If you are wondering how to choose a web hosting company, then read this article. There are thousands of web hosting companies doing business online. Each one have mouth watering hosting packages and makes reassuring promises to keep your business online 24/7. Making a choice among these can be quite difficult. How can you know the one that will truly provide your business the much needed excellent hosting solution at an affordable price?

Web Hosting Server

Big business enterprises can afford to own their own web hosting servers or pay for dedicated web hosting servers. This is not an option for most small scale entrepreneurs. Small scale business owners especially the home based business owners often have to make do with shared web hosting due to their small business budgets. This article is meant to provide help for such entrepreneurs.

What are the qualities to look for in a web hosting company?

1. Excellent Customer Support: Your hosting provider should be there for you 24/7 and give you instant access to the technicians you need to solve your problem. Ask them how long it takes for them to typically respond to your problem. A good test is to call them in the mid night to check if you get to a live, level 3 support. There must be provision for Live Chat as this tend to be more efficient in helping to troubleshoot website issues than phone calls or email. Go ahead and use their ticket system for pre-sale support, taking note of how many hours it takes them to attend to you. If their response time for sales is slow, then you can be rest assured that their response time for technical support will most likely be worse.

2. A Sound Infrastructure: Check whether they offer a multi-homed network powered by multiple bandwidth providers to ensure redundancy. Some offer a 100% guarantee on its network availability or network uptime. Getting information about this is not easy though. You may need to spend some time doing research about the web hosting company you have zero on. Read reviews and comments about their services in forums. Avoid website previews as they are often bias. A good place to get information about webhosting companies and their performance is webhostingtalk.com

3. Financial Stability: If you’re running very critical operations, you can’t afford to be with a hosting company that may not be in business in a few months. Check to see if the web hosting company is a one-man business being operated from a bedroom. There is nothing wrong with doing business with such as long as he or she is a reseller for a reputable web hosting company. However, you will be doing yourself a disfavor and courting trouble if you host your business website with a sole-proprietor who owns the servers he is using for business. Web hosting servers cost a lot of money and as such cannot be easily run by small scale business. Incorporated businesses tends to be more reliable.

4. Scalability: Be sure your web host company can easily upgrade your hosting package as your business grows. There should be provision for migrating from shared web hosting packages to dedicated servers or virtual private servers. Ensure the web host can accommodate e-commerce and storefronts, wireless capability, blogs, forums, chats, online interactive helps and anything else you may need to add onto your site as your business expands. The last thing you want to do is change host mid way. It is never an easy nor smooth experience moving your website from one hosting company to another.

5. Provision of Regular Backup: Ensure that the web host company is willing to make regular backup of your website which will be kept on a separate server. This will help to reduce the recovery time in case of a server failure. You need to make enquiry about this as some web host may deman extra payment to provide such service.

Pitfalls to avoid in choosing a web hosting company

Avoid like a plague, free or very inexpensive web hosting services. They often end up creating headache and heartache for entrepreneurs, with bouts of server downtimes. As a small business owner, you don’t want to start spending hours on phone or chatting to find out why your website is not up. Having paid for the web hosting service, you will love to focus on your core business and grow your business. Chasing after web hosting technicians and doing follow-up on support tickets will not increase your revenue. Also note that you are likely to have significant limitations in storage, number of email addresses, FTP upload, ability to install scripts etc when you choose a free web hosting company or a very inexpensive web host.

Avoid web hosting companies whose data centers are located in volatile areas. You don’t want to loose your online business website due to civil unrest in the location where the data center of the company is located.

This post is not a review of any web hosting company. Therefore there is no link to any web hosting company. If you have experience you will like to share as a user of web hosting services, kindly share it in the comment section below. You can get future updates to this post, How to choose a web hosting company by subscribing to my RSS feed. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Based Business Owners, Business Budgets, Business Enterprises, Business Online, Home Based Business Owners, Hosting Solution, Network Availability, Network Uptime, Server Uptime, Small Scale Business, Small Scale Entrepreneur, Web Host Packages, Web Host Response Time, Web Hosting Companies, Web Hosting Company, Web Hosting Servers

Nigeria Seo

For about three months now, I have been working on building quality backlinks to my site. The result has been a significant improvement in my search engine traffic. Currently, the traffic from the search engines is about 62% of the monthly traffic to Nigerian Entrepreneur. Alexa seems to be happy with me too. I currently rank 71st in Nigeria.

I have worked tirelessly to improve my on-page site optimization and have read widely on the best way to implement SEO (search engine optimization) on a blog without spending a fortune. That has lead to better placement in SERP (search engine result pages).

The result of all the effort has been a steady and consistent flow of traffic from the search engines. Unfortunately, it seems Google is not happy that they have to send visitors my way. Now, my pagerank is being reduced!

When I first had a drop from Google PR4 to PR3 three weeks ago, I didn’t bother because I know that my hosting company changed the server hosting my files. The change resulted in a changed IP address for Nigerian Entrepreneur and to the best of my knowledge, that may have affected the way Google looks at the site.

However, things have since settled down and I was expecting a return to my PR4 with some inner pages having PR2. Well, I got a shock this morning. Nigerian Entrepreneur has been dropped by Google to PR2! To me that is ridiculous. I really wonder what the algorithm robot is using to arrive at such judgment.

I just felt angry, about the whole issue. However, after reading some posts about Google Page Rank dropping, (Some were written as far back as 2006) I decided that I will simply ignore the drop and continue working on writing quality content on my blog and building backlinks. That way, the visitors will keep coming. I really don’t have anything to loose other than the title of Google PR4. If I feel so bad, I may start my own PageRank website and guess what, I will rank myself 10 and rank Big G -10 (just kidding).

Having educated myself with articles written by others, I am just going to relax and continue doing my white hat SEO. The result I’m getting is a better deal than the title anyway. How do you compare a site with PR0 earning 4digit cheques in Google Adsense with a PR7 site that earns nothing but talks about a dying language in my little hometown. For an online entrepreneur seeking to make money online, the PR0 website is much more desirable. By the way, my Google Adsense earnings have been improving too. Thanks to G.

In case you find yourself in a similar situation crying Why is my Google PageRank Dropping? Don’t despair, you may not have done anything wrong (except if you are selling links or your blog has been marked as a linkfarm). If you are being penalize, it will not be a drop, it will be a complete wipe-out. You could be taken from high PR7 to PR0 in one day. If your PR is grayed out, then your website have been blacklisted!

If you have a better thought on why my Google PageRank is dropping, say it in a comment, cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Backlinks, Entrepreneur, Google Pagerank, Hosting Company, Page Rank, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Result, Search Engine Result Page, Search Engine Traffic, Search Engines, Search Google, Search Traffic, SEO, Seo Optimization, SERP, Site Optimization

The following are some of the methods that I have employed to drive traffic to my website:

1. Word of mouth – I tell anyone that cares to listen that I have a website.
2. Email – I use the website address in my email signature.
3. Advertisement on other websites – Some paid adverts, some free adverts.
4. Link and Banner exchange – This is common among bloggers.
5. Forum participation – I was active in over fifteen different communities.
6. Comments on blogs – I drop quality comments in fellow bloggers ‘websites.
7. Social Bookmarking e.g. Blogcatalog, Delicious, Tweeter, Entrecard, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx, Reddit and several others.

Out of the seven website traffic strategies listed above, I spent more time on the last one, social network traffic. The reason why is obvious to the experts, it is the “get-quick-result” website traffic strategy. Unfortunately, it happens to be the most time consuming and least enduring website traffic generator.

Unlike the others, even if your website is one minute old, you can have 6,000 web visitors if you have a powerful social traffic club in place. Digg and StumbleUpon are notorious for such kind of feat. If a noteable Digg user or Stumbler smiles on your website and bookmark it, you will end up with more traffic than you can handle.

Why I don’t like Social Website Traffic

Social Website traffic requires constant participation in the social communities. You must keep on Stumbling, Digging making friends, doing others a favor so that you can get one in return and keeping yourself updated on the events in the social community so that you remain relevant. It is so much hard work and quite time consuming.

Why I settled for Search Engine Website Traffic

Search engine traffic is about the most difficult to build. It takes planning and focus. Before you can receive website traffic from the search engine, you must do your home-work on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), provide quality content and build quality back-links. This is not an easy task to perform. That is why many webmasters outsource their SEO and will rather pay for search engine traffic than work to rank high in the search engine. The ignorant ones, rely on social traffic to get visitors.

Well, the truth is that, social website traffic is indeed not the kind of traffic you are looking for. Social website traffic rarely converts to sale. Visitors that comes to your site from social communities such as StumbleUpon are not looking for what to buy, rather they are just STUMBLING around the web (the word “STUMBLING” is most appropriate to convene what I mean). If you are looking for buyers, or potential customers, you will be better off, getting targeted website traffic from the search engines.

Visitors from the search engines are people looking for a specific thing. They are not just passing away the time with the search engine, if you have what they need, or you have information on how they can get what they need, you can be rest assured that they will be happy to stay on your site. So what I have learned to do, can be broken down into three simple strategy:

1. Get my website on-page and off-page Search Engine Optimization right.
2. Provide Quality Content that address the need of the visitors that I am expecting.
3. Go out to build backlinks from authority websites in the niche that I am targeting for traffic.

That sounds simple, isn’t it? Well, the truth is that it is difficult to accomplish. So why do I insist that search engine website traffic is the best method for an entrepreneur, the answer is that you get to do the hard-work only once! Yes, you heard me right. Once you do the hardwork well and you get it right, you can actually go on to some other things. The search engine will take over and continually send targeted visitors to your business website.

I learnt this truth after much Stumbling and Digging in the wrong places for website traffic that converts. Now I know better. I don’t have to drop 300cards per day, nor Digg stories I am not interested in just to please someone. Stumbling articles is now done at my pleasure, not as one of my daily TO DO TASK!

If you are serious about getting targeted website traffic that converts to sale, then it is high time you start working on those three points listed above. It is no gainsaying, search engine traffic is best for business websites, Nigerian Entrepreneur is a living proof .

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Entrepreneur Website, Forum Participation, Network Traffic, Quality Comments, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Traffic, Search Engine Website Traffic, Social Communities, Stumbleupon, Traffic Club, Traffic Generator, Traffic Strategies, Traffic Strategy, Web Visitors, Website Traffic

If you think it’s only the government that needs a 7 Point Agenda, then you’re mistaken, one of my business mentor gave me a quick lecture on 7 Point Agenda for Business Success. Well, most of the points were not really new, but the God factor in business was unique. I couldn’t argue with him because the global financial meltdown has proved the experts wrong. If you care, here are the seven points without my usual long ramblings

1. Have a Goal

If you aim for nothing, you will get nowhere. Your goal must be specific and written down. The process of writing down a goal forces you to describe in a detailed manner what you really intend to achieve. When I started this website, Nigerian Entrepreneur, I wrote out my goal. It has helped to keep me focus and restrained me from following the bandwagon of every new fad that I come across.

2. Develop a blueprint for success

Creating a plan for your personal and business success cannot be over emphasized. If you fail to conscious make a good plan of how you intend to succeed in life, then you have just unconsciously planned to fail in life. Also note that if your plan is not written, then it doesn’t really exist. Don’t be afraid to write down your plan. You can always modify it as you get more informed about life and business.

3. Get Organized

Establish a to-do-list, plan your day and make people adjust to your schedule. God can only work with an organized person, and successful people don’t like associating with disorganized fellows. Nobody enjoys the company of a man who does not know where he is going, what he is doing and what he is aiming for. Circumstances and people should not dictate your schedule. If you don’t learn how to turn down unnecessary distortion of your daily schedule, then you can’t be a successful entrepreneur. Review your performance in the evening before hitting your bed.

4. Build Networks

You can’t be an island and succeed. While following the crowd is not right, trying to be an island is foolish too. You need people and people need you. You must understand that you have strengths and weaknesses. You are designed by God to contribute your strengths and receive help from others to combat your weaknesses. Build relationships before you need them.

5. Be generous with your saving and investment, but stingy with expenses

The size of your harvest is often a function of the seed you sowed. You must understand the difference between liabilities and assets. Anything that brings money into your business is an asset, anything that takes money out of your business is a liability (your Porsche car inclusive). Great business empires were not built by great spending, rather, they were made with great savings and wise investments.

6. Self Development

Continuous investment in yourself is the best decision you can take as an entrepreneur. The knowledge you possess is greater and much more important than the material possessions that you have acquired. A successful entrepreneur can start all over again and yet become successful if striped of all he has acquired. Material possession can be taken away from you, but only mental illness can rob you of what you have invested into your mind. Take time to read good books. Listen to great message that will motivate, inspire and uplift your spirit. Read bibliography of great men and women that impacted their generation.

7. Make God your senior business partner

Irrespective of how smart or intelligent you are, there are times when nothing works. That is when God steps in. If He is your senior partner, He sure will bail you out. My mentor buttress his point with the story of an American oil tycoon named John D. Rockefeller. See the poem he wrote at the age of 86

I was early taught to work as well as play,
My life has been one long, happy holiday;
Full of work and full of play-
I dropped the worry on the way-
And God was good to me everyday.

After reading the poem, I was greatly challenged. How many businessmen can say their life is one long happy holiday? Some of us are still afraid of taking annual vacation.

Well, after all said and done, I still challenged my mentor that President Yar’adua has a 7 Point Agenda which has not really achieved much for Nigerians. So what makes him think this will work. He simply challenged me to bring up my own success formula and prove it works by showing RESULT! He doesn’t believe in TALK, cos talk is cheap. Well, since I couldn’t argue the fact that he is a successful entrepreneur (that’s why I made him my business mentor in the first place), I simply kept my cool, wishing inside of me that I could somehow prove him wrong. Until I can match his success with a better result, I guess he remains the boss (my business mentor).

Now you have the 7 Points Agenda For Business Success, what are you going to do with it? Tell us in a comment! Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blueprint, Business Mentor, Business Success, Financial Meltdown, God Factor, Personal Success, Successful Entrepreneur

Well, the answer is simple. Creating a business plan is an essential step for any prudent entrepreneur to take, regardless of the size of the business. Skipping this step is tantamount to planning for business failure. There is an adage that, He who fails to plan has planned to fail.

What is a business Plan?

It is a roadmap detailing how an entrepreneur will move a business from its current status to the intended status. It details the current status of the business (finance, manpower and other resources) the goals of the business, reasons why the entrepreneur is convinced that those goals are achievable and strategies to be employed for making the goals a reality.

It is an attempt to predict future opportunities and put in place financial, operational and marketing strategies that will enable the entrepreneur achieve his/her goals. That sure sounds complicated, isn’t it.

Well, you need not bother, simply put a business plan is a map showing where you are now, where you intend to get to and how to get there. So the key elements you need to bother about are: Where is my business now? Where do I intend my business to be in Xmonths (6months, 12months or five years, it all depends on the individual. However, 12months is recommended as ideal time frame). How do I get there? Now that the definition is out of the way, lets get down to business.

Purpose of a Business Plan

The primary purpose of a business plan is to create a written outline that evaluates all aspects of the economic viability of a business venture. It must spell out in details your business goals, business prospects, the resources required and the strategy for attaining your goals.

It is unfortunate that most startup entrepreneurs are reluctant to write down their business plan. Your business plan is the roadmap you will need to chart the course of your business.

Common Myths about a Business Plan

1.      A business plan is not meant to be an excuse to procrastinate your business startup! If you are starting a home base business, it is not necessary to write volumes detailing all the beautiful dreams you have about the business. You will be better off if you jot down a few essential points and then start implementing them immediately.

2.      A business plan is not meant to be cast in iron. As you make progress in your entrepreneurship journey, you will often review your business plan to make changes. So , don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You can always amend it as you get more understanding of the business.

3.      Creating a business plan is not an attempt to write the next best seller. It is simply a business map to guide your business journey. So, don’t get stuck trying to write the most wonderful business plan.

4.      Business plans can’t all be the same. As ventures vary, so business plans varies. Factors such as types of business, opportunity, goals, size of business etc all contributes to the variance of one business plan to another.

Advantages of a business Plan?

Your business plan is going to be useful in a number of ways.

1.      First and foremost, it will define and focus your objective using appropriate information and analysis.

2.      It will aid you when dealing with potential investors, lenders or banks.

3.      Your business plan can uncover omission and/or weakness in your planning process.

4.      You can use the business plan to solicit opinions and advice from people, including those in your intended field of business, who will freely give you invaluable advice.

Pitfalls to avoid in your business Plan

1.      Use simple language in explaining issues. Make it easy to read and understand.

2.      Use reasonable time limits on future business projections. Better to stick with short-term objectives and modify the plan as your business progresses. Too often, long-range planning becomes meaningless because the reality of your business can be different from your initial concept.

3.      Avoid optimism. It is advisable to be extremely conservative in predicting capital requirements, timeline, sales and profits.

4.      Don’t assume someone won’t get a better idea than yours. Even if your business is dependent on a patented invention be realistic that competition will eventually arise.

5.      Don’t spend so much on startup. Success comes to those who start businesses with great prudence and not necessarily great startup capital.

6.      Do not ignore spelling out what your strategies will be in the event of business adversities. The raining days will surely come it is part of the normal business cycle.

Now that you understand what a business plan is, it is time you grab a pen a notepad and start wrting down the beautiful ideas that you’ve been dreming about all this while. Don’t be afraid of making mistake. Just put something down on paper first. In reality, it is practically impossible to predict all of the changing conditions that will surface. So, just put your best on paper first knowing that after you have opened for business, you will need to periodically review and update your plan.

If you enjoy this post on Creating A Business Plan, say so in a comment and also subscribe to my RSS for future updates. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Choose a Small Business Idea to implement -  You can’t be a jack of all trade in business. Trying to do multiple things and calling yourself a general contractor is not the way to go. Even though there are multitudes of business opportunities, you only need one to succeed. If you are confused on how to create a business idea, read 10 tips for creating business ideas. If you have several and you don’t know how to choose, read Small Business Opportunity. The major factor is for you to determine where your passions lie and do what you enjoy doing as business. Of course that must be aligned with the changing reality in the industry you want to operate in. You should be out to serve others, not to please yourself! Money follows service, not pleasure.

Choosing the Legal Form Of Business – Deciding on the legal form of your business is not a decision to be taken lightly. Whether you choose to run a sole proprietorship, enter into partnership with another entrepreneur or form a corporation; your choice must be made with carefulness. This is because the business structure you choose will have an impact on your business and personal liability, how easy you’ll be able to raise fund as well as what your tax liabilities will be. If you ask for my candid opinion, I will advise you to incorporate your business, my reason for that can be found in a previous post I made, Incorporate Your Business.

Name Your Business – You need to give your business a name that project the right image. The name should be such that will not only distinguish you from others, but such that is easy to remember. Avoid names that are too long or complicated to pronounce. Remember word of mouth marketing is still about the most effective marketing strategy for any business. If your customer can’t remember your business name, something is wrong. If they find it difficult to pronounce it, because it is tongue twisting, then you have a problem.

Develop a Business Plan – A business plan is the blueprint or roadmap that shows how you intend to implement your business vision successfully. It should take note of the nature of the industry you wish to work in, set strategies for handling competitors and spell out the various resources that you will need to invest in the business. Remember those who fail to plan have already planned to fail. Don’t carry your business plan in your head, commit it into writing no matter how small the business is.

Get Startup Capital – The fund for startup is a critical issue to be decided upon carefully. If you are a newbie entrepreneur, I will advise that you avoid as much as possible, the temptation of taking a small business loan from either the government or your banker. You are better off raising soft-loans from several friends and relatives. My reason for this is because the probability of you loosing part or all of your startup capital is very high. Lack of experience is a serious challenge to newbie entrepreneurs, so start small with capital you can loose without going bankrupt.

Select a business location – If you are starting off in your home, then this may not be an issue (depending on the kind of business anyway). When choosing a business location, you need to take into account accessibility to your suppliers and clients. You may need a business mentor to assist you in choosing a good business location.

Get necessary business licenses and permits – Before launching out, it is necessary you get familiar with the government requirement for the kind of business you wish to engage in. ensure you get all the various licenses and permits that are statutorily required for you to operate the business. Playing ignorant in this area can be disastrous. Remember, being ignorance of the law is no excuse from jail term. Getting the necessary paperwork sorted out is always cheaper than hiring a lawyer to prove that you didn’t mean to break the law.

Establish an Accounting System – No matter how small your business is, right from day one, you need to keep accurate record of every transaction. You may not need a professional accountant to keep your day to day record, but you need one to advise you on the kind of record you need to keep so that you don’t get yourself into trouble with the Tax authorities in your locality. If you can’t afford to pay one, make friend with one and ask for his/her assistance. It can be heart breaking when you loose all your earnings or get yourself a jail term just because you fail to handle your Tax matter the way it ought to be. Never be penny wise pound foolish.

Insure Your Business – Wise entrepreneurs share risk. Why must you carry all the risk all by yourself? For a token amount paid periodically, you can share the risks associated with your business with an insurance company. No bother prays for disaster or law-suit, but it does happen. It is better to prepare than to be caught unaware.

Start Your Own Small Business Now!

Now you can’t claim any longer that you don’t know how to start your own small business. This post, has outline in a concise manner all that you need to start your own small business. You can get future updates to steps to starting a small business by subscribing to my RSS feed, that will also provide you more tips on starting up, staying competitive, and taking your small business to the next level.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business, Business Ideas, business plan, Business Tips, Entrepreneur, small business, small business startup

You know quite well that a small business opportunity discovered and well executed is actually the only thing you need to turn your fortune around! Afterall, several successful entrepreneurs have testified that the first one million dollar is the hardest to make. So we know that we need just the right business opportunity which if well executed has the potential to launch us into wealth. Unfortunately, even though there are several small business opportunities around, you can’t get involve in all. Yes that is the dilemma. Lack of time, money and other resources will make it impossible for you to try out all the beautiful money making ideas that you fantasize with in your imagination

Due to the present global economic crash, those who were satisfied with working for salary before now are beginning to reconsider their stance on starting a small business. Several of my friend who used to make fun of me when I tell them that it is possible to run an internet based business alongside a paid job are now getting interested. Instead of browsing and spending time on social network sites chatting with strangers, they have now made the search engines their best friend. They spend hours searching online for an internet business opportunity that will be suitable for them. Unfortunately, such effort produces poor results.

The singular reason why many are yet to start their own business is because they have no clue where to start from. Some on the other hand do have a clue, because they have bought and read books on small business ideas or home business ideas. You must have come across such books. The title usually goes does, 101 Small Business Opportunities (since this title is not yet in existence, I guess I should write an e-book and give it that title). They were all excited while reading the book, and one will naturally expect them to start a small business once they finished. Well that is not usually the result. Many actually become paralysed after reading such books. The fear of failure keeps them back from taking action. If you have been considering starting your own business for more than 3months, you can be assured that it is either you are afraid of failure or you are suffering from information overload. Information overload is the second major hindrance to starting a small business.

How  Successful Entrepreneurs select business opportunities

Since there are several businesses one could venture into that do not require much capital and investment. The best small business startup strategy is Take Action Now!

1. Make a List – Make a list of at least ten of the common small business ideas you know of. There are business ideas and opportunities all around. If you are determined a little creativity is all it takes to succeed. When writing your list, don’t discard any business opportunity as being too small, because what you consider insignificant may end up as the best business opportunity. Some folks have become extremely wealthy by starting businesses that people considered stupid or unprofitable! Also, it is okay to include the idea of purchasing a small business franchise. It is not compulsory that you must invent your own small business from scratch.

2. Use Your Passion As Criteria For Small Business Idea Selection – Study the list carefully and strike out those you are least passionate about. You cannot be successful if you choose to run with a business idea that you hate. Successful entrepreneurs become successful running businesses they are passionate about. When you are passionate about a business vision, work suddenly becomes pleasure. The joy of seeing the progress being made by the business gives you the motivation you need to succeed. It is not all about money! Remember, if you provide services passionately, profit will follow you naturally and you will become wealthy! So your list must be founded on your passion, not what you consider as being the most lucrative business ideas!

3. Select 3 Small Business Idea For Further Research - Next select the best three ideas you feel you are most passionate about. Use your imagination to look into the future, at least 12months from the present. Will you still be enthusiastic working on any of these business ideas? Are you so passionate about any of them that you will continue working to see it succeed even when nobody is there to encourage you? This is the way to sieve the ideas.

4. Get Advice From Experienced Entrepreneurs – Visit successful entrepreneurs who are already implementing those ideas. (It is wise to go out of your locality so that the entrepreneur will not be afraid of you becoming his next competitor). If possible, chat with at least two entrepreneur for each business ideas you have selected. You will be surprise at the amount of information you will gather from such interviews. This singular step will save you a lot of pain in terms of fund, time and energy that would have been wasted due to your lack of business experience.

5.Pick Your First Small Business Risky Adventure! – Life is all about risk. So  face it. Tell yourself the truth, I wan to take a risk because refusal to deliberately and wisely take a risk at succeeding is itself a bad risk! Select a business opportunity to start with based on the tips garnered from your discussion with those entrepreneurs. You are not just taking a risk by so doing, instead you are doing what every successful entrepreneur does all the time. We take intelligent business risk based on quality information and experience gained from the past.

6. Get An Initial Capital – Get an amount you know you can afford to loose without going bankrupt. Don’t go for small business loan or empty your life savings. That will be a foolish thing to do.  Taking business risk is not the same thing as gambling or playing lottery.  Invest that into the idea you have selected and kick-off.

7.Get a business mentor – It will be nice if you can ask one of the entrepreneurs you interviewed to act as your business mentor. If you can’t get one of them, then get someone online to act as your business mentor. The fellow must be a successful entrepreneur, but not necessarily one that is in the same kind of business that you have ventured into.

8. Document Your Business Adventure – In conclusion I will suggest that you keep a personal journal where you will keep details of your business adventure for the first six months. Write down your experiences during this period. Record things that helped along the way and things that brought frustrations. Take note of business and personal decisions that work and those that got you into trouble. That journal will serve as a very useful business reference material (more valuable than books written by others on business strategies) in your future business adventures.

Start Your Own Small Business Now!

Ok, enough of the theory, get up NOW and take action! That is the only way to succeed. As you make progress with your small business opportunity, kindly return here (Nigerian Entrepreneur) to share your experience with us in the comment section. You can get future updates to this post and other Small business tips by subscribing to my RSS feed. See you at the top!

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business, Business Ideas, internet based business, internet business opportunity, money making ideas, small business franchise, small business ideas, small business opportunities, small business opportunity, starting a small business, starting your own business

Benefits of a Website Designer Business

The beautiful thing about website designing business is that your geographical location doesn’t matter. You can easily set-up shop and operate from anywhere in the world! For example, your clients can be located in a remote village in Uganda or Benin Republic while you are staying with a laptop at a resort hotel somewhere in Bahamas, it doesn’t really matter.

Also, as a website designer, you can easily generate multiple streams of income by adding other services that are related to website designing. For example, as a professional website designer, you can offer the service of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Website Traffic Generation, Article Submission and other website promotion services. When you client base is yet small, you can even offer to be the pioneer webmaster for your clients until they are set to get a dedicated staff for such duty.

Skills Needed by a Website Designer

In order for you to become a professional website designer. You need to acquire some skills. Some years back, that would have been a great discouragement for those that are not technically oriented. If you were to be a professional website designer in the early 1980’s you would have needed to learn how to design a website with some complicated HTML codes.

In the 1990s, great stride was made to make the lives of website designers easier. Some sophisticated website design software such as Dreamweaver, Microsoft Front Page etc. were introduced. The software helped to cut the work of website designing to about half of what it used to be. But then, the software were pretty expensive and many could not afford to purchase them. The few free website design software were not able to produce the same result. Beside the high cost of buying the website designing software, a newbie website designer still need to spend hours learning how the software works.

That is no longer the case now. Instead of a website designer struggling to learn HTML, CSS, DHTML, Ajax and other website development tools or spending a fortune to buy Dreamweaver, there is a cheap alternative. A newbie professional website designer can now use any of the free Open Source CMS (Content Managment System) tools to design professional websites. Some of the most popular CMS that any determined person can easily learn are WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.

Content Management System for Website Designers

The beauty of a CMS  tool is that the program already has a well designed website-skeleton that keeps the entire structure of a website together. You do not need to break your head worrying about  how to pull together the various sections of a website and ensure that they work in harmony. Also, many of them takes care of compatibility of your website design with different internet browsers.

These benefits makes CMS the best launch pad for a website designer career. If you learn how to use a CMS program to develop a website, you can later add to your knowledge and develop your skill by learning HTML, DHTML, CSS, Ajax etc. This is not an afterthought, it is recommended. You can’t claim to be a real professional website designer if all you know is how to use keyboard and mouse clicking at widgets It is ok to start that way, but you must add to your knowledge if you really want to be competitive in your online business. If you are scared of that, then be ready to outsource some complicated jobs you get to well tested website design professionals (at least you will still earn some profit from the deal).

WordPress 2.7

Why start Website Design with CMS tools?

The reason why I recommend starting your website designer career with CMS is because you can actually create a website from scratch without any prior knowledge of website designing by using such tool. For example, WordPress 2.7 is so simple that the only pre-requisite skill it requires for you to design a website is the ability to use a keyboard and mouse while following step by step instructions written in English (or any other human language).

Website Designing as an Online Business

If you have been looking for online business ideas that you can safely implement without spending a fortune, website desining is one of such. It is cheap to start and yet it has great earning potential even for a newbie online entrepreneur. I can easily prove that to you.

Take a look around your locality, how many of the small scale business owners have their businesses online? Too many small scale business owners are still internet shy. The situation is worse in developing countries. If you package a presentation and you are able to convince them to give you an opportunity to take their business online and manage it for the first 3months, you will have enough client to get you busy earning money online. You may actually end up firing your boss and hiring some staff
Beside those entrepreneurs that have no web presence, (as you master the use of CMS tools for website designs), you can take a step further in your business by contacting those small businesses whose website are so poorly designed that they look like scrap books made by a five year old. You will be able to convince them by showing the previous jobs you’ve done.

I guess you no longer have an excuse for not starting an online business. I have just giving you an online business idea that is both easy to implement and yet lucrative. Go start a website designer business now! Your future is bright.

You can get a free update to this post Website Designer by subscribing to my RSS feed. It is free. If you have a question or contribution to the discussion, feel free to drop it in a comment. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Content management system, Drupal, Joomla, Online Business, Open source, Open Source CMS, Search Engine Optimization, Website, website designer, Website Traffic, Wordpress

The greatest asset of an entrepreneur is TIME! Not necessarily money. A successful entrepreneur seeks to make optimal use of his or her time. Spatial Technologies Limited has brought relief to Nigerian Entrepreneurs by providing an Interactive Street Map and Business Location Finder for Lagos, the major commercial hub of Nigeria. MapNTL, Nigeria’s foremost online mapping portal!

MapNTL

The tool which is based online on there website www.mapntl.com does a good job locating most of the streets in the commercial areas of Lagos. If you have ever used Google Map or MSN Live you won’t have difficulty using the interactive map.

Why a Local Interactive Map?

Someone argued that this tool is just trying to duplicate something that has already being accomplished by Google Map. Well, from a Nigerian user point of view, I know that argument is not valid. Google Map does not have as much details as MapNTL provides about the City of Lagos. Also, MapNTL is providing another feature which gives it a local advantage  over Google Map.

Business Locator

Spatial Technologies Limited is inviting Nigerian Entrepreneurs having their offices in Lagos to advertise on the Interactive Map (I really wonder how much Google Map will charge for such service). That simply means, a total stranger can easily locate a business using the interactive map. That to me is a better idea than maintaining just a yellow page subscription.

Currently, there are several online business directories in Nigeria providing Yellow Page services. In my opinion, their services will become more effective if they collaborate with MapNTL to create more powerful directories. Imagine an online directory that provide information such as Business Address, Contact Phone Number, email address and Driving direction via an interactive map! That is what Spatial Technologies Limited is planning to offer Nigerian entrepreneurs.

The Goal of MapNTL Team

I chatted with Ireti Ajala, a UK based map expert who happens to be one of the brains behind the idea, he informed me that they already have over 50,000 businesses comprising banks, restaurants, hotels, fast food joints etc registered with MapNTL. I wanted a proof, so he gave me the name of one of the company whose several branches are mapped, FCMB, First City Monument Bank Plc. He claimed that all the branches of FCMB in Lagos are already keyed into MapNTL database.

Can MapNTL Locate FCMB Branches in Surulere?

I tried the tool by requesting for a branch of FCMB in the MainLand. I got a response that there is one situated on No. 43, Ojuelegba Road, Yaba and and another one at 33 Adeniran Ogunsanya Road, Surulere! How accurate is that result? Confirming the authenticity of the result was not difficult. I simply checked on FCMB portal where a tool FCMB ATM&Branch Locator is provided to locate the bank’s branches nationwide. FCMB portal confirmed the result as correct!

What I found really cool is that each FCMB branch is marked on MapNTL using FCMB distinctive corporate logo making it very easy for FCMB’s online customers to connect visually with each of the over 35 branches of FCMB shown on MapNTL – this is innovation at its best in the context of Nigeria. I also noticed that using the “Identify” button below the map window to click on some FCMB logos on the map revealed some very important information such as the address of branch, services and facilities available at each branch and some functional telephone numbers to call the branch.

This invariably means that wherever you are in Lagos, you can easily locate the nearest FCMB branch by using MapNTL. It is interesting to note that Several branches of UBA, Zenith, GTB, Oceanic, Bank PHB, Mr Biggs, Tantalizers, etc have also been mapped into MapNTL. Isn’t that cool.

That means, Spatial Technologies Limited is actually having a tool with great potential. Well during my chat with Ireti, he stated that their goal is to empower Nigerian consumers with the location advantage in making purchasing decisions. I love that vision.

My Verdict on MapNTL

Well, I’ll say thumbs up for MapNTL. However, I won’t be sincere if I failed to point out a few flaws that need to be corrected.

MapNTL User Interface

The current user interface provided by MapNTL makes it unattractive for potential users. I understand that the portal is a highly complicated dynamic website and should not be compared with simple websites such as Nigerian Entrepreneur which is more or less an online magazine.

Nonetheless, the interface should be made more user friendly. It should be optimized for all the major browsers. Optimizing for only Microsoft IE is not good enough. Firefox is the choice of many web users (yours sincerely inclusive).
Also, a professional graphic designer should add some little eye candy to the interface. The current graphic designs are not desirable. Remember, the portal is not meant for the geeks alone.
Finally, the interface should be optimized to adjust to user screen easily. Currently, it overflows.

Well, that is my humble opinion, I don’t know what the cost implication may be for making those amendments. I’m only making suggestion base on my own experience while using the interactive map.

Naija Brothers and Sisters, help Promote MapNTL!

Are you based in Lagos? When next you’re looking for a firm, check MapNTL first. It will save you time and money. If the company is not listed, tell the marketing department of such firm that they are giving the competitor an undue advantage. Despite the global economic crises, investing less than 5,000naira to beat the competition is still a good investment. (I know I’m beginning to sound like this is a sales copy. Hey, Ireti, we need to talk, I sure can do with some affiliate commission)

Why did I write this review about MapNTL?

The answer is simple, MapNTL is Made In Nigeria (Interactive Map and Business Locator) For Nigerians. So, I am happy to promote the service. I have always being and will continue to be Proudly Nigerian. If you use the tool and love it, drop a comment to encourage others. If you have a suggestion on how it can be improved upon, drop a comment, I will ensure it gets forwarded to Ireti. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business Finder, Business Locator, Lagos, MapNTL

Email marketing simply put is the use of Email (Electronic Mail) for marketing. It is a form of direct marketing strategy whereby a marketer or advertiser communicates information to current or potential customers. Email marketing is one of the oldest online marketing strategies that successful entrepreneurs employ in acquiring and retaining customers for their businesses. Email marketing, has been and will continue to be for a long while, an effective marketing tool.

There are different types of Emails and marketers send them for different reasons. For example advertising messages inserted as footnotes in ordinary emails. You find a lot of such short advertisements you in emails sent to you by friends especially those using free services like Yahoo, Hotmail etc. Many corporate organizations also add little advertisements as auto-signatures to their corporate emails.

Email Marketing Strategies

The various types of Emails and their goals can be easily classified as follows:

1. Direct Email – This involves sending a promotional message to customers or prospects. For example, an announcement of special sales.

2. Retention Email – These are emails meant to retain and encourage customers loyalty. They usually take the form of regular emails and are popularly refer to as newsletters. A newsletter even though it may carry promotional messages focuses on providing value to the recipient in the form of valuable information or entertainment. Its main goal is to establish a long-term relationship between the entrepreneur and the recipient.

3. Rented Email List – Sometimes, online marketers rent other peoples email list for their advertisement. For example, an entrepreneur who is just starting can put his advertisement in another online marketers Newsletter in other to reach a wider audience than he could possibly do by starting his own newsletter. There are many well established online marketers that sell advertisement space in their newsletter to other entrepreneurs.Emails composed and sent with the purpose of establishing, fostering, retaining or encouraging customer loyalty or patronage.

In several corporate organizations, email marketing is preferred to orthodox marketing tools such as Direct Mailing, Print Newsletter and Placing of advertisements in subscription magazines and newspapers. The reason for the preference is not far-fetched.

Benefits of Email Marketing

1. It provides an entrepreneur the ability to communicate with a large audience at a relatively low cost.

2. The entrepreneur has the opportunity to communicate specific details to a targeted audience.

3. The delivery time is short.

4. The effect or performance of the email marketing campaign can easily be tracked.

5. Unlike a website that requires the audience to visit, Email marketing delivers the message to the audience.

6. More than half of internet users spend more time checking their Emails than any other activity online.

7. It affords the entrepreneur the opportunity to interact with potential customers. Messages can be structured in such a way that upon request by a potential customer, a predetermined series of responses are delivered automatically to the potential customer.

So what’s holding people back from using Email Marketing?

1. It takes some effort to design captivating email messages. Crappy email advertisements or newsletters don’t produce results.

2. It takes some effort to ensure that your email is actually delivered to the intended recipients. Email marketing is the most abused form of online marketing campaign. So there are lots of software that have been created to ensure that unsolicited emails, SPAM, don’t reach the intended recipients. We will talk more about this later.

3. It takes some effort to track the performance of email marketing campaigns. As an entrepreneur, you need to know for certain the return on investment from the marketing campaign. You want to know if the emails were actually read by the recipients.

4. Finally there is the danger of violating spam laws such as the United States CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) and the European Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.

So, what can an online marketer do? If the Email Marketing System provides such fantastic benefits, there must be a way to overcome those hurdles. Well, there is a way.

Opt-In Email Marketing System

The Opt-In Email Marketing System provides ready solution for each of those hurdles listed above while retaining all the benefits of a traditional Email Marketing System.

Opt-In Email Marketing is a system whereby potential email recipients are requested to give permission that commercial emails should be forwarded to them from an online marketer. The email recipients will be requested via an opt-in form (squeeze webpage) to voluntarily fill in their names and email address in order to be added to the mail list of the online marketer. Once such request is made via the opt-in form, a confirmation link will be sent in an email to the email address filled into the opt-in form. The email will request that the recipient confirm that he or she requested to be added to the email list. If the confirmation link is not clicked by the recipient, no further emails will be sent to that particular email address. However, if the confirmation link is click, then the recipient will be added to the marketer’s email list for future correspondence.

The Opt-In Email Marketing System eliminates the issue of your emails being considered SPAM. Also, the Opt-In Email Marketing System ensures that each email sent to customers have embedded an unsubscribe link that will enable the recipient unsubscribe from the mail list. I recommend that you use an Opt-In Email Marketing System provided by a reputable company like Aweber or Getresponse. Even though the service will cost you money, it is better than getting involved in a lawsuit for unsolicited email.

Two Quick Tips For Your Email Marketing Campaign Startup

To avoid getting your Email Marketing Campaign classified as crappy because of poor design or message, get a reliable professional copy-writer to design each email message. He will ensure that the design and content of the email message is professionally done. That will reduce to the barest minimum the risk of your Marketing Emails being deleted without being read by the recipients.

Secondly, get the service of a reliable firm like Aweber or GetResponse to handle the delivery and tracking of your email marketing campaign. They will ensure that your email marketing campaign will be based on Opt-In Email Marketing System.

Ok, the post is getting too long. I will stop here for now and continue the discussion in future posts. If you have any comment or question, please drop it in the comment section. You can get free future updates and more tips on Email Marketing by subscribing to my RSS Feed. It is based on an Opt-In Email Marketing System. You can be assured that you will never get an unsolicited email from me. Cheers

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Advertising, Aweber, Business, Direct Marketing, Email Lists, Email Marketing, Entrepreneur, GetResponse, Internet Marketing, Marketing Campaign, Opt-In Email Marketing

Does that question sound familiar? Of course, that is the question so many folks are asking. The most common request new entrepreneurs make online is suggestion on profitable online business ideas to start. The forums and social network websites are full of such requests . Millions of internet users are searching online for business ideas that they can implement to generate residual income. Online businesses seems to be coping better during this economic recession than the traditional businesses. Well, that is my personal observation, let’s get back to the aim of this post. I intend to share with you some hot online business ideas you can implement.

Online Business Ideas

The beauty of some of these ideas is that they can actually be run as internet home based business. That is not to imply that they are  meant for work at home mummies alone or the unemployed. It will do no harm if you have some extra bucks beside the fixed income from your  paid job. Some of these ideas  can actually be developed into small online businesses that are capable of recruiting staff (that means, you can eventually Fire Your Boss and Hire Yourself Some Staff!). Some of the internet marketers currently making waves online started their business from their homes. Their first staff were members of their immediate family who lend helping hand out of solidarity. You can achieve the same feat! You heard me right, you too can become a successful entrepreneur, an employer of labor.

I’ve come across several internet marketers promising to sell 101 hot ideas on online business or best online business ideas for some dollars. If you are not too lazy to do a little research online yourself, you can do without those packages. I can authoritatively say that you do not need so many internet home business ideas, you only need one good online business idea and the sheer determination to turn your dream to reality. Of course your passion as an individual is what determines the best internet business you should start. I addressed this issue in  a post, The Best Online Business To Start.

I also wish to disabuse your mind from assuming that the only successful online business idea is that of becoming an affiliate marketer or earning peanuts via Google Adsense placed on some crappy website (I don’t mean to be rude, just trying to drive the point home). Beside affiliate marketing and Google Adsense there are other great online business ideas that you can implement as a newbie entrepreneur. My personal policy is to engage in any legitimate online business that will give me residual income. I am careful to only implement ideas that can run as a system without me being tied down. I don’t want another job. I want a business that runs on its own. So, I avoid crazy online business ideas that aims at turning human beings to clicking or surfing robots. Sitting behind a screen and clicking for hours just to generate $5 dollars is a stupid online business idea as far as I’m concerned. Look at it this way, how many clicks will it take for you to generate $100,000 per year? If the answer is mind boggling, then it is a pointer that it is not the right online business strategy for you to implement.

Ok, enough of the ramblings, lets look at some top online business ideas for you to kick start your entrepreneurs journey. They may not be rated as the best online business ideas and opportunities, but you can be rest assured that anyone with access to the internet and a little determination can use any of these ideas to build a home based business or a part-time business that has the potential of recruiting staff in the nearest future. Note, these are not new online business ideas, but they have been tested and proven by veteran internet marketers and webpreneurs.

10 Online Business Ideas

1. Online Secretary – You can offer services as a virtual secretary to busy executives.

2. Online Tutoring / Internet Trainer – Online Tutor and trainers are becoming common.

3. Online Desktop Publishing – A little knowledge of word processing and one or two graphic software will put you into business.

4. Infopreneur – You can package information and sell online to people who need such information. That is what ebooks are all about.

5. Online Consultant – Are you a professional? Expert in a particular field? Turn your years of experience into a money minting machine by providing consultancy online.

6. Online Unique Party Organiser – Hey, some of us are not just good in getting things organized. If you are a good planner, you can offer your service for money.

7. Website Designing – Get in touch with the owner of crappy websites and offer to redesign for them at a cheaper rate. You can get serious jobs if you can package a presentation to convince those entrepreneurs that are yet internet shy to establish an online presence for their business.

8. Internet Researcher – you may not believe it, but some folks consider Googling as too much work. If you love searching for information online like  Shelock Holmes (a freelance detective ) this business idea will suit you.

9. Online Book-keeping Services – Are you a trained book-keeper or accountant? You can help many folks that are getting into trouble with the Tax Authority as a result of muddled up books. You can employ the use of telephone calls, instant messenger and email to get their transaction details while you prepare a professional book of account for them for a fee.

10. Ebay Seller – Do I need to explain this? You or someone close to you must have bought something from EBay before. Go into your attic and look around, you will be surprised that there are items lying down there that you can sell for some little money on Ebay. By the time you exhaust that, you can go to GrandMa or Friends Attics and help them dispose off (at a profit to yourself) all those old toys, books, magazine, music CD/DVD etc.

This post is getting too long, so I have to stop here. I’m planning to give greater details on how to implement some of the online business ideas mentioned above in my subsequent posts. However, if you love playing Shelock Holmes, you can get information by conducting a little research on any of them using the free search engine, Google! I encourage you to bookmark this page to Delicious so that you can return to it later. You can get the future updates to this post Online Business Ideas by subscribing to my RSS feed. The subscription is free. I look forward to feedback from you through comments. If you need any assistance don’t hesitate to make a request. See you at the top. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Affiliate Marketing, Business, Business Ideas, Business Tips, Make Money Online, Online Business Ideas, small business

Why the sudden upsurge in the request for Online Forex Trading Resources? Is it the way out of the Global Economic Crash for Nigerian Online Entrepreneurs? I don’t think so. While Forex Trading is a genuine and legitimate way to make money online, it is not for the unskilled and lazy. It is not a quick exit option from the rat race. Neither is it the best protection from the heat been generated by the global economic crash.

Anyone promising you a get rich quick package via Online Forex Trading is only doing so to rob you of your hard earned money. I made a post on this before, Forex Trading In Nigeria, Who is making the Money. Think about it for a second, the recent Global Economy Crash has made nonsense of the theories that were held in high esteem by many experts for decades. The academicians and the business experts are spending sleepless nights trying to figure out what went wrong and how to get the global economy back on its feet. I am referring to the committed economic and business experts in the developed worlds. (One of the disadvantage of living in a Global Village is now being witnessed by all. What happens in Japan or America can have instant effect on Nigeria within 24hours).

If that is the case, what makes you think that a fellow Naija brother who cannot boast of 24/7 electricity to power his laptop has a magic software that will help you get rich overnight through Automatic Forex Trading? Well, the choice is yours. But please stop requesting for my help on Forex Trading.

Presently, I don’t Trade Forex Online. Not because it is illegal, here are my reasons:

1. It is an online business with very high risk.
2. The high risk is worsened by the lack of infrastructure in Nigeria. Can you imagine PHCN striking while you’re trying to make a sale or a buy? Which ISP can guarantee you constant internet connection. (Since January this year, my ISP has been offering epileptic service even after increasing their subscription charges. They gave the Global Economic Crunch, as excuse for the increase).
3. I am not ready to pay the price of time and resources required for Trading Forex.
4. I  have heard too many scary news from friends that loss some good fortune within minutes of Trading Forex with live accounts.It is quite unfortunate that too many Naija Forex Trading Newbies assume that their performance with Demo Forex Trading Account is an indication of what real live trading will be. Please don’t be deceived. The result is not the same.

Well, I could be totally wrong. I never said I knew it all anyway. So, you have to make your choice. However, please, don’t send me emails asking for Forex Brokers, Forex Softwares and Forex Resources. I am not trying to discourage you, just that I am begining to get upset with the number of emails asking me about Forex Trading. After all my blog is not solely about Forex Trading. If I ever come across any material I consider useful for my readers, I will simply post it for free in an article. I don’t have time for sending such materials to individuals via emails.

Ok, after all said and done, since I am committed to my readers, I will try to get more information on blogs and websites where you can get reliable information and tutorials on Online Forex Trading. But until then, lets devote attention to talking about other online business ventures that any entrepreneur can invest in without burning the fingers.

Here is what I am currently doing. I am reading about Blog Farming (it is a long term investment strategy) am also working on my Website Traffic too.  I want a shift from Social Media (it requires constant participation) to Search Engine generated traffic (it is much more reliable and less demanding) .  I’m getting better with my Google Adsense skill and improving my earnings via affiliate marketing too. I will be sharing about these in my future posts. You can subscribe to Nigerian Entrepreneur RSS Feed so that you won’t miss future update to this post  Online Forex Trading. Until then, stay cool. Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AdSense, Affiliate Marketing, Foreign exchange market, Forex Trading, Global Village, Investing, Nigeria, Web search engine

Ok, Nigeria is Re-branded, what next? Yesterday in Abuja, President Umaru Yar’Adua unveiled and launched the logo and slogan of the New Nigeria. The slogan is “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation” while the logo is simply the word Nigeria with two letters modified. The first “i” is replaced with a tick having a dot on top of it and the last “i” has a small map of Nigeria in place of the usual dot.

Nigeria Good People Great Country

I guess the President was reading the mind of Nigerians when he encouraged the citizens not to view the campaign as another ceremony or exercise in futility. He encouraged every Nigerian to be committed to the regeneration of the country.

Even though I am not a fan of the government, I must commend the effort of the government to do something about our battered image as a nation. We have often been misrepresented by a few greedy, good-for-nothing bad eggs, who portray the entire nation as a den of fraudsters! I do hope that everyone that looks at the new logo will identify with the “i”. For me it places the responsibility of creating a new Nigerian on each of us. I see myself as the “i” that has to bring into reality the New Nigeria.

Ok, having reminded you that I am Proudly Nigerian, I wish to propose an additional slogan to go with the first one. Here is my proposal, whenever a Nigerian greet another with the slogan “Nigeria: Good People, Great Nation” I recommend that the response should be “Nigeria: Good Leaders, Great Nation”. That way, we will remind ourselves that in as much as we desire a healthy body, we must also ensure that the head is healthy!

It is time to demand that our Leaders be men of integrity who are always ready to give account of their stewardship. Our leaders  should be public servants not demi-gods who are free to flout the Rule of Laws and use ill-gotten wealth to pervert justice. The President should ensure that EFCC, ICPC and other bodies responsible for combating corruption are allowed to do their jobs without undue influences from the Nations corridors of power.

It is undeniable that a leader must lead by example. It is sickening to note that politics is currently viewed by many Nigerians as the  most lucrative venture. A school drop-out who cannot afford to eat three square meals can  suddenly become a multi-millionaire via election or selection into a public office. This singular fact has discouraged many honest Nigerians and lured many to venture into illegal activities. It is time for the leadership of this country to clean up the logs in their eyes so that their can see well to clean the speck in the citizens’ eyes.

So the equation is not complete as it is. It should be Great Nation = Good People + Good Leaders. No matter how much we Nigerians try to build a New Nigeria, if we continue to allow unqualified and corrupt persons to occupy the positions of authority, we will keep on having the same bad result.

There must be leadership by example! It is time to start minding who gets elected into public office right from the Ward Level. Great leaders who value good name above gold and silver have done wonders for their nations. History testifies of such. Also, Ghana which is our neighbor serves as a good example of this fact. It is time for all Nigerians to stand up and shout “Nigeria: Good Leaders, Great Nation”

Yes, the next step is to Re-brand Our Leaders or Re-Package  Our Leaders …. (well the politicans will know the best phrase for this). If you enjoy this post, do me a favor, spread the news! Digg it, Stumble it. Link to it and drop your comments Cheers.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Great Leaders, Great Nations, Leadership, Nigerian

WordPress 2.7

This blog, Nigerian Entrepreneur is powered by  WordPress 2.7. I am really excited to say a big kudos to the WordPress Team for the newest version of the WordPress CMS software. It is truly an excellent piece of software. The WordPress Team truly kept their promise of Auto WordPress Upgrade. Since I upgraded this blog to WordPress 2.7, I have not had any issue with the new version of the blogging software. Indeed so many tasks have been simplified, and I am just in love with the ease of use.

For example, I can easily respond to comments or edit them as needed. Also, upgrading has never been easier. Every plugin on Nigerian Entrepreneur is up to date because updating plugins now takes just a click of the mouse.  So easy!

What really got me excited was the upgrade from Wordpress 2.7 to Wordpress 2.7.1 The whole upgrade took less than 2minutes and I can hardly say I played any other role other than a single mouse click.  The transition was so smooth and faultless.  As a non-tech, this is good news and am very excited. It simply means I can concentrate fully on what I love doing, blogging while the software does the technical stuff for me. A big thanks to the WordPress Team. WordPress 2.7 Rocks !!!

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blog, Computers, Content management system, Plug-in, The Web, Weblogs, Wordpress, WordPress 2.7

Who is an ideal Employee?

The question is best answer with an illustration. I will use a story I got from a friend sometime ago. I can’t remember the actual source so I don’t know who to give the credit. If you know the original author, I will be glad to append the credit in an update.

THE RESULTS OF INITIATIVES

Some years ago, three brothers left he farm to work in the city. They were all hired by the same company at the same pay. Three years later, Jim was being paid $500 a month, Frank was receiving $1,000, but George was now making $1,500.

Their father decided to visit the employer and find out the basis for the difference in pay. The employer listened to the confused father and said, “I will let the boys explain for themselves”.

Jim was summoned to the supervisor’s office and told, “Jim, I understand that Far East Importers has just brought in a large transport plane loaded with Japanese imported goods. Will you please go over to the airport and get a cargo inventory?”

Three minutes later, Jim returned to the office. “The cargo was one thousand bolts of Japanese silk”, Jim reported. “I got the information over the telephone from a member of the crew.”

When Jim left, Frank, the $1,000-a-month brother, was called. “Frank,” said the supervisor, “I wish you’d go out to the airport and get an inventory of the cargo plan which was just brought in by Far East Importers.”

An hour later, Frank was back in the office with a list showing that the plane carried 1,000 bolts of Japanese silk, 500 transistor radios, and 1,000 hand-painted bamboo trays.

George, the $1,500-a-month brother, was given identical instructions. Working hours were over and he finally returned. “The transport plane carried 1,000 bolts of Japanese silk,” he began. “It was on sale at $60 a bolt, so I took a two-day option on the whole lot. I have wired a designer in New York offering the silk at $75 a bolt. I expect to have the order tomorrow. I also found 500 transistor radios, which I sold over the telephone at a profit of $2.30 each. There are 1,000 bamboo trays, but they were of poor quality, so I didn’t try to do anything with them.”

When George left the office, the employer smiled. “You probably noticed,” he said, “that Jim doesn’t do what he’s told, Frank does only what he’s told, but George does more than he is told.

So, George is the ideal employee that any serious entrepreneur will like to hire. He generates business revenue that is more than sufficient to cover the salary he is being paid. Unfortunately, too many entrepreneur are struggling with employees that are like Jim. Such employee are always looking for how to earn income without doing any job. Remember in the story, Jim was asked to go to the airport, but he quickly used the telephone to get second-hand information because he can’t be bothered!

Well, there is no fool-proof method of ensuring that you don’t hire employees like Jim, but there are few tips that can help reduce the risk of recruiting such parasite into your business.

7 Tips For Hiring The Ideal Employee

1. You must determine precisely the jobs you need done and the skills required to get it done. If you don’t have a very clear picture of this, what makes you think someone else will have it?
2. Write it down, taking care to spell out in an un-ambiguous way the job descriptions, duties and skills required. There should be no room for assumptions.
3. Make enquiries about the prevailing amount being paid as salary for such kind of employee in your industry. Don’t assume that you can pay peanut as salary just because the labor market is overflowing with applicants, if you make up your mind to pay peanut as salary, then be rest assured you will receive poor service from half-baked employees. Good employees don’t come cheap.
4. Put your offer in writing, spelling out the job description, working hours, salary, benefits, vacation and sick time and other pertinent details.
5. Use the summary of the offer to write a Job Advert which you will place in appropriate media. You may not include the remuneration in the advert.
6. Oftentimes, you will get several applications in response to your advert. Go through the applications carefully without sentiment. Select those you consider the best and then invite such for interview. In some cases, there may be need for written test, practical demonstrations or presentation. Don’t be shy in going all length to ensure you get the ideal employee. It is advisable you don’t conduct the interview alone. Get some other people who are knowledgeable in the field to sit with you to interview the applicants.
7. Do not fail to cross-check and confirm that the references provided by the applicant are genuine. In some cases, you may need to contact former employers to verify that the applicant does not have a bad record of engaging in illegal activities.

When you get an ideal employee like George, ensure you keep them by improving their remuneration as the business grows. Show genuine interest in their welfare and  don’t shy away from investing in staff-training for such employee. It will pay your business huge dividend on the long run.

What kind of employee do you have in your business? Will you classify them as the ideal employee? I will love to get your feedback on this. Kindly drop a comment. For future updates to this article How to hire the ideal employee please subscribe to my RSS feed.

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Post tags: Business, Dividend, Employment, Human resources, Salary