactions.

Connect with business owners and introduce yourself — not with a pitch but with a genuine observation about their business or industry.

LinkedIn is also where the dollar-paying clients often are.

Many UK and US-based companies use it specifically to find remote freelancers. If you are going after international clients, this is non-negotiable.

CHANNEL 4: INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER/X (Show What You Know)

These platforms work differently from LinkedIn and Facebook groups.

The strategy here is content, not connection. (I'm not personally a fan but it works. I've seen practical examples).

Post about what you know. Regularly.

Not "I am a video editor available for hire" — but "Here are 3 reasons why your business videos are not converting, and what to do about it."

Or "Here is a before and after of a caption I rewrote for a client's product page."

Or a short Reel showing how you approach a design project.

This builds what people now call a "body of work" — a public record of your thinking and your skill that anyone can see.

It takes time. Do not expect one post to bring clients.

But done consistently for sixty to ninety days, this becomes the thing people send to others when they say "I know someone who does this."

Now, let's talk channels. Five places to find clients when you are starting from zero:

CHANNEL 1: YOUR WARM NETWORK (Contacts You Already Have)

Your phone has at minimum 200 contacts. Some of those people own businesses, work in management positions, know people who need your service, or are themselves your ideal client.

You are not begging. You are announcing.

There is a difference between "Please, I need money, give me work" and "I have started offering [skill] professionally and I'm taking on a few clients this month. If you or anyone you know needs this, I'd be happy to help."

Huge difference.

One sounds desperate. The other sounds like an opportunity.

Write a short, clear, one-paragraph WhatsApp message describing what you do, who you help, and how they can reach you. Send it to twenty people today.

Not broadcast — individual messages, slightly personalised where possible.

Your first client will likely be in that list.

CHANNEL 2: FACEBOOK GROUPS (The Most Underrated Tool in Nigeria Right Now)

There are Facebook groups with tens of thousands of Nigerian members — business owners, entrepreneurs, startup founders, church admins, event planners — all in one place, actively discussing their needs.

Use the following search terms:

— Nigerian Entrepreneurs
— SME Network in Nigeria
— Nairaland Business and Investment groups
— Lagos/Abuja/PH-based buy-and-sell and small business communities
— Niche groups for specific industries (real estate, fashion, tech, etc.)

The strategy is simple and it works:

Join three groups relevant to your skill.

Spend one week just reading and understanding what people are complaining about, asking about, and struggling with.

Then start contributing — answer questions, share useful tips, be genuinely helpful.

You are not posting "I am a graphic designer, contact me for your designs."

That gets ignored.

You are becoming the person in the group who clearly knows what they are talking about.

When someone eventually posts "I need a social media manager" or "who knows a good copywriter?" — your name will come up, either from yourself or from other members who have seen your contributions.

This takes about two to four weeks to yield results. Or longer. Just stick with it.

Add it to your daily schedule (and it does not take more than 15 - 30 minutes per day).

It's a grind. Not a get-rich-quick scheme.

But it is free, it compounds, and it is far more effective than random cold pitching.

Where to actually find the people who will pay you.

Because this is where most people get stuck.

They identify a skill. They feel ready. And then they sit down to look for clients and... nothing.

They don't know where to start.

So they post "how do I find clients?" on Twitter, get twenty conflicting answers, and go back to watching Netflix.

I've been there. Most people have.

So let me cut through it.

-----

First, the mindset shift that changes everything:

Your first client is almost certainly not a stranger.

Read that again.

I know. Your first client won't likely be a total stranger.

The hustle world makes it sound like client-finding is this dramatic cold-calling, LinkedIn DMing, send-a-hundred-pitches activity. And eventually it can be.

But your very first client? They are almost always someone who already knows you, or someone one conversation away from someone who does.

I know a lady — Adaeze — who does graphic design.

When she decided to start charging for it, she didn't set up a portfolio website. She didn't print business cards. She didn't even post about it publicly.

She sent WhatsApp messages to twelve people she already knew.

Not "I'm a designer, please patronise me." ❌

Just: "Hey, I've been doing graphics for a while and I'm now offering it as a proper service. If you know anyone who needs a flyer, a logo, or social media designs, please refer me." ✅

Three people responded with clients. Two of those became repeat clients. One referred her to a school that now pays her every term to design their event materials. 5 years running.

She never sent a cold email.

That is where your first client usually is — in your existing contacts, not out in the open market.

ACTION POINT FOR TODAY:

Look at that list of 7 skills again.

Pick the ONE that is closest to what you already do — either professionally, casually, or just as something you're naturally good at (plus AI has now made it easy for you to scale with most of these skills).

Then do this:

Go to your WhatsApp. Find one small business that you know personally — a shop, a service, a church, a friend's business, anything. Look at their social media page or website right now.

Find ONE thing that is clearly not working — a blurry flyer, captions that say nothing, no contact information visible, a broken link, poor product descriptions, whatever it is.

Write a two to three sentence message offering to fix that ONE thing. Not a pitch. Just an observation and an offer. Something like:

"Hi [name], I noticed your Instagram page doesn't have your WhatsApp number in the bio — a lot of potential customers might be trying to reach you and can't find how. I can fix that for you quickly if you'd like."

That's how you make your first move. It costs nothing. It requires no portfolio. It just requires you to pay attention.And take some action.

Some will ignore you. Some will say no. But some will say — "yes, please do it" — and that's how it starts.

-----

Take action now. Only action-takers see results.

More to come.

Follow the thread. Let's build.

4. VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE (VA)

This one sounds simple but don't underestimate it. A VA helps busy business owners with things like: replying to emails, scheduling appointments, managing their inbox, doing basic research, updating spreadsheets, following up with clients.

The secret? Most of the people hiring VAs are not even in Nigeria. They are in the UK, US, Canada — and they pay in dollars or pounds. For work you do from your phone or laptop. From your house in Ibadan or Onitsha or wherever you are.

There are lots of platforms for that. Fiverr and Upwork are good starters. Even Nairaland, who says you can't get clients here.

Rates can usually start from $5/hour for beginners and go up significantly as you build experience and reviews.

5. GRAPHICS AND DESIGN

Canva has made this more accessible than ever. You do not need to be a professional designer to create clean, usable graphics for small businesses.

Flyers. Social media posts. Pitch decks. Business card designs. Brand kits. Churches alone represent a massive market for this — every Sunday programme, every conference, every event needs designed materials.

If you can use Canva well and have an eye for what looks clean versus what looks like it was designed by someone's cousin at midnight — you have a marketable skill right now.

6. BOOKKEEPING AND BASIC ACCOUNTING

Here is one that surprises people. Most small business owners in Nigeria have no idea what their actual profit is. They mix business money with personal money. They don't track expenses. Come January when they need to renew a contract or apply for a loan, they have nothing to show.

A basic bookkeeper — someone who can set up a simple spreadsheet, record transactions, and give a monthly summary — is worth real money to these people.

You don't need to be a chartered accountant. You need to understand basic income and expense tracking. If you studied any financial course or have worked in accounts even briefly, you are already ahead of most people applying for this.

Not to mention all the tools available for that today: Quickbook, Sage, Zoho, Billbox, Zero etc.

(I love finance and I should be doing this, but where is the time? )

7. CONTENT WRITING (Articles, Blog Posts, Product Descriptions)

Businesses that have websites need content. E-commerce stores need product descriptions. Companies trying to rank on Google need blog articles. Schools and training organisations need course content written.

If you can research a topic and write about it clearly — between 500 and 1,500 words — you can charge N10,000 to N50,000 per article depending on the niche and the client.

Nigerian-focused niches like fintech, agribusiness, real estate, and health are particularly active right now because there's a lot of content being produced and not enough good local writers to fill it.

Now, you might be thinking: "I have some of these skills, but I don't know where to find clients" — we're getting there shortly.

But for today, there is one thing I need you to do.

I want you to think about the average small business in Nigeria right now.

A boutique on Instagram trying to get more customers. A logistics company that needs someone to handle their social media. A school that wants to put their lesson content online. A restaurant that can't write a professional menu or respond to Google reviews. A young engineer who just registered his company and has no idea how to write a proposal that clients will take seriously.

These businesses are NOT looking for a co-founder. They are NOT looking for a full-time employee they have to pay PAYE for. They are looking FOR someone who can do one specific thing well — and do it without any handholding through every step.

That person could be you.

Here are 7 skills that Nigerian businesses are already paying for — some of them quietly, some loudly:

1. COPYWRITING (Writing That Sells)

Every business needs words. Their website. Their Instagram captions. Their WhatsApp broadcast messages. Their flyers. Their email newsletters. Most business owners are brilliant at what they do but cannot write a sentence that makes a customer act.

If you can write clearly, conversationally, and persuasively — that is a skill businesses will pay between N30,000 and N150,000 per project for, depending on the work.

You don't need a degree in English. You need to understand people and how they make decisions.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT

There are thousands of small businesses in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano — some suggest the number is over 30 million all over Nigeria. Some of them with Instagram pages they post on once in three weeks, with a blurry photo and no caption. Then they wonder why their page isn't growing.

Managing someone's social media — creating content ideas, writing captions, scheduling posts, responding to comments — is a service people pay N40,000 to N200,000 per month for. Monthly. Recurring.

If you already spend hours on social media every day, the question is: why are you doing it for free for other people's platforms and not getting paid for it?

Today, refuse to be a consumer on social media. Start producing something. Maybe for yourself or for a business willing and ready to pay you.

3. VIDEO EDITING

Nigeria's content creation industry has exploded. Businesses, creators, churches, schools, event companies — everyone needs video content. Most of them cannot edit a video themselves.

Basic video editing on apps like CapCut, DaVinci Resolve, or even your phone — is enough to start. People are paying between N10,000 and N80,000 per video, depending on length and complexity.

One client with two videos a week is already a side hustle producing some notable income.

You probably already have something people will pay for — you just haven't packaged it yet.

Let's go one step further.

The next natural question after that will be: "Okay, but what kind of skills are people actually paying for? Who is buying?"

Fair question. Let me answer it with something concrete.

ACTION POINT FOR TODAY (Do this before you close this tab):

Open your notes app right now or write to yourself on WhatsApp and answer just ONE question:

"What do people come to me for — at work, at home, in my DMs, anywhere?"

Don't overthink it. It doesn't have to sound impressive. It doesn't have to feel like a business yet.

Write down the first three things that come to mind.

That list is your starting point. We'll see how to do more in the next posts.

Don't delay. Write a 1/2/3 points now. Take action now.

Only action takers see results.

---

This series is for people who want to build something real, step by step.

Let's engage below. You might be surprised what people see as valuable that you're giving away for free every day.

No hype.

No "send me 5k for a course."

Just practical steps.

Follow the thread. Let's build.

Now, why am I telling you this?

Because every week on this forum, I see threads like:

"I need a side hustle, please help."
"Which business can I start with 50k?"
"I have no capital, what can I do?"

And most of the replies people get are either vague ("learn a skill!" or require money upfront that most people don't have.

So I'm starting this series to answer the question properly. Post by post.

Today's post is about the first mental block most people have:

"I don't have a product to sell."

Here is the truth: You probably already have one. You just haven't seen it that way yet.

Your product doesn't have to be something physical. It doesn't have to be an app. It doesn't have to be something you manufacture or import.

Your product can be:

— Something you know how to do that others struggle with
— A process you follow that gets results
— A template, checklist, or guide you've already built for your own use
— An answer to a question people keep asking you

That's it. That's where most digital products start.

The person who knows how to write a professional email in English and can package that into a guide? That's a product. (

The corper who knows every NYSC trick and shortcuts? That's a product.

The woman who knows how to prepare a budget in a market where everything is shifting daily? That's a product.

The person who knows how to pass a particular professional exam on the first try? That's a product.