Peak Performance & Marketing Podcast : Recent Episodes
Kwaku Abedi
This is a podcast by Kwaku Abedi, which focuses on Peak Performance which requires PDF (Productivity, Discipline, Focus) and Marketing. This podcast explores how we all can be perform to our optimum best in our chosen fields of discipline. Peppered with conversations about modern marketing.
The past few months has been eye opening for me in terms of proposal writing and what makes a good Business Proposal. I started writing Business Proposal for friends as a means of sharpening my writing skills and earning extra income.
I’ve been hooked ever since.
I have now transitioned to working for various business clients by helping them write Business proposals for fund raising purposes.
My intense focus on Proposal writing skills has given me insights into what investors are looking for when they request a proposal and how that can be fine-tuned for success.
Your product has to be compelling Investors are looking for new markets, virgin territory and a unique concept where there’s opportunity for growth. If your Business idea stated in the Proposal looks like any other business, there's a likelihood for it to be thrown out of the window.
Fresh ideas and unique ways of solving problems are salient points investors look out for. That's why storytelling is important. Every mundane idea under the sun can be made interesting if it has an exciting story attached to it.
In a proposal I worked on for a Technology platform, I developed a story of an important age demographic that had growing income and I told stories of how that demographic have adopted a certain lifestyle hence the Technology Platform stood a better chance for the product to be adopted by our targeted audience.
This piqued the interest of the investors and brought them on board to fully assess the market and bring in an investment.
Create a Simple Structure The era where Business Proposals were long and winding document that didn’t cut to the chase are days of old. Proposals in the past had many pages and could pass as a nonfiction book. Most of the time, readers are left scratching their heads in finding the essence of the proposal.
Investors may not have all the time to read several pages of a proposal so having a well-structured proposal that cuts to the chase will be better appreciated. This also accounts for why "The Elevator Pitch" is so popular. Because grand ideas behind a business should be able to be discussed by two minutes or less.
As I continue to finesse my proposal writing skills, I have deduced a simple framework that guides me in all my proposal writing.
- Introduction
- Statement of the problem
- How the proposal idea aims to solve the problem
- The budget needed in solving the problem
- Outcomes (what will happen after a successful roll out of the project)
- Conclusion
Don’t make it boring Use infographic, pictures, images etc to make the proposal reading an interactive and fun experience.
When I started writing proposals, I downloaded samples from various websites and I couldn't read past the first few pages because they were flat out boring. It was almost as if the Proposal existed to confuse me.
This concept of your average entrepreneur rattling for hours about their business idea somehow finds itself in proposals too where the writer goes overboard in establishing the business idea. I aimed at escaping this writing trap by writing business Proposals that improves the reading experience by providing illustration, infographics and images where necessary.
Proposals should be dynamic Business Proposals are meant to be dynamic
For many entrepreneurs, once the proposal is written there’s no flexibility for editing as it is seen as a complete document replete with data projections and financial numbers therefore there's no room for change.
But it should be understood that things change and circumstances change therefore proposals should also have
Many many years ago human beings used to form close tribes and communities as a way to bond, survive harsh conditions and to fight off predators and invasions from other tribes.
Fast forward hundreds of years later and tribes continue to a be a big part of human existence and experiences and bonds.
People in the same tribe share experiences, joy sorrows etc and have a tendency to protect, love and support each other. Out of the word tribe comes “tribalism” a negative stereotype that depicts people are willing to give competitive advantages or undue favour people in their tribe.
When relating tribes and their importance to digital communities the benefits that tribes in traditional communities receive reflects the benefits of tribes in digital communities.
Therefore as an entrepreneur, building a tribe around your brand is a key and surefire way to grow the brand.
Unlike the traditional communities of old, digital communities are limitless and are available to beyond international borders. Once there’s a level of commanility that can be identified within the brand and people can identify then the brand can be successful
Why you need communities
- For a business that have a solid community you already know that there are a group of people you can count on for your basic sales
- Then there’s the legion of community fan members who will bring in new prospects and businesses and will direct new clientele your way. This is particularly prevalent in pop music where major global artist have strong community fanbase or fandom
- Communities make product ideas and testing easier and quicker
- It helps you know and understand your audience
- Amplify brand voice and enables brands enter places they wouldn’t otherwise been known there.
Every beginner entrepreneur has worries, some of which are warranted others's are not.
This articles looks at the top three unwarranted worries of every beginner entrepreneur
Obsession with Branding Entrepreneurs often obsess over branding, Logo, marketing strategy etc in the beginning of the business. Building a decent brand imagery and perception from the beginning is important but it doesn't add to revenues from the get go.
Hence obsessively worrying about these things does not impact the business in any way.
Working on logo, website design, brand colors etc looks like busy work, so doing them makes us feel like we’re up to something yet no money is being made.
So if your plan is to sell shoes online and you spend 3 months choosing a logo and setting up a website you need to re-evaluate your business strategy
Business Strategy Planning and strategizing are important steps for the entrepreneurial journey. But, there comes a time where all the incessant planning and strategizing leads to fatigue and burnout. Drawing a 10-year strategy when you haven’t sold your first product is useless.
What your small business needs is product sales that makes the business viable.
I can’t begin to enlist the number of times wannabe entrepreneurs have spent with me discussing their business ideas and how they plan on rolling out unique products but they stuck in their heads about the process constantly planning and strategizing.
Fear of failure The fear of failure is warranted given that entrepreneurship in it's nature is risky. There's the possibility of losing your own money and that of others. That is why it's important to be psychologically prepared for the emotional trauma that comes with entrepreneurship.
Most upcoming entrepreneurs second guess themselves and are continuously up in arms about failure of their potential product when it’s not even on the market.
Instead of constantly worrying about your next business venture. You can
- Revisit the drawing board and look at product-market fit
- Do a cheap test run of product on targeted audiences etc.
- Look for quality clients willing to pay a premium for your product/service
These actions amongst others minimizes the risk of failure.
Stop worrying and start doing...
Music Source: Squares
One thing I’ve been battling with ever since I made a conscious effort to pay attention to my levels of productivity, discipline and focus is how to get back unto my grind after an interruption.
In this case an interruption means the slightest inconvenience that messes with my workflow. For example going for lunch, a phone call, a quick meeting etc. Lunch is the worst culprit as I get lazy after a heavy lunch I’m not able to do much after that.
Anytime I’m interrupted because someone wanted to ask me a question or by I phone call, "I’m like let me log on to social media real quick to find out whats going on."
Before I can say jack! I’m all sucked in and I'm hoping from one social media channel to the other.
How I salvage this problem is in various ways.
- I try to do all my important tasks that require deep thinking and intense focus before lunch and schedule the meetings and the mundane tasks which does not require mental fortitude after lunch.
- Writing as much as possible. Making mental notes and writing down my thoughts Avoiding social media when I get interrupted and get back to work
- Eating a light lunch or dividing my lunch into 2 parts in order to not get too full after I’ve had lunch
Its been a tough road to regain my attention and mental fortitude but I'm gradually working on it. I have noticed that building routines and getting as much as possible work done from what I can do in my peak times have been extremely productive.
Its still a challenge for me especially the social media bits and I’m learning to control it gradually as the days go by.
So far the strategies I’ve been used have been pretty straight forward
What do you do to regain concentration after your mind has been taken off a task
Music Source: Squares
My blog post on Monday talked about the important 5-year rule that recurred in the various articles about what it takes to be successful which your small business.
The theory states that, it takes a minimum of 5-years to be successful. Within that time frame the business idea had been further developed to the level where you have a true sense of how the business operation run and a sense of revenues.
The question is what happens if after 5 years I don't see progress?
How you decide to measure progress should be personal to you.
I used to have this 6-month rule which required that any craft or potential business opportunity I found a remote interest in, I will start learning and reading about it intensely for six months and if there’s an interest after 6 months then I continue or I quit.
For most small business ideas when to quit is highly dependent on revenue and traction.
When to quit is a reflective discussion every entrepreneur must have with himself. My thing is to investigate whether you have given it your all. If you have given it your all and you have nothing else to give then that’s a place to stop and reflect.
Because quitting after putting in so much effort comes with a big strings of what ifs?
What If I pushed myself harder?
What if I took my marketing more seriously?
What if I I had not given up when things got tough?
Getting to the “What if” is a painful point but if you’ve given your all to a project at least you walk away without a shadow of doubt that you have given it your very best.
The success we seek as entrepreneurs and business owners is within reach, what's important is that we develop the dedication and commitment to giving it our possible best.
Music Source: Squares
The goal of this website is to help you as an entrepreneurs, consultants and small business owner to succeed. Especially in your Marketing, Public Relations and Customer Development.
As digital media growth and we continue to have access to a world that is more connected than ever, it is important to acquire certain basic Marketing skills that will be of help to your Startups.
Skills such as Copywriting, basic visual image production and photgraphy is good for beginner stages of your marketing.
Copywriting Copywriting is a skill that is extremely useful for the modern day marketer.
One mistake many entrepreneurs face is the challenge of good copywriting on their promotional material. The number of times I've had to mentally correct the copywriting on some Facebook ADs are uncountable.
Yet, people have paid for the promo which are running but I doubt they will gain equal value out of it.
The ability to encode your marketing message in a persuasive and
useful form is extremely important for conveying your marketing message.
If you need help with copywriting and writing about your products in general reach out to me kwaku@kwakuabedi.com
Visual Content Production You should be able to put visual content together, be it an infographic detailing product development and releases, promotional memes, basic videos etc.
There are great tools out there ranging from Canva to Piktochart and free Adobe software that can be helpful in creating content for your targeted audiences.
Play around with new and upcoming forms of social media and digital
channels. Don't be afraid to experiment. For example, look into the rise of tiktok and create an account (make it private”) experiment with how people are creating content on that platform and assess if your brand has a place in there.
Given the power of the internet, there are many avenues to acquaint
ourselves with new skills that will help shoot our marketing to the next level.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Ever since Seth Godin popularized the term permission marketing, its been one of my favourite strategy to use in terms of building my personal brand and helping my clients brand grow and develop.
Yes we know Marketing is about promotion and hyping but it has to be helpful. In its helpfulness its impact is fully felt in many ways.
Imagine 2 brands existed on the social media. These 2 brands had a page on Facebook.
Brand "A" posts informative articles about how to take care of your jewelry, how to polish them. What to look out for when investing in jewelry etc. Posting commentary about celebrity jewelry on celebrity red carpets etc and responding to questions and comments. They post special offers weekly.
On the other hand we have Brand "A"s competitor which is Brand "B" that just posts images of items and prices of their products. Which of these brands will you envisage will have a higher level of engagement and will be able to build trust with the customer as the go through their buyers journey.
It definitely will be the first brand as they have shown that they care abou their clients and wants to serve them better. Unfortunately most marketing initiatives and content strategy by businesses is modeled on Brand B with no useful engagement.
When marketing comes across as genuine, not forceful and its helpful, the brand most likely stands a chance to succeed.
So yeah!, all these insistence on technical analytics and the best time to post on social media types of Marketing techniques are good but it takes an even better turn when appear to be helpful and look beyond profits to provide better service.
Building such a routine where prospects can vouch on your brand for quality service is a game to be played for the long haul with potentially massive future returns. Having a permissioned marketing model works for the new age of business given how congested the digital space is.
Give it a shot.
Music Source: Squares
Over the past few months, I’ve read many blogs post, articles and books about small businesses and how they become successful. I've also been reading about the concept of "solopreneurship" and the time frame to be a successful solopreneur or a consultant.
In most instances the time frame that appear to be continually persistent in the articles and blog post is 5 years.
Most of these articles state that it takes 5 years for a business venture to take off.
Therefor continually growing your business and ensuring that it persist unto the 5th year puts you on the track for massive success. On the other hand, the 5th year is a time for you to look pull the plug if the business idea does not seem to work.
Learning a valuable skill such as computer programming and coding for 2 hours everyday for 3 years, we’re looking 1095 days which amounts to 2,190 hours of practice.
Two thousand hours of practice is a freaking good level of experience and expertise to make money and to be innovative in your chosen field. Some posit that it takes 10,000 hours to be a prodigy but this article focuses on an expertise that pays the bills with something left in the bank.
Therefore with the aim of starting a business in mind, be ready to be consistent and persistent with your craft as it will take sometime before you start to see the payoff and they become visible in your everyday doings that you’re in it for the long term.
Very much the way I’ve psyched my mind to understand that I’m into copywriting, podcasting and content for the long term hence until I reach my fifth year knowing that I’ve given it my all, I’m going to keep on pushing till the goal is reached.
Music Source: Squares
There’s a close link between success and discipline which has been a point of fascination for me.
Why does it take self discipline to be successful?
Why can’t we do whatever we want and just hope success comes our way?
Why are there so many articles on the internet talking about why we need discipline and self mastery to be successful and why we should learn and copy the ways of American Navy Seals and Yogi's in order to study the art of discipline?
These questions are rhetorical because the link between success and discipline is clear as day.
Dieting and Exercise
Starting a business
Reaching your financial goals, all theses requires discipline.
Without discipline what happens is the high possibility to quit when the slightest challenge rears it head.
Just like when I started learning to code. I was crazy about coding classes and playing various coding games till I got the fundamentals of it. Then it got to the harder challenges and became a bit intense I quit.
If I had stuck with learning how to code properly, It will have been easier for me to update certain things on my website without necessarily having to pay for updates every time.
I’ve tried many things that I eventually quit because the motivation to do them was not there anymore and I didn’t have the self discipline to keep going either.
Ever since I realized that a lack of discipline is the reason why I wasn’t hands on with my projects in the past, I have devised strategies to keep my discipline and motivation in check. Because inspiration and motivation fades away and we’re left with our discipline which keeps us going
That is why exercising and following a strict diet is hard for many people. Because it comes back to the question of being disciplined enough to follow these diets even when you’re not seeing massive changes in your body.
How I Keep My Discipline in Check
Build Routines:
Routines help days I don’t feel like it. And those days will surely come. That is when I count on my routines to keep me going. I go to the gym 4 times a week and I have made it a point to have my gym bag with me at work which urges me to work out.
Push myself to the limit
I do this by challenging myself sometimes. At the begining of this year I stated a goal of writing 300 word article every weekday. Now that I have been consistent with it, I'm looking at inching it up to 400 words.
The will to achieve self discipline and mastery is a marathon not a sprint, so even when I fall off, I give myself a little pep talk and get back on my grind.
What are you doing to keep your discipline in check?
Music Courtesey: Squares
Money is evil
The love of money is the root of evil.
You’re passing through this world.
Your reward is in the afterlife.
If you do not de-link all these assumptions from your head, it will be hard for you to allow yourself to make money. This might seem trivial but its an important part of the success process.
Adages like “Money doesn’t grow on trees”
“Learn hard so you can get a good job”
“I’m not a bank” all these funny quips our parents made have an effect on us.
In our desire to be successful, we forget that all these sayings lurk in our minds hence it doesn’t open us up to all the possibilities. The many ways money can be available to us. Granted that money is not the only point of success but this post specifically is targeted at financial success.
Allowing yourself to be successful is the first step in creating opportunities and redeeming your mind to the myriad of ways money flows around without your realizing it.
Dealing with self sabotage is a continuous process your constantly need to check.
Our warped understanding of life sometimes leads us to say we do not deserve certain thing hence we close our minds off the possibilities of achievement and the fact that we can achieve our goals when we work hard and try at it.
I used to be a part of the group that sulked and said “life is not fair”.
Indeed life is not fair but we all do possess certain advantages in life. Its either we work hard and leverage on those advantages or we don’t move to the second level and our life literally becomes a standstill.
Allowing ourselves to be successful is the first step. Then comes the second step which is the hard work and difficult conversations we need to have with ourselves to understand that success and life in general is a journey and success will not come on a bed of roses.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Good Marketing is Good Entertainment
Highlights of all my social media feed has to do with entertainment.
On twitter the tweets that have the highest retweets and likes have some semblance of entertainment
Likewise Facebook and Instagram
Offering featuring reality TV, Music, the Kardashians latest family drama etc.
People are looking for entertainment and that’s why social media usage increase is the on the high use.
Given people's preferences on social media platforms and how they interact with content, the key is creating content that’s engaging and draws the attention of audiences by being entertaining. Regardless of the industry your business finds itself in, there's an industry joke or point of entertainment to explore.
By capitalizing on current events and creating avenues for debates and discussions where it creates avenue for discussion and commentary for people to buy into the brand
The thing about entertainment is that it can be a hit or miss. When it’s a hit, it goes viral when it’s a miss, users will drag you and will never let you forget it.
Study Your audience: Every blog post I write states this in it because its true. If you understand your audience, then creating content that entertain them will be less of a headache.
Try with popular memes: There are many meme generating software and products that allow you to hook your content to the latest trending meme and create content around it. Memes like the cat confronting the woman is a great example of how you can build your story’s narrative to align with it.
Ditch the analytics and focus on creation
Entrepreneurs reach out to me frustrated.
Why are they frustrated?
They’ve been doing social media marketing for a month or 2 and they’re not gaining any results, what it is they’re doing wrong?
How come they’re not successful?
I take a quick scan through their content and it becomes obvious.
No storytelling, no content marketing, no effort to connect, no defined target audience.
Yet these entrepreneurs desire to make record sales.
This reminds me of a video of a personal trainer who talked about his frustration with people who come to him asking why they’re not losing weight. He asks them how long have they been watching their diet and exercising and the average answer is two weeks.
Two weeks, two months and to some extent even a year is not enough to get to the success you seek.
Being obsessed with analytics and results at that early stage of content creation can stifle creativity. Every project requires that initial baby steps to figure out what works it grows from there.
Excessive focus on analytics and results can also be addictive. What happens is that you relentlessly check your handles for results.
I recall a few months back, I changed my Instagram profile into a business page. What happened was that I became obsessed with analytics and the stats that were being provided without focusing on yield. Funny thing about that period in time was that the analytics did not matter because I wasn’t selling a product or service. Ego plays a role in marketing hence its important that you check your ego before it checks you.
The growth of digital and social media channels also leads to analytics overdose. Which means as an entrepreneur creating and promoting a product that has visibility on 5 channels, all your time will be spent on tracking analytics on these platform without inventing something new or creating cool products.
The goal here is to be in tune with your audiences and build content that suits them. The rigid focus on analytics will come later
Music Courtesy: Squares
Apple is a beloved and respected global brand. One of the outstanding Marketing and Public Relations tools for the brand are their their live events.
Steve Jobs before his demise comes on stage and introduces global audiences to Apples’ latest products and service offering. Speaking with conviction and passion and how Apple is changing the world of smart phones and personal computing. By the time his talk is over, you’re completely sold on getting the latest Apple product.
Then rolls the memes, commentary, discussions and critique of the Apple brand online and on traditional media.
The free publicity Apple receives from product launches and live events across the globe is estimated be worth millions of dollars and then there's the free Social Media impressions generated as a result of the live event.
Great entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates etc have something in common. They have the knack for building good businesses. The knack for building good business comes from identifying a need and solving that need.
The ability to identify a need comes with being observant of the gaps and loopholes in an economy and they can create solutions to these problems.
Good entrepreneurs are often good salesmen and women. The ability to sell is a skill that every wannabe entrepreneur have to develop. Often at times, I come across entrepreneurs who have cool ideas about products and services then want to release into the market to solve a need but are hesitant to go out to start selling the idea and businesses to people.
Many wannabe entrepreneurs feel like being an aggressive salesperson is “cheesy” and its similar to being a snake oil salesman which they think it's not cool. Who will be better at communicating the benefits of your product or brand but you.
The ability to communicate the benefit of your product or brand requires sales ability. And inherent within the sales ability are the following skills you need to master.
Persuasion: The ability to convince and create a good narrative about your product is a skill that’s needed in becoming a good entrepreneur. Read Dr. Robert Cialdinis' on Influence
Charming: to be charming means to be good at listening. Many people listen to respond, not listen to understand hence quality listening skills is a trait once developed, will endure you to prospects as a charming individual.
Pre-empt Prospects Needs: The ability to think of all possible questions a prospect might ask helps you in fine-tuning your product and making it better.
Charisma: This is the positive energy you need to make a persuasive argument. If you're talking to a prospect looking all beaten up, no eye contact and no authority in your voice. No one will like to buy from you.
Every entrepreneur needs to develop the ability to sell and the ability to sell comes from acquiring these key skills.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Anytime I have been consistent and persistent in my goals, success has come to me. Although this seem like a straight forward habit to have, it comes with its trials. Because we all look at people who have achieved it and assume its an easy walk to the top.
Now I dwell on consistency and persistency because they are 2 key outlooks needed for success. Anytime I've been persistent and consistent towards a goal, I've had a high likelihood of achieving that goal.
My understanding of how consistency and persistency is stragithforward.
Consistency which is to keep the same level of energy, enthusiasm and effort towards the task ahead. Addition of new strategies to improve our quality of work comes with being consistent.
Persistency is not giving up until you've given it your all. This is where it gets head. Renowned Marketing Author Seth Godin is noted in his book "The Dip" about how starting a new project always seems so exciting but the struggle lie with keeping up with the work when it gets hard.
That is where true artistry and success comes from, unrelenting focus to achieve our goals. 2020 is the year to be persistent and to grow in the business whiles growing the Peak Performance and Marketing Podcast (PPMP) by writing and podcasting on the chosen areas of Startups, Marketing and Productivity, Discipline and Focus.
Being persistent and consistent is the message for 2020
For many years I was part of the crowd, writing New Years resolutions and looking for big moments where I could take a big initiative and everything will be better. The number of times I’ve failed at achieving my new years resolutions are uncountable. I even wrote a post about it on Medium.
After taking a step back and doing an assessment of my resolutions. I now understand why my goals were failing.
I was doing things because I saw others do it and it worked for them. This emanates from the fact that I thought I could do anything and everything I put my mind to. Yet I wasn’t the least interested in that.
For example when I see others write about things that gave them exposure, I figured if I also write about those things the exposure will come but it never did.
I thought the road to success was a straight path. Meanwhile it’s a journey with so many twist and turns its actually ridiculous.
Then there is the added work that’s needed in order to make it and be successful at these goals. It requires a sharp focus and attention to details that at that time I wasn’t mentally ready for
I didn’t think about these goals long and hard enough. As mentioned earlier, I just wanted to do things that worked for others and didn’t consider carefully if I had any level of interest in the said achievements of others.
Its crazy how I’ve started blogs, websites, podcasts etc and quit as soon as it got difficult. Anytime I feel discouraged I visit these sites as a reminder to myself of the all the time invested into making something which did not amount to anything and how I’m determined to make it work now.
It mostly had to do with wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is nice because we don’t do any work but we feel the pleasure of what it feels like to achieve the things we dream off.
Things have changed drastically since I tuned my mind to be consistent and persistent. It takes discipline and focus and that's something I'm willing learn and grow at.
Building a brand in this day and age is easy and difficult at the same time. Its easy because one can have a well thought out and put out social media presence in a matter of minutes replete with what they do and have to offer.
The harder bits is the shouting match that social media has become and the fact that your account is a single profile in a network dominated by hundreds of millions of users.
Increasingly, users need to stand out from the noise and to top it off, new channels are being created every day. For example the Social Media app TikTok has grown exponentially over the past few months.
The Strategy Use the rule of 2: Often, people want to know if they should maintain a presence on all social media channels or at least the popular ones. Well my response has been, it can be a bit overwhelming to create and re-purpose content for all these channels. What helps is sticking to 2 channels that you enjoy and can create content for in the long term.
What happens with having a strategy where all you do is to spread yourself thin across all platforms is that your brand do not get the deep and personalized engagement you seek.
Go where your audience are In our effort to build a personal brand, there’s the foresight we have of the type of brand we want to build and the targeted audience we want to associate with.
It is imperative that we begin that process from the get go. By being clear about our end game, we cut the chase and reduce second guessing because we know our target audiences and how we can be of help to them.
It takes time People start exposing their brand digitally and expect millions of followers and likes. It takes a longer time than that. Take time to build the brand. It’s all part of the process.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Digital and social media has presented an avenue where every entrepreneur is essentially a content creator in their own right.
Often, it appears as entrepreneurs we’re always looking for validation on digital channels and we measure our worth in metrics such as “Likes”, “Comments”, “Reaction” etc. These metrics most of the time does not have any direct correlation with sales.
As entrepreneurs, we have one job. Which is to sell. If our content receive millions of likes, comments, shares, retweets etc and does not lead to sale then of what use is our digital marketing strategy.
Many entrepreneurs get apprehensive and sometimes go on the defensive when these discussions come up but it is a necessary conversation to have.
Your job is to sell. There’s no point in being popular whiles you’re starving.
What to do What to do is simple, understand that social media and digital channels are controlled by companies who possess algorithms that show visitors what they choose to see when they go on the network.
Its become difficult to get visibility on Social Media News Feeds without buying ads.
Don’t be a slave to the algorithm.
Seek your target audience and serve them. Do the analysis and once your targeted audiences are seeing your promotional materials, then you’re good. The aim is for your marketing content to reach the audience you seek to serve.
Do not get caught in the vanity metric rabbit hole looking for “Likes”, endorsements, approvals to make you feel good about yourself which has no direct correlation to the business you aim at growing. Once a core audience has been built around your brand, the marketing will accelerate itself
Music Courtesy: Squares
Ask any wannabe entrepreneur why they’re not in business and the answer will be “lack of capital”.
Lack of capital has often been cited as the key challenge and reason by many potential entrepreneurs as the reason they have not started their business. Although this may be a genuinely honest reason for some type of businesses, lack of capital should not be the challenge for other type of business ideas. Especially those that are service based.
Service based businesses models such as Agencies, Consultancies and the likes have minimal set up cost. Therefore if you find yourself citing lack of capital as the reason why you haven’t started your Digital Agency or Real Estate Consultancy, then you’re using this excuse as a lame reason not to start.
I have used this excuse several times as the reason I haven’t started my Consulting Company when I know damn well that I do not need a huge capital infusion to get my consulting company off the ground.
How Service Business Models Work
Conceptualise the business idea
I advise that you go with the 1-page business plan from the $100 startup written by Chris Guillebeau. This is helpful so that you don’t get bogged down with writing a detailed business plan that overwhelms you and not make you take action.
Seek Out Client
Seek out clients by talking to friends, acquaintances, office colleagues etc. and run your business offers by them. In my case I talk to people close to me about the services I can offer them and listen to directions on what they actually need. Then I build services to suit that need.
I was always willing to help colleagues and friends with their digital and business strategy, business development etc. Some friends wanted me to help them raise investment for their business and raise funds for the non-profit causes which presented anopportunity to build skills in creating proposals for fundraising which became another source of income for me.
Building a business has become flexible due to the tools and opportunities we have at our disposal. Take advantage of them.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Welcome to the club if you always feel like this. One minute you want to start a business that will champion a world changing product that will make you a billionaire. The next minute you believe you can get into pro sports and retire a legend.
The next moment, you want to write a book that will that will set a record as the book with the highest rating on the New York Times Bestsellers list.
You believe the world is your oyster and you can achieve anything you put your mind to however the problem is you haven’t achieved anything.
If this is your story, then you’re not alone. There are many people across the globe (myself included) who feels this way. Due to the believe in our “extraordinary” capabilities, we think we can achieve anything we set our minds to yet haven’t done much.
How I Got Out of This Mindset
I got out of this mindset by using the Warren Buffett 5/25 rule to narrow my focus. I first heard about this rule from Investor, Business Man & Comedian James Altucher on his podcast and I’ve read about this concept on other blogs as well.
The rule is pretty straight forward and it goes like this
· List the 25 things that most interest you or the key career goals
· Cross out 20 items on the list and focus on the top 5
The good thing about this exercise is that it helps you narrow your focus to achieve the career and business goals that are most important to you.
I became serious about this strategy at the latter part of last year and I’ve already noticed significant improvements in focus. Although once in a while I get sidetracked, reminding myself of the choices I’ve made has been helpful in getting me back on track.
These 3 powerful words inscribed on Nike products have something important to teach us.
My understanding of “Just Do It” is simple. It basically means take the Smallest Possible Steps towards your goal. I do this by breaking tasks that appear huge into simple bit-sized exercises.
For example, when I set a goal to write a 1,000-word article. I do not write the 1000 words at a go . The question I ask myself is What is the easiest possible step I can take towards achieving this goal?
I then break this goal down by writing 300 words every 30 minutes till I reach my goal of a 1,000 words.
Having identified the easiest parts of the work, I start work on that immediately. It has taken me a longer time (than necessary) to understand that big successes emanate from achieving and doing small little tasks.
I’m therefore a champion for the theory of getting one percent better. Because knowledge and skill in one percent increments compounds and grows exponentially.
This exercise builds creative muscle and helps you sharpen and define your ideas because the beginner stages of any creative venture will have its moments of doubts and burn outs.
Keep on Track.
Distractions and self-doubts are a natural part of the creative process, yet it used to derail me. In the past, once I’ve been distracted, re-gaining focus back onto the task was like pulling my tooth out. Psyching myself and understanding that distractions are possible helps me in getting back on track has been a helpful process.
Understanding that distractions are a regular part of the creative process has helped me reduce distractions to the barest minimum. The number one distractor in my case was my phone. Therefore anytime I aim to create or write something I simply hide my phone and do not fetch it till I’m done creating whatever it is I’m working on.
Understanding that productivity is a process and allowing myself not to be overwhelmed by my goals has been an important journey I’ve been on these past few months and the marathon continues.
Just do it!!!
Podcast Music Courtesy: Squares
This articles is a follow up on my immediate previous article about who a social media influencer is, I’ve also written about how to be a social media influencer in the past.
The rule book hasn’t changed much. It still plays by the rules of creating specialized content for a particular audience.
Find the Audience you seek to serve
As a rule, many digital content creators think about content they wish to create before identifying the target audience they seek to serve. However, initially identifying the audience you seek to serve makes it easier for you to create content they will appreciate.
This is the hardest part, the idea that every creative needs a thousand true fans is an idea I cherish. This idea has also been popularized and championed by Kevin Kelly The idea is simple, if you have a 1000 fans who’re willing to pay for your creative work then you have a source of income.
Likewise to be an influencer worth your salt, its important to know that the audience building process will take time.
Create Hyper Focused Content
Pick a specific interest to post about it can be cooking, sports, cars, swimming etc. The next step is to focus on a subsector of this area. It pays to narrow you focus to a level where targeted audiences know what exactly they can expect from your social media page.
For example, if the focus is on cars and vehicles, there are various forms and types of vehicles in various price ranges. Ranging from luxury vehicles to budget vehicles to family and sports vehicles.
Once that focus is narrowed audiences know what to expect and can count on you as an expert in a particular field.
Who’s an Influencer?
The exponential growth in the usage of social and digital media has led to the rise of a new type of celebrity called “The Influencer”
Influencers create content purposely for social media and are noted for a certain type of content.
They create content in a wide range of areas
Food
Fashion
Vehicles
Comedy
Art etc. are examples of areas Influencer create content in and build a massive following in the process.
Within these broad areas, there are Influencers who specialize in subcategories of various topics. For example, there are fashion and lifestyle influencers who focus on street wear, tech wear, high fashion etc.
Likewise there are food influencers who specialize in Steak, African dishes, baked items, pastries etc. and different types of dishes
These creators are valuable to brands because they serve a specific type of audience and brands want to reach these type of audiences. Hence they reach out to Influencers to help them in selling their products for a fee. The goal for brands who reach out to Influencers is to convert a part of the Influencers followers into customers of their brand.
For example a vegetable oil brand partnering with a food influencer
Athletic wear or Vitamin Company partnering with a fitness influencer
This is basically the essence of Influencer Marketing.
Influencer Marketing also works for brand affiliation and partnerships. Companies scout social networks and spot specific content creator on social media who they believe they can associate their brand with.
This is good for brand perception as people will begin to associate certain brands to a particular aesthetic.
In the hyper active and “always on the move” world we happen to find ourselves in, consumers are weary of explicit advertising and the forceful nature of internet promotions hence using influencers is a fresh approach that brands can deploy to target new audiences.
On the other hand, social media presents an opportunity for anyone to be an influencer. Creating content that attracts a specific audience is the first step.
The future of brand and product influencing looks bright as social media continues to grow.
Courtesy: Squares
2,000 Cedis in dollar term is about $350.00 (using the current Exchange Rate) which is not much of a capital to begin business. Also note that new businesses have a high risk of failure in their early stages and most businesses fail within the first 10 years of opening.
I’ve noticed the answers on questions like the this is generally geared toward trading, i.e buy products for cheap and sell them at a marginal gain which is an OK idea.
I have another simple alternative, invest that 2,000 ghc in yourself and learn a valuable skill. Preferably a skill that can be used to satisfy client needs remotely.
Skills Such as
Coding
Graphic design, video editing,
Writing
Digital marketing
Excel
Data Science
Animation
Etc.
are constantly in demand.
Basically, log on to sites like Udacity, Udemy, Coursera and the likes to scan through some of the courses that are most in demand. Go through each of the course material and select one that is of interest to you and has the potential to provide decent source of income once you have mastered that skill.
Benefits
Pays Higher in the longer term
Having such a valuable skill pays off in the longer term. Once the skill has been acquired and you start charging clients a fee for rendering service to them, the skill becomes a long term source of income. Over time the payments made by clients will offset the initial 2,000 ghc invested
Constant Demand
These type of skills are constantly on demand on the labour market hence businesses are always on the lookout for such skills. There are greater opportunities with small business or solopreneurs that cannot afford bigger agencies to help them with their needs.
Acquired for life
Skills are acquired for life and will pay off in the longer term, once this skill is practiced and you become better.
Possessing quality skills make you valuable.
Just as a lawyer, doctor, teacher can practice till death, these skills can be practiced till you choose not to do anything with it.
Music Courtesy: Squares
The goal is to create podcast daily.
Make daily podcasts for where I talk about all things startups, marketing, effective living and the regular Productivity Discipline and Focus stuff
I have been getting into cryptocurrency lately and I want to make podcasts for cryptocurrency and its rapid growth but I’m not sure whether that will be part of this podcast or will be a separate podcast.
New episodes shall be released every weekday on the topic areas listed above.
Specific days have been devoted to specific subject areas
Startups (Monday)
Dedicated to all things startup, especially in the field of lifestyle businesses because that’s where my business goals are headed.
On Mondays I’ll be making analysis of how successful lifestyle and online businesses built their brands and how future entrepreneurs can follow this path to sucesss
Marketing (Tuesday/Wednesday)
I believe marketing is the final lap of the product development journey every entrepreneur goes through to push their products to success. Sometimes average or not so great products are able to make it on the market because they have good marketing.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I’ll look into the marketing world especially in the world of online marketing to investigate what works and how we can channel that into our respective businesses.
PDF lifestyle (Thursday/Friday)
Productivity, discipline and focus are basic attributes every entrepreneur needs to build a successful business.
Productivity because one needs to consistently deliver good results in order to create success.
Discipline because without discipline our goals will be outside the window
Focus because success comes from consistent attention to our work over a long period of time.
The new phase of the podcast will be touching on these key areas with short daily podcast to breathe fresh ideas as you go about your day.
Long Term
In the Long term (ie last quarter of the year), the goal is to bring on guests who are successful entrepreneurs unto the podcast.
Explore new ways of making money using digital channels and creating digital products
Stay tuned for much more good great content in 2020 and be my guest.
Music Courtesy: Squares
This episode is focused on digital marketing strategies for
2019 has presented several successful paradigms in the world of digital marketing
Marketing Budgets
95% of organisations have increased their Digital Marketing Spend,
9 out of 10 marketing professionals expect their Digital Marketing budget to grow
41% of marketing professionals expect to invest more than $500,000.00 into their Digital Marketing spend
Sources Target Marketing/ Inc/ Digital Marketing Institute
Internet Usage
- Internet penetration is also growing rapidly in developing markets hence there will be opportunities for growth in the digital marketing and advertising space. Over half a billion people on the African continent accessed the internet according to Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
- Across Africa internet coverage is growing but internet prices are not dropping fast enogh.
On key question to discuss going into 2020 is how internet data prices will affect social media and digital products in general?
HotTrends
There are other hot trends marketing industry people are also looking at such as
Shoppable Posts on Instagram
- Micro Influencer (We will talk about influencer marketing and how it works)
- Interactive Emails
- Building strong personal brands
- Vanity Metrics
- E-Commerce
Marketing Industry Predictions for 2020
Below are some predictions of the future in the marketing sphere.
- Many people will begin to order online. Although one-click payment is something we struggle with, ordering online and paying on delivery will grow even exponentially
- Digital currencies such as Bitcoin will continue to spur conversation about trade and finance and how we need open systems that can encourage cross border trade
- Data and analytics will be a key resource that will help businesses make informed decisions about product testing, marketing, pricing amongst others
- Research can be carried out in much simpler and cost free forms
- Brands will be serious about their online reputation and more community managers will be employed to monitor brand reputation and correct brand notion where necessary
- A lot more brands will hire agencies to help them with their digital strategies
Music: Squares
Social Media has become an ubiquitous part of daily business and it’s being used to drive strategy. Many growing businesses have made a conscious effort to make social media an integral part of their marketing strategy.
For upcoming entrepreneurs working hard to grow their business, Social media can be a hazy place whether there are many options for them to choose from. Messaging platforms such as Whatsapp have become social media platforms in their own right where content is created and distributed.
The growth in channels aside, there’s the cost of content creation which can shoot up quickly especially when an entrepreneur is not adept at design or has no graphic design skills. There’s been times where I’ve had good ideas for social media posting but because my design skills are limited I could not bring them to life.
This podcast explores the conversation around the various social media channels and how they can be optimized for growth.
On this episode, I discuss the “rule of 2”
By sticking to just two channels we have the leverage to create content to suit targeted audiences. The goal of social media is to increase engagement and brand awareness for the products. Hence finding the spaces where are targeted audiences are showing up there with quality content is imperative.
The growth of social media presents exciting opportunity for the transformation of business. Opportunities that would have cost much more in years before. By taking advantage of this tool, we create opportunities for our business to be exposed to a great number of people both home and abroad, who will be able to contribute tremendously to our businesses
Music Courtesy: Podsummit
In this episode, I take a look at content marketing and how the internet has disintegrated media to the extent that each person with an internet connection is a media platform in his/her own right. This poses a challenge to Marketers to do more since targeted audiences are segregated against many platforms. Content Marketing plays a key role in creating a change from traditional marketing which means going the extra mile to understand targeted audiences in such a way that their your marketing material and content will be promoted by the.
As Marketers, we need to understand that content marketing
Needs careful planning Can be a hit or miss Requires creativity and going the extra mile Cost money.
Therefore any content marketing campaign we put out there must have a long term profit outlook.
Music: Podsummit
Having the right attitude towards life is imperative for success. Attitude in the sense of wanting to make an important connection with other people, being generous with the work you produce and sticking to your brand promise. On this podcast, I discuss the steps and strategies needed from some of my personal mentors who I believe have great attitude towards life. Some of the key attributes of peak performers include
They give up status They are generous which breeds innovation They view setback as a reason to be better They Don’t Hold Grudges, Are Not Bitter and They Recognize How This Affects Psychology.
People give jobs, contracts and opportunities to people they like and believe they can have a cordial and respectful relationship with. Regardless of how competent and talented an individual is, if an individual has a bad attitude and is difficult to work with, a few people will like to work with such an individual.
Music Credit: Podsound
The social media influencer is someone who leverages a social media platform to create content for that platform and share with audiences.
The content influencers create are usually in a particular field and they court a certain type of audience within a certain demographic.
In recent times, the term “influencer” is not reserved for content creators alone. Actors, artists, athletes etc. are seen as influencers in their own right because they have a following.
The sector of industry that has the most influencers are fashion and beauty, lifestyle related stuff, travelling, cooking, dieting, sports, luxury etc.
Being an influencer is an important role in a digital spere where people look to social media and online content for updates on the latest trends in whatever industry the influencer is found in. This podcast explores how to be a social media influencer in a fast moving forward. Music Credit: podsummit.com/freemusic/
On this episode of the Peak Performance & Marketing podcast, I take a critical look at building a digital brand from scratch.
These are
The Visuals Visuals are the most important aspect of personal brand building. There are so many research findings out there that states people love to engage with brands that have visual appeal. I can 100% attest to this fact.
The Content Good quality content is a requisite for building a digital brand. Being a thought leader within a sector or industry and to attract the best possible audiences and prospects requires putting out great content.
The Community Having a connection with other thought leaders is imperative for digital brand growth. This affords you the opportunity to grow and be recognized on the market and your opinion to be valued. This tip is particularly critical when you get an endorsement from an equally respected person within the community.
Music credit podsummit.com/freemusic/
On this episode of Peak Performance & Marketing Podcast, I take a look at budding Hip Hop superstar cardi B and the lessons we can take from her with regards to building a personal brand.
Her breakout single Bodak Yellow has become a night life anthem and most rap fans can sing it word for word. She is one of a few female artists to have 2 songs hit number one on the billboard charts amongst other accolades. She is married to rapper “Offset” of the hip-hop trio Migos who are on top of their game in the hip-hop world. New singles with Bruno Mars and Maroon 5 have endeared her to fans of other genres of music.
What has made Cardi B stand out is the level of goodwill she enjoys on social media mainly from her Fan Base the “Bardi Gang” and other fans of music all over the world.
What has made Cardi stand out and you can learn as well is her Relatability Uniqueness Perseverance
A key attribute you need in building a brand.
Music Courtesy: Squares
Episode 3 of PPMP took a holistic look at Social Media and how Peak Performers can use it for maximum return and not fall into the addiction trap. It boils down to awareness and having a sense of joy in bringing something to this world.
On this episode of PPMP we take a look at social media again, this time from the perspective of a book written by Nir Eyal titled Hook: How to Build Habit Forming Products".
A key premise of that book is that products/services that shape our habits have 4 critical characteristics.
Trigger Action Reward Investment
On this podcast we critically access how social media uses all these characteristics to have us hooked and how incorporate that into brands we're building
Music Credit: Squares
Social Media has grown in influence and reach all over the world. Billions of people log unto social media to access the news and entertaining content daily. But are people overusing social media? Is it about time we start questioning how much time is too much time on social media platforms? On this podcast, I analyze how Peak Performers are supposed to engage with social media bearing in mind that we have a limited set of will power to use daily. I discuss Ego depletion and its relation to social media Multi-tasking Social Media and mental health Psychological 'highs' we get as a result of social media and self knowledge.
By understanding these principles, I hope we squarely place where social media is supposed to fit in our lives.
Music Courtesy; Squares
On this episode we study the Zeigarnik Effect, propounded by Russian Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik. We critically access how the lurking thoughts of unfinished task is good for our productivity and peak performance. When we saw we're not living our lives to the fullest, that is another far reaching effect of the Zeigarnik theory in action. Steps we can take to achieve peak performance using the Zeigarnik effect includes.
- Starting small and not be overwhelmed by the major details
- Systematizing or routinizing our creativity as much as possible
- Creating a to-do list of the task we want to achieve.
Acknowledgement of the Zeigarnik effect is truly helpful in determining our goals
Song credit: www.podsummit.com squares.mp3
On this episode, I take a look at Ego Depletion and Will Power. I believe will power wears on as we go through our day hence it is imperative to do our most creative work when our will power is strong.
By taking 2 hours out of our schedules everyday to focus on will power, we move from average to extraordinary. The acknowledgement that productive time is finite is an important tool for Peak Performance
This first episode of this podcast introduces myself and my website to you. If there are any 2 things that fascinate me the most, then they Peak Performance and Marketing. This podcast breaks down how I will be sharing tools and tips for effective peak performance and PDF (productivity, Discipline, Focus). As well as discussions on the field of Marketing and how we all can better market our brands. Be my guest.