₦airaland Forum

So we can still find HONEST people like this in Nigeria. God Bless You Josephine, you are the kind of people that God can trust. You will surely have your reward both here and in Heaven. Am proud of you!

If your business is nursing a new idea along but you need additional funding to take it to the next level, you have several options.

You could get a traditional business loan from a bank or you could land venture capital funding. But there is a gray area where bankers aren't willing to take the risk on your company and venture capitalists don't think your product is quite big enough to earn a significant return on their investment.

Where do you turn? Angel investors.

Where a VC firm is paid to invest other people's money, an angel investor is investing his own money. Angels are usually high net worth individuals that are looking to invest in companies for various reasons. Some want to make an impact in their local economy while others are looking for a way to increase their portfolio's investment return.

The case for utilizing angel funding is easy to make, but

Where exactly does a startup find angel investors?

There are two things to consider: attracting angel investors and seeking them out.

How to Attract Angel Investors

The same strategies you use to get a bank loan should be used with angel investors. You must have a legitimate product or service.

You should have a solid business plan. Having initial customers or interested users is a good sign.

In short, you need to have made progress and likely bootstrapped your way to some signs of success for an angel investor to be interested in you.

If your product or service is failing and you have no customers, you can't expect anyone to give you any cash. Seek Out an Angel Investor Most likely you will need to seek out multiple angel investors before you get your first investment.........

Continue reading>>> https://tobecomegreat./2015/09/13/how-to-find-an-angel-investor/

If your business is nursing a new idea along but you need additional funding to take it to the next level, you have several options.

You could get a traditional business loan from a bank or you could land venture capital funding. But there is a gray area where bankers aren't willing to take the risk on your company and venture capitalists don't think your product is quite big enough to earn a significant return on their investment.

Where do you turn? Angel investors.

Where a VC firm is paid to invest other people's money, an angel investor is investing his own money. Angels are usually high net worth individuals that are looking to invest in companies for various reasons. Some want to make an impact in their local economy while others are looking for a way to increase their portfolio's investment return.

The case for utilizing angel funding is easy to make, but

Where exactly does a startup find angel investors?

There are two things to consider: attracting angel investors and seeking them out.

How to Attract Angel Investors

The same strategies you use to get a bank loan should be used with angel investors. You must have a legitimate product or service.

You should have a solid business plan. Having initial customers or interested users is a good sign.

In short, you need to have made progress and likely bootstrapped your way to some signs of success for an angel investor to be interested in you.

If your product or service is failing and you have no customers, you can't expect anyone to give you any cash. Seek Out an Angel Investor Most likely you will need to seek out multiple angel investors before you get your first investment.........

Continue reading>>> https://tobecomegreat./2015/09/13/how-to-find-an-angel-investor/

What Are The Characteristics of a Good Listener?

Good listeners share these characteristics:

•They pay attention to the person who is speaking.

• They keep eye contact.

•They show interest by nodding or by smiling at appropriate times.

•They make sure that they understand what has been said by repeating it in their own words. For example, a good listener might say, "Do you mean that ...?"

•They let the other person finish his or her thoughts without interrupting.

•They ask questions if anything is not clear when the speaker has finished.

Source: https://tobecomegreat./2015/09/13/what-are-the-characteristics-of-a-good-listener/

Raise your hand if you've ever sent out a marketing email , only to realize after clicking 'send' that your email's main call-to-action contained a broken link. What a waste, right? And talk about embarrassment ... Now how many of you did I actually get to raise your hand?

Yes, silly mistakes happen -- more easily than you might think. After all, we may be savvy marketers, but we're still only human. So how can you prevent those silly mistakes from bleeding into your email campaigns? Enter the mighty test send! Most email service providers, including HubSpot's own email tool , allow you to send a test email for review before you send the real email out to your list of email contacts. So if you're not leveraging these test sends to proof your email messages before they go out, you're just asking for the scenario we highlighted above.

To avoid email marketing embarrassment -- and the poor results that accompany it -- print out this checklist, pin it to your cubicle, and consult it every time you're reviewing an email test send.

Continue reading>>> http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32874/13-Things-to-Check-Before-Hitting-Send-on-Your-Next-Marketing-Email.aspx

Do You Know You Can Uncover Yourself From God’s Devine Protection? by John Taiwo

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” Psalm 91:1

I never knew it was possible for a person to uncover his or her self from the devine protection of God. But this was my experience. It happened to me this way and I want you to learn from it.

When I left the high school, I was at home hoping for admission into a good Tertiary Institution in the Country.

One day and as a young lad I began to think about how I had seperated myself from my social friends and the social life entirely. I never wanted to involve myself with immoral and bad people so, I was always looking at my friends when they begin their social activities.

But, on this particular day I started thinking of these things, and I began to ask myself these questions “Is it that I never wanted to do these things that my friends are doing?”
“Is it that I don’t want to have girlfriends?”,
“Is it that I never wanted to be a superstar like D’banj e.t.c and be singing every where across the street?”

In my flesh I wanted these things but my Spirit won’t allow.

Continue reading>>> https://waveofthespirit./2015/08/22/do-you-know-you-can-uncover-yourself-from-gods-devine-protection/

Mobile email marketing design is smoking hot. If you can manage to make sure your mobile readers are satisfied with those subscriber- based emails, then you have covered what may be the largest of your readership. And here are some tips to help you out.


1. Include a plain text version of every message

Including a plain text copy of every HTML message you send will help eliminate potential issues for those subscribers with mobile readers that do not support HTML. Any good email marketing service lets you include a plain text version, make sure you’re using it.


2. Keep links uncrowded

If your email message has links that you want your readers to click on, such as navigation back to your main site (recommended), then make sure those links stand out on their own. In other words, keep them uncrowded so it’s easy to click them within a very small space.

Imagine your loyal reader flicking around on a tiny screen to get to that link — and how frustrated you get when the links are so close together that you can’t land on the one you want. If you want clicks, make it easy.

3. Pull the reader in with your subject line

Now … actually use those three key elements for your email marketing messages. Like any headline, an email subject line has to capture attention quickly and drive the reader to click through.

By the way, the current best practice for subject lines for mobile devices is to keep it within 5 words. That’s right, you have about 5 words to grab the attention of your reader.
Why?
Because after about 5-7 words, the subject line gets truncated and thus it’s a lost opportunity.

4. Use the right tags for your images

If your email marketing message includes images, make sure you include an alternative (alt) tag to describe what the image is. (You should be doing this for any HTML content you create — mobile readers aren’t the only users who may not be able to see your images.) Don’t stuff this tag full of keywords, it doesn’t work. Use it for what it was meant for — to briefly describe what the image is, in a way that lets your reader make sense of it if the image isn’t visible.

Many devices can display all your images correctly, but not all of them will, so it’s just smart to use alternative text to make sure every reader gets the message that image was supposed to convey.

5. Is your call to action clear?

People using mobile devices spend a little less time taking in the content due to the smaller screen sizes and the fact that they are usually on the go, so make sure your email marketing has a clear call to action.
Put it either near the beginning or somewhere where it will stand out. Don’t make it hard to find … after all, it’s the key to getting the response you want.

Last thoughts

You might be wondering how to know what your email message will look like on all these devices. Just because it looks great on an iPhone doesn’t mean it won’t be mangled on a Blackberry.

There are some great simulators out there that let you see how things will appear on the various devices.
A Google search for “mobile device simulator” will give you lots of options. Whatever email marketing service you use, spend some time in settings area and explore the various options they have for delivery.

Now that you have some tips to keep in mind, you never know what options they have that you just didn’t see before.

How about you — what experiences have you had with mobile devices and email marketing?

HIGHESTPOPORI:
Lovely Family,I pray God should bless all d Bachelors on Nairaland with Lovely Wife and Children!

Amin oooo!

There are 7 secrets, or success factors, of sales success. These success factors are practiced by all the highest paid salespeople every day. The regular application of these principles is virtually guaranteed to move you to the top of your field and enable you to reach your career goals, and develop a positive attitude.

THE 7 SUCCESS FACTORS TO SALES SUCCESS

1. Get serious!

Make a decision to go all the way to the top of your field. Make a decision today to join the top 10%. There is no one and nothing that can hold you back from being the best and achieving your career goals except yourself.


2. Identify your limiting skill to sales success.

Identify your weakest single skill and make a plan to become absolutely excellent in that area. Ask yourself, and your boss , “What one skill, if I developed and did it consistently in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my sales?” Whatever your answer to this question, write it down, set a deadline, make a plan, and then work on it every day. This decision alone can change your life and is one of the most important success factors.


3. Get around the right people.

Get around successful people with a positive attitude. Associate with men and women who are going somewhere with their lives. Get away from negative, critical, complaining people. They drag you down, tire you out, distract and discourage you, and lead you inevitably to underachievement and failure.

4. Take excellent care of your physical health.

You need high levels of energy to sell effectively, and to bounce back from continual rejection and discouragement. Be sure to eat the right foods, get the right amount of exercise and get plenty of rest and recreation.


5. Visualize yourself as one of the top people in your field.

Imagine yourself performing at your best all day long. Imagine achieving your career goals. Feed your subconscious mind with vivid, exciting, emotionalized pictures of yourself as positive, confident, competent and completely in control of every part of your life. These clear mental pictures preprogram you and motivate you to sell at your best in any situation.


6. Practice a positive attitude and positive self- talk continually.

Control your inner dialogue. Talk to yourself the way you want to be talked to.


7. Take positive action toward your career goals, every single day.

Be proactive rather than reactive. Grab the bull by the horns. If you are not happy with your income, get out there and get face to face with more customers. If you are not happy with any part of your life, accept responsibility and take charge. TAKE ACTION NOW!

All successful salespeople are intensely action oriented. They have a sense of urgency. They develop a bias for action. They do it now! They have a compulsion to closure. They maintain a fast tempo and move quickly in everything they do. The more people you see, the more experience you get. The more experience you get, the more sales you make. The more people you see and the more sales you make, the more your self-esteem and self respect goes up, and the more you will feel great about yourself. You will have more energy. You will develop a positive attitude and you will be happier. The more you take complete control of your entire life, you virtually guarantee that you will achieve your career goals, be one of the top performers and the highest paid people in your field.

Source: https://tobecomegreat./2015/09/04/the-7-success-factors-to-sales-success/

There are 7 secrets, or success factors, of sales success. These success factors are practiced by all the highest paid salespeople every day. The regular application of these principles is virtually guaranteed to move you to the top of your field and enable you to reach your career goals, and develop a positive attitude.

THE 7 SUCCESS FACTORS TO SALES SUCCESS

1. Get serious!

Make a decision to go all the way to the top of your field. Make a decision today to join the top 10%. There is no one and nothing that can hold you back from being the best and achieving your career goals except yourself.


2. Identify your limiting skill to sales success.

Identify your weakest single skill and make a plan to become absolutely excellent in that area. Ask yourself, and your boss , “What one skill, if I developed and did it consistently in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my sales?” Whatever your answer to this question, write it down, set a deadline, make a plan, and then work on it every day. This decision alone can change your life and is one of the most important success factors.


3. Get around the right people.

Get around successful people with a positive attitude. Associate with men and women who are going somewhere with their lives. Get away from negative, critical, complaining people. They drag you down, tire you out, distract and discourage you, and lead you inevitably to underachievement and failure.

4. Take excellent care of your physical health.

You need high levels of energy to sell effectively, and to bounce back from continual rejection and discouragement. Be sure to eat the right foods, get the right amount of exercise and get plenty of rest and recreation.


5. Visualize yourself as one of the top people in your field.

Imagine yourself performing at your best all day long. Imagine achieving your career goals. Feed your subconscious mind with vivid, exciting, emotionalized pictures of yourself as positive, confident, competent and completely in control of every part of your life. These clear mental pictures preprogram you and motivate you to sell at your best in any situation.


6. Practice a positive attitude and positive self- talk continually.

Control your inner dialogue. Talk to yourself the way you want to be talked to.


7. Take positive action toward your career goals, every single day.

Be proactive rather than reactive. Grab the bull by the horns. If you are not happy with your income, get out there and get face to face with more customers. If you are not happy with any part of your life, accept responsibility and take charge. TAKE ACTION NOW!

All successful salespeople are intensely action oriented. They have a sense of urgency. They develop a bias for action. They do it now! They have a compulsion to closure. They maintain a fast tempo and move quickly in everything they do. The more people you see, the more experience you get. The more experience you get, the more sales you make. The more people you see and the more sales you make, the more your self-esteem and self respect goes up, and the more you will feel great about yourself. You will have more energy. You will develop a positive attitude and you will be happier. The more you take complete control of your entire life, you virtually guarantee that you will achieve your career goals, be one of the top performers and the highest paid people in your field.

Source: https://tobecomegreat./2015/09/04/the-7-success-factors-to-sales-success/

Nice Marketing Strategy........ This will bring more sales sharp!
Bro Dangote and team i hail ooo!

There are 7 secrets, or success factors, of sales success. These success factors are practiced by all the highest paid salespeople every day. The regular application of these principles is virtually guaranteed to move you to the top of your field and enable you to reach your career goals, and develop a positive attitude.

THE 7 SUCCESS FACTORS TO SALES SUCCESS

1. Get serious!

Make a decision to go all the way to the top of your field. Make a decision today to join the top 10%. There is no one and nothing that can hold you back from being the best and achieving your career goals except yourself.


2. Identify your limiting skill to sales success.

Identify your weakest single skill and make a plan to become absolutely excellent in that area. Ask yourself, and your boss , “What one skill, if I developed and did it consistently in an excellent fashion, would have the greatest positive impact on my sales?” Whatever your answer to this question, write it down, set a deadline, make a plan, and then work on it every day. This decision alone can change your life and is one of the most important success factors.


3. Get around the right people.

Get around successful people with a positive attitude. Associate with men and women who are going somewhere with their lives. Get away from negative, critical, complaining people. They drag you down, tire you out, distract and discourage you, and lead you inevitably to underachievement and failure.

4. Take excellent care of your physical health.

You need high levels of energy to sell effectively, and to bounce back from continual rejection and discouragement. Be sure to eat the right foods, get the right amount of exercise and get plenty of rest and recreation.


5. Visualize yourself as one of the top people in your field.

Imagine yourself performing at your best all day long. Imagine achieving your career goals. Feed your subconscious mind with vivid, exciting, emotionalized pictures of yourself as positive, confident, competent and completely in control of every part of your life. These clear mental pictures preprogram you and motivate you to sell at your best in any situation.


6. Practice a positive attitude and positive self- talk continually.

Control your inner dialogue. Talk to yourself the way you want to be talked to.


7. Take positive action toward your career goals, every single day.

Be proactive rather than reactive. Grab the bull by the horns. If you are not happy with your income, get out there and get face to face with more customers. If you are not happy with any part of your life, accept responsibility and take charge. TAKE ACTION NOW!

All successful salespeople are intensely action oriented. They have a sense of urgency. They develop a bias for action. They do it now! They have a compulsion to closure. They maintain a fast tempo and move quickly in everything they do. The more people you see, the more experience you get. The more experience you get, the more sales you make. The more people you see and the more sales you make, the more your self-esteem and self respect goes up, and the more you will feel great about yourself. You will have more energy. You will develop a positive attitude and you will be happier. The more you take complete control of your entire life, you virtually guarantee that you will achieve your career goals, be one of the top performers and the highest paid people in your field.

1. Life is about making an impact, not
making an income. –Kevin Kruse

2. Whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe, it can achieve. –
Napoleon Hill

3. Strive not to be a success, but rather
to be of value. –Albert Einstein

4. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
—I took the one less traveled by, And
that has made all the difference. –
Robert Frost

5. I attribute my success to this: I never
gave or took any excuse. –Florence
Nightingale

6. You miss 100% of the shots you
don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

7. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in
my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games.
26 times I’ve been trusted to take the
game winning shot and missed. I’ve
failed over and over and over again in
my life. And that is why I succeed. –
Michael Jordan

8. The most difficult thing is the
decision to act, the rest is merely
tenacity. –Amelia Earhart

9. Every strike brings me closer to the
next home run. –Babe Ruth

10. Definiteness of purpose is the
starting point of all achievement. –W.
Clement Stone

11. Life isn’t about getting and having,
it’s about giving and being. –Kevin
Kruse

12. Life is what happens to you while
you’re busy making other plans. –John
Lennon

13. We become what we think about. –
Earl Nightingale

14.Twenty years from now you will be
more disappointed by the things that
you didn’t do than by the ones you did
do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away
from safe harbor, catch the trade winds
in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –
Mark Twain

15.Life is 10% what happens to me and
90% of how I react to it. –Charles
Swindoll

16. The most common way people give
up their power is by thinking they don’t
have any. –Alice Walker

17. The mind is everything. What you
think you become. –Buddha

18. The best time to plant a tree was 20
years ago. The second best time is now.
–Chinese Proverb

19. An unexamined life is not worth
living. –Socrates

20. Eighty percent of success is
showing up. –Woody Allen

21. Your time is limited, so don’t waste
it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs

22. Winning isn’t everything, but
wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi

23. I am not a product of my
circumstances. I am a product of my
decisions. –Stephen Covey

24. Every child is an artist. The problem
is how to remain an artist once he
grows up. –Pablo Picasso

25. You can never cross the ocean until
you have the courage to lose sight of
the shore. –Christopher Columbus

26. I’ve learned that people will forget
what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel. –Maya
Angelou

27. Either you run the day, or the day
runs you. –Jim Rohn

28. Whether you think you can or you
think you can’t, you’re right. –Henry
Ford

29. The two most important days in
your life are the day you are born and
the day you find out why. –Mark Twain

30. Whatever you can do, or dream you
can, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it. –Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe

31. The best revenge is massive
success. –Frank Sinatra

32. People often say that motivation
doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.
That’s why we recommend it daily. –Zig
Ziglar

33. Life shrinks or expands in.........
Continue reading from Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/05/28/inspirational-quotes/

OK

You won't believe how many messages I've received recently on my mail. Pls Nairalanders beware of this people they will be telling you to help or promising you a very big amount of money don't attend to them. They will Scam you. They are the messages below

SammieLowkey:
Seun, please answer the question on how they got our email addresses. Thanks.

Emails addresses are so easy to get nowadays expecially if you're the type that drop your email id everywhere on d thread for freebies.....

1. Life is about making an impact, not
making an income. –Kevin Kruse

2. Whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe, it can achieve. –
Napoleon Hill

3. Strive not to be a success, but rather
to be of value. –Albert Einstein

4. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
—I took the one less traveled by, And
that has made all the difference. –
Robert Frost

5. I attribute my success to this: I never
gave or took any excuse. –Florence
Nightingale

6. You miss 100% of the shots you
don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky

7. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in
my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games.
26 times I’ve been trusted to take the
game winning shot and missed. I’ve
failed over and over and over again in
my life. And that is why I succeed. –
Michael Jordan

8. The most difficult thing is the
decision to act, the rest is merely
tenacity. –Amelia Earhart

9. Every strike brings me closer to the
next home run. –Babe Ruth

10. Definiteness of purpose is the
starting point of all achievement. –W.
Clement Stone

11. Life isn’t about getting and having,
it’s about giving and being. –Kevin
Kruse

12. Life is what happens to you while
you’re busy making other plans. –John
Lennon

13. We become what we think about. –
Earl Nightingale

14.Twenty years from now you will be
more disappointed by the things that
you didn’t do than by the ones you did
do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away
from safe harbor, catch the trade winds
in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. –
Mark Twain

15.Life is 10% what happens to me and
90% of how I react to it. –Charles
Swindoll

16. The most common way people give
up their power is by thinking they don’t
have any. –Alice Walker

17. The mind is everything. What you
think you become. –Buddha

18. The best time to plant a tree was 20
years ago. The second best time is now.
–Chinese Proverb

19. An unexamined life is not worth
living. –Socrates

20. Eighty percent of success is
showing up. –Woody Allen

21. Your time is limited, so don’t waste
it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs

22. Winning isn’t everything, but
wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi

23. I am not a product of my
circumstances. I am a product of my
decisions. –Stephen Covey

24. Every child is an artist. The problem
is how to remain an artist once he
grows up. –Pablo Picasso

25. You can never cross the ocean until
you have the courage to lose sight of
the shore. –Christopher Columbus

26. I’ve learned that people will forget
what you said, people will forget what
you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel. –Maya
Angelou

27. Either you run the day, or the day
runs you. –Jim Rohn

28. Whether you think you can or you
think you can’t, you’re right. –Henry
Ford

29. The two most important days in
your life are the day you are born and
the day you find out why. –Mark Twain

30. Whatever you can do, or dream you
can, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it. –Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe

31. The best revenge is massive
success. –Frank Sinatra

32. People often say that motivation
doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.
That’s why we recommend it daily. –Zig
Ziglar

33. Life shrinks or expands in

Continue reading from Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/05/28/inspirational-quotes/

8 Timeless Principles of Successful
Marketing To Boost Your Sales Online
or Offline

Here’s what I’ve discovered about how to write advertising that sells after studying the results of Billions of Dollars of scientific direct response split-tests…and them applying to my clients businesses.

Ready for it? Let’s dive in…


1. Find out what people want and give it to them

– Don’t just assume you know what your prospects want – do research. A great place to do this is on the online forums where your target market hangs out. That’s because people will be honest and candid about what they really think and want on these largely anonymous online forums.


2. Speak to your prospects biggest problems and burning desires

–Once you have discovered your prospects’ burning desires and biggest challenges make your marketing centred on proving you can help them solve those problems or fulfil their desires.


3. Proof is what sells in marketing

–Focus on proving what you say is true to an increasingly sceptical market place. Banish hype and the excessive use of exclamation marks etc. Remember what David Ogivly said to his male ad executives back in the 1960’s “the customer is not stupid, she’s your wife”. For this reason make a cogent proof laden argument for ‘why’ folks should choose you.


4. Trumpet your Uniqueness

– Because we are in such a saturated market where folks receive over 3,000 marketing messages a day it’s important you offer a unique way of solving people’s problems or giving them what they want. Display this uniqueness in your headline.


5. Create easy first steps

– Rather than trying to sell your product immediately offer a free report, CD or DVD etc. on a topic of burning interest to your target market. Then once they’re on your database you have a potential customer for life. You’ll find that this will give you a much more profitable business than going ‘straight for the sale’.


6. Create Irresistible Offers

– The Godfather of direct response advertising Claude Hopkins said we should make our offers ‘so irresistible that only a maniac could refuse them’. A great way to do this is by adding bonuses or discounts with strictly enforced deadlines. There is nothing like a deadline on an offer to spike response.


7. Practice Chameleon marketing

– A great way to make your advertising more effective is to make it look like it’s NOT advertising because people have trained themselves to ignore advertising when they see it. For example, don’t make your display ad look like an ad – make it look like an editorial. You will find that if you take this “chameleon approach” to marketing you will get up to 200% percent higher response


8. Test and measure everything

– Business expert Brad Sugars has found just by tracking the results of your sales campaigns you can increase your results by up to 16 percent. The biggest breakthroughs in business come when you test and measure new approaches. Then once you discover what works – milk it for all it’s worth.

Whether you have decided to start your first venture, or you’ve been running a company for a while now, you ought to take note of certain traits that all accomplished entrepreneurs share.

Long-term success, after all, is not due to luck or circumstance but is the product of hard work and dedication by the entrepreneur. Those who always seem to be ahead of the game, starting and growing successful start-ups that are sold for profit, or building small businesses into empires, all share a few specific qualities that everyone can learn and benefit from.

1. Passionate.

This might seem like an obvious trait, but you would be surprised by how many entrepreneurs start companies because they want to “get rich” but do not necessarily believe in the idea or love the product. You don’t have to be a “type A” personality to run a prosperous enterprise, or a workaholic who gives up every other aspect of his or her life. However, running a business is hard work, which is made less burdensome if you love what you do. The hours you put in to develop a start-up won’t feel like a chore you resent if running the company gives you purpose.

2. Motivated.

Managing a start-up often means you are one of only a small number of employees -- if not the only employee. There will be no boss standing over you making sure things get done, no deadlines set by outside forces to spur you on and no immediate consequences if you decide to go see a movie instead of getting work done. However, while there may be no consequences -- such as losing your job -- there may still be repercussions. Your company will only be as successful as you make it, and that requires a firm commitment to producing quality work in a timely manner. Procrastination should be a foreign concept for you. As an entrepreneur, you must be driven to succeed, and that drive must come from inside yourself, not outside forces.

3. Calculated.

Before you do anything, sit down and plan your day, your week and for the current quarter, your company goals. Define what "success" means to you and do not use generalizations. Specify that in 90 days your business should “sell 10,000 units per week,” “have more than 100,000 daily visitors to the website” or “have a valuation of more than $1 million.” Create short-term plans with actionable tasks to help you reach smaller milestones along your start-up journey. You cannot build a highly profitable company overnight, so these should be your stair- steps on the path to reaching your long-term goals. Calculated entrepreneurs reverse-engineer success instead of wait for it to simply happen.

4. Educated.

The most accomplished people never reach a point where they believe they have all the answers. They cultivate a network of peers with different specializations they can bounce ideas off of. They read articles and books on a regular basis to stay on top of emerging trends and industry best practices. They attend conferences, events and workshops to learn new skills and hone old ones. Take Bill Gates, for example. He's one of the most renowned entrepreneurs in our country -- and also an unashamedly voracious reader. Some estimates put his pace at about a book a week -- and his selections range from general business to history, to closer looks at subjects he finds interesting. While you don’t necessarily have to match his pace, his example is one all entrepreneurs should emulate. No matter how successful you or your business become, never assume you know everything, and always seek out opinions and ideas that challenge what you already know.

5. Tenacious.

Whether you call it tenacity or stubbornness, all successful entrepreneurs refuse to call it quits. Every start-up will hit the occasional bump in the road -- times when things do not go as planned, or outright fail. These are the times when the most brilliant business people separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Smart entrepreneurs know that every failure and missed opportunity is a chance to learn something and grow, both personally and professionally. Instead of agonizing over mistakes, they analyze what went wrong, then put plans and policies in place to avoid repeats of those mistakes. They ignore naysayers who suggest it might be time to throw in the towel; they thrive in the face of adversity.

Entrepreneurship comes with few guarantees. In fact, only about 50 percent of all businesses survive the first five years. You can stack the odds in your favor, however, by studying those who tend to beat the odds. Soon enough, you will cultivate the same traits they possess, the ones that allow them to find success over and over again.

Still contemplating if i can actually accept an offer to work with MTN.

good

Great tips

Selecting a Business Partner Wisely

Business Partnerships are not unlike marriages – the separation (the divorce) can be very painful. So just like choosing a life partner, choose your business partners carefully.

I am regularly amazed at just how casually people end up in business together. Most people would not marry someone without some serious getting to know them time. Yet, I find people who have barely met going into business with each other – especially in today’s digital marketplace.

Is your potential partner a positive happy person? How do they react under pressure? Are they the kind of person who is vengeful and vindictive?

Beware of anyone who boasts about getting ‘one over’ in a previous business dealing – because chances are one day it will be you that they will want to get ‘one over’.
OK they may have a skill or money that the business needs but if you can’t get on or respect each other it is going to be challenging for both of you.

Before reading this list I should say this is not Legal Advice – it is some key lessons from a personal perspective – hire and pay a professional for advice. Additionally one thing I see a lot of is individuals referring to each other as partners – when no legal partnership agreement exists.

Beware of this term – in some parts of the world if a true partnership exists you could be responsible for the debts of your partner. OK, on to the main points:

1) 50% of something big, is better than 100% of nothing

You could argue that none of the businesses I created with partners would have ever happened, if I didn’t give up some ownership share and control.

2) It’s less stressful when you share responsibility.

This is especially good if say one of you is the writer / creative type and the other is say more technical.

3) Most people will choose what they want to do, not what is best. This is a BIG one – all growing businesses have challenges – the road to the top is not a straight up arrow and there will be things that don’t go as planned. It is in those times that people often retreat into their comfort zone and do the things they like doing rather than the things that need doing. They fail to prioritize and if you don’t watch out the business will fail.

As Drew Houston (the founder of Dropbox) says:

“It’s OK to have growing pains, as long as you’re prioritizing correctly and working to address them. Every company looks messy from the inside,”

4) Greed at some point usually takes over.

Strangely the more successful the business is the more reluctant some partners can be to share. This is why it is essential everyone knows their roles / responsibilities.

For example in some ‘deals’ one individual may have the idea and put up the cash and thereafter have very little ‘work’ involvement while the other partner would on the surface appear to be working harder and sooner or later may forget it was the other partner who put up the cash / had the idea. As I say. it is essential to have an agreement on different roles clear and out in the open from the start.

continue reading>>>> https://tobecomegreat./2015/08/31/11-essential-lessons-from-going-into-business-with-people/

I also recieved the mail this morning. They even use the Nairaland Signature. Thanks to the Nairaland Team for this quick response. Thanks to Broro Seun Osewa.

Selecting a Business Partner Wisely

Business Partnerships are not unlike marriages – the separation (the divorce) can be very painful. So just like choosing a life partner, choose your business partners carefully.

I am regularly amazed at just how casually people end up in business together. Most people would not marry someone without some serious getting to know them time. Yet, I find people who have barely met going into business with each other – especially in today’s digital marketplace.

Is your potential partner a positive happy person? How do they react under pressure? Are they the kind of person who is vengeful and vindictive?

Beware of anyone who boasts about getting ‘one over’ in a previous business dealing – because chances are one day it will be you that they will want to get ‘one over’.
OK they may have a skill or money that the business needs but if you can’t get on or respect each other it is going to be challenging for both of you.

Before reading this list I should say this is not Legal Advice – it is some key lessons from a personal perspective – hire and pay a professional for advice. Additionally one thing I see a lot of is individuals referring to each other as partners – when no legal partnership agreement exists.

Beware of this term – in some parts of the world if a true partnership exists you could be responsible for the debts of your partner. OK, on to the main points:

1) 50% of something big, is better than 100% of nothing

You could argue that none of the businesses I created with partners would have ever happened, if I didn’t give up some ownership share and control.

2) It’s less stressful when you share responsibility.

This is especially good if say one of you is the writer / creative type and the other is say more technical.

3) Most people will choose what they want to do, not what is best. This is a BIG one – all growing businesses have challenges – the road to the top is not a straight up arrow and there will be things that don’t go as planned. It is in those times that people often retreat into their comfort zone and do the things they like doing rather than the things that need doing. They fail to prioritize and if you don’t watch out the business will fail.

As Drew Houston (the founder of Dropbox) says:

“It’s OK to have growing pains, as long as you’re prioritizing correctly and working to address them. Every company looks messy from the inside,”

4) Greed at some point usually takes over.

Strangely the more successful the business is the more reluctant some partners can be to share. This is why it is essential everyone knows their roles / responsibilities.

For example in some ‘deals’ one individual may have the idea and put up the cash and thereafter have very little ‘work’ involvement while the other partner would on the surface appear to be working harder and sooner or later may forget it was the other partner who put up the cash / had the idea. As I say. it is essential to have an agreement on different roles clear and out in the open from the start.

continue reading>>>> https://tobecomegreat./2015/08/31/11-essential-lessons-from-going-into-business-with-people/

Top 10 Business Lessons from Bill Gates

Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard in 1974.

In I975, he co-founded Microsoft – a computer software company that would eventually make Gates the world’s wealthiest man. He earned the money by masterfully guiding the world into the era of networked personal computers.

Today, Gates is no longer the world’s wealthiest, but he’s still worth a healthy US$ 59 billion. He’s retired from his role as Microsoft’s CEO and instead devotes himself full-time to philanthropy through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

#1 Get Lucky

Gates is a very smart man, but he’s benefitted from more than his fair share of dumb luck.

In 1968, Gates was an eighth grader, attending a private middle school in Seattle called Lakeside. That year, the school invested $3,000 in a state-of-the-art computer.

13-year-old Bill joined computer club and was instantly hooked. He and a handful of other enthusiastic students racked up hours and hours on the machine, learning how to program through trial and error. It was the beginning of a journey that would propel Gates to astronomical success.

Here’s where the dumb luck comes in: in the 1960s, very few colleges had computer labs and a middle school with a computer was unheard of. The chances of a 13-year-old having access to a computer were pretty much one-in-a-million.

If Lakeside hadn’t purchased a computer, then young Bill might never have discovered his love for computer programming and he never would have started Microsoft.

#2 Make the Most of the Luck You’re Given

Bill may have been ridiculously lucky, but all the computer time in the world wouldn’t have meant anything if he hadn’t dedicated himself so fully to master it. Ultimately, it was the thousands of hours of focused labor that made Gates into the type of computer genius who could start a successful software company.

We don’t always recognize it, but each of us is uniquely lucky. Whether through our natural talents, our circumstances, or our relationships with others, we’re all fortunate to have many paths to success in front of us.

Take in your luck for a moment – and then capitalize on it.

#3 Bite Off More than You Can Chew

Microsoft’s big break came from Bill Gates telling a fib. Gates called up a computer company called MITS and told them that they had developed a BASIC interpreter for their microcomputer, the Altair 8800.

In 1975, Gates and his childhood programming buddy, Paul Allen, were looking for a way to turn their shared computer hobby into a career. MITS was interested in seeing a demonstration of the software. This presented a problem, since the software Bill had promised didn’t actually exist. Gates and Allen developed it in a hurry, presented it to MITS, and made the sale.

They officially founded Microsoft one month later, in April 1975.

“ “An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he’ll quickly learn how to chew it.” – Roy Ash, co-founder of Litton Industries

By always pushing yourself to deliver a little bit more than you’ve proven yourself capable of, you’ll go further, faster in your business ventures. That said, I don’t recommend that you follow Bill’s lead and actually lie to your potential clients.

#4 Quality Control is Crucial

As Microsoft grew, it began hiring more and more programmers. Gates had taken on the role of CEO and his job didn’t call for any programming. But that didn’t stop him from reviewing – and often rewriting – every single line of code that the company released. Bill’s keen eye for detail ensured that Microsoft always shipped quality software.
It also made sure that he never lost track of his team and that he was always intimately familiar with Microsoft’s products.
Continue Reading>>> https://tobecomegreat./2015/08/30/top-10-business-lessons-from-bill-gates/

Whether you have decided to start your first venture, or you’ve been running a company for a while now, you ought to take note of certain traits that all accomplished entrepreneurs share.

Long-term success, after all, is not due to luck or circumstance but is the product of hard work and dedication by the entrepreneur. Those who always seem to be ahead of the game, starting and growing successful start-ups that are sold for profit, or building small businesses into empires, all share a few specific qualities that everyone can learn and benefit from.

1. Passionate.

This might seem like an obvious trait, but you would be surprised by how many entrepreneurs start companies because they want to “get rich” but do not necessarily believe in the idea or love the product. You don’t have to be a “type A” personality to run a prosperous enterprise, or a workaholic who gives up every other aspect of his or her life. However, running a business is hard work, which is made less burdensome if you love what you do. The hours you put in to develop a start-up won’t feel like a chore you resent if running the company gives you purpose.

2. Motivated.

Managing a start-up often means you are one of only a small number of employees -- if not the only employee. There will be no boss standing over you making sure things get done, no deadlines set by outside forces to spur you on and no immediate consequences if you decide to go see a movie instead of getting work done. However, while there may be no consequences -- such as losing your job -- there may still be repercussions. Your company will only be as successful as you make it, and that requires a firm commitment to producing quality work in a timely manner. Procrastination should be a foreign concept for you. As an entrepreneur, you must be driven to succeed, and that drive must come from inside yourself, not outside forces.

3. Calculated.

Before you do anything, sit down and plan your day, your week and for the current quarter, your company goals. Define what "success" means to you and do not use generalizations. Specify that in 90 days your business should “sell 10,000 units per week,” “have more than 100,000 daily visitors to the website” or “have a valuation of more than $1 million.” Create short-term plans with actionable tasks to help you reach smaller milestones along your start-up journey. You cannot build a highly profitable company overnight, so these should be your stair- steps on the path to reaching your long-term goals. Calculated entrepreneurs reverse-engineer success instead of wait for it to simply happen.

4. Educated.

The most accomplished people never reach a point where they believe they have all the answers. They cultivate a network of peers with different specializations they can bounce ideas off of. They read articles and books on a regular basis to stay on top of emerging trends and industry best practices. They attend conferences, events and workshops to learn new skills and hone old ones. Take Bill Gates, for example. He's one of the most renowned entrepreneurs in our country -- and also an unashamedly voracious reader. Some estimates put his pace at about a book a week -- and his selections range from general business to history, to closer looks at subjects he finds interesting. While you don’t necessarily have to match his pace, his example is one all entrepreneurs should emulate. No matter how successful you or your business become, never assume you know everything, and always seek out opinions and ideas that challenge what you already know.

5. Tenacious.

Whether you call it tenacity or stubbornness, all successful entrepreneurs refuse to call it quits. Every start-up will hit the occasional bump in the road -- times when things do not go as planned, or outright fail. These are the times when the most brilliant business people separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Smart entrepreneurs know that every failure and missed opportunity is a chance to learn something and grow, both personally and professionally. Instead of agonizing over mistakes, they analyze what went wrong, then put plans and policies in place to avoid repeats of those mistakes. They ignore naysayers who suggest it might be time to throw in the towel; they thrive in the face of adversity.

Entrepreneurship comes with few guarantees. In fact, only about 50 percent of all businesses survive the first five years. You can stack the odds in your favor, however, by studying those who tend to beat the odds. Soon enough, you will cultivate the same traits they possess, the ones that allow them to find success over and over again.

Heritage Bank Limited and the Entrepreneurship Development Center of the Pan-African University have partnered to bring together top chief executive officers to discuss emerging horizons for Small and Medium Enterprises in the country.

The CEOs will, among other things, discuss with the SME operators on a variety of issues during the 9th EDC annual SME conference holding in Lagos next month.

Speakers at the programme, which is being sponsored by Heritage Bank, include the Executive Director, Heritage Bank, Mrs. Mary Akpabome; the CEO of Centre for Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi; the Founder and President/CEO, Coscharis Group, Dr. Cosmos Maduka; and the CEO, Design Options, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ighodalo.

Commenting on the programme, the statement quoted the CEO of Heritage Bank, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, as saying, “Partnering with EDC to organise this conference is part of our efforts to help SMEs get better and bigger, which is one of the strategic objectives in our acquisition of Enterprise Bank.


“Each of these CEOs have proven track record in various business endeavours that are nationally acclaimed. We believe that their testimonials will serve as a big boost of inspiration for SME operators that would attend the conference.

” The statement noted that over the years, Heritage Bank had partnered with the EDC and other organisations to help SMEs build competence, access new opportunities and develop necessary leadership skills required for success in the business world.

These, it said, include the Heritage Bank SME Clinic, Heritage Governance Model, the Paris Club Credit Scheme and the Enterprise Stories, a radio programme that focuses on stories of successful entrepreneurs.

The sponsorship of the Annual EDC SME Conference is to complement the initiatives, which are aimed at promoting SME development in Nigeria, according to the statement.


It said Heritage Bank, since inception in 2013, had been at the forefront of promoting SME development in the banking industry, adding that to demonstrate its commitment to SMEs, the bank designed and offered an array of products and services based on the perceived and expressed needs of SME businesses.