Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / From Megapixels to Market: What Nigerian Biz Needs

Transcript

From Megapixels to Market: What Nigerian Biz Needs · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at more
0:05
ideas about branding and then also go into reasons why I
0:09
started the podcast. Now, the reason why we're
0:12
looking about looking at these things today, branding, and why
0:15
I started the podcast is because I had a recent collaboration
0:20
with Elizabeth. She is the head honcho, the CEO,
0:24
the first lady of Goshen Media, and we had a collaboration where
0:30
we're going to clean up my branding and clean up my
0:33
positioning. Abhi, should I say clean up the
0:35
branding and the positioning of this podcast?
0:38
Now, some of you might say I'm not a fan of that thing, you
0:41
know, a fan of these sorts of things.
0:42
And that's the reason why I've been making this recent branding
0:45
episodes to clarify what my opinions on marketing are,
0:48
especially how we can consciously use marketing to
0:51
drive sales. You know how both of these
0:53
things go hand in hand. So anyway, we went ahead with
0:57
this collaboration anyway. That's me, the podcast Elizabeth
1:01
and her team at Goshen Media. I went ahead with it because
1:05
quite frankly, my former designs didn't have much thought to it.
1:09
I've never lied to you guys. I've told you guys that when
1:11
ChatGPT was invented, I just went to ChatGPT and I just said
1:15
something like design me a logo, use red, use orange, use black.
1:19
And then he gave me 5 options. I just picked the number one
1:22
option and that's it. That has been the logo that I've
1:25
been using for the podcast until now.
1:29
Because if you're listening to today's podcast, I'm sure you've
1:32
noticed that the colours have changed.
1:34
You know, some of you have written to me to say good
1:37
designs like the new look, you know, blah, blah, blah.
1:40
And all that is because of the good work by Elizabeth and her
1:44
team at Goshen Media. So that's the reason why I went
1:49
ahead with the collaboration. Although, you know, to be
1:52
honest, you know, even though I speak on stages, I speak in
1:55
conference rooms, online rooms, office floors.
1:59
You know, I'm prefer to be like a ninja.
2:00
I'm prefer to operate in the shadows most of the time.
2:03
So, yeah, I'll admit that how I am perceived consciously, all my
2:07
branding, you know, it's not been something that I paid much
2:10
deliberate attention to. So in today's podcast episode,
2:16
we're going to look at some questions that Elizabeth and her
2:18
team at Goshen Media had for me before starting the design
2:24
brief. Now, ordinarily what I've said,
2:26
Mandy's a private matter. It's not the kind of thing I
2:28
should come and show on the podcast.
2:30
But in the conversation that followed between me, Elizabeth
2:32
and her team, you know, I had to talk about the couple of things
2:37
related to not just branding, but other things that are
2:40
related to business as well. And I'm hoping that some of you
2:43
listening to the podcast right now are going to get some good
2:45
stuff out of the conversation that we had.
2:49
So I'm making today's recording out and about.
2:52
I'm at an undisclosed location, but of course I'm at the parking
2:56
lot of this location. I said, let me just make this
2:58
thing shop, shop because I should have made this podcast
3:01
recording a long time ago. But you know, just been pushing
3:04
out, just been pushing it because, you know, things come
3:05
up. Things come up rather.
3:08
So you're going to hear noise in the background, you know,
3:10
security guards, construction people moving around.
3:14
I can assure you that we will not hear any cows or chickens
3:16
today because before I whipped out my phone, I looked around, I
3:20
didn't see cow, I didn't see chicken.
3:22
So yeah, we shouldn't have animal noises in the background.
3:26
Now, if you're looking for a podcast that talks about how to
3:29
move your Nigerian business forward, then you are in the
3:32
right place. Welcome to the podcast.
3:34
I'm your host. My name is Tabishma Ayede.
3:37
I've been doing this for a while.
3:38
For years I've been talking about only practical, realistic,
3:41
relevant stuff that will help to drive Nigerian businesses
3:46
forward and help us find market. So if you're ready to stop
3:50
wasting your time on generic advice, you know from all those
3:53
bland, you know anyhow anyhow podcast talking about all sorts
3:56
of things, then stay here, stay locked in.
3:59
Subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any
4:03
player of your choice and get that goodness.
4:06
And if you want to connect, then call, send me a text message or
4:09
WhatsApp message on 08064662140, which is precisely how Elizabeth
4:17
got in touch with me. And that's the reason why we
4:19
have the collaboration today. So let me see, let me get my
4:25
notes because it was a long conversation.
4:28
I think we spoke for maybe about an hour.
4:30
So let me just go over some of the questions that we looked at.
4:35
OK? Oh, before I get into that, also
4:38
one moment. OK, sorry, something flashed
4:42
across my phone. Yeah, I make the podcast
4:43
recording on my phone, by the way.
4:46
So, you know, once in a while something flashes across.
4:49
I just have to check to be sure it's not an emergency.
4:52
Let's see. So let's talk a little bit about
4:55
Goshen Media because some of you have been hearing since I
4:57
started talking about this brand new thing.
4:59
Some of you have been here, Elizabeth Goshen.
5:01
Elizabeth Goshen. Who is Elizabeth?
5:02
So who is Goshen Media now? Russian media is a creative
5:07
agency. So there are an organization
5:09
that want to help other businesses look good to stand
5:12
out so that they can grow. And I'm sure for those of you
5:16
who've seen the new look, you know the new logo, I'm sure you
5:18
guys have made that man. Our boys finally looking good,
5:21
no longer looking crass. So yeah, that's that's because
5:24
of them. And what they do is they try to
5:26
combine a brand strategy with design and it involves coming up
5:32
with different kinds of materials.
5:33
So, you know, logos, brand styles, communication materials,
5:37
you know, like Flyers, business cards, social media posts, you
5:40
know, stuff like that. That's basically what social
5:42
media does. So if you've had a look at the
5:45
brand new logo, you like what you see so far, you know, send
5:47
me a message or just try and search for them on social media.
5:51
And I promise you, you're not going to regret doing business
5:56
with them. But just to let you know,
5:58
they're not as casual as I am. They're a little bit more on the
6:01
formal side and just put it that way so that, you know, it's not
6:05
everybody that I refer that does business the same way as as me.
6:09
Then just put it that way. So I'm not saying it's a bad
6:11
thing. I'm not saying that if you like
6:12
the way that you know me, I'm casual, you know me, I'm loose,
6:15
you know, stuff like that. They are a bit more formal, you
6:18
know, so with Elizabeth and with Gaussian Media, you know, we
6:21
have proper meetings and at the meeting someone is taking notes
6:26
and, and you know, let's see what else.
6:28
After the meeting, we have a proper e-mail summary that is
6:30
sent and everything is documented.
6:33
Nice. Very well with emails being sent
6:35
back and forth, you know, real, proper, very, very proper.
6:38
So kudos to Elizabeth Ann Goshen media.
6:42
So their focus pretty much is brand consistency.
6:46
You know, they want to make things clear, consistent, easy
6:50
for people to recognize and easy for people to trust.
6:53
And I'm hoping that with the work that we've done with the
6:55
new logo that, you know, we're going to achieve all of that.
6:59
So basically social media, what do they do?
7:01
They just help a business or help a company tell it's story
7:05
and attract the right audience. So one of the questions that
7:09
they asked me, they asked me why did you decide to start a sales
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podcast? Yeah, that was the first
7:15
question. Why did you decide to start a
7:18
sales podcast? This is the reason why, for
7:23
those of you who've been listening for a while, you know,
7:25
that I started off in the creative space.
7:27
I used to be a wedding photographer.
7:29
I used to hang out with lots of creatives, you know,
7:32
photographers, video people, people that paint, people that
7:36
sculpt, people that do fashion, people that bake cake, people
7:39
that make food. Is food creative?
7:42
Yeah. Well, and let's see.
7:44
OK. And I don't know if food is
7:45
creative, but yeah, hanging out with caterers, different kinds
7:48
of people. Then after a while, I realized
7:52
that my people, photographers, videographers, cake bakers,
7:55
event planners, wedding decorators, caterers, they have
8:00
the wrong idea about what is required for business growth.
8:04
Let me repeat my people listening to the podcast now, my
8:08
primary constituency, the place where I came from, the place
8:13
where I was circumcised, photographers, videographers,
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event planners, cake makers, MC, what again, balloon artist, you
8:26
understand my people, all of you, you have the wrong idea
8:29
about what is required for business growth.
8:31
Wrong. Now let me stick to my primary
8:34
constituency. So I want to annoy too many
8:36
people, photographers, photographers, for instance,
8:39
back in the day. I don't know about now, but back
8:42
in the day they were just preoccupied.
8:45
Megapixels. What was your camera?
8:48
How many megapixel are you? Own is 20.
8:50
My own is 30 my own is 120. My own is this.
8:53
You know who's own is bigger? All this kind of stupid games
8:57
editing software. What are you using?
8:59
Well, I'm on Adobe suite, I'm on this, I'm on that, I'm on this
9:02
and that. I know this one is last year.
9:03
This is the recent camera sensor.
9:06
Which kind of camera sensor are using?
9:08
Is it full frame? Is it mid frame?
9:09
Is it crop sensor? You know, those sorts of things
9:12
then. No, I was worried about the
9:15
laces advances, you know, in in tech are using.
9:19
What's it called? SLR.
9:20
That's a single lens reflex. Yeah.
9:23
Single lens reflex is the SLR that you're using that being an
9:26
analogue. OK, it's digital.
9:29
OK. Is it mirrorless?
9:30
Is it, you know, like all those all these kinds of things, then
9:36
lighting technique are using one point lighting technique, or two
9:39
point lighting technique or three-point lighting technique?
9:42
Are you lighting foreground, highlighting background, then
9:44
compositional techniques how you compose the picture, you know,
9:48
and then look, see if you were hanging out in photography
9:51
forums back in those days, you'd have believed that this is all
9:54
you need to be successful megapixel editing software
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lighting. These are that's all that my
10:01
boys, my brothers and sisters used to obsess about in those
10:05
days, but didn't realize that that is not what leads to
10:08
business growth. It is not.
10:11
It is not. And it's one of the things I
10:13
used to cause quarrel in the photographer community because
10:16
some people will say, I see this guy, the guy is making money.
10:19
And you know, the guy itself, you know, he doesn't even know
10:22
how to take picture. You know, his picture is this a
10:24
picture is that. And photographers beefing
10:26
themselves up and down, like, why are you beefing?
10:28
Why? The reason why businesses grow
10:32
is because somebody knows how to market and somebody knows how to
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sell. Full stop.
10:37
People need to know who you are, they need to know what you do.
10:39
They need to know how much you cost, what are the benefits of
10:42
doing business with you. If you can't do all those sorts
10:44
of things, you will succeed. So this rubbish of photographers
10:48
beefing themselves, you look at yourself, you see me, I'm a
10:50
better photographer. See my picture, my picture is on
10:52
point. That guy's picture, his pictures
10:54
are useless. But the guy is a millionaire.
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The reason why he's a millionaire is because he can
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sell a market. So please, photographers who are
11:03
still playing all these useless games, get your head out of
11:06
your, you know, learn how to sell, learn how to market and
11:09
stop this needless beef is needless.
11:12
And I've been sitting in some other industries too, somebody
11:17
who say I graduated accounting first class.
11:19
This guy graduated the third class, but he's the one that
11:22
everybody is talking about in the accounting space.
11:24
And so so he can sell better than you.
11:27
Is it his fault you didn't learn how to sell?
11:29
That's the problem. Yes, you graduated first class
11:31
is good, but he never took the time out to learn how to sell
11:34
and to market yourself. So the fact that now a third
11:37
class person is one that all Nigerians are celebrating as
11:39
somebody that is good in accounting, like you know, how
11:42
is that his fault? It's your fault that you don't
11:44
know how to sell. They didn't learn how to market
11:47
yourself. They didn't learn how to take
11:48
this, your first class brain and market it to the Nigerian
11:51
public. It's your fault.
11:52
It's not the other person's fault.
11:55
So stop this beef. I beg stop the beef.
12:00
Anyway, that's why I started the podcast, because my people, my
12:06
very people, my brothers and sisters, they didn't realize
12:08
that they were suffering because of lack of knowledge.
12:11
They're always focusing on the technical stuff, technical
12:13
knowledge, technical knowledge, technical knowledge.
12:16
Every single time photographers will gather together, whether in
12:19
Abuja or whether in Lagos or whether in the East, we'll get
12:24
together and then we'll be teaching ourselves lighting
12:26
technique. Really lighting technique.
12:29
You think that your business is not moving because of lightning
12:32
technique? Especially nowadays in the day
12:34
of YouTube, in the day of YouTube, when everybody has
12:37
access to information. See, I'm not saying all these
12:41
things are not important. It's just that nowadays these
12:43
things are prerequisite. Anybody who is on the scene now
12:45
knows how to handle a camera, knows how to light, knows how to
12:49
compose, knows how to edit, is basic.
12:51
That's like, you know, it's like writing jam.
12:56
So everybody has passed that level.
12:58
So now that all of us are here, all of us are standing, all of
13:01
us know how to use camera. We all know how to use computer.
13:04
The thing that will now separate the wheat from the chaff is the
13:06
person who knows how to market and the person who knows how to
13:09
sell. That's why I started this
13:11
podcast. My creative people, I'm talking
13:15
to you especially. Stop focusing on all these
13:18
things. Not about the camera.
13:19
It's not about the editing software.
13:22
You need business knowledge. You need business acumen.
13:24
That's the reason why I started the podcast.
13:28
So initially, yeah, the podcast, I can't remember the title back
13:30
then, you know, was maybe sales for the Nigerian wedding
13:33
industry or something like that. But then as I did podcast now, I
13:38
now realize one thing. I woke up one day and I realized
13:42
that the people that I'm trying to talk to, my brothers and
13:45
sisters, they're not everyone listening to this podcast
13:47
because I was getting feedback and I was hearing from other
13:50
people. Somebody's an accountant,
13:53
somebody said this. One day we'll hear from somebody
13:55
who is in masseuse. Masseuse as in, you know, person
13:58
where they do massage. At that point I say, why am I
14:02
pretending? Why am I pretending?
14:05
Because believe me, I tried. The first set of lectures that I
14:08
used to give. I used to give to wedding
14:10
planners. I used to try and you know, talk
14:12
to photographers. You know, I tried, I tried, but
14:15
my people were not listening to me.
14:17
It was other Nigerians in other industries that were listening
14:19
to me. So after I say let me stop
14:22
deceiving myself, how can I be calling something sales for the
14:24
Nigerian wedding industry? The majority of the people where
14:28
they listen are not in the Nigerian wedding industry.
14:31
That's how I change the name of the podcast to Sales for the
14:33
Nigerian Business Person. And that's how I've been moving
14:36
since. That's why I started the
14:38
podcast. I was trying to talk to my
14:40
brothers and sisters, but my brothers and sisters, they know
14:42
and listen. And like Jesus Christ said, now
14:45
you go into the towns, you know, the hillways and the valleys,
14:48
you know, you go and talk. You people listen, no problem.
14:50
If they don't listen, dust off your feet and then move.
14:52
And they continue to preach until the ends of the earth.
14:54
So that's why I have this podcast.
14:56
I'm preaching to the ends of the earth.
14:57
I started off talking to my brothers and sisters,
15:00
photography people, video people, cake people, wedding
15:03
planner, caterer, MC, comedian, you know, I was talking to my
15:10
people. My people know I listen.
15:11
So that's the reason why today I'm talking to you.
15:15
That's why I started this podcast.
15:17
So another question that Elizabeth and her team asked,
15:20
Let's see. Did you end your journey as a
15:24
wedding photographer completely? Did you end your journey as a
15:28
wedding photographer completely? The answer is YES.
15:33
Yes, I no longer chase commissions for wedding
15:36
photography. I don't.
15:38
But some people still hit me up from time to time even though I
15:41
have deleted all my social media.
15:43
So when that happens, I outsource what comes in and I
15:47
tell people that I have a team who is going to take care of
15:50
you. So I outsource it.
15:51
So you will no longer find me holding a camera at the wedding.
15:56
Well, however, if somebody calls for instance, and they they call
16:00
good money, you say you want me to photograph your wedding and I
16:02
say no, I have a team but they say no, it has to be you.
16:04
And the best wants to drop good bar, like for instance if they
16:09
say to be on the floor myself that day, we're talking numbers
16:14
and the numbers are looking like 800 to one M.
16:17
Oh, I'll carry the camera, most definitely I will.
16:22
But until then, I no longer handle the camera again.
16:27
For weddings, I outsource whatever comes because some
16:31
people still reach out to me. However, I still enjoy telling
16:36
stories. So when corporate clients come
16:39
and NGOs come, parasitos. Oh yeah, I do work for people
16:42
like that. So last year I did a series of
16:45
documentaries for the British Council.
16:46
Those of you who listened for a while, I was just in you guys,
16:48
as everything was coming in and as I was wrapping things up.
16:51
So I did the documentary on cerebral palsy.
16:54
That was in 2020. Today, OK, well in 2025, that
16:58
was in 2024. Then we also did the documentary
17:01
on digital inclusion in Nigeria. And that's because the British
17:04
Council had a project to the SIDP that is the was a good
17:09
skills and inclusive digital participation program, something
17:12
like that. And the idea behind the program
17:14
basically is this, that there are certain classes of people in
17:18
Nigeria, women, people who are living with disabilities.
17:24
Yeah, you know, those people, they don't have access to
17:26
community, to the Internet in certain kinds of communities.
17:29
So that's why they started off in Lagos.
17:30
And by the way, I served in Lagos, so I know that for a
17:34
fact, you know, there's poverty in everywhere.
17:36
There's poverty everywhere. But I would like when I moved to
17:39
Kanoa, in those villages, the things that I saw, because I'm
17:43
from Benoit State and I know that Benoit State people, we
17:46
have it rough, but the things that I saw in Kano, I say people
17:50
are living like this anyway is Nigeria.
17:57
There's poverty in in the land everywhere.
17:59
So there was that documentary on digital inclusion.
18:02
Then some other documentaries on youth empowerment because the
18:07
the British Council has programs for, you know, youth
18:11
empowerment. You know, the organized stuff.
18:12
They train people here, they fly you abroad, you get taught a
18:15
bunch of things, then they bring you back the whole idea.
18:18
Basically it looks like the British Council and all these
18:20
sorts of organizations. What they're trying to do is
18:24
they're trying to do knowledge transfer and best practices and
18:29
then they send you back to your country and hopefully you know
18:31
through that, that is how countries, you know, Niger,
18:33
India, you know, wherever will begin to improve, you know,
18:37
small by small by small. So those also documentaries,
18:40
those are the kinds of things that I did in 2024.
18:46
Then of course, since you know, corporations, the end of year
18:49
parties activation programs, OK, like for Sigma Pensions.
18:53
Sigma Pensions is now defunct. It only exists 'cause I think
18:56
was bought over by Access, I think was bought over by Access
18:59
Bank. I'll be Access Group or whatever
19:01
3 or 4 years ago, you know, I bet.
19:05
Well, I can't remember when sure, but you know, if you go
19:08
and check on Google, I'm sure you'll be able to find it.
19:11
Then. Then also did some programs on
19:13
gender based violence. OK, that was during COVID.
19:15
Actually the programs on gender based violence, that was during
19:18
COVID and those ones are financed by the British High
19:20
Commission. Then also provide live streaming
19:23
services for conferences. You know, we do light and sound,
19:26
you know, things like that. So it is possible for those of
19:30
you who do know my face, because lots of you don't, it is
19:32
possible that you might go to some event and you say don't be
19:35
tablishing my be this, you know, yeah, if you think isn't that
19:38
tablishing my, you know, it's most likely me.
19:40
So just walk up and say hello. You know, let's let's catch up.
19:42
You know, I don't mind talking to people when I'm out and in
19:46
the field. But if you see me holding a
19:47
camera, it's for corporate clients only.
19:51
And I no longer market these services.
19:54
So go and check the Internet. You won't find me promoting
19:57
myself in events or in weddings or in nothing.
20:00
I don't promote those things at all.
20:02
So I'm relying only on relationships that I've built
20:04
over, built up over the years. By the way, it is possible to
20:09
build a business without social media and a website.
20:11
And these are some of the experiments that I'm running
20:14
with how I am still doing corporate stuff and NGO stuff.
20:20
And also the podcast. If you notice this podcast, you
20:24
know my social media presence is 0.
20:27
Some of you have been complaining and I'm really,
20:29
really sorry, but to be honest, social media is work.
20:32
I can't go and open Tiktok and open Instagram and face like I
20:37
tried. But man, it's, it's work.
20:39
So I just have to shut everything down, especially
20:42
after my Facebook was hacked. I said, look, man, I'm this,
20:46
this issue is just too much for me.
20:48
So I just, I shut everything down.
20:50
So yeah, I have ended my journey as a wedding photographer
20:53
completely. I'm now in consulting full time,
20:56
but the only reason why I still handle these things is because I
20:58
have to be a practitioner. I don't want to be like all
21:00
those other people who are sales trainers training other people
21:03
on how to become sales trainers. You know, it's, it's just
21:07
somehow. So I'm still a practitioner.
21:09
I'm still in the field, I'm still selling myself.
21:12
And in fact, that's one of the reasons why some of the things
21:16
that I talk about you relate to because these are challenges
21:20
that I have had myself. You call somebody up and it is
21:25
clear that the person has collected 3 or 4 proposals and
21:28
in fact, you, you're #5 he has already looked at four people
21:31
ahead of you. The reason why I can talk to you
21:33
sorts of things is because it is stuff that I have lived.
21:36
I'm not telling you, Fury. I'm telling you practice.
21:41
Or you drop your invoice. There are three of you.
21:46
You now happen to find out that one of the guys who dropped
21:49
Invoice is the nephew of the best friend of somebody,
21:53
somebody, somebody, something. But yet I still have to try on
21:55
halls with this market. I'm not telling you a theory.
22:00
I'm telling you stuff that has happened to me.
22:05
So that's the reason why the things you talk about here is
22:07
not academic. Usually experience first, my own
22:10
experience, all the things that people have been telling me in
22:13
the field. Other photographers have issues.
22:15
You know, we discuss, well, I'm consulting with my clients, you
22:17
know, we discuss. So practical, practical,
22:20
practical, very, very practical. So that's the focus.
22:24
Then she also asked, how did you get into sales?
22:29
OK, when it comes to sales knowledge or sales theory?
22:34
For that I would have to credit my younger brother because we
22:39
did some businesses together. And then after a while, he gave
22:42
me Brian Tracy, the psychology of sales.
22:44
He gave me the audio files. And as soon as he gave it to me,
22:48
I promptly ignored him. I ignored him.
22:53
My brother was like, look, you seem to be good at this stuff
22:55
and it sounds like stuff that you seem to be doing anyway.
22:58
But then I told my brother something that some people still
23:01
say. I said Brian Tracy, white guy,
23:04
American guy, the guys who sell insurance, savvy.
23:08
What does insurance have to do with exports?
23:11
What does white oyibo corporate practice have to do with
23:14
Nigerian wedding photography? This guy is telling us rubbish
23:19
or he's telling us stuff that does not apply in Niger.
23:22
So I ignored and I did not listen to Brian Tracy,
23:25
Psychology of Sales. I did not.
23:28
I was wrong. So those of you who still say
23:32
that you are wrong. But I didn't listen for at least
23:37
three years. One day I said may I play this
23:40
thing small? And I started playing and oh
23:44
boy, the things started to make sense.
23:46
And I realized that whenever you're listening to Brian Tracy
23:50
or some other person, all you have to do is forget the fact
23:54
that this person is American or UK or Australia.
23:59
Just listen whenever the person says this is how you sell
24:04
insurance. Pretend you didn't hear
24:06
insurance. Let's say you sell Ugly and
24:08
Uber. Remove insurance and put Ugly
24:11
and Uber. The practice or the principle
24:14
that the person says. See if it applies to Ugly and
24:17
Uber. If it applies to Ugly and Uber,
24:19
there you have it. You can listen to this person
24:24
who is talking about insurance, even though what you sell is
24:27
ugly and Uber and the thing will work.
24:30
And that is how I started listening and listening and
24:34
reading and reading because I realized that, look, even though
24:36
these people are Americans and they're old, they're old because
24:41
Brian Tracy, you know, made law continue to preserve him.
24:44
But the guy is looking like he's, you know, some people
24:48
don't age well. You know, my guy is looking like
24:50
he's. Anyway, let me not talk because
24:54
when it's my turn, I don't know what I would look like when the
24:56
time comes. So they look old.
24:58
Yeah. And they look white.
25:01
Yeah. And they're talking about
25:03
industries that have nothing to do with your own industry.
25:06
Somebody will be talking about real estate sales or car sales,
25:09
and you think to yourself, me, I'm a cake Baker.
25:11
What does real estate have to do with cake baking?
25:14
Just listen and do the substitution that I said.
25:16
Pretend that this person is not white.
25:19
Then every single time the person says, when you're selling
25:21
insurance, remove insurance and then put wedding cake.
25:24
See if the thing makes sense, everything makes sense.
25:27
Go and apply. You'll be surprised that sales
25:30
tactics, sales principles that have been used in selling
25:35
insurance and in selling car can help you to sell your wedding
25:38
cake, your birthday cake. That's how I started listening
25:44
and that is what I do over here on the podcast cause for some of
25:47
you is too much work. So I do the work for you.
25:49
I take this knowledge, I strip out the white person, I put it
25:53
in the Nigerian context, make it easier for you to digest.
25:58
Then when you reach out to me and we're trying to solve one or
26:02
two problems in your business, I'm doing that precisely.
26:05
I'm doing that. I'm synthesizing ideas and I'm
26:08
stripping out stuff, making it fit to the Nigerian experience.
26:12
That's all. In fact, if you say you will
26:15
never listen to this podcast again and you only go and listen
26:17
to durable people, quite frankly, you'll be fine.
26:20
You'll be all right so long as you do what I said.
26:23
Pretend that this person is not white.
26:27
Pretend this person is talking about your industry, The one
26:30
that makes sense, apply. The one that doesn't make sense,
26:34
ignore. After a while, you'll see that
26:36
you're doing OK. So as I started off, Brian
26:41
Tracy, the psychology of sales or something like that, Then
26:47
later on I'll be exposed to the ideas of Tom Hopkins.
26:50
He's in a real estate space. Grant Cardone used to be in the
26:53
car space, currently in real estate.
26:55
Victor Antonio used to be in tech infrastructure Shack, you
27:02
know, web-based infrastructure and things like that.
27:04
Currently a sales trainer. Then Neil Rackham is a
27:06
consultant, the author of Spin Selling.
27:10
So that's it. So my own approach basically is
27:12
this, I'm taking a common sense sense synthesis, yes, of what
27:17
works. I'm trying to synthesize stuff
27:20
and they apply to the Nigerian context.
27:25
Now the greatest realization that I'm bringing to the
27:27
Nigerian market is this. When it comes to sales, there is
27:30
a difference between simple sales and complex sales
27:33
scenarios. And I think that's the benefit
27:35
that is the main, the main thing that I've gotten from listening
27:38
to all these people. Now, yes, there's something
27:41
called sales and there's something called selling.
27:43
But how you sell ugly and Uber and how you sell groundnuts and
27:46
how you sell plantain and how you sell Benny seed, the
27:50
principles apply. Oh, but there's a slight
27:52
difference between selling those kinds of things and selling
27:57
insurance, selling construction services, selling consulting
28:01
services. So once you now realize that
28:04
there's a difference between simple sales scenarios and
28:06
complex sales scenarios, selling becomes much more simpler and
28:10
easy in your head because you'll be able to enter into a
28:13
scenario, a situation and you'll be able to know that OK, simple
28:17
sales, 9 day here. OK, let me comport myself like
28:21
this. Or you enter some scenarios and
28:23
say, oh boy, be like it is not a complex sales zone and you will
28:26
comport yourself accordingly and you'll be alright.
28:28
The problem is a lot of you are trying to sell insurance the
28:32
same way that when let's say you are university and you open the
28:36
show on my business when you are university, you're still trying
28:39
to sell, you're trying to sell insurance or consulting services
28:42
the same way that you are selling your shawarma business
28:44
when you are in uni. Different context, so different
28:47
rules apply, different principles apply.
28:49
So that's how I got into sales. Then she also asked have you
28:54
ever worked in corporate sales role before?
28:57
And the answer is yes, but very briefly.
29:00
So if you run into anybody who says that and what I guy now and
29:05
what I guy is a useless guy, you can, yeah, you can agree with
29:11
the person. Like, yes, I did work with the
29:14
team and yes, I did not get results.
29:18
That's is another, that's another story in itself.
29:22
I'll go into that later. But just in case you run into
29:24
anybody, especially someone who works for an insurance company
29:27
who says, I know that guy now seeing big head, this is the
29:30
best people are listening to. Yeah, you can listen to the guy.
29:33
You'll be getting some some some good stuff about you'll be
29:37
getting some real stuff. Yeah, let me just put it that
29:39
way. Yes.
29:40
So I saw the insurance briefing then I also handled client
29:43
relations as a baby lawyer because it's part of our
29:45
training. You know when you become.
29:47
I graduated in law, by the way, on Buffer me at Wallowa
29:49
University greatest university on the African continent.
29:53
I don't know about now, but when I left were you we definitely
29:56
were the greatest university on the African continent.
29:59
So yeah, when you finish, it's part of your training where you,
30:04
I don't, I can't remember what it's called anyway.
30:06
Should I say it's like industrial attachment, but it's
30:08
not called that where you're attached to a law firm and it's
30:13
just stuff you do, you attend meetings, you take minutes.
30:16
You also help to set and manage client expectations.
30:19
Cause it's not everything that you're the senior partners will
30:22
do. Then also have some experience
30:24
in the civil service role and as part of Her Majesty's Civil
30:28
Service back in the UK in Scotland, where I worked with
30:31
the Departments of Works and Pensions, I used to process
30:36
benefits and welfare claims for Job Seekers Allowance and then
30:40
other kinds of health benefits. Now that job, yeah, that job,
30:48
DWP, processing benefits. That was my baptism by fire into
30:53
the world of using phones every day for work.
30:56
Every day you get into the office and you start, you begin
30:59
a bang. Those phones, that was my
31:01
Baptist in my fire. Oh man, that was fun, calling up
31:06
strangers every day. If you are shy, after one week,
31:09
you have to lose your shyness because it's your job.
31:11
You don't do your job, you won't get paid.
31:14
Those suck you. They retrench you.
31:17
So I had to learn how to learn. You make some calls, you fumble
31:23
your line manager say, oh, Tara Shima should have done it like
31:25
this. You should have done it like
31:26
this is oh, thank you very much, Ann.
31:27
And then you try again. You try again and then you
31:30
fumble. Somebody will shout at you, call
31:34
you some nasty names. You drop the call.
31:37
You go into the toilet after you pee, you wash your hand.
31:40
You look at yourself in the mirror.
31:40
You say, hey, is he me Masters educated?
31:44
I'm chopping insult from Weibo on top.
31:46
What? So yeah, that was fun.
31:50
That was really, really fun. Calling up strangers every day,
31:53
trying to tease out information, trying to figure out who is
31:55
telling the truth, who is telling lies so you can process
31:58
the claim. Then of course, how to, excuse
32:01
me, how to be conversational when handling the call, how to
32:05
build rapport, you know, because you can't have a conversation
32:08
where people are telling you about their health, telling you
32:11
about their work, telling you about family issues and things
32:18
like that. You can't do without rapport.
32:20
If you don't build rapport, how would somebody open up to you,
32:23
especially when someone was recalling with a foreign accent,
32:29
You know, for the purposes of being in Scotland, when you're
32:31
Niger, you're the one that has foreign accent.
32:35
So it was really, really interesting.
32:37
That was fun. That was really, really fun.
32:39
I was fun. I missed those days sometimes,
32:43
but it is when somebody who shouted you, I remember one guy,
32:46
the guy shouted at me say I need my freaking money.
32:50
So now, wow. Anyway, those are good days.
32:53
Those are good days. I'll make a podcast episode
32:55
later on. Just give you some, some drama,
32:59
drama that happened during those days.
33:00
I see. That's also the reason why I
33:02
said, look, when it comes to selling by using the phone, you
33:04
should stop being afraid. That's the ones that will
33:06
happen. The ones that will happen is
33:08
that somebody will shout at you, you won't die.
33:11
You won't die. You just stand up, drink water,
33:15
just, you know, shake your leg, go to toilet, just wanna pee,
33:18
wash your hands, look in the mirror.
33:22
Just tell yourself you got this. And while that, you know you
33:25
won't always be like this. It's temporary.
33:28
I'm on the way to something. I'm going somewhere.
33:30
I know where I'm going. I'm going somewhere.
33:32
Then you just shake it off. You want to sit down again, pick
33:34
up the phone. Then you call.
33:36
You continue. You're going somewhere.
33:38
Don't worry. So yeah, feel free to use the
33:41
phone to build up your business. The words that happen is no
33:44
shout at you. Nobody came to the office and
33:47
stabbed me. Nobody, nobody.
33:50
And in Nigeria, nobody has sent police to come and arrest me.
33:53
So please, please feel free. Use the phone.
33:57
So let's say what else? OK then also handling sales
34:00
conversations while doing export trading with my younger brother.
34:04
It was nice interacting with people in the Middle East
34:06
because that's where we did most of our businesses.
34:09
So the cultural issues, let me just say it's interesting, you
34:13
know, Middle Eastern people don't talk the way that we
34:14
Nigerians, we talk. Also another reasons why I say
34:17
we should be using the phone because when you're writing some
34:20
things as a Nigerian and the Middle Eastern person is
34:23
writing, like the way they write is different.
34:25
Like they write some things. And I've been wondering like,
34:27
why is this idiot being so rude now?
34:30
But then you pick up the phone when you're talking, just
34:32
realize like, OK, that's just the way they are.
34:36
It's not. So the guy is being rude is
34:37
just, you know, it's just their culture.
34:40
That's just how they talk. You know, I have some people say
34:43
Nigerians are proud or forceful, you know, so if you read the
34:47
writing from Nigerian person like I was all these big, big
34:50
words, this guy is full of himself.
34:51
But then when you talk to the person on the phone, you know,
34:54
when the foreigners talk to us on the phone or they see us face
34:56
to face, like, oh, you guys actually quite nice.
35:00
So that's the reason why I said I look phone and face to face,
35:03
believe me is the best. You pick up on lots of all kinds
35:07
of cues then also being a wedding photographer was good
35:11
experience for getting into the sales environment.
35:13
So that's the answer to the question did I work in a
35:15
corporate sales structure before Yes, very, very briefly.
35:21
But my skills on the phone, it started when I was in the civil
35:24
service because we had to use, we had to use the phone.
35:30
We had to use the phone anyway. We have things were in the UK at
35:34
the time. They will send you to anybody's
35:36
house anyway because and let me not talk too much about all
35:40
those, all those kinds of stuff. So yeah, that's it.
35:43
Then also asked me that if the podcast was a person, what would
35:46
it say about itself? And my answer was very honest.
35:49
I told Elizabeth and her team in Goshen Media.
35:51
I said I have no idea if the podcast was a person.
35:54
I have no idea what the podcast would say.
35:57
However, people tell me that the podcast is practical.
36:00
People tell me that the podcast will talk about relevant stuff,
36:04
no fluff releasable issues. Somebody said that I sound like
36:07
a brother. Another person said that I sound
36:09
like a friend. There's one lady who said that,
36:11
you know, I'm like a guy who's just giving her gist in her ear
36:14
and and it's nice and that sometimes she's listening to the
36:16
podcast while cooking and then she's laughing and then her sons
36:20
will ask her that, you know, mom, why you laughing?
36:22
So I'm listening to this business podcast and they say
36:25
business podcast now they make you laugh.
36:26
And she said, yeah, this guy is funny.
36:28
So in fact, those are the comments I like the best because
36:33
I tried to crack jokes in the house and my mother would say
36:35
that look, stop, you're not funny, you're not funny, you're
36:37
not funny. So when these kind of comments
36:39
coming, I like to go and I'll show mom say I say, mommy, can
36:42
you see your boy is funny? And I'll tell my wife that,
36:46
babe, can you see how people love your boy?
36:49
I'm making people laugh here. The mouth will say God bless
36:52
you. And I tell her, don't worry, one
36:55
day when I'm collecting Grammy, so no Grammy Oscar because of my
37:00
role in a comedy series or something, I've told my wife I
37:03
will not acknowledge her. I will stand there and I will
37:06
say I want to give thanks to God.
37:09
I want to thank my family, wonderful children.
37:12
You know, I'll acknowledge everybody.
37:14
I won't call my wife at all. And my wife said it doesn't
37:18
matter as long as I bring the money to the house.
37:21
And I told her, I know that if I make money from comedy, you will
37:25
not spend Shishi from that money.
37:27
Comedy money is going to a separate account.
37:30
I also like to sing. My family members say I should
37:32
stop singing, but I like to sing.
37:34
So I've told them, money from comedy, money from music, You
37:38
people will not see Shishi. You will go to a separate
37:41
account. Alright, so that's it.
37:46
Yeah. So that's what people say about
37:47
the podcast. Yeah.
37:50
But please do me a favour, when you reach out, let me know why
37:52
do you listen to the podcast? How did you discover the
37:54
podcast? What do you like about the
37:56
podcast? What would you like to, what
37:59
would you like to change about the podcast?
38:00
Or what could, what could I be doing better?
38:02
So let me know all these things. So it helps, please.
38:05
Then they also asked me where do I see myself in the next five
38:08
years? And the answer to the question
38:09
is, I don't know. But my ultimate vision is I want
38:14
to build a proper consulting agency, proper, proper, proper
38:17
consulting agency. Because in my youth, back when I
38:20
was a small embryo, there was a Boston Consulting Group.
38:23
Now it's BCG, I'm out of America.
38:25
Did some real interesting work then Accent, Accenture
38:29
consulting, Deloitte in all those, all those big, big
38:32
companies now. So those are the kind of things
38:34
that we used to see when were when were small boys.
38:37
You see them are like wow, those guys are pretty smart.
38:41
So those are the things you used to see.
38:42
Then back in Niger, there was also the Quadrant company moms
38:47
who work with the Quadrant company.
38:49
They used to be Nigeria's premier.
38:52
All I see now like marketing, branding firm based in Lagos.
38:59
The big firms back then when I was a small boy, I don't know
39:02
about now. So 80s, nineties, the big firms
39:05
were Nigerian firms, especially the Quadrant and then South
39:10
African firms. But I was then.
39:12
So I don't know what's up now because you know, Mumsy don't
39:15
retire. So I'm no longer in that world.
39:16
So I don't know. So there's the quadrant company,
39:18
there was marketing communications and advertising.
39:21
Then there was also Troy Car Holdings, that was the parent
39:24
company that owned TQCMCA and a couple of other organizations
39:29
and mumsy worked in all of them in in different capacities.
39:33
So those are the kind of things I used to see when I was a small
39:35
boy. So in my mind, you know, it's
39:37
like no go bad now like me. So I should be one of these
39:40
agencies. And then to be honest, mum, she
39:44
worked in a bunch of places and her my employers not treat her
39:47
Mum, she has work for one or two Nigerian billionaires and the
39:49
entry tower. So to be honest, I have a
39:51
grudge, you know, ID vex. So apart from building
39:54
consultancy agency, I also want to make good money, bastard
39:58
money. Like I want to over shadow, you
40:00
know, some of those bastards, you know, over over there.
40:04
It's just it's a petty grudge. Yeah, some of you say this boy
40:07
is petty. Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm, I'm petty.
40:09
I'm not mature. I hate to admit it, but maturity
40:12
is not my thing. So yeah, somewhat that beef,
40:15
proper consulting agency, but through using private equity,
40:20
you know, investing in other businesses actually also come a
40:24
big boy, proper big boy, like billionaire big boy.
40:27
In fact, my goal actually was to buy out two of those
40:30
billionaires in particular to buy 2 of their companies.
40:33
But Mum, she said, and that's not a good idea, that if you're
40:35
buying a business, you buy it for business reasons.
40:38
You don't buy it for, you don't buy it for petty personal
40:44
reasons. I was like, yeah, Mom, see,
40:45
yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right.
40:48
And then I call session ended. But in one day, I woke up and I
40:51
realized something. And that's why I say, parents,
40:53
it's important the things you tell your children.
40:55
I realized something. I told mom, see, that I was
40:57
going to buy out two Nigerian billionaires, that I'll buy
41:00
their company 'cause I didn't like the way they treated her.
41:03
Mom was he didn't laugh. I'll say my son who said you're
41:06
going to be a billionaire. She didn't say that.
41:08
What she told me was if you're going to buy these people's
41:11
businesses, buy it For these reasons, not that.
41:16
So parents, what you say is really important.
41:19
You just record them now. Oh, these ideas that I have are
41:23
not so stupid because mom, she didn't shot me down.
41:27
The same thing, pops, you also didn't shot me down too because
41:30
he told me that if you're doing these things is not out of
41:32
revenge, do it for this reason. Do it for that reason.
41:35
So parents, be mindful what you tell your kids.
41:38
So part of the reasons why I have the aspirations that I have
41:40
is, you know, quite frankly, you know, I say some things, I said
41:44
some things as a kid and you know, they didn't shut me down.
41:49
They didn't say, Oh no, T people don't do this or why not from
41:54
that kind of family or anyway, let me just move on.
41:57
You know, this is not about me, but summary.
41:59
Just careful what it is that you you tell your kids you're
42:01
shaping your children's worldview in ways that you don't
42:04
know. So what do I see myself in five
42:06
years? I have no idea.
42:07
Well, that's the vision proper consulting agency known on an
42:11
international on an international stage.
42:14
Eventually I'm going to get involved in private equity,
42:18
invest and buy up a couple of businesses.
42:21
Be proper, proper, proper billionaire big boy.
42:25
As in be a proper or do go, you know, so you guys will feel me.
42:28
You know, when you see me, I see my skin smooth when you're
42:31
touching my skin and it's cold because my AC will be Mortuary,
42:36
Mortuary, cold, Mortuary setting.
42:39
Yeah. That's kind of life I'm trying
42:40
to live. Then also as a young boy,
42:44
Harvard Business Review once he used to buy it a lot.
42:47
So I used to read stuff there from, of course, people in, you
42:52
know, American academia, especially people in Harvard
42:54
because, you know, it's called Harvard Business Review.
42:57
Then all those old school magazines that used to be
43:00
available back when I was a kid, I don't know if those things are
43:02
still available now because everything has gone online.
43:06
So next five years, that's where I hope to be.
43:10
Then Elizabeth them also asked me, what brands do you resonate
43:13
with? And the answer is none.
43:17
And the reason why I don't resonate with any brand is
43:19
honestly, I don't buy stuff. I don't buy anything.
43:22
I use whatever my wife buys for me.
43:24
I use whatever my mother buys for me.
43:28
And then my brother is my younger brother.
43:29
He's a, he's a gadget hot head because like the guy has like 7
43:33
headphones and then the earphones they put in your ear,
43:36
he has like 4. And I'm like only you like 15
43:40
audio device. Like, why he would say, oh, you
43:43
know what, this one, the base reproduction is real good.
43:46
So when I'm listening to trap, I'm listening to R&B, I'm
43:49
listening to house music. I listen to this one, this one,
43:52
the audio is, you know, go to I'm listening to podcast.
43:55
This one. If I'm watching movie, I say,
43:57
look, the problem is that guy, you have too much money.
44:00
That's a problem. You say, no, no, no, no, no,
44:02
Actually it serves a purpose. I'm like, look, you have too
44:04
much money, that's a problem. So yeah, when it comes to
44:09
gadgets, yeah, whatever my brother buys or he recommends,
44:13
you know, that's, that's good. But for me, I just look out for
44:15
durable stuff because I don't like change.
44:17
I don't like that I'll use something today, tomorrow the
44:18
team don't pack up and I use something until it breaks down.
44:22
Really. I use something until it breaks
44:25
down. The last time, mom, she was at
44:27
the house, she saw one of my jeans and she's like Tavish man,
44:31
you know, you've won this thing for like 2 weeks.
44:33
I said, Mommy, calm down, I've only been wearing it for one
44:35
week, and she said one week. And you're proud of that?
44:38
I said no, I'm not proud of that now.
44:39
But you know, I've been busy. As you say, you don't know that
44:42
these children are watching you. I said, Mommy, I beg, I beg, I
44:45
beg. I'm late, I have to go.
44:46
So I left. So yeah, that's it.
44:48
On to that genius dies. There's no need for me to go and
44:50
buy another pair of jeans. So yeah, that's me.
44:54
I have no affinity for brands at all.
44:57
So my Bluetooth keyboard that I boast about, I just needed a
45:00
Bluetooth keyboard and I told my brother what I was looking for.
45:04
I just needed something that my phone can dock into because
45:07
nowadays all these Bluetooth keyboards, you know, there's no
45:11
space for you to hang your phone or hang your iPad screen or
45:15
whatever. So, yeah, so that's why I got my
45:20
Bluetooth keyboard. My phones I have inherited.
45:23
I'm not even ashamed to say it. I've inherited all my phones
45:25
from my mom. She uses a phone, she doesn't
45:27
like it. I just take it it's that simple.
45:30
Or a relative has a phone, they don't like it, I just take it.
45:33
So that's how it is, all. But when my wife says, look,
45:35
look, look, we've gone. We can't continue like this.
45:38
It's time to go and buy brand new phones here.
45:40
Then we'll go and buy new phones, one for me, one for her.
45:45
So yeah, that's it. So I have no affinity for all
45:48
these things anyway. And then plus, like I said, my
45:51
mother used to be a marketing exec.
45:53
She studied her, she has an MBA and she area of focus was public
45:58
relations. Then she did some work in
46:00
branding. So because of that, I already
46:02
know behind the scenes. So I don't fall in love with any
46:05
of these things now. That is where I get a lot of my
46:07
ideas about substantive ideas when it comes to building a
46:10
brand. I've seen how the sausage is
46:12
made. So if you know, they treat me
46:13
anymore, really it, it, it doesn't, it does not.
46:18
Especially growing up as a child in the military era, you know,
46:21
in the military era now propaganda, branding, PR, they,
46:24
they just used to whitewash everything.
46:27
So, you know, when Obasanjour came in, there were those early
46:29
public relations and branding campaigns in the Obasanjour era.
46:33
Why they are trying to sell Nigeria now?
46:37
All those campaigns, in my own opinion, all those campaigns
46:42
didn't work. They didn't work at all.
46:44
But what is it that worked at the end of the day?
46:46
By the time O Basinger put together his economic
46:48
empowerment team, you know the Amazons now, Okonji Wella, that
46:52
other woman with short haircut, what's her name?
46:53
Madame. Due process is Obi is a Quesi
46:57
and the lady in NAV Dark in all of them now.
47:01
So when those people were doing things and looked like Nigeria
47:03
was not to come up, that was when Nigerians in diaspora had
47:07
confidence and started coming back into Nigeria.
47:09
Then foreign direct investment started flowing into Nigeria.
47:13
So summary, I don't do brands because there's too much fakery
47:17
going on out there. I don't I say let's focus on
47:21
this on the fundamentals. So for Nigeria, when the
47:25
fundamentals were good reverse Japan was happening, some of you
47:30
will be will be saying what did I hear?
47:33
And I'm telling you, you heard me correctly.
47:36
There was a time when Nigerians were leaving America and the UK
47:40
and coming back to Nigeria and saying that Niger, lower Niger
47:43
is the place where it is. That is where the prospects are.
47:45
It is because substantially it looked as if things were on the
47:49
come up. So it's not about how you know,
47:52
with the package, with the package, pay attention to the to
47:55
the fundamentals, to the substantials doesn't make
47:58
progress. However, I admitted to Elizabeth
48:02
and her team that even though I don't do brands, I was very,
48:06
very, very jealous. Yes, I mean, I'm not quite sure
48:09
I was very jealous that Samsung did a deal with Swiss.
48:13
That is I said what I said podcast.
48:16
There are part of like the O GS in the Niger podcasting space.
48:19
Those two girls, they've been podcasting for a while now for
48:22
long and they have a very big Nigerian podcast.
48:24
So even though I don't do brands, I was jealous that
48:27
Samsung called a Swiss and they gave them brand new phones.
48:30
I was jealous. I was beefing also up.
48:33
Now why is only them? Is it because they're babes?
48:35
Is it because they're fine and they're sexy and I'm a guy?
48:39
Oh, because their podcast is beginning my own Abby.
48:42
So Samsung, that's why they holler me.
48:43
Yeah, I was I was jealous. So yeah.
48:45
So I like nice stuff too. So if you know anybody has
48:47
Samsung, tell them that they that they pass me over.
48:50
Samsung should call me too. They should give me free stuff.
48:53
Yeah, me to how to use Samsung Fold, right.
48:56
Then they also asked me what color guidelines exist for my
49:00
brand and the answer is none. I've not been paying attention
49:04
to that for the old podcast, at the old podcast logo that red
49:08
and brown and orange, quite frankly, it's just because I
49:11
took a picture and the shirt I was wearing was red, brown and
49:14
orange and I said I'm going to design any logo, you know, you
49:17
suppose match those colors. That was just it.
49:19
So I took charge EPT that had been newly invented at the time,
49:23
and I told it, give me a logo, right?
49:25
Sales and marketing use the colors red, orange, black.
49:28
It gave me something, I took it and then that was it.
49:32
Currently, you notice that the podcast colors seem to be red,
49:36
white and black. And that is just because I'm
49:38
trusting the recommendations of Elizabeth and her team.
49:41
Then I'm also relying on feedback from my wife and my
49:44
younger brother because they have a greater sense of style
49:46
than I do. So I rely on them for most of
49:50
these things. In fact, my style is so
49:53
nondescript that to be honest, most of you would not notice me
49:56
in real life. As you walk past me, you will
49:58
notice me. The only thing you notice is my
49:59
size and then the fact that I don't flinch.
50:02
So some people say, you know, I'm like a rock or I'm like a
50:04
stone. So that's it.
50:06
That's the only thing you notice.
50:07
Like, you know, this guy seems pretty stoic, but apart from
50:11
that, you won't notice anything about me.
50:12
So what was I? Color guidelines non 0.
50:18
If you like what you see so far, it is because Elizabeth and her
50:21
team at Goshen Media have done a good job and it has been checked
50:24
off and verified by my wife and my brother who I trust when it
50:26
comes to styling issues. Then she also asked me if I
50:29
think the name of the podcast is too long and if I'd be open to
50:33
suggestions and the answer is yes to both.
50:35
Yes, the name of the podcast is too long.
50:37
There are lots of people who listen to the podcast who love
50:39
the podcast, but then when it comes time to recommend the
50:41
podcast, they have no idea what the podcast name is.
50:44
And even when they know what the name is, you know, we don't
50:47
quite, you know, remember, yeah, it's too long.
50:49
It's too long sales for the Nigerian Business Person
50:51
podcast. When it comes to podcasting,
50:53
yes, that name is too long. However, when I was starting the
50:58
podcast, I wondered when it comes to podcaster, there's no
51:04
other thing as SEOSEO search engine optimization, it doesn't
51:08
exist in podcasting. So when you are an unknown
51:11
entity and believe me, in Nigeria, I am not a known
51:15
entity, you have to make it easy for people to find your podcast.
51:18
So what I just did was I made sure that all the key terms that
51:22
people will be looking for should be in the name of the
51:24
podcast. So that's why sales is in the
51:26
podcast name, business is in the podcast name, Nigeria is in the
51:30
podcast name. And for those of you who have
51:33
reached out to me, I asked some of you and it never fails.
51:36
So I was looking for a podcast and I typed in Nigerian business
51:40
and then your podcast came up or I typed in sales Nigeria and
51:43
your business came up or I typed in Nigeria business marketing
51:47
and your podcast came up. So that's the reason why my
51:49
podcast has that very long ass name.
51:53
So sales for the Nigerian business person, that is the pod
51:56
podcast name. I'm just doing it for just for
51:59
search purposes so that people will find me.
52:01
So Elizabeth has recommended sales and marketing talk with
52:05
Tavia. That's what she has recommended.
52:09
Maybe someday I'll change the name, but for now, I've put that
52:13
name, sales and marketing talk with Tabby.
52:15
I'll put it in the podcast description so that either way,
52:17
whatever people are searching for, they should be able to find
52:19
the podcast. Because right now my priority is
52:23
I want people to find the podcast.
52:26
Whether they remember the name or not is another matter
52:29
entirely, but I want them to find the podcast for now.
52:33
And I'm still going to keep it that way because my podcast is a
52:36
baby podcast is a very, very young podcast.
52:38
So, you know, that's why, you know, Samsung passed me up.
52:41
I don't blame themselves because I only have 50,000 downloads
52:44
now. Podcast, like I said what I said
52:48
and the honest bunch, they probably get 50,000 downloads
52:52
per one episode that they drop. But me, in the entire five year
52:56
history of the podcast, I've only got 50,000 downloads and I
52:59
only have 3.3000 subscribers on Spotify.
53:04
You know, those are the podcasts are much, much, much, much, much
53:07
larger, you know, millions and millions of subscribers.
53:10
So mine is a baby podcast. So my focus for now is that
53:13
people should find me. And until then, the name of my
53:15
podcast is going to be longer disjointed because any keyword
53:20
that they put, they put sales, let them see me, they put
53:22
Nigeria, let them see me, they put marketing, let them see me.
53:26
So that's it for now. Then she also asked what kind of
53:29
assets currently exist for my brand and the answer is none.
53:33
I have no assets because I don't pay attention to those sorts of
53:36
things. I have my private LinkedIn
53:37
account. But I just did.
53:39
I hate social media. Yep, you've heard that from me.
53:41
I hate social media. Then I'm also trying to show you
53:44
that you can build a business without being everywhere on
53:46
social media. But however, in the future, I
53:50
plan to use influencers extensively in the future and
53:54
guest on other people's handles and shows because there are lots
53:56
of people now that want to come up.
53:58
You know, they're entering the podcasting game, they want to
54:00
come up, they're on Instagram, they're on Tiktok now places and
54:03
people are on the come up. So in the future, you know, when
54:05
I don't, when I don't make up, I will be showing up on other
54:10
people's shows, to be interviewed on other people's
54:11
shows, make appearances on other people's Instagram handles, you
54:14
know, things like that. But I won't have any of my own.
54:16
So that's my, that's my strategy for social media for the future.
54:21
Not for now. Then let's see what else.
54:25
There are lots of other things. Plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty,
54:27
plenty things. So I don't want to bore you guys
54:29
because already been one hour, but let me just round up.
54:32
Let me just round up something real quick.
54:35
Let me summarize something. Now for those of you who've been
54:38
listening to what I say about Brandon, Have you guys noticed
54:41
something? Have you guys noticed something
54:46
#1 Elizabeth and her team when we sat down and we say Mister
54:54
Man, Mr. Tavishima, it is time to give this thing a refresh,
54:58
Give this thing a rebrand, make this thing look polished, make
55:01
this thing look sweet. If you notice, they didn't just
55:04
go and start designing thing like that.
55:06
They say no, they say more. Sit down.
55:07
First, let me ask you a few questions.
55:09
They asked me questions before they started to do what?
55:12
Before they started to design. And that is what I have been
55:17
saying over here on the podcast called Qualification and
55:19
Discovery. For those of us who are service
55:22
professionals, Before you start doing work for your clients, sit
55:26
them down 1st and ask them some questions.
55:28
Learn something about them. Learn something about where
55:31
they're coming from. Learn something about where
55:33
they're going to what they're trying to achieve.
55:35
It is then that you design something that is sweet.
55:40
Recently my wife had some stuff made.
55:43
When we went there the designer just went and measured hammer.
55:48
I said what are you designed? He said don't worry you like it.
55:50
So Are you sure? She said don't worry you like
55:51
it. In my mind I could tell that man
55:53
this would be a disaster and the person made the thing and wife
55:57
looked at him off was like I don't like the shoulders, the
55:59
bust fits. Yes, the peppermint, the back is
56:01
OK, but the front row, I knew it was going to be a disaster.
56:04
And the reason why I knew it was going to be a disaster is
56:07
because this girl didn't ask any questions.
56:10
If you're a designer, please don't just go and design
56:12
something for somebody. Ask the personal question.
56:14
Oh Madam, OK, listen that you want made.
56:16
What is it for? Is it for outing?
56:19
Is it for everyday office? Is it for birthday party?
56:22
Was it for vow renewal? Was it for baby dedication?
56:26
Ask. OK, Madam, what are the kind of
56:29
things do you like? Do you like mermaid silhouette?
56:31
Do you like this silhouette? Do you like that Sue?
56:33
Is this Sue or silhouette or whatever?
56:35
Ask what kind of colors do you like?
56:38
What do you want us to accentuate?
56:39
Should we accentuate heaps? Should we accentuate stomach?
56:42
Should we accentuate boss? Ask.
56:46
Don't just go and be designing something for, for, for for
56:49
somebody without asking questions.
56:52
I did not coach Elizabeth and her team to do this.
56:56
It's just basic common sense, simple practice.
56:59
Now before you do work for anybody, ask, ask them some
57:02
questions. You have had the kind of
57:04
questions that they were asking me.
57:06
Ask When you ask, you now have all the information that you
57:10
need to go and design. Good work.
57:13
Go and design, good job for them.
57:16
Then when you ask, you also now know that you can charge
57:20
accordingly because based on the grammar that the person is
57:23
saying, you now know that OK, this will require plenty of work
57:25
or this will require too much work.
57:27
You now know how to charge accordingly.
57:29
So if you have listened to this episode so far up on to this
57:33
point and you haven't learned anything today, I hope you have
57:35
learned this. Every single Nigerian business
57:38
should be doing qualification and discovery.
57:40
You should be asking questions about the person.
57:43
You should be asking questions about the project.
57:45
You should be asking questions about their motivations, about
57:48
what they're trying to achieve before you start designing or
57:52
doing anything. If you're an architect,
57:54
qualification and discovery, ask people questions.
57:57
Oh Madam, thank you for taking the meeting.
58:00
Yes, I would love to design A house for you and your husband,
58:02
but I have to ask you a couple of questions first.
58:04
Where are you building this house?
58:07
What is the plan? Is it supposed to be a
58:08
retirement house or is it the house you want to build and give
58:12
to your grandchildren? Or is this house going to be an
58:15
office? You ask where's this house going
58:17
to be situated is in Abuja, is in Nassau, is it?
58:20
Is it in logo? Is it in Lagos?
58:22
Ask those of you who are architects, you know the
58:25
questions that should be important ask.
58:28
Ask all these questions before you design A house.
58:30
Qualification and discovery. Every single Nigerian business
58:32
should be doing it. Then #2 All the questions that
58:39
Elizabeth was answering me, you can see that I had answers to
58:43
give and I had information to give.
58:46
The reason why is because I have a substantial, I have some
58:51
substantial business experience 1st and I already built the
58:55
podcast first. So because of that, I was able
58:58
to give her helpful information that she was that she was able
59:01
to use in this rebrand. Those of you who are trying to
59:07
start a business and you're trying to design a brand first,
59:09
you are thinking backwards. You're designing a brand based
59:14
on what? You have no experience, you have
59:17
no customers, you have built something, you sorry, you have
59:20
built nothing. So the brand you're trying to
59:23
build, you're trying to build it on what?
59:25
So relax first, go out and start whatever it is that you want to
59:30
start. Worry about the brand later.
59:32
The brand will take care of itself.
59:33
Just go and start your brand voice.
59:37
Should it be friendly or should it be authoritative or should it
59:39
be aggressive? You don't know.
59:42
Go and start first. You might be thinking that your
59:45
brand voice is supposed to be friendly.
59:49
I'm surprised that now that I've started this journey, I've seen
59:52
that sometimes I can be quite combative.
59:56
So in the beginning, if I try to design the brand first, I will
1:00:00
use lots of nice soft lines and, you know, everything to make me
1:00:05
seem nice and friendly and everything.
1:00:07
And then people come and hear the podcast and then I sound
1:00:10
like a tout. Can you see how I'll be turning
1:00:12
lots of people off please? Those of you trying to design a
1:00:18
brand first before you start the business, you are thinking
1:00:22
backwards. Go and start the business first,
1:00:24
worry about the brand later. The brand to take care of
1:00:26
itself. So thanks to Elizabeth and her
1:00:30
team at Goshen Media for the new logo.
1:00:32
I like it, I really do. And if you want her to do some
1:00:35
work for you, just ask me for her contact details or try and
1:00:38
search them online. And when you get in touch with
1:00:40
her, just let her know that Tavi Sharma sent you so that you know
1:00:44
that. Yeah, I have been talking about
1:00:45
her and I'm proud of the work that she has done.
1:00:49
So for those of you who've been wondering that this new design
1:00:52
bow from how? From where?
1:00:54
From when this is the how and the when and the when.
1:00:57
And that is where it came from because of the good work of
1:00:59
Elizabeth and her team at Goshen Media.
1:01:02
I guess Goshen, like for those of you who go to Redeem Church,
1:01:05
who go to Redeem Camp, the same kind of Goshen, Goshen again,
1:01:12
Goshen or Goshen, you know, however, GOSH EN.
1:01:18
So that's it. And that's all.
1:01:20
Remember, if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a
1:01:23
text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
1:01:28
And if you love all the realistic and relevant stuff
1:01:31
we've been talking about over here as it applies to Nigerian
1:01:33
market, then you're in luck. We have over 1000 episodes of
1:01:37
Practical Insights over here. Wherever it is you're listening
1:01:39
to this podcast. So Scroll down, keep on
1:01:42
listening, take note, and then apply.
1:01:44
Let me know how things have gone since you started applying, what
1:01:47
you've been listening to. I'll catch you guys soon.
1:01:49
Oh, I'm sorry for the one hour episode.
1:01:50
This is the last one hour episode I'm going to make for
1:01:52
2025 later.