Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Why You Shouldn’t Become an Influencer: A reality check before you quit your day job.
Transcript
- 0:00Hello and welcome to the podcast.
- 0:03Today I just want to give some random thoughts about content
- 0:07creation as a business model. Now, the reason why I'm looking
- 0:11at that today, Oh, by the way, apologies.
- 0:13I'm making today's recording in a parking lot.
- 0:15I have a meeting that I came way early for, so I figured I just
- 0:22chill in the car, make a recording, you know, before I go
- 0:24upstairs anyway, So I was listening to the Honest Bunch
- 0:29podcast last night. It's one of these.
- 0:33It's definitely within the top three, maybe top five Nigerian
- 0:37podcast. In case you haven't heard of it,
- 0:39it it's a just podcast. It's not a business podcast now.
- 0:42I started listening to it back when Nidhu Wasobi I was on it
- 0:46because you know, those of you who listen to the podcast, you
- 0:49know that I used to be based in Lagos for a while.
- 0:52So that's when I knew of Nidu was Obia.
- 0:54And so of course, you know, as the guy, don't they grew as the
- 0:56guy, don't they progress. You know, those of us who knew
- 0:59him from from small, not like I know him, you understand, but
- 1:03you know, when he started his career.
- 1:05So because of that, you know, my has always been wherever the guy
- 1:09is because I think I think he's he's doing great things anyway,
- 1:13so he used to be on his podcast with some other some other guys,
- 1:18four other people and any later on he left the podcast.
- 1:22So he's not there anymore. Just in case you go and check on
- 1:26his bunch podcast and you see that Nidua Zubia is no longer
- 1:29there. So I think now is Daddy Freeze.
- 1:31I think, I think he used to be with maybe like cool FM or
- 1:35something, but it's all the same radio family because I hear that
- 1:38cool FM, Wazobia FM, Nigeria info and you know, all that
- 1:43heard it's all owned by the the same guy, the same group, by the
- 1:46way. I think that that's a brilliant
- 1:48business strategy, by the way, because this guy came into
- 1:52here's a Lebanese dude, not even the Nigerian that he came into
- 1:55the radio space, you know, back when Niger was opening up was
- 1:59liberalizing, you know, after the military, after the military
- 2:03era. And so this guy started with
- 2:05cool FM and cool FM pops, you know, but cool FM was kind of
- 2:09cool with like the middle class kids, you know, that kind of
- 2:11thing. So eventually they're like, I
- 2:13know that they need to open the route.
- 2:15They need to appeal to the less affluent sides of the market.
- 2:20And then what? That's when was Obia FM now came
- 2:24on the scene and then, but cool FM was a, was a, how I put it
- 2:30was like music and entertainment.
- 2:32And so they figured, you know, there's other segments of the
- 2:34market that they can capture. And so Nigeria info now came up
- 2:39sort of like a, a business and political kind of station.
- 2:43So you see, as you know, just one guy, you know, and he's able
- 2:48to use 3-4 radio stations to cover different segments of the
- 2:52market. And that's one of the reasons
- 2:54why the you know, the the radio stations in that family, you
- 2:59know, cool FM Nigeria for Wasobia, blah, blah, blah.
- 3:03You know, that's why that's a valuable real estate because one
- 3:05guy, they control different segments of the market.
- 3:09So whenever you're about to come into business, you know,
- 3:12strategy, strategy, you know, bit they think they think the
- 3:15reason reason things. Well, so that was a good one.
- 3:18Anyway, where was I? So I was watching the Honest
- 3:22Bunch podcast last night and they interviewed 2 big streamers
- 3:28in Niger, or rather one big streamer and his sidekick.
- 3:32I'll be his business partner. I'll be how we will call them.
- 3:34And if you watch the episode you you know what I mean.
- 3:38So they interviewed them, Carter, Iffy and then Kolu last
- 3:42night. And OK well they didn't
- 3:43interview them last night but last night was when I saw the
- 3:46episode. I started listening to it on the
- 3:48podcast and man, those guys sounded, how will I say it?
- 3:54Hi, not Qatar FA, the guy is high octane, too much energy,
- 3:58too much juice, you understand? Guy sounds like a madman.
- 4:01And then Kolu, you can't barely understand what Kolu is saying
- 4:04because I normally listen to my podcast at 2 1/2 speed.
- 4:09So I had to slow it down and I said no, let me go and see the
- 4:12YouTube video. Anyway, apart from that, the
- 4:16reason why I called my fancy is because first of all, I didn't
- 4:20know that live streaming is a thing in Nigeria.
- 4:23So I know that Nigerian influencers make a living from
- 4:27creating skits and content on Instagram, on TikTok and you
- 4:32know all those mediums. But I didn't know that Nigerians
- 4:34are now taking to Twitch. Twitch is a live streaming
- 4:37video, video platform. I always thought it was an oibo
- 4:40kind of thing, especially Americans.
- 4:42I didn't know that Niger, you know, Nigeria has done the
- 4:46donate Twitch, not a live stream.
- 4:49So that's why most interesting for me because I get these kinds
- 4:53of questions all the time. People want to get into business
- 4:56and they say they want to be an influencer.
- 4:59And by the way, I've said it before and just in case some of
- 5:03you did not hear it, let me say it again.
- 5:05I really do not think it is a good idea to say I want to come
- 5:08into business and then you know that the influence I am go where
- 5:11you want pursue because it's hard.
- 5:14And for those of you who do not understand that The thing is
- 5:17hard, go and learn to the honest bunch podcast, the one where
- 5:20they interviewed Carter. If A and Kolu Carter is Carter
- 5:25and then of course, if a the normal FAEFE and then Kolu
- 5:29KOLUI. Don't know what that guy's real
- 5:31name is, but man, those guys are hooked up as if they're on
- 5:35drugs. Always high, always, but go and
- 5:38watch it because Carter FA spoke about the value of showing up
- 5:44and staying in the game, about how sometimes the girl be
- 5:46depressed because, you know, he's just making content.
- 5:49He's making content, spending money on content.
- 5:51He says sometimes 700K on one shoot, you know, but The thing
- 5:55is, he doesn't want the the views to go down, doesn't want
- 5:59the views to go down. Because I see this reason why I
- 6:02say it's a hard game. This will influence, I think or
- 6:05not. You're trying to garner an
- 6:06audience. The audience is the valuable
- 6:08asset and it is when you garner the audience and you retain the
- 6:11audience that then you're going to be able to sell sponsorships,
- 6:14sell endorsements, sell advertisements and things like
- 6:16that. And it's a hard game.
- 6:19The guy was talking about how sometimes even they depressed,
- 6:22you know, just sitting down in this house, money is going out,
- 6:24money is going out, money is going out, money is not coming
- 6:27in because in the build audience.
- 6:31But luckily the guy had some, some some foresight because he
- 6:36was watching the industry. And by the way, whenever you're
- 6:38in an industry, you know, you know, keep your head up, you
- 6:41know, keep looking around, try and see what's going on.
- 6:44So he was looking at the industry and he kind of figured
- 6:48out that he kind of figured out that live streaming, sorry, skit
- 6:55making, because he started off making skits on Instagram.
- 6:58He figured out that skit making was going to plateau.
- 7:02He decided to try out this new technology, which is live
- 7:04streaming. And he mentioned that trying to
- 7:09switch was hard because this guy was coming from a level where he
- 7:13used to put out content on Instagram.
- 7:16And the guy will get hundreds of thousands of views average.
- 7:22Then some of his stuff will get, you know, millions.
- 7:25I think they even spoke of something like they did get like
- 7:2610 million views or something. So the guy was really used to
- 7:29being somebody and used to having a certain threshold of
- 7:33visibility. But then he said that for his
- 7:35first live stream, what did he say?
- 7:37Is it 0 AB is a four or something like that?
- 7:40And then from 4, you know, small, small, small, you know,
- 7:4394 from 94125 S. See the reason why I want people
- 7:48to listen to this podcast episode.
- 7:50Those of you who you know, you reach out to me, say you won't
- 7:53be influencer. Go and listen to the episode
- 7:55with Qatar FA and Kolu on the Honest Bunch podcast, right?
- 8:00Because you know, when I say sometimes anyway, when I say
- 8:07these kinds of things, I think some of you think, you know, I
- 8:09lack the credibility to say these sorts of things because
- 8:11you know, I know, be influenced. I'm not in the circle.
- 8:14So it will help if you go and listen to somebody who's talking
- 8:17about this thing from the inside.
- 8:19So the guy in their own platform where they get steady hundreds
- 8:23of thousands of views on average.
- 8:25Then once in a while something pop off and we'll get like 10
- 8:29million views. So the guy gave visibility
- 8:31confirm if one of the interviewers said that when the
- 8:35guy stopped making skits and then he started live streaming
- 8:38the guy that was interviewing him, the guy said he was
- 8:40confused. He said like if a catalog
- 8:43waiting the apple now you don't they drop off.
- 8:46He saw that the future was streaming was willing to take a
- 8:50bet. I know sometimes when you take a
- 8:53bet, you know it's 1 of this is you know, bet you can win, bet
- 8:56you can lose. Because when I tell people that
- 8:57me creating this podcast was a bet, some of you don't
- 8:59appreciate that. How will I put it?
- 9:02New technology seems to be coming along because it's like
- 9:05this podcast. I've been on this podcast now
- 9:07for close to seven years now. Podcast is not exactly new
- 9:12technology per SE, but Nigeria is not really a podcasting
- 9:15nation. So when I started this thing,
- 9:17even now, Nigerians will really listen to podcasts, not to talk
- 9:20of when I started my own podcast about 6 1/2 years ago.
- 9:26Anyway, sorry I lost my train of thought.
- 9:28OK, Now the point I was trying to make was that Carter, he was
- 9:31coming from this place where every day if you drop something,
- 9:34500,000 views, 800,000 views, 900,000 views, 200,000 views,
- 9:40once in a while 10 million views, 20 million views.
- 9:43And then he started off on a platform and then on day 10,
- 9:46then from there 4, then from there 94.
- 9:49Then after that, I think he said 1:20 and then something, you
- 9:52know, he, he just chatted, gave his progress.
- 9:57There are a lot of people that give up.
- 10:00You say you want to be influencer and then you start on
- 10:01Day 1, you get 0 views and then you fix and after one month you
- 10:05quit. Like what were you expecting?
- 10:09Some of you want to be influencers, but people are not
- 10:13coming at this, this, this thing from a realistic angle.
- 10:15Like what are you expecting? I'm not making this stuff up.
- 10:21I mean, there's a lady who wanted to be a feminist
- 10:23influencer, OK, I already made that podcast, that episode.
- 10:25I've been in touch with her, so I don't know how well she's
- 10:27doing. But you know, people, they reach
- 10:28out, you know, they won't be influencer.
- 10:30Go and listen to the Honest Bunch podcast, the episode with
- 10:33Kata FA and Kulu. Now, I'm not saying that I
- 10:36endorse those boys because and by the way, for those of you who
- 10:39have kids, please don't listen to the episode with your
- 10:42children around because Kata FA and Kulu, you know, they spoke
- 10:44about some mature content, if you understand what I'm saying.
- 10:47You know, sexual relations, what else?
- 10:52Sexual relations, some criminal behavior here and there, you
- 10:55know, that kind of thing. And then plus, those boys are
- 10:57amped, seriously amped. They say that they don't take
- 11:01drugs, but man, those boys are. I don't know, I don't know.
- 11:07And then they came. They don't take drugs.
- 11:08But sure, it's not something you watch in front of the kids
- 11:11because they talk about some things that kids should not
- 11:13hear. And then plus, for those of us
- 11:15who have boys, you do not want your boys to see those, those,
- 11:19those kind of guys, those obviously boys.
- 11:22If your children grow up to be like that, I don't know it will
- 11:25be anyway. I'm not making any, any comment
- 11:29on them. Sure.
- 11:29But look, I respect the work, we work ethic and I respect the
- 11:33hustle. There's a lot that is involved.
- 11:35There's a lot that is involved. Those of you who want to be
- 11:38influenced, there's a lot that is involved level of creativity
- 11:42that you need on a daily basis to be maintaining our audience.
- 11:44There's a lot that is involved. You got to have staying power or
- 11:47else you will not make it. That is one thing that he said
- 11:50that impressed me. And quite frankly, it's also
- 11:52something I was counting on. And now I'm beginning to see
- 11:54some growth from the podcast. Now I have about 4300 and
- 11:58something subscribers, you know, by just the value of staying
- 12:01there. So I believe that, yes, Nigeria
- 12:03is not a podcasting nation, but I took a gamble, OK, Nigerians
- 12:07will start listening to podcast soon.
- 12:09And I knew that at the end of the day, I don't even have to be
- 12:12the best. All I have to do is to be the
- 12:13most consistent because other people will drop off.
- 12:16They'll be lazy. So it was impressive to see
- 12:18another Nigerian who was taking a similar bet.
- 12:21So sorry, Carter, if you know, for him too, he knew he doesn't
- 12:26have to be the best. All he has to do is hang in
- 12:28there. Other people will drop off as
- 12:32other people, they drop off the opportunity, you know, for him
- 12:35and the ecosystem he's trying to set off, you know, will
- 12:37increase. Staying power is involved.
- 12:41Those of you don't want to be influencers, don't come and drop
- 12:44one video a week. And then you say, oh, I'm tired,
- 12:46Tired of what? I admire the guy because to be
- 12:51honest, I don't know if I can start a live stream.
- 12:54The live stream is going one hour, 2 hour, nobody don't show.
- 12:57But still, I will just stay there because oh, maybe one
- 13:00person will come behind us. That's guts.
- 13:06Honestly speaking, if I say I want to try live streaming, I
- 13:08had a live stream two hours nobody don't show.
- 13:10I will shut down the live stream and leave now, but the guy
- 13:14continue anyway. Unfortunately if you listen to
- 13:19that particular episode, that's one with Qatar, iffy and Kulu.
- 13:22You know, when you get a very concise strategy about how to
- 13:26build your business as an influencer because like I say,
- 13:29those boys, they're very amped, very up top.
- 13:32So you know, plenty of shouting and you know, stuff like that.
- 13:34So you're listening to the episode, you know, you guys
- 13:36listen to the episode with a very cool mind, if you
- 13:38understand what I'm saying. So even though then they shout,
- 13:40then they shout, you know, you just listen with a cool mind and
- 13:44you try and be pulling out business insights from the stuff
- 13:47that they're saying because was not a very focused business
- 13:52conversation. But for those of you who want to
- 13:54make it an influencer industry, especially the influencer
- 13:57influencer industry in Nigeria, I think listening to the Honest
- 14:00Bunch podcast, one that had Qatar FA and Kolu on it, I think
- 14:06it's it's, it's, it's a nice sneak peek into what is into
- 14:14what is required. Yeah, it's a nice sneak peek
- 14:18into what is required, although I will beg you that for those of
- 14:21you who want to be in the influencer space because they
- 14:23always seem to court controversy and drama and beef.
- 14:27And unfortunately with Qatar, FA and Pella and a couple of them,
- 14:31you know, those allegations of violence, you know, guys, you
- 14:34know, smashing each other's cars and stuff like that.
- 14:37So I don't know if, you know, if it's a feature of the game,
- 14:40like, you know, we won't be influenced and therefore we guys
- 14:43be outrageous. You know, we have to show
- 14:45ourselves, you know, So be good. A trend will be in the news.
- 14:47You know, that kind of thing, free publicity.
- 14:50But if you must be an influencer or my, I'm just honestly begging
- 14:56you, stay away from that aspect of the industry because it helps
- 15:05your notoriety. But honestly speaking, I'm
- 15:10sorry, forgive me. Honestly speaking, this is the
- 15:12way I look at it. No money with a final.
- 15:14It's just money, just money, that's all.
- 15:19So to now put yourself in a situation where like you recruit
- 15:23your Benz, you'd enjoy yourself with the flex.
- 15:26Now all of a sudden boys from nowhere, would they, you know,
- 15:29break your windscreen, deflate your tires, you know, something
- 15:32something the guys from the other camp, another influencer
- 15:35camp and then stuff like that. Like easy now money will be
- 15:39fine. It's just money.
- 15:41It's just money. So even if you want to enter
- 15:43this influencer thing, I big like take it easy, take it easy,
- 15:49take it easy. You never know from bossing
- 15:52windscreen, you know, you come outside, you know who are you?
- 15:55I mean next in the boss, your head on top.
- 15:57What because you want to be influencer Anyway, listen to the
- 16:04honest bunch or watch it on YouTube.
- 16:06The Honest Bunch podcast, the one where they, the one that
- 16:09they interviewed at Carter FA and Kolu.
- 16:14No, what's involved in this whole business of being an
- 16:17influencer? And then watch it so that you
- 16:19can learn that you need staying power.
- 16:22You need consistently consistency.
- 16:25You know, the guy was showing up every day, whether audience day
- 16:28or audience no day, The guy, you know, was hanging in there.
- 16:31They're able to monetize opportunities, you know, small,
- 16:34small, small. Learn when and how to make
- 16:37strategic bets. Like for him, you know, he seems
- 16:40to be popping off. He was popping off on Instagram,
- 16:43you know, regularly getting videos, 10 million views, 20
- 16:47million views, you know, that kind of thing.
- 16:48But looking at the industry retreating, taking a step back
- 16:52to say, look, this thing, you know, the team don't plateau on
- 16:56to live streaming anyway. Just just just go and watch.
- 17:04Just go and watch the broadcast on YouTube or listen to the
- 17:07broadcast on whoever it is that you subscribe or please.
- 17:11For those of you who reach out who want to be influencers
- 17:14because you know, I've gotten OK, there's the feminist lady
- 17:19who wants to be an influencer, then OK, fashion influencers.
- 17:23They then who again, there's somebody who reached out who
- 17:25wants to be an influencer, but he doesn't know she doesn't know
- 17:29what kind of influencer she wants to be.
- 17:31In fact, now is even the worst. You want to be an influencer,
- 17:34You don't, you don't, you don't even have an idea of what kind
- 17:36of influencing you want to do. Sure.
- 17:39Don't watch that episode. Katya and Kulu listen to it
- 17:43because honestly speaking, you know, content creating content
- 17:46looks like fun and it sounds like fun.
- 17:48You guys hear me over here and you think I'm having a blast.
- 17:51So it sounds like it's fun, but you guys forget that it's a
- 17:56business, realize that it's a business.
- 18:00The successful ones know that it's a business.
- 18:04So the same thing with Katya and Kulu.
- 18:07When they're doing outrageous things on live stream, they know
- 18:10it is a business. Hanging in there every day so
- 18:13that the views do not drop because they know there's a
- 18:16business. Engaging with the audience,
- 18:18cultivating the audience, making sure the audience grows because
- 18:21they know it is a business. Because if the audience know the
- 18:25endorsements will not be there, gifts will not be there,
- 18:28advertisements would not be there.
- 18:30They know what they call them for shows.
- 18:31They know it is a business. Don't just look at, you know,
- 18:37some people are beginning to get a profile and say, oh, this
- 18:41looks cool. No, it is a business.
- 18:44Realize it is a business. It's not just that, oh, you're
- 18:47getting the creative age. It is a business, please.
- 18:51And then no, no, please know this one that staying power is a
- 18:57prerequisite. If you insist, you must be
- 19:00influencer. It's not the kind of thing that
- 19:02you drop one video today, drop one video next week.
- 19:05No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Stay in power here is a
- 19:09prerequisite. Prerequisite means a necessary
- 19:12condition. Necessary condition means if you
- 19:14don't meet this thing, you never even start.
- 19:18If you don't believe me, if you're not listening to me, go
- 19:22and listen to Qatar, Hefe and Kolu.
- 19:25Go and listen to the people who are building the kind of life
- 19:27that you want to live. They hear from them.
- 19:31What is involved then about from Kata IFFI talking about
- 19:38depression and stuff like that. This is something that I hear in
- 19:42entrepreneurship in general, but especially, you know, among the
- 19:45creator class. You know, apparently there's
- 19:47some mental health issues that are involved.
- 19:50Like I understand waking up, creating content every day,
- 19:55chasing attention and validation every day, then all this
- 19:58unnecessary beef up and down, you know, so I can understand if
- 20:02there might be some particular mental health challenges.
- 20:04So I've had enough of these people talk about the mental
- 20:07health challenges. So I guess if you want to play
- 20:11in this space, in the influencer space, I, I would also recommend
- 20:16you know, you take your spiritual life very seriously,
- 20:19get in touch with God and then. Also make sure that you know one
- 20:26or two mental health professionals on speed down, you
- 20:28know, people that you can go and see when the atmosphere is up
- 20:31somewhere, somewhere you can go and see.
- 20:33That will bring the temperature down and help you focus.
- 20:36You understand. So I still don't think, and it
- 20:39is my honest recommendation for anybody who reaches out to me, I
- 20:45still don't think you should bother with this only influence,
- 20:48I think because man, The thing is hard.
- 20:50There is a waste to make money. But anyway, you don't care about
- 20:55my advice. No problem.
- 20:57You can still connect with me. Call me, send me a text message
- 21:00or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
- 21:06Yeah, I'm willing to help answer questions for free.
- 21:09But if you want me to walk with you step by step so that we can
- 21:13help you, this your influencer career, you know, evolve.
- 21:16You know, as you, they go, as you, they grow.
- 21:17And no problem, we'll have to book a consulting session,
- 21:21whether hourly or weekly or daily or quarterly or whatever.
- 21:26But I'm going to answer one question for free.
- 21:30But let me be honest that before you even call me 08064662140,
- 21:36I'll just be honest with you. Before you really call me, the
- 21:39first thing I'll do is to try and dissuade you that look
- 21:41instead of this influencer thing, what other skills, what
- 21:43other avenues, whatever you know, whatever, what other
- 21:46things do you have going on that we can make some money there?
- 21:50So I'll be honest with you, the first thing I'll do is try and
- 21:52dissuade you. But you want to be along for the
- 21:55ride. You don't want to do it?
- 21:56Sure, no problem. Answer a few questions.
- 21:59So for those of you who want to be influencers, you want to
- 22:04listen to the Honest Bunch podcast, Kata FA and Kulu, that
- 22:08interview in particular. After that, after that, look for
- 22:16other influencer interviews. Sorry about that.
- 22:22Just recovering from a code. So go and look for other
- 22:26influencer interviews on the podcast as well.
- 22:29They'll give you a realistic idea about what it is that is
- 22:32involved in the influencer game. Now, for those of you who are
- 22:35regular listeners of the podcast, sorry today that you
- 22:37know, I spoke about a topic that is not necessarily related to
- 22:41sales or business development. It's just that I saw this
- 22:45interview, a bunch of you are reaching out to me saying that
- 22:48you want to make a living being an influencer.
- 22:50And I just thought that this would be a helpful resource for
- 22:53those of you in that headspace to listen to.
- 22:56And then plus, you know that as a Nigerian podcaster, whenever I
- 23:01find a podcast that I think is cool, I come over here and I
- 23:03share for you guys. Usually I've only been talking
- 23:05about the business podcast, like the Afropolitan podcast, the
- 23:09NESG, that's the Nigerian Economic Summit Group podcast.
- 23:14Let's see, what else. The Money Show that is from the
- 23:17CFA Society Nigeria, that is the Chartered Financial Analysts
- 23:22Society Nigeria chapter, they have the Money show.
- 23:26Then let's see what else. So normally those are the kind
- 23:30of podcasts that I recommend over here, but these just
- 23:33podcasts, they're not bad. And the Honest Bunch, yeah, I'd
- 23:36say it's definitely one of those podcasts you should listen to.
- 23:39So that's it, that's all for today.
- 23:43I'll catch you all some other time.
- 23:44Remember, if you'd love to connect, you can call me, send
- 23:46me a text message or I want that message on 08064662140.
- 23:53I'll catch you all some other time.