Month: June 2015

You Can Make Lots of Money As You Solve Other People’s Problems 

Since I moved back to Nigeria with my family, I have not cease to notice the poverty level around and what it requires to live a nice life here. The mind set of the people however determine what they get from life.Everyone struggles to make ends meet but only a few are making headway. Why?

I remember my first time in the market alone after I started settling in, I needed to get some onion and approached a man that had some for sale on the floor mat and a basket. My intention w to buy half of the basket. So the Canadian in me, told him that straight up and he immediately turned around and started to walk away ignoring me (muffling his words that he didnt want to sell half). The Canadian in me didn’t understand why someone would have goods for sale and ignore valuable clients like me. I had to call him back and ask him why he was walking out on me. I he apologized and I bought some onions from him that day.

However, I realized something critical that day. Many people pray to move higher but they remain at the same level because they continue to do their businesses like my friend in the story above. Many stay stagnant or even go lower than they were after experiencing some negative circumstances. They are not able to get out of the problem. Why? Because what they do is sell not meet needs.

Today I want to help you see something differently, if you can approach business differently, you will make more than the average entrepreneur.

The Kind of service that sells more

The story of my hair stylist is different.  Though she might not have her strategies on paper she seemed to be different since the first time I met her. My neigbough introduced her to me a few months ago. The first day she came to fix my hair she said “I know exactly what style to fix on you cos you have an oval face. Now that what I want-not just a stylist but a consultant. The style she fixed on me then lasted so long because I love it 4-much (too much).

Again yesterday she came to fix my hair and here is the result:

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As a professional, I want the best. I want to focus on my highest responsibility after God- my family; on what I do best, I would dont mind sharing whatever I have with such persons that avails me the opportunity of get more done at home, church and work. While my lady was fixing my hair I was working on some of my church financials-thats great!

She gave me a solution, and I was telling her last time, she is no longer just a hairdresser, she is my personal consultant on hair matters😜.  And I will surely recommend her and that is the best way to make lots of money. Find a problem that some people have or stumble on it (make sure they are people that can afford pay you what you want) and solve theirs problem in a unique way. Charge a good price for your service, they will pay. And this doesn’t matter whether you are selling to individuals or companies. That’s entrepreneurship 101. 

Or simply blog about something you love and companies can pay you to advertise on your site. An example is my www.Jollofrice.info blog where I talk about Jollof Rice. Many People ask for my recipe all the times so I figured I better put it down for them in a place where anyone can find it and even refer. You can check it out. Not making so much from it yet but in time, I hope it will make enough to pay for my phone and internet on a monthly basis.

 

 

Top performers invest in themselves

The difference between people who invest in themselves…and people who just whine…

I recently wrote a blog post on the Difference between Winners and losers. You can check it out here.

When was the last time you bought an online course to help you learn a new skill? Have you bought a new book and applied the results to your work? What about traveling to visit someone to learn something?

We all have things we say we want to do — travel more, save more money, earn more. Ok, so in the last 14 days, have you invested to help get to those goals?

How come so many people “say” they want to make more money, or start going to the gym, or learn a new language…but never actually DO ANYTHING to get there?

Investing doesn’t always mean buying courses.  It’s not just buying products. You can literally invest in other people’s expertise: Call them consultants, teachers, or tutors. When was the last time you paid someone to teach you something? When you buy a book to help you get better, you are investing in your own success. 

Here’s a simple litmus test:

If you say you want something but haven’t done systematic work to achieve your goal in the last 30 days, you might actually call it daydreaming. 

So your choice is either (1) start taking action or (2) acknowledge that your goal really isn’t that important, and give up.

(By the way, there’s nothing wrong with giving up on certain goals. For example, I used to respond to every email within 24 hours — that was my goal. After a while, I was unable to do it, no matter how hard I tried. And I’ve now officially given up on it. If someone emails me, I’ll get back to them when I am able to. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.)

I want to see you take even baby steps towards your goals that’s the reason I work hard to give you what would help.  

Top performers invest in themselves

You’ll find that the very highest-achieving people are also habitual consumers of personal-development materials, whether books, courses, or personal tutors/consultants.

I have spent lots of money on self-development. In fact, in the last 12 months, I’ve spent a lot on tools,  courses, books, online conferences, and even taking people out to dinner to learn from them.

But you don’t have to spend so much to invest in yourself. Back in the days my budget was a LOT smaller, I still emailed people to take them out to lunch. 

Most of my top-performing friends also invest in themselves with books, courses, and traveling to attend events where they can meet interesting people.

“But I can find all the information I need online, for free!”

Yeah, you “could.” But the fact is that we dont!

Information is not all you need for success, in fact information is not enough. Changing a habit is far more important than getting information. It’s about motivation and skill and many other factors.

When you pay for a course, or a tutor, or a coach, you’re not just paying for commodity information. You’re paying for the coach’s skills and expertise. When I hire a web designer, for example, ALL HE READS IS WEB DESIGN STUFF. He is far deeper in the web-design world than I will ever be.

You’re also psychologically committing yourself to value the goal more. For example, my courses (free and paid) provides tips and comprehensive steps to help you earn more. 

The Inward-Looking Test

The best predictor of your future behaviour is your past behaviour.  People really don’t like hearing this because it makes them confront why they’re not achieving their so-called goals.

We all know there are things we could do if only we were motivated enough, or if we had more time. The smart person asks, “What am I realistically likely to do?”

Investing even HUGE amounts can pay off.   There’s a reason why successful people don’t think twice when it comes to investing in themselves or their businesses. That’s because the cost of the right investment is NOTHING compared to the gains as a result.

I was recently doing some consulting for a guy that is looking to re-evaluate his skills to move up in his career. We had a brainstorming session on phone and his comment to me was:

“So, I hung up the phone Friday and my first thought was, ‘Wow, THAT was probably worth 5 grand.'”

Invest in yourself today:

What’s the best investment you could make today?  

Who could you take out to lunch to pick their brain? 

What conference could you attend that would improve your skills? 

 Can you hire a tutor for something you want to do?

Do you want to earn more money? 

Why Would Your Friends’ Pay You?

Have you started experiencing the excitements that come from leveraging your skills? Some of you have asked me questions around working with your current friends and I have compiled this in response to that.
If you are starting with people that already know you, it might be hard for them to take you seriously. They feel they are entitled to what you have always given them free or for pennies.
At this point you don’t need to panic, its normal. You need to help them transition into seeing that you now have a shop 🙂 It might take a while for them to get it but they will. First you need to understand the concept too so that your own mental block can get out of your way.
A good example that will help you is this.
You have just signed the lease to your new store. Your rent is $1500 per month including utilities. You still need to run down to Walmart or your local office depot to purchase some supplies and one of your friends comes in (on her way to work) with a request for another favour- she wants you to help her with the usuals. This usual is now product number 5 in your new business. You want to help her and you might but this is a good time to remind her that you now have extra bills to pay to sustain the business and be able to help her next time.
First, note that your friend is going to work as well and she might not likely work for free for her employer today so its not right for her to expect you to work for free even though you are your own employer, right?
At this moment, one very important tool will be your professionally done price list. You bring one out and discuss from there. It will be awkward at first but she will get it. Best is to determine in your mind if you want to do this free, its fine but give her an invoice with the percentage off factored in.
Plus if you appear professional to your friend, they will be proud to refer other of their professional friends to you which is why its still good to give friends a discount. And they will also realized the hours you have invested into it your business and would see why they are paying you.
Thats why your price list is very important. Here you have it- a complete guide on how to create your price list.
I look forward to sharing your success story.
Olu.

 

What I discovered on my Way to Montreal

Its not what you are look at that matters, its what you see.      
-Henry David Trudeau.
Isn’t it interesting that you may have something and never know you do. In this past 2 months, I have seen this in action more than I could record. I will share 2 instances with you here.
Some of you know that I recently got back from a trip to Montreal for some of my annual conferences and events. It was a great time btw 😉

On my way to Montreal,

I had a good 15 hours layover in London which afforded me the opportunity to re-unite with my family there. Saw my big brother and his family. Hadnt seen one of his sons in almost 9 years and the other for the first time.  My nephew is now almost 1 foot taller than I am…how interesting 🙂
I also had a good time with 2 of my sisters-in-law and their family. After a good time, I went back to Heathrow airport to continue my trip. I always love shopping around cos sometimes you get a good find, so I did a bit of that while waiting to board. Got to this nice store with nice decor;  pillows, picture frames, …. The quote about by Henry David Trudeau caught my attention: Its not what you are looking at that matters, its what you see. Interesting!
And so I did a video about it here:

Next I got on the plane and decided to relax with a musical Movie titled Annie. Nice one-good story line. As I closed my eyes to rest I got an Ha ha moment right there – I have 3 amazing older sisters and 3 amazing sisters-in-law. That makes me the goodie between a three-sister sandwich…hehe. I have been married for almost 11 years but now I am just discovering this. I was more intrigued that I never figured this out.
What’s special about that fact? I don’t know, may be just the symmetry or perhaps I will discover later, but the fact that I just discovered though it had been a fact for 11 years was the important point.
Is there anything you have now that could bring more fruitfulness to your endeavours but you are not even aware? The next example will even show it clearer.

Clone a Sim

Since we moved to Nigeria for the mission of planting a new branch of Overcomers, one of the main issues asides irregular power supply has been securing a good internet service. I use an Etisalat line and got a good deal for my phone and internet needs- I buy credit on my phone and tether it to my other devices. Nigeria is what I call an emerging market and because of this many opportunities go untapped. lots of money to be made and lot of needs to be met; making unending opportunity available for smart and good people to tap into.
Anyway, before I decided on what phone plan to take I did my research, coming from a Canadian system (where by the way I was an expert in the area of getting the most from your service providers) I was determined to get the most I could for the money I pay. I however discovered that what I figured out was more effective than the solution I was given by calling customer service, though they helped.
On a side note: A Phone / Internet Consultant would make some side income in Nigeria.  By guiding people, recommending a package that would work best for individual and showing them how to save money on services. Helping them fish out the best option suited for them. I wish there was one and I would have paid them to help me figure out a mobile/internet solution for my need.
Meanwhile, I got a rhythm and enjoyed my services from Etisalat here in Kuje for the most part. Yesterday we decided to use a Mifi device from Etisalat for our home internet. (A Mifi device is a small phone size device, you insert a sim with data into and it serves as a modem, making wifi available for other devices-phones, tablets and computers). Its definitely easier to use a Mifi for all other devices than to tether my phone for internet.  So we decided to pay for some internet on the Mifi sim.  (If you reading this from the western world, you likely wouldn’t ever need this….lol).
Anyway I called customer service yesterday, spoke with a lady, she gave me some information. Thank God I asked her if I could link my Mifi to my phone. Then she transferred me to the Data department to speak with a data specialist. What I discovered afterwards is that the info she gave me was wrong.
To my amazements, He said I could clone my sim to a new sim. Wow! I didnt need to buy extra data on my phone and another on the Mifi! I can buy bulk data on my phone that way and still be able to use it on the Mifi. That means my phone will no longer get so heated up from tethering. Great!
He sent me the code to do it and voila! We got it done today. And as I write I am using the Mifi as wifi. Very cool.
Again I have had the Mifi since October and had tried to use it, but now I am getting the most from it. Plus I have had the same phone company for the same time, but now I am maximizing my services with them.
My question to you, what do you have now that you are not gaining the most results from? Is there a skill or passion that can be converted into an income stream for you?
Need help answering this?

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