Selling More For Less No Longer Works For Great Products

I woke up this morning to a marketing newsletter from an e-commerce store offering 50% discount on most of the electronic products they sell... This is not something new, in fact it has been around for more than 50 years now. It is called mass marketing - It is a marketing technique that leverages the human psychology (our love for cheap things) by creating more for less. But selling more for less or halving the price no longer works, not for great products anyways and this is why;

Everyone Else Is Selling More For Less, Doing The Same Won't Make You Any Different

When entering a crowded market; where every other persons are struggling for a slice in the market share, what comes to minds of young entrepreneurs and new businesses (after analyzing the market for its strengths, weaknesses and potentials) is to map out plans on how they can increase the quality of what their competitors sell for less. This of course will give you a temporary orgasm - if you are successful, the market will notice you and run your way. But it won't last for long because another start-up somewhere is preparing to launch and they will probably do the same thing, replacing you in the process.

There is no way on earth you can reduce the price of what you are offering and simultaneously increase the quality. except if you did money rituals and using your business as a cover-up At the end of the day, all you would end up doing is creating average products for average people.... So what works?

Not Selling For Everybody Because Great Products Are Not For Everyone

The best way to create great products is by carving out a niche in a crowded market and lead them by selling more for more as opposed to selling more for less. You don't need to capture the whole market. Not all businesses will be like Google or Amazon or Walmart. There is always a niche, a tribe waiting in a crowded market for someone to lead them. Instead of trying to win everybody's heart, locate these tribes (group of people that have certain things in common), and lead them. This process is very difficult and that's probably the reason why we have few great products around but it is the way the most effective way to creating a great brand that is difficult to replace.

 Produce for a micro market.

Market to a micro market.

When someone wants to know how big you can make (your audience, your market share, your volume), it might be worth pointing out that it's better to be important, to be in sync, to be the one that's hard to be replaced. And the only way to be important is to be relevant, focused and specific.

The same principle applies to our daily life and routine. Stop doing what everyone is doing because they say it sells. You will never be relevant that way.

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Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

What Your Teacher Taught You About Failure Are All Lies!

There are certain things that school is teachings us and our kids that no longer works and they are inadvertently killing our creativity - Just like I discussed in why we need to make more mistakes.

About 50 years ago, before the advent of the internet, It costs more to make things that matters. For example if you want to set up a Newspaper company, you will need (a) A building with offices in it (b) Paid staffs (c) Delivery vans....e.t.c. You will need a huge amount of capital to launch that kind of business. Mistakes were expensive and you couldn't afford to try out new things (even if you wanted to).

So it was easy for school to brainwash us into believing that mistakes are bad and must be avoided at all costs. It was easy for our teachers to prepare our minds to defend the status quo. Because in the industrial economy, only those with capital create stuffs that matters while the rest go to school so they can work for them.

But with the advent of the internet and crazier technologies, there was a paradigm shift from the Industrial economy to the Connection economy- where there are unlimited opportunities for those who dare take a leap. A connection economy where you don't have to wait to be picked. A connection economy where you can create your own "world" and dominate it.

Unfortunately, school didn't seem to flow with the tide. They still teach our kids how expensive mistakes are and why they need to avoid them. They still teach us not to take risks- because we might fail.

This is wrong! Mistakes are less expensive in the connection economy. we can afford to fail and make mistakes. You don't need a building or a large group of people to start a company now. The cost of starting a business is cheaper than in the last 50 years.

The connection economy is the best time to take risks and try out new things because there are unlimited resources at our disposals. And the only way to really succeed in the connection economy is to fail. Yes, you didn't read that wrong. You need to fail as much as you can until you succeed. Interestingly, this has no downside unlike what our teachers told us. Because when you fail, you learn new things and connect with new people (all of these at little or no cost).

Those that truly fail are those defending the status-quo just like school taught them, those that not willing to give it a shot. Those that are scared of trying.

We need to keep failing (as opposed to what our teachers taught us) until we get it right.... That is the only way the connection economy works.

Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email: Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

#FaraSpeaks: A Very Short Article On How Mosquitoes Kill Dreams

When the word came up my head, I remembered some scenes in the movie 'HOTEL RWANDA' which was about the war of attrition between the Hutu and Tutsi that led to ethnic violence with a lot of causalities... Thousands of people were massacred, reminds of the Nigerian civil war.

But this article is not about the Hutu and Tutsi neither is it about the Biafra - Not that they aren't significant though. This article is solely dedicated to mosquitoes. Yes, mosquitoes (I'm not crazy. OK maybe I am).

Mosquitoes aren't just a jeopardy to our health - agents of darkness malaria and all. They can make you go through hell (literally). But seriously, Mosquitoes are crazily annoying. Just when you think you are (temporarily) free from your crazy boss at work and lay on your bed to sleep (and probably dream about that sexy secretary at work), these blood sucking demons appears out of nowhere and suck the hell out of you. And what even irks me more than their painful bites is the annoying noise they make.... Can't they just suck my blood in peace?

Mosquitoes are annoying creatures. And we have some set of people in our lives that behaves just like them. They don't seem big or so physically present but they can mar our lifetime and destiny. They don't encourage us or push us to create things that matters.

All they do is make noise and suck the hell out of our dreams. They tell us our dreams are not realistic. They tell us our goals are too big and impossible. And the funny thing is that you don't even need to open the doors or windows for them to come in, they just do. They make us slack and unproductive.

For you to be able to take charge of your life and be productive, you need to identify these "mosquitoes". Then get a gun and shoot their brains off  get rid of them by; (a) Ignoring their advice (b) Surrounding yourself with those that will bring you closer to the person you intend becoming.

You deserve a good sleep for a great dream and a good health/concentration to make it big in life.You need a world devoid of unnecessary distractions- you have a handful already. 

Eradicate all the mosquitoes of your life and have a mosquito-free life.

PS: Hi, if you have amazing content you'd love to share just like this one you just read, kindly send me an email at: Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com
  
This is a #GuestPost written by Mr Faradara. Faradara is an award winning OAP, Speaker and Writer dedicated to impacting young minds. You may chase him on twitter @mrfaradara or have sex with him on Facebook   

That Vanguard's Article That Kills Faster Than #BokoHaram

So I stumbled on an article on Facebook yesterday and I was taken aback by the content of the article.

With the advent of technology, it is now very easy to spread news and share ideas without stress... Every Dick and Harry has a blog and they spread news with no restrictions.

But amidst "all of that" I think the standard of genuine journalism should be on a pedestal. I never expected such an article from Vanguard- a respected media house in Nigeria. What was their editor thinking? Perhaps he/she was busy eating fufu while they published the article.

The title of the article is When Will The Igbo Presidency Be? The title of the article alone, let off reading it, triggers and instigates terrible ideas that can bring about war and separation. This kind of article is not meant to be published. Was the Editor naive or did he/she publish this article on purpose?....Articles like this shows the alarming increase in the level of mediocrity in Nigeria journalism.

Below are excerpts from the article;

"Igbo nation needs to re-invent itself, it needs holistic reorientation and strategic repositioning. The Igbo people need political pragmatism to enable them take their authentic political position after the tenure of Ebele Jonathan or Buhari, which is the producing of the Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."

"Specifically,   it is their turn to produce the next President of Nigeria. It was a great disservice to the Igbo course and it is tantamount to cowardice and judgmental fallacy for Igbo leaders to have called and supported the then Third Term Agenda and political escapades of the then President Obasanjo. Indeed, the Pan-Igbo socio-cultural and political organization the Ohaneze Ndigbo, their Governors, Legislators and Igbo leaders were consummately indictable."

"The Igbo people will continue to stew in the political slavery in Nigeria because they cannot take the bull by the horn and drive it out of their political china shop. What a shame! They should however, note that, if they fail to produce the next President after Ebele Jonathan or Buhari, they will continue to dwell in the epicenter of political limbo in Nigeria."

And considering the fact that we are so gullible in Nigeria, war of words had already started in the comment section long before I finished reading the article.

This is saddening because it is the insane articles like this one that divides and kill the nation, not Ebola nor the #BokoHaram bombs. We need to watch our utterances, think before you say anything or write anything on social media because words are very powerful and they can go a long way in making or breaking people around us.

I believe we can make things work if we connect with each other and put aside our cultural differences.

PS: You may check out the full article here: When Will The Igbo Presidency Be?

Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him for speaking engagements or send him money on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

The Truth About The Elections And Post Elections As Shown To Me By The Angels.

Disclaimer: This article can make the blind speak and the deaf see. It is structured around sarcasm but it contains one of the truest words you've heard in a long time. Do not read if you don't believe in Visions because I saw a vision just like the ones your pastor tells you he saw. If you don't believe you may check out my last experience with the Angels and how it turned out.

*coughs* I am terribly sorry the disclaimer of this article was that long - I had to cough out all the details so no one will sue me. Enjoy the bitter truth.

As I lay on my bed struggling with writers' block, my spirit went up to the heavens. My heart skipped a beat - I thought I was dead and on my way to hell because I told a lie the day before (my pastor told me liars can never make it to heaven). But it wasn't that time yet, the angels just wanted to show me a glimpse of the future - the bitter truth about the elections and post elections.


Angel Michael Chinedu said CHANGE will not happen this forth-coming elections neither will it happen after it and these were the reasons he gave;


Many Nigerians Are Trading Their Voting RIGHTS for RICE: The way Nigerians, especially youths are trading their voting rights for material things is alarming. The way we kill ourselves over Kegs of Groundnut oil, Bags of Rice and other material things during campaigns irks me the most. It has gotten so bad that these politicians don't say anything about what they have to offer to the masses, because they believe we don't give a fuck fufu about their long term plans and all we care about is our own cut of the national cake.

We Pray Too Hard For Change: I was lucky to be in church last Sunday and we prayed for change, good thing though, but prayer won't bring about change. We are addicted to praying without action. The same people that pray in churches and mosques are the same ones that are supplying arms and ammunition to thugs. Even these Politicians now leverage churches and our addiction to prayers for their campaigns. Praying and Screaming change is like a man attempting murder while praying to God for forgiveness.... God is not a Joker.

The truth is that CHANGE is not all about screaming or praying for it. Change starts within us. If we don't change the way we act and react to certain issues, nothing will really change.
We need to come out en-mass to vote for who we think matters. Don't  let material things influence your decisions. Don't sit at home watching TV while thugs decide the destiny of this nation.....Make things Happen.


PS: The Angels also showed me who won the elections... if you want to know, kindly shoot me an email containing #1000 Etisalat airtime.


Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him for speaking engagements or send him money on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

Defending vs Challenging The Status-Quo

The singular reason why I started this blog is to share ideas that challenges the status quo- the status quo in life, business and everything in between. Because I think that is what almost everyone should be doing instead of seating back, defending it.

Fear is killing us

There are so many things out of place and abnormal things now look so normal that if you challenge the status quo, people will tag you as crazy... So the fear of people calling us crazy, the fear of what our close friends will say about us, the fear of being proven wrong amongst others has stopped us from challenging the bullshit and standing up for what we believe in.

So we give in to what scares us, to what threatens us, to what disappoints us, instead of looking them in the eyes.
We need to stop shutting our eyes to things we feel don't go well with us... Stop adapting to bullshit... Stop surviving life...

Take the wheels of your life and drive wherever you want. The world is big enough to house your beliefs and dreams... Stop defending the status quo.... Challenge it!

Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

STRESS: Every Entrepreneur's Worst Nightmare

One thing I've come to learn over time (thanks to Seth Godin) about entrepreneurship is that it is not sexy... Not sexy in the sense that it involves creating something that matters - which means challenging the status-quo consistently, building a great team to make things happen and being able to tell great stories that resonates with your target market.

If you are not ready for "all-of-that", I would advise that you stick to your 9-5 job or whatever it is you are doing right now.

The dream of every startuper is to get his idea out to those that matters as fast as he can. And most times, they start up the business by themselves - draft out business plans and business models... pitch their ideas to VCs and Angels (that will probably reject their ideas)... Seek to build a great team that will buy into the vision and mission of the company and nurture the idea till it bears fruit....

All of these involves series of hard work, meetings and most times sleepless nights. You find out that you no longer have even the slightest bit of control over your schedule - you don't have the time to hang out with your friends at the pub like you used too or spend quality time with your family. All you think and eat at that moment is getting your start up to stand up on its feet and nothing else.
Then one day you try to get up from bed but you just can't, your head starts to bang as if there were some sort of chemical reaction happening in there... Your heart beats faster than Hussein Bolt and your body temperature rises simultaneously... Then you begin to wonder if that old witch in your mother's village has finally gotten you after all these years of trying you are dying...

But somehow you get to the hospital only for the doctor to tell you that you do not have Cancer or HIV or Ebola or Malaria... That all you are experiencing are symptoms of STRESS and you need to rest more...

As much as we need to devote most of our time to our businesses as startupers or entrepreneurs, we also need to rest. When you sleep, your brain resets and you wake up energized, consequently increasing your productivity.

Sit down and figure out where to draw the line when it comes to work versus rest. Because every entrepreneurs worst nightmare is Stress and it is crashes everything.
But the good news is that you can manage it effectively by not cheating sleep.

Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

How To Get Better At Writing

Do you want be a great writer but do not how?... Have you been writing but now struggling with "writers block"? Or are you frustrated because your blog doesn't seem to reach your target audience the way you expected?...
 I don't have "all" the answers to your questions but I have got some answers that will take you from where you are as a writer to where you want to be.
So sit back (this article won't take you more than 5 minutes), grab yourself a bottle of soda while you digest this article.

WRITING IS NOT A TALENT. IT IS A SKILL: A talent is something that you do naturally without even thinking about it. It is a gift you are born with. But a skill on the other hand is something that you acquire after putting in a lot of hard work and practice into it.
No one was born a "great" writer. Every good writer you know out there from Maya Angelou, Dale Carnegie to Seth Godin, Tom ferris, Wole shoyinka, Chinua Achebe and many others spent a lot of time practicing the art of writing- they were at some point very bad at writing... So if they could get better at writing, you also can.

READ A LOT: If you want to get better at writing, you need to read a lot. Read different kind of books- Fictions and non-fictions. Read journals, publications, newspapers and articles. Thanks to the technological advancements, there are unlimited resources for you to digest. Do not limit your reading to your field of expertise, cut across all genres. From business journals to Rocket science. Keep reading- it broadens your horizon. Reading boost your vocabulary and your writing structure. You also get to learn how to write from different perspectives.

GET A BLOG AND START BLOGGING: Blogs serves as a platform to practice as a writer. It is infact the best platform to develop your writing skills. Creating a blog is easy and you don't really need any capital to start one(You may shoot be an email if you need help starting one).
What do I write on this blog?
Don't worry about a niche or a genre yet, just write anything. When I started blogging I spent so much time worrying about what niche to write on that I ended up not writing for months.
Just write what comes to your head, the ideas you got from a book you just read, your opinion about something everyone is talking about.... Don't worry about the niche yet, just write random stuffs. The goal is practice and keep practicing till you get better.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES: You should not be too cautious of yourself when writing or else you won't be able to put your creativity into writing. When you write, see writing as fun and not a job. Feel free to make mistakes, learn from them and even make better ones. When you write, people will react - positively or negatively. Don't let negative comments from those that may read your articles weigh you down.

GUEST BLOG A LOT: Guest blogging involves writing on other people's blog. Guest blogging will help you reach more people and help you get better as a writer. All you have to do is connect with a blogger and request to share an article on their blog. So many people will reject you though (you have to get used to that fact) but there are a few (like my blog) that will grant your request and even help you with tools that will make writing sexier for you. And may also check out this post about some guest blogging networks you can follow. You should also offer to write for free on your local community, school or church bulletin too.


WRITE ALMOST EVERYDAY: This is the most important advice for any writer. "If you want to get better, get married to writing and write every day"- Sadiq Daniel. There is no truer word said than that. You need to write almost everyday. The key to getting better at writing is consistency.
 Live it, Eat it, Drink it and even have sex with it.... Do this and I swear, the sky will be your starting point.

MAKE NOISE ABOUT YOUR CONTENT: Get the word out there that you write. Share your articles on various social media networks. Tell your pastor, friends, wife, husband, and even your kids to check out your articles. Don't stop making noise about your content. Try to chip it in when you are connecting with new people at events or public places. Always make noise about your content. And please *on my kneels begging* do not spam people. There are so many people are doing it but it is a very bad way to market yourself.

Be sociable, hit the share button below to share this article with your friends.

Do you have ideas or thoughts on how to be better at writing? Kindly share them in the comments section below.

PS: If you are interested in having your content shared on this blog, kindly send me an email or mention me on twitter

Sadiq Daniel is a certified Crazy Writer and Teens Coach that blogs on business, Self- development, Life lessons and Ideas that challenges the status quo... You can pursue him on Twitter: @sadiqspeaks LinkedIn: Sadiq Daniel and Email:Sadiqdaniel@gmail.com

#FaraSpeaks: Physique vs Insique

That "beach body" I may never have

Most ladies do worry so (hyper very) much about their shape (and of course looks).... The "Figure 8" gotta be on point... The eye lashes must be inch equal and shaped...The curves, the edges and every other things in-between *winks* just to stay in shape and remain attractive. 

This however, isn't a wrong mindset because their male counterparts are just as crazy about these things, as they are. It is not uncommon to see guys 'doing the lifting, push ups, sit ups road jogs, skipping and sorts of exercises just to stay in shape and be 'attractive'.

I will confess that I am a little bit jealous about the fact that I don't have the 6 packs. And I have made series of attempts- worked out, even prayed and fasted but it appears I am not destined to have a perfect beach body. 
I have even tried all sorts of diets all to no no avail... All I do get is anything but extra skin or muscles (Yuck! do not pity me though).

So lets go back to what I was discussing before I took the left turn.>>>Many people are good with their 'physique' but know nothing about their 'insique' ( Insique has not been invented yet. but for the sake of this article, it means -inner looks). Insique is a magical word I coined to define the looks of your mind. 


If you take care of your physique, you will look healthy, sharp and attractive like athletes and models. But if you don't, you will go to hell  lose it. 

The same thing happens to your 'insique'. In fact you need to pay close attention to your insique. 

If you don't exercise your mind, feed it with the right ideas and thoughts, counsels and discussions like food and drinks at the right time and in the perfect environment, you may grow 'in- sick'


Keep an eye on your physique but always WATCH your 'insique'



This Article was written by Mr Faradara. Faradara is an award winning OAP, Speaker and Writer dedicated to impacting young minds. You may chase him on twitter  @mrfaradara or have sex with him on Facebook   

Photo Credit: IronManMag                                                                                                                                                         
PS: If you have quality content on personal development, entrepreneurial excellence or life lessons that you want to share on this blog, kindly shoot me an email: sadiqdaniel@gmail.com or mention me on twitter @SadiqSpeaks

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