Power comes from integrity

Power is duty that comes from integrity.
The truth is that at the CEO level there are many opportunities to do wrong. The CEO has a very long leash. There’s little scrutiny above that level in many business situations. And when you clearly have the option—but choose not to take it—you have personal power because of how you handled yourself and people will see, understand, and respond accordingly.

We like movies with some version of a hero overcoming a hurdle— a time where he could lie, cheat, or steal—but instead he ends up more powerful because of not doing it. Well, that opportunity comes to you every day to be a hero at the office. “People felt I’d be fair and compassionate. And I got devoted employees because of it. I didn’t need to worry about standing in the doorway at 5:00 and be trampled by exiting employees,” says Dr. Kelvin Kesler, Chief of Ft. Collins Women’s Clinic.

(Author’s Note: Throughout this post, I’ve pretty liberally interchanged words here such as integrity, ethics, character, values, and honesty. I know the dictionary definition is different for each but I’m going to continue interchanging them because you get my point when I use them that it’s all about being a good person. I could even add moral, trustworthy, upright, authentic, sincere, and “does the right thing.” Whatever word you choose to use is fine—to describe right or wrong—as long as you never try to fool yourself.

You have to be truly true to yourself. As the CEO, no matter how hard you try, you won’t please everyone and some will feel you lack integrity. That’s a price you pay for being in the spotlight. You’ll have enemies. When they appear, listen to what they criticize you for. Change if they are right and be grateful for them—they help you get better...Read on

Are successful entrepreneurs made or born? Many individuals struggle with this question in the quest of starting and operating a business. It is not an easy task growing a business from the idea stage to a big business with huge profit margins.

The trend of life shows that even the individuals born with a silver spoon in the mouth, hard work beats talent anytime. It is for this reason that an entrepreneur must be willing to work hard as well as smart to realize the success of their ventures. Do you think you have the necessary traits to become a success entrepreneur?

According to Entrepreneur.com, all entrepreneurs come from the same cloth; they hail from different geographical backgrounds, upbringings, education levels, social classes, et al. While there is no proven blueprint to entrepreneurial success, all the individuals that have been successful in business have the following traits.

1. Craves Learning
Entrepreneurs must be witty and sharp, and that means they must always be learning. In the modern era, sectors and industry are experiencing constant change while evolving very fast. Through continuous learning, you will be able to stay ahead of the competition and abreast of the market and industrial trends.

Regularly read books and wake up early in the morning to familiarize yourself with the news shaping your industry and do everything in your power to learn and gain more information. This will help you in warding off competition and having insight into innovations.

2. Visionaries
All the successful entrepreneurs that come to mind are visionaries. It is a defining trait of entrepreneurship to identify an opportunity and envision reaching unimaginable heights by others. Being a visionary enables the entrepreneur to have a particular curiosity that puts their businesses at the forefront of emerging fields and leaders in innovation.

There will be obstacles along the way, Net Optics Founder, Eldad Matityahu who sold his business for $190 million says, “Entrepreneurs will face naysayers, but because we have the ability to see the eventuality before it plays out, you have to be several moves ahead of the market and the world.”

3. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Risk Takers
The entrepreneurs making headlines in the world today and in the days of the past like Bill Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Barbara Corcoran, Donald J. Trump, Richard Branson, and much more took significant risks to get what everybody else dreamed of acquiring. Unlike most people in the world today who have ideas, they are constantly afraid of taking risks that will increase their margins.

Successful entrepreneurs have a tolerance of ambiguity, which is the ability to withstand the fear of uncertainty as well as the potential failure. Michael Sherrod, the entrepreneur – in – residence at the prestigious Neeley School of Business at the Texas Christian University says, “it all boils down to having the ability to manage fear successfully.”
Calculated risks are the way to go instead of blindly making leaps of faith. As the adage goes, you do not test the depth of the river with both feet, so it is necessary that you be careful with the kind of risks you take and always have a plan.

4. Understand That Failure Is Part of Success
It does not matter how many you times you fail, but what is important is how many times you stand up, brush off the dirt and soldier on and concur. Richard Branson once said, “Very few first ventures take off. It is how a first-time entrepreneur deals with failure that sets them apart.”

Failure is among the secrets to success since some of the best ideas rise from the ashes of a failed business.
Understanding the above proposition, as an entrepreneur, you must view the failures as learning experiences. Failure teaches the willing entrepreneurs more than they learned from a classroom.

5. Planners
Many people go into entrepreneurship for the freedom of managing their own time and resources. It is a good reason, but one needs to plan their entrepreneurial journey. This allows one to get clear the vision and objectives of their business. Planning gives the entrepreneur the ability of foresight enabling one to allocate resources for any outcomes.

6. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Fully Determined
After the creation of the plan of action, all entrepreneurs must make a decision to commit and maintain a high level of determination to attain success. Growing a business, hiring new employees, and increasing profits amongst other logistics require that you create goals and be determined to see them finished to the last positive outcome.

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Many of the greatest minds of any generation have spent all the time they have left after their achievements desperately pursuing the keys to success. Having achieved such great things, they now sought to share the secret of their successes with the world. After reviewing and refuting many theories in this regard, many have given up without ever truly finding an answer.

Others have been left to believe that the secret to success lies with the cards we are dealt or the opportunities we are given. Still, others are of the view that genetics will determine how successful one becomes. But the truth is that none of us were born to be ordinary and people of similar upbringings often to do enjoy the same level of success.

Which happy parents look down at their newborn child and imagines them being just average or just doing enough to get by? None in their right minds of course. We all imagine the great things our children will do, say and accomplish from before they are conceived. And when those children are born, we do all that we can to give them the best possible start to what we hope will be a successful life.

Some of these children will be born to parents with great wealth, while others will have to struggle with extremely limited financial resources. But no one knows for sure which of them will become successful. So what really is the key to success? Motivation!

Motivation is the one thing that distinguishes the great minds of our world from people who simply aim to get by. How many times have you heard about successful individuals crazily going without food, rest or relaxation because they are just too focused on their aspirations to stop for the mundane activities of life? Or how many times have you heard about people who were fed up with their lot in life and then worked tirelessly to become successful?

These kinds of individuals are they type that change the world with new inventions, ingenious business ideas or earth shattering theories. These are the individuals we describe as successful; industry leaders, world-renowned scientists, tech gurus, business masterminds and the list goes on.

How can you be successful? You too need to be that intrinsically motivated as well. Motivation is a very delicate achievement. It requires optimizing our environment, minds, and bodies in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. This SERIES will help you unlock your true potential by showing you the keys to becoming so motivated that reaching your goals will seem like the only logical result of your actions.

Define Success on Your Own Terms?

Read on

Many of the greatest minds of any generation have spent all the time they have left after their achievements desperately pursuing the keys to success. Having achieved such great things, they now sought to share the secret of their successes with the world. After reviewing and refuting many theories in this regard, many have given up without ever truly finding an answer.

Others have been left to believe that the secret to success lies with the cards we are dealt or the opportunities we are given. Still, others are of the view that genetics will determine how successful one becomes. But the truth is that none of us were born to be ordinary and people of similar upbringings often to do enjoy the same level of success.

Which happy parents look down at their newborn child and imagines them being just average or just doing enough to get by? None in their right minds of course. We all imagine the great things our children will do, say and accomplish from before they are conceived. And when those children are born, we do all that we can to give them the best possible start to what we hope will be a successful life.

Some of these children will be born to parents with great wealth, while others will have to struggle with extremely limited financial resources. But no one knows for sure which of them will become successful. So what really is the key to success? Motivation!

Motivation is the one thing that distinguishes the great minds of our world from people who simply aim to get by. How many times have you heard about successful individuals crazily going without food, rest or relaxation because they are just too focused on their aspirations to stop for the mundane activities of life? Or how many times have you heard about people who were fed up with their lot in life and then worked tirelessly to become successful?

These kinds of individuals are they type that change the world with new inventions, ingenious business ideas or earth shattering theories. These are the individuals we describe as successful; industry leaders, world-renowned scientists, tech gurus, business masterminds and the list goes on.

How can you be successful? You too need to be that intrinsically motivated as well. Motivation is a very delicate achievement. It requires optimizing our environment, minds, and bodies in order to achieve the best possible outcomes. This SERIES will help you unlock your true potential by showing you the keys to becoming so motivated that reaching your goals will seem like the only logical result of your actions.

Define Success on Your Own Terms?

Read on

Jumia recently confirmed a steady increase in the adoption and use of mobile phones in Nigeria, that means so many users are open to losing important data and information.

Data that can be lost are an email address, social media details, bank details and other private information. Smartphones contain loads of personal information and it is important every user take the best possible steps to secure them.
These tips should help better secure your smartphone:

1) Lock it with a passcode:
90% of smartphones allow you to lock them with a PIN, passcode or a pattern. Ensure you setup your password so as to protect your private information against theft, if you don’t and your device gets stolen it gives any thief complete access to every bit of information stored on your device.
Locking your phone is the first step required in protecting any smartphone.

Some smartphones like the recently released Tecno L9 Plus allows you to secure your device using a biometrics login (such as your fingertip). A finger or thumbprint scan is most convenient if your device offers it.

2) Use Trustworthy Apps:
Where you download your apps and documents from on the internet is very important. One of the best parts of using a smartphone is you are faced with a plethora of free apps, but such freedom also comes with a disadvantage; malware. Apps are allowed to access a bit of your data and some untrustworthy ones might maliciously acquire access to things they shouldn’t access.

So before you go and download an app, read the reviews and research the app itself to determine if it is truly legit, and consider mobile security software. Read the app permissions instead of blindly accepting the terms and conditions. Is there a reason a game wants access to your camera, microphone, and contacts?...read on

Initial Steps of Branding Yourself

Branding is much more than just a thoughtful logo or slogan and it’s more than just a unique color scheme. Below are the initial steps that need to be taken in order to start your successful brand image.
Step 1: Examine the Competition
One of the keys to creating a successful brand image is to separate yourself from your competition. You will need to know how consumers see your competition. You need to recognize how your competitors differentiate themselves from others.

Also, you should know your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Your business can benefit from knowing this information by learning from their weaknesses, and learning how to differentiate your company from the competition.

Step 2: Identify Your Strengths
Now that you know your competition’s weaknesses you can begin to focus on your company’s strengths. Perform a target market analysis, learn from it, and use it to your advantage. This is a useful tool to confirm your company’s strengths are in fact important to your target market.

Once you’ve realized your strengths, and what strengths are important to customers, you can think about ways to successfully market these to the public and involve them in your branding campaign.

Step 3: Know Your Customer
Learn more about the customer. Know their purchasing behavior. How often do they buy? Do they buy only during sales or promotions? Do they buy an array of products or services or just a select few? These are questions you should ask to better market to your customers. Also, know your customer’s lifestyles, needs, mindsets, and attitudes. Knowing and working with these personality traits are also key to marketing success.

Step 4: Be Your Brand
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YouTube is the most popular video sharing website in the world, so I guess you are familiar with it to some extent. You can make money on it by creating your own channel and promoting either your own or other businesses’ services and products, or you can participate in the YouTube Partner Program.

HOW TO GET STARTED

YouTube is much like any other social media site as far as set-up goes. But here are the steps you need to take to create a video channel worthy of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of viewers daily:

Step 1: Create your YouTube channel

Google has easy to follow, in-depth instructions that will help make the process of creating your own YouTube channel fairly simple. But first, you need to decide whether you want to set it up in your own name or the name of your business (if you have one). Think of what you want as your brand and choose the one that makes the most sense for you.

Also, another important factor to consider when creating your YouTube account is that you want to select keywords that your target market will likely use when they search for the products and services that you’re selling so that you’re more likely to show up in their results list. For instance, if your videos are about personal development, some good keywords include: raising self-esteem, feeling better about yourself, how to be self-confident, and developing a self-empowering attitude.

Once you get the logistics out of the way, you need to create an attractive YouTube channel. To do this, be sure to pick the right theme and color scheme for your topic area, and be sure to upload a picture that is representative of you or your brand so that your viewers can start to connect with you.

You must also select a video for your featured video on your YouTube channel, so make sure it is one of your best. Keep in mind that this may be what gets your target market to sign up for your posts (or leave your channel), so it needs to be one that entices them to do what you’d like.

Fill in the title and description using content that represents what you have to offer in a fun and interesting way. Any fields that you don’t fill in should be removed so they don’t clutter up your page, but be sure to leave the comment option intact on as this encourages your followers to connect with you, thereby raising your interaction, and your sales!

Step 2: Post videos

Once your YouTube channel is created, then you are ready to post your videos to it. What types of videos do best? Well, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with them. Generally, shorter, high quality videos seem to get the most views. Therefore, it may be worth it to invest in good equipment and engage the help of friends so that you’re not trying to do everything solo.

On the other hand, if you’re demonstrating something or making a how-to video, it may need to be longer in length in order to convey a complete message. You want to get all of the necessary information in without talking fast or skipping over things in an effort to reduce your time.

To decide which will work best for your needs, think of what your target market would like to see and do your videos with those thoughts in mind. If you don’t know, ask them and let them tell you what to direct next!

Step 3: Build your audience

As was mentioned in step one, selecting good keywords for your content helps drive traffic to your channel so keep that in mind when you’re trying to target a select group of individuals. Use Google Keyword Planner to search for keywords based on your channel’s niche. Make a list of the highest searched keywords. You should come up with about 20 here.

List the keyword phrase along with the number of monthly searches. These are search keywords.
Next visit YouTube and make sure that you’re logged out. We’re going to be using the search function. Get the list that you just made and type the first three-four letters of the keyword phrase. YouTube will start listing suggestions as you type.

This is no coincidence. These are keywords that other users are using to search for videos. You want to match these suggestions to the keywords in your list. These are your target audience’s keywords.

And just as you should regularly post with other forms of social media, the same applies with YouTube. This will get more and more people to subscribe to your channel since they know that you will be uploading content consistently, making it easier to create a following...continue reading

Another way to earn money online is by selling physical products on sites like Amazon and eBay. While you may not earn enough to make a living selling your own personal items (unless you are able to acquire a lot of goods at low costs and can turn them around quickly), you can also help others sell their things, thereby earning yourself a nice little commission in the process.

HOW TO GET STARTED
How do you get started selling? Here are a few simple steps:

Step 1: Find a product to sell

Your first step to making this Internet option work is finding a product to sell. Fortunately, there are several ways to go about it. For instance, you can start by taking a look around your house and seeing what you have that you no longer want or need as selling your unwanted or unused items is a great way to get them out of your house without just sending them to the trash. The key to making a lot of money is to make sure they are still in good, if not excellent condition.

That being said, some people do sell broken things online as others may be buying them with the intent of fixing them and offering them for resale. So, in essence, nothing is off limits (“one man’s junk is another man’s treasure”) as long as you are honest and market it accordingly.

A second option is to frequent yard and garage sales (and swap meets, flea markets, and antique sales), as sometimes you can find great deals there that you can resell online. Whether the item you purchased is in great condition already or you have what it takes to refinish it, you can make a lot of money off other people’s no longer wanted goods.

If you can find a really good deal at retail or even wholesale stores, you can also buy direct from them and resell the items at a higher price. Liquidation events, going out of business sales, and discontinued items are great for this purpose. Just be aware that buying items with the sole purpose of resale may require that you pay tax on them, so you may want to consult with an accountant before taking that route.

Good items to consider selling are ones that appeal to a niche market. Hobbyists like to find unique things online, making this one area that you can do really well in.
Still not sure what to sell? EBay has a Selling Inspiration House that can help you “find top-selling items in your home.” Just pick a room, select an item, and it will tell you how much they are currently going for online.

Step 2: Pick a platform and create an account

Now that you have something to sell, it is time to decide where it is you want to sell it. Two of the most notable sites are Amazon and eBay. However, you can also list your item on Craigslist (best for bigger items like cars and furniture).

Be sure to read each one carefully so you know up front what is required of you as a seller and how much commission they will take on the sale. Some charge you to a subscription fee as well, so you’re going to want to check all of this out prior to signing up.

Whichever one you choose, you’re going to have to create an account in order to list and get paid. So, pick the one (or ones) that is best suited for you and the items you want to get rid of, and provide all of the requested information to create a complete account.

In order to get your money from them, you are also going to have to provide payment information. To keep your bank information private, you can always create a PayPal account and accept payment that way. (PayPal does charge fees as well, so you may have to weigh that into the cost and whether or not it is worth it given what you are selling.)

A great way to figure out which site you prefer is to buy something from it before even placing your goods for sale. This way you get firsthand knowledge of how it works from the buyer’s perspective, allowing you to take them into consideration when it comes to selling your goods online.

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