5 Tips to Help You Meet Goals and Deadlines

Since high school (or earlier), many of us have struggled with meeting deadlines. Poor time management skills and procrastination often lead to last minute cram sessions which produce substandard work. At work, failing to meet deadlines is one of the cardinal sins that can easily get you fired. An employee who fails to be punctual and achieve deadlines is no more than a broken cog in a machine, and will be quickly replaced. How can professional procrastinators learn effective time management in order to successfully meet deadlines?

Breaking One Task Down Into Bite-Size Pieces
The lesson many of us never learn is that one large task can always be more easily accomplished in bite-size pieces over a long period of time. If you are given a project to complete in the next two weeks, the right time to get started is that very day. When you first receive a project, you should take out a calendar and find a way to break it into four or more evenly spaced parts. Don’t just mark the final deadline date. Give yourself mini-deadline dates per segment and meet them, whatever the cost. Failing to meet one of your own mini-deadlines should be regarded as a failure to meet the final deadline.

Rewarding Yourself
Some people, however, lack the self-discipline necessary to break one large task into several small ones. These people won’t worry if they miss one of their own deadlines, procrastinating and pushing it back to the second, third and final deadlines. They will only panic as the last deadline approaches.

A simple way to reinforce meeting your own mini-deadlines is to reward yourself. If you completed the first phase of the project ahead of time, reward yourself with a night out, a nice dinner or a gift for yourself. If necessary, pencil these in under each mini-deadline. A variation of this would be to abstain from an addiction – such as, beer or cigarettes, working and at same time chatting or engaging in online affairs– until the mini-deadline is met, with no exceptions.
If you truly lack the self-discipline necessary to pull this off, you’ll need a partner – kind of like an Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor – who oversees your day-to-day activities to make sure you never veer off course.

Plan Ahead
Meeting deadlines is a lot like playing a good game of Chess. Good chess players plan five to ten moves ahead. Bad chess players only concentrate on the current move. If you always focus on events several days down the road, you’ll be better equipped to handle any potential crises that pop up. It also allows you to set aside a day or two before the final deadline to polish your project and add finishing touches. Don’t just focus on today – focus on the whole week.

Get Organized – Technology is your Friend
This is the number one reason people fail to meet deadlines. They simply aren’t organized. In this age of smart-phones, tablets and cloud computing, there’s simply no excuse to be disorganized. Simply entering events in your Google Calendar will sync it across all your mobile devices so you can keep aware of all current deadlines. Cloud-based calendars and documents can also be shared and edited by collaborators, which makes working with a team a breeze.

File documents neatly in your computer or cloud-based storage. People often waste time finding digital bits and pieces of their projects when they aren’t organized, using “search” to desperately find the document they “swear was saved to the desktop”. Good self-discipline is reflected in good organizational skills.

Be Able to Meet Short Notice Deadlines
Last, but not least, always be ready to meet short-notice deadlines. These occur at every workplace, upsetting employees and managers alike. If you were able to manage your time effectively, as shown in this guide, meeting a sudden short-notice deadline should be a breeze. Smoothly and coolly meeting a last minute deadline makes you look great – especially when your procrastinating co-workers are tearing their hair out.

9 Options for Small Town Entrepreneurs

Living in a town with a small population presents a unique challenge to entrepreneurs. A narrow local market means the margin for error is greater than in centers of higher population. But a small town presents a great opportunity to form strong bonds with customers. The trick is to find out what business is suitable for the town.

3 Options for Acquiring a Business

Start a Brand New Business
Open a store or agency that has not existed in the town. There may be hurdles, such as educating residents as to how your company will enhance their lives, but if it is a “first”, there will probably be interest in your company.

Take Over an Existing Business
It may be the right time for a business owner to get out, which presents an opportunity to continue the business. The advantage of buying an existing presence is a shorter customer acquisition period. Residents are familiar with and comfortable with the company.

Introduce a Franchise
This option may meet resistance from residents who see a franchise as the death of a small town; however, a franchise presents a familiar image that can attract local patrons. One of the biggest hurdles for the franchisee is the upfront cost.

Prior to determining whether a new business is appropriate, there are several avenues to investigate in order to find a need that exists. Business brokers recommend that entrepreneurs do some research before introducing a new business to a small market. Research can be done by simply asking residents what kind of business they would like to see open locally. Examining other towns that are similar within the state is helpful in order to find out what has worked elsewhere. Another research technique would be to look at companies that operate in multiple small markets to see if that type of business would work in your town.

Identify Areas to Satisfy Market Need

Serving the Local Market
What opportunities exist to serve the local market? Are there products or services that are lacking a local business presence? There may be an opportunity to sell locally made products or global products that show a demand from townspeople.

Complementing Area Businesses
Are there offerings that would go along with existing businesses? For example, if a town has a significant number of farms, there may be a need for a store that sells produce, storage equipment or farm machinery. Or there may be a need for a reliable equipment repair operation.

Selling Local Products Elsewhere
If a local business provides desirable products, consider selling those products to larger markets.

Market to Tourists
towns that lie on travel corridors or are destination spots themselves provide opportunities to sell local products, such as town-related novelties or local specialties. If the town is a destination point, there may be a need for tour guides or taxi services.

Serve the Local Government
municipal governments have needs from janitorial services to computer repair to office supplies. Investigate the needs of the local government to determine if something is lacking or services are being delivered poorly.

Provide Expertise to Existing Businesses
Business owners often need assistance with accounting, taxes, facility cleaning and other services. Look for a common need and become the local expert. There will be opportunity as long as there are businesses that are operating.

Once the research into existing needs and opportunities is completed, strategy and planning are essential to ensuring that the grand opening is not followed by the resounding thud of an empty store. Finally, as with any business, money management is critical to making sure operations will continue if hard times hit the small town.

Compliment of the Season!

For the joy of the Birth of the Cosmos's Saviour, for the betterment of humanity. That we may all be saved, We at Diamondstar Int'l identifies with our Lord and Saviour this yuletide period. May His Peace reign supremely in our individuals life, in Lagos, in Nigeria, in Africa and the world at large.

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year ahead.

Emotional Intelligence and its Impact on Leadership

Defined as the skills or ability necessary to identify, assess and control the emotions of oneself, other people or entire groups, emotional intelligence is a concept that has become widely popular in management texts and related literature for its ability to enhance and capitalize on the human potential of an organization.

Seeking to support a leader’s cognitive, emotional and physical resources, the use of emotional intelligence is a modern tool of effective management, enabling the individual to manage a wide range of employees that are often performing in a unique set of roles. In addition, emotional and personal competencies are two primary factors that are shown to be directly linked to performance within a work environment, making their identification and analysis essential for effective management as well as the increased development of the organization’s human capital.

It Pays to be ‘Likeable’

In part, emotional intelligence is a response to the problems businesses face in the modern world. With tighter budgets, escalating costs and the continuous demand to produce more for less, there’s a need to develop a higher standard for leadership skills, ones that will effectively address the challenges of high employee turnover, a rapidly changing business environment and the ever-increasing demand for improved products and services. And at least in part, the solution to these problems is found in a leader who possesses technical knowledge as well as the social and emotional abilities that will enable them to meet and beat the afore-mentioned challenges and maximize the human potential of their organization while achieving their own personal agenda.

Any organization at the forefront of its industry needs to retain the best employees to remain competitive. And if you take a look at the factors that contribute to the highest levels of creativity and effectiveness in the workplace within these types of businesses, you’ll find components of emotional intelligence 9 out of 10 times.

That’s because duration of employment is directly linked to an individual’s relationship with their immediate supervisor, with some figures reporting that only 11 percent of employees who rated their boss as ‘excellent’ would consider looking for a new job. This figure is in comparison to the 40 percent who would consider leaving after rating their boss ‘poor’.
Moving Up Requires More Than Just Technical Capability

Your skills can land you a great job but emotional intelligence is what enables you to keep it and, more importantly, get promoted and motivate those around you. In fact, some psychologists believe that emotional intelligence matters twice as much as both technical and analytic skills combined. And the higher the individual moves up within an organization, the more crucial emotional intelligence becomes – not really a surprise given the high degree of loyalty required to inspire people toward achieving an expansive, complex or long-term goal.

To climb the modern corporate ladder, a leader must be competent within their chosen field but also have a finely-tuned sense of emotional intelligence. Specifically, they are typically expected to be more positive, approachable, warm, empathetic and optimistic, traits many believe to be more important than traditional cognitive intelligence in the successful achievement of workplace goals. The reason for this may be due to the fact that a focus on emotional intelligence often includes the ability to contain any negative feelings and focus instead on a positive outcome – a capability that is vital for high-reaching leaders and executives.

Tips for Maximizing Employee Potential

As a manager, maximizing employee potential should be one of your top priorities. Disgruntled, idle workers who do the bare minimum are dead weight for your company. Each employee you hire should be considered an investment in the company. Being able to push your employees to the maximum potential (without breaking them, of course) will enhance your entire company’s productivity and efficiency. Here are some ideas to help your workers be the best that they can be – and not hate you in the process.

Hire the Right People

First and foremost, recruit the right people! This seems simple and silly, but more often than not employers choose the safe choice – the middle of the pack applicant that won’t stir up trouble. Applicants who are too opinionated or have “too much personality” are often nixed from the list of potential hires due to their unpredictability. This would be a huge mistake – often these individuals possess leadership characteristics which would enhance your workforce.

Identify Existing Skills and Areas for Potential
From your workforce, you should assess individual potential. Maybe your data entry grunt actually has skills in other areas, such as product design or technical writing. Get to know your employees, their past experiences and their interests. Often times, an unhappy employee is simply a bored one, stuck in an unchallenging and unfulfilling post. Maybe a certain employee doesn’t have outside skills, but has such a mastery of their job that they can be given the responsibility of training new hires. Or maybe they have outside skills that can be pursued in their free time – for example, search giant Google used to require that its programmers set aside 20% of their time on personal pet projects, in an effort to foster creativity. You can even rotate employees between positions to insure that everyone understands the different jobs at your company, so they can substitute each others’ jobs, if need be.

Understand if your employees are natural leaders, followers or innovators. If there are a few cogs that are getting stuck, such as irreparably disgruntled employees, these toxic employees will have to be removed from the equation to insure smooth operations.

Three Ways to Give Back to Your Community at Holiday Time

With Thanksgiving around the corner, many businesses have their holiday marketing plans in motion.

Marketing around the holidays goes beyond sales and promotions. It's also about connecting with customers on things they can feel good about. Today's social consumers pay attention to companies that do good. They want to align themselves with brands that are doing good deeds, who share their values. Getting behind a local or national charity holds a host of benefits for a company. Here are just a few:

Shows you're more than a business owner, you're also a human being
Rallies customers and the public around shared passions
Makes valuable and lasting community connections
Builds trust and customer loyalty
Becomes part of your brand identity
Shows that you're a good corporate citizen

Cause-based marketing and community-based marketing can be done on a very small scale. Even in a tough economy, businesses can still find modest yet meaningful ways to connect to worthy causes.

Does Your Business Give Out the Good Christmas Gift?

Three Ways to Give Back to Your Community at Holiday Time
Gail Goodman: Engagement Marketing
BY Gail Goodman | September 23, 2011|
1
inShare99

Three Ways to Give Back to Your Community at Holiday TimeWith Thanksgiving around the corner, many businesses have their holiday marketing plans in motion. Holiday campaigns will start buzzing before the kids even finish off their Halloween candy.

Marketing around the holidays goes beyond sales and promotions. It's also about connecting with customers on things they can feel good about. Today's social consumers pay attention to companies that do good. They want to align themselves with brands that are doing good deeds, who share their values. Getting behind a local or national charity holds a host of benefits for a company. Here are just a few:

Shows you're more than a business owner, you're also a human being
Rallies customers and the public around shared passions
Makes valuable and lasting community connections
Builds trust and customer loyalty
Becomes part of your brand identity
Shows that you're a good corporate citizen

Cause-based marketing and community-based marketing can be done on a very small scale. Even in a tough economy, businesses can still find modest yet meaningful ways to connect to worthy causes.

Related: Does Your Business Give Out the Good Halloween Candy?

Here are three ways to get involved and give back, at holiday time and year-round.

1. Sponsor a community organization.
Communities and organizations across Africa/Nigeria are suffering from budget cuts. Embrace the community where you do business by finding and supporting a worthy cause. For example, if you live in a family-oriented community, you might sponsor an underfunded sports, arts, music, or after-school program. Maybe your community has an animal shelter, soup kitchen, library, or other nonprofit organization that needs help. You can find an opportunity, and for very few naira, contribute to a program that could use a boost.

Once you've chosen the charity you'd like to support, connect it to your business or your personal passion. Use your email and social-media marketing to share their story. Explain why you're getting involved, and encourage your customers to support the organization, too. Connecting to the challenges of your community shows that you're alert to what's going on around you beyond the daily grind of running your business.

2. Hold a fundraising event with other businesses.
You don't always have to go it alone. Band together with other related businesses vendors, and colleagues to raise funds for a local charity or cause. You'll all share the burden -- and the benefits, too. You'll give some great exposure to the organization you're helping, as well as your business and the others who lend a hand.

Publicize the event through all of the co-sponsors' email newsletters, Facebook Pages, Twitter and via Linkedin. Co-sponsoring a fundraiser, volunteer day, collections drive, or other charitable event is great way for people in your community to meet you and your business colleagues. And you'll be helping a cause that's close to your business address, and your heart.

3. Donate a portion of sales to a charity.
Donating a dollar amount or a portion of sales proceeds is another way to support a good cause. If possible, choose a charity that's strategically connected to your business. For example, a pet groomer could support a humane society or a restaurant could support a food pantry. Or maybe there's a charity connected to something that's touched your life or one of your employees. Ask customers to help you select a charity to support through a web-based poll, survey or Facebook's Question feature.

Need help identifying charities? Charity Navigator lists and ranks charities of all kinds. Check with your accountant before adopting a charity or holding a fundraiser to find out about Internal Revenue Service requirements regarding charitable contributions for business.

Once you've chosen your charity, decide on a Naira amount or the percentage of sales proceeds that you will donate to it. Post that on your website and on social media. Customers will know that by patronizing your business, they're also supporting a good cause. Use email and social-media marketing to spread the word about what you plan to do.

The holidays are a natural time to invite customers to join you in helping others. But you can support your chosen cause in a variety of ways all year long. It doesn't have to be with money: It can be through volunteering or using your business place as a drop-off point for Toys for Tots, a food drive, whatever the cause at hand may be. You set the example first. Then your customers will follow.

Brand Perception & Decision Making

Most imaging and document product segments are extremely competitive, with multiple brands competing for “share of mind” in the battle for overall market share. In many cases the competing products and services have very similar feature sets and price points that are available through comparable channels. Brand can often be the key discriminating factor in a customer’s decision to select one product over another.

Brand is essentially the sum of all experiences related to the product, service, and companies that make and deliver the product. Brand perceptions are shaped by functional experiences (i.e. speed, quality, reliability, ease of use) as well as emotional experiences (i.e. make me feel better, improve my performance, make my life/job more gratifying or easier) the customer associates with the product and company.

Brand experiences and perceptions are developed over time through a variety of sources, including:

Previous experience with the brand
Interactions with sales, customer service, and other employees
Recommendations from friends and colleagues
Reviews by reputable sources
Advertising

Brand managers need to understand how customers perceive and select brands in specific product categories and market segments. You also need to know what is important to customers when making a brand decision, where customers get information about products and services, and what customers think about your brand.

Most vendors are working with very tight margins and cannot afford to invest in programs that do not demonstrably improve their market position. With marketing costs increasing, you need objective input to make budget decisions for your marketing activities.

Diamondstar Int'l regularly conducts extensive brand decision research on the imaging and document technology markets. We can cost-effectively provide you with objective information and insights that will help guide your important marketing decisions.

Measure unaided and aided brand awareness
Determine brand share
Assess customers’ brand preference
Determine the information sources used in making brand decisions
Identify the key factors when selecting a brand
Measure the brand performance by key factors (i.e. performance, price,
availability)
Quantify the strength of the brand by components
Understand the role of sales representative in brand selection
Measure brand loyalty and premium or discount
Determine factors for switching brands

Contact Diamondstar Int'l for your: Marketing Research, Brand Communications, Public Relations, Advertisement, Corporate Design & Printing, Events Managements,Corporate Gift Items.

OUR VISION
Is to make non traditional
brand communications a
top drawer of both local
and foreign investments.

OUR MISSION
Is to make brand communications
creatively and extra ordinarily
exciting, easy to understand and
relate with and achieve desired
results for clients

OUR OBJECTIVES
To design initiatives that will earn public understanding and acceptance through scrupulously arranged advertising schemes, stories, branding based on research (platform) for our clients’ products/services.

OUR CORE VALUES
Integrity
Creativity At Its Peak
Respect For Customers’ Views
Prompt Delivery
Professionalism

OUR SERVICES
Brand Communications
Design & Prints
Advertisement
Marketing Communications
Public Relations
Events Managements
Information Technology
Media Planning and Buying

Whoever you are and whatever you do, we will help you to achieve your strategic goals through first class designs and marketing communications that are results oriented.
Our services are of first class quality standard, giving our customers the reassurance that our well-trained and passionate team will deliver quality advertising, branding, public relations, visual identity, direct mail, e-marketing, exhibition materials, graphic design, marketing/Political campaigns, print and websites.


Tell us your dream, we make it come true, if you have no one, we would create for you that would rule the market place.

For your next
Indoor and outdoor advertising
Neon sign display
Billboard construction
Visual identity
Design and prints
Customize t-shirt, face cap, pen, bag
Heat-transfer, embroidery
Advert placement
Corporate gift
… and lot more

Contact us or visit us @
Tel: +234 806 003 7277, +234 709 317 5098
Website: www.diamondstarint-brand.blogspot.com, www.diamondstarint-francis.blogspot.com
E-mail: diamondstarint.brand@hotmail.co.uk, diamondstarint.brand@gmail.com

Nigeria @ 51, I have something to say!

Nigeria, the efforts of Heroes past, the labour of gems that are gone.
Nigeria, the reward to promising hearth, perseverance is the key and a stand for the course of liberation brought about Nigeria of our time today.

Nigeria, a life lost vision lost but found and brought into lime-light on October 1, 1960

Hearth Beats:
Today, what definition could one best use to describe the Nigeria we can see?

Nigeria, now den of corruption, object and center of global sodomy, dichotomy, internal wobble and Scrabble, surprisingly; we have elders, leaders in thieves in disguise of leader, so to say: "Devil in the church"!

Who is a Leader?
A leader is a person who influences a group of people towards the achievement of a goal.

If i may ask:
i. Who is playing the role of positive impact on either our: education sector, economy, morals, culture to mention but a few.
ii. Who is your role-model?
iii. What is facilitating you to do what you're doing on daily basis?
iv. Do we have a true pastor in this country today? If yes by the ones we have around, what are they impacting, preaching etc

Isn't it social clubs we have around in the name of churches? I wept!!!

I see a church that suppose to call a national prayer order on a Nation's Independence Day organizing a social rally, where youths, said to be the future of our great nation gallivanting and dressed in masquerade clothes, projecting to be rallying for Christ, when we ought to be in sobering mood, militants are on rampage, boko haram uprising, who knows what group will come-up next?

Unstable power supply, the re-branded NEPA to PHCN simply means: "Please Hold Your Candle" and in the midst of all these that calls for sobriety, and we should humble ourselves in prayer and seek God's mercy, i see a body of Christ's representative, like the disciples were at Antioch before their ways of life qualified them to be referred to as "Christian" parading a social event, identifying with the world.

Then i asked, if this is what the church have to offer, why leave the world's ways of life to be called a "Born again"? if there is nothing to differentiate the church from the world, then we've missed it.A cry for help pls!!!

Even our Pastors that when they speak, the media run after them to here and publish whatever they say, they are all mute and watching our youths migrate to nudity is dress sense, distractions everywhere, eh! We shall all give account.

After all; our youths all wants to be 9ice, 2face D'banj etc. But how many of this names can our music industry produce in 5-10 years? How many Kachi's do we have? Music, Dance, Fashion has taken over, am not against all these, but what programme do we have on air today, that promotes our culture, not borrowed ones, which one encourages medicine students, lawyers, educationists, creativity, branding and so on, none, absolutely none!!

Posterity will not only curse us if we fail to wake to the task ahead and correct the wrongs in our society but ruin all our efforts for a better tomorrow.

I believe in Nigeria, I trust in the ability and intelligence of the Heroes of our time, am confident in this present administration to deliver the dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

I just can't continue to lay emphasis base on context, rather i rest my case here.

God bless Mr. President, God bless all our leaders, God bless His Church, God bless Nigeria, that we may truly be known as: "Good people, Great Nation".

By: Adejuyigbe A. Francis

Business Opportunity (Diamondstar Int'l)

RANONA BRANDS

Ranona Limited came into stream way back in 1995, where our main stay was predominantly in the importation of Fast Moving Commodity Goods (FMCG) up till 1999, when we started with the repackaging of Blue Boat Milk, the product that latter became a house hold name.

We were second in Nigeria after Cowbell to undertake the business of dispensing milk in smaller retail sachets with the intent of solving an economic down toll on the teeming population of Nigerians who couldn’t afford the luxury of 500gm Tin powder milk.

It was this astronomical growth of overwhelming acceptability that chorus our part into the success story of a major producer of Dairy related product in the Nigeria Market.
During this period under review, we had the following product range in the dairy category.

MILK: Under the dairy category we had Blue Boat Milk, then Blue Boat Choco, there after Blue Boat Oat, and at last we had Blue Boat StrawBerry and Habib Milk.
As time evolved, our growth evolution took us further in search of a complementary brand that can tally with the dairy food on the dining table, and that was how we came about the concept of adding cereals to our line of production.

CEREALS: Under the Cereal, we had Corn Flakes, Choco Balls, Rice Flakes and Honey pops. All these we have continued to produce and supply to the Nigeria market with notable visibility, awareness and national acceptability which has Leverage our present expansion growth within the category.
By march 2010, the limit of our expansion exploded beyond the bounds of dry, powdery food, as we metamorphosed into the wet liquefied food drink.
The quest for extension of our product line has driven us far beyond the borders of Nigeria shore, seeking for quality Brands with international reputation.
It was this curiosity that led us to France in search of one of its very best within the spectrum of our established terrain – Milk derivative in the wet.
We went, we sort, and we found Candia – a premium wholesome household Brand in France.

BRANDS UNDER CANDIA and RANONA FUSION
From the Candia, Ranona stable, we have got Twist – hosting, Apple, Orange and Multifruit , altogether 3 variants. Natures Fresh - hosting Apple, Orange, Coconut Pineapple, Pineapple, Black Current and Multifruit, altogether 5 variant. Under Candy’up, we have Chocolate and StrawBerry Milk. Altogether 2 variants. Smoozy –host 2 variants, Strawberry and plain Youghurt . Yojus – has Pineapple, Apple, Orange, Strawberry and Black Current, altogether 6 variants. And Candy’up Chocolate.

UHT Milk. Candia Milk- 0% Fat Skimmed milk, Low Fat and Full cream Milk, altogether 3 Variants. One must say here that the fusion of Candia and Ranona has brought lots of economic dividend with good omen to all parties.
As a State and Nation, it has lend credence to the revenue base drive of the state through its taxation policy and by inference the nation is a beneficiary. It has also opened window of employment to an otherwise teeming population of unemployed youth. As for our target audience, it has brought to the front burner a variety of choices to choose from thereby offering us the opportunity for multiple means of business sustainability, brand visibility and by extension, every body becomes a stake holder in this business.

AWARENES S OF OUR BRANDS AT THE MARKET PLACE
Nigeria is a complex market with varied consumer disposition and patterns which are being modulated by price, quality consciousness, self esteem promotion freaks and peculiar distribution channels
Our range faces direct market competition from products and brands that compete for consumers share of voice.

07093175098, 08060037277 or naturefresh.fruits@yahoo.com

A dream job opportunity with BIE – Apply now!

What does a dream job mean to you?

Is it a job that offers the greatest benefits or one that brings out the best in you?

If you asked me this question exactly 5 years ago, I would have said my dream job is one that will offer me the greatest benefit i.e. a multi-national (oil) company, that will assure me of goodies (holidays abroad, fast cars etc.) Fast forward >>>>> 5 years later, I would say to you, that my dream job should avail me an opportunity to develop my life and business skills.

In a future post, I would share with you how I got my dream job with Globacom. I got it at a time a lot of people thought there were no jobs, trust me on this – there is a job waiting for you, if you believe (and take appropriate action) that you are cut out to be an employee all your life. Personally, I look out for business and empowerment opportunities more than job opportunities but this is one opportunity that I want you to maximize, if you have a flare for sales and marketing.

Click here to apply for this dream job offer.

dream job
Questions to help you determine what your dream job is

1.
Does the job bring out the best in you (Personal Development)?
2.
Is there a room for advancement or will you be in one position for ages?
3.
If you get fired – is it a job that empowers you to easily start off with or without much assistance?
4.
Do you shout TGIF (thank God it’s Friday) so loudly?
5.
Do you look forward to Mondays?
6.
Is the environment supportive?
7.
Are you allowed to use your discretion thereby growing your ability to take responsibilities and make decisions?
8.
Does it reward performance or “eye service”?

Honestly, there is no perfect work environment but some work environments are more empowering than others and you have to look out for an environment that empowers you to succeed.

Why BIE is a dream job opportunity?

Business Improvement Experts (BIE) is an affiliate of Business Growth Experts LLC, a California based company, founded by another great Son of the soil Edwin Edebiri. Edwin has contributed positively to the American economy for well over 3 decades and now wants to make an impact at home (Nigeria). I’ll do a review of his latest book; Creating a Brighter Future in the nearest future.

Here is what John Fleming, (Publisher of Direct Selling News) has to say about Edwin;

I’ve had the opportunity to see Edwin Edebiri inspire and enlighten those who want to turn their dreams into reality, both in person and online.
Requirements for this dream job;

* Ability to work with little or no supervision essential.
* Candidates must be able to set, meet and surpass targets.
* A higher institution degree (Emphasis is placed MORE on your ability to deliver)…….

Get more details about this dream job offer @ www.jobs.cfagbata.com

Please do not try to contact me directly, visit the link above and follow very simple instructions. This is a performance based dream job opportunity and not a ‘man know man’ kind of thing.

If you apply and eventually become a part of the BIE team;

* You will have access to some great minds that will help you to reach your goals in life and not just “use” and dump you.
* You will get compensated for your efforts and contributions all the way.

You may be wondering why I am calling this job a dream job without even considering whether you feel the same way about it? Personally, I believe it is a dream job indeed but it’s definitely not for everyone – if you are result oriented, self motivated, focused, determined and ready to think and act like an entrepreneur, then this is an opportunity you have been waiting for.

Apply (or share with someone else) only if you have a flare for Sales and Marketing.

There is no stopping a person who discovers herself or himself….. CFA
So what does a dream job mean to you?
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If you this post, you may also like these:

1. International Job Opportunities – A Simple Guide to Landing the Best International Job
2. Why Agel is a good Home Business Opportunity for Everyone and You
3. The Three Stages of Success with Natureline Solutions Home Based Business Opportunity

Get more details about this dream job offer @ www.jobs.cfagbata.com

The Importance of Image in Business Communications

As a parent, I try to teach my children to look beyond people’s appearances, and not to judge others based on if they’re wearing the latest fashions, or if their appearance is not as aesthetically pleasing as others. We live in a world where we are bombarded by messages that material things matter. While we may aim to teach our children to look beyond the first impression to what the person is like underneath, we do not get the same opportunity in the business world.

In the business world, image is everything. Studies have been done on how customers judge a potential service provider, and if they don’t feel comfortable with the company’s image and how it is being conveyed, chances are the customer will choose not to purchase from that company.

There is no place where this idea comes onto play more than on a business website. Smart companies know that they only have a few minutes, if not mere seconds, to make a good first impression when a customer lands on their website. What happens if that company’s home page is full of distracting images, out of date information, and copy that is poorly put together, full of (heaven forbid) spelling and grammatical errors?

Image is everything on the web. A lost sale is only a click away. How can a company grab the visitor’s attention and keep it? The answer is in the website’s written content. The rise in online business and written communications on web pages and in email increases the power of words. Words say so much about you; your attention to detail, your educational background, your level of business savvy. Mistakes in your written words convey an image of laziness; that you don’t know any better, and that if you don’t pay attention to your business image, what kind of service or product can the customer expect?

Don’t look like an amateur! Business communications exist as important tools used to develop customer loyalty, and customer loyalty is necessary to turn those hits into sales. Hire a professional brand analyst to write for your business, and you will see the results.

ADVERTISING CONTINUATION (Marketing Mix)

The marketing mix has been the key concept to advertising. The marketing mix was suggested by professor E. Jerome McCarthy in the 1960s. The marketing mix consists of four basic elements called the four P’s. Product is the first P representing the actual product. Price represents the process of determining the value of a product. Place represents the variables of getting the product to the consumer like distribution channels, market coverage and movement organization. The last P stands for Promotion which is the process of reaching the target market and convincing them to go out and buy the product.

Advertising Theory
* Hierarchy of effects model[8]

It clarifies the objectives of an advertising campaign and for each individual advertisement. The model suggests that there are six steps a consumer or a business buyer moves through when making a purchase. The steps are:

1. Awareness
2. Knowledge
3. Liking
4. Preference
5. Conviction
6. Purchase

* Means-End Theory

This approach suggests that an advertisement should contain a message or means that leads the consumer to a desired end state.

* Leverage Points

It is designed to move the consumer from understanding a product's benefits to linking those benefits with personal values.

Types of advertising
Virtually any medium can be used for advertising. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cinema and television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popups, skywriting, bus stop benches, human billboards, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, banners attached to or sides of airplanes ("logojets"), in-flight advertisements on seatback tray tables or overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers,doors of bathroom stalls,stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart handles (grabertising), the opening section of streaming audio and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts. Any place an "identified" sponsor pays to deliver their message through a medium is advertising.
[edit] Digital advertising

Television advertising / Music in advertising
The TV commercial is generally considered the most effective mass-market advertising format, as is reflected by the high prices TV networks charge for commercial airtime during popular TV events. The annual Super Bowl football game in the United States is known as the most prominent advertising event on television. The average cost of a single thirty-second TV spot during this game has reached US$3 million (as of 2009). The majority of television commercials feature a song or jingle that listeners soon relate to the product. Virtual advertisements may be inserted into regular television programming through computer graphics. It is typically inserted into otherwise blank backdrops[9] or used to replace local billboards that are not relevant to the remote broadcast audience.[10] More controversially, virtual billboards may be inserted into the background[11] where none exist in real-life. This technique is especially used in televised sporting events.[12][13] Virtual product placement is also possible.[14][15] Infomercials: An infomercial is a long-format television commercial, typically five minutes or longer. The word "infomercial" combining the words "information" & "commercial". The main objective in an infomercial is to create an impulse purchase, so that the consumer sees the presentation and then immediately buys the product through the advertised toll-free telephone number or website. Infomercials describe, display, and often demonstrate products and their features, and commonly have testimonials from consumers and industry professionals.

Radio advertising
Radio advertising is a form of advertising via the medium of radio. Radio advertisements are broadcast as radio waves to the air from a transmitter to an antenna and a thus to a receiving device. Airtime is purchased from a station or network in exchange for airing the commercials. While radio has the limitation of being restricted to sound, proponents of radio advertising often cite this as an advantage. Radio is an expanding medium that can be found not only on air, but also online. According to Arbitron, radio has approximately 241.6 million weekly listeners, or more than 93 percent of the U.S. population.

Online advertising
Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web for the expressed purpose of delivering marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads that appear on search engine results pages, banner ads, in text ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, advertising networks and e-mail marketing, including e-mail spam.

Product placements
Covert advertising, also known as guerrilla advertising, is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with the Bulgari logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converse shoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, VAIO, BMW and Aston Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale. In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", the main transport vehicle shows a large Dodge logo on the front. Blade Runner includes some of the most obvious product placement; the whole film stops to show a Coca-Cola billboard.

Physical advertising

Press advertising
Press advertising describes advertising in a printed medium such as a newspaper, magazine, or trade journal. This encompasses everything from media with a very broad readership base, such as a major national newspaper or magazine, to more narrowly targeted media such as local newspapers and trade journals on very specialized topics. A form of press advertising is classified advertising, which allows private individuals or companies to purchase a small, narrowly targeted ad for a low fee advertising a product or service. Another form of press advertising is the Display Ad, which is a larger ad (can include art) that typically run in an article section of a newspaper.

Billboard advertising: Billboards are large structures located in public places which display advertisements to passing pedestrians and motorists. Most often, they are located on main roads with a large amount of passing motor and pedestrian traffic; however, they can be placed in any location with large amounts of viewers, such as on mass transit vehicles and in stations, in shopping malls or office buildings, and in stadiums.

The RedEye newspaper advertised to its target market at North Avenue Beach with a sailboat billboard on Lake Michigan.

Mobile billboard advertising
Mobile billboards are generally vehicle mounted billboards or digital screens. These can be on dedicated vehicles built solely for carrying advertisements along routes preselected by clients, they can also be specially equipped cargo trucks or, in some cases, large banners strewn from planes. The billboards are often lighted; some being backlit, and others employing spotlights. Some billboard displays are static, while others change; for example, continuously or periodically rotating among a set of advertisements. Mobile displays are used for various situations in metropolitan areas throughout the world, including: Target advertising, One-day, and long-term campaigns, Conventions, Sporting events, Store openings and similar promotional events, and Big advertisements from smaller companies.

In-store advertising
In-store advertising is any advertisement placed in a retail store. It includes placement of a product in visible locations in a store, such as at eye level, at the ends of aisles and near checkout counters, eye-catching displays promoting a specific product, and advertisements in such places as shopping carts and in-store video displays.

Coffee cup advertising
Coffee cup advertising is any advertisement placed upon a coffee cup that is distributed out of an office, café, or drive-through coffee shop. This form of advertising was first popularized in Australia, and has begun growing in popularity in the United States, India, and parts of the Middle East.[citation needed]

Street advertising
This type of advertising first came to prominence in the UK by Street Advertising Services to create outdoor advertising on street furniture and pavements. Working with products such as Reverse Graffiti and 3d pavement advertising, the media became an affordable and effective tool for getting brand messages out into public spaces.

Celebrity branding
This type of advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, money, popularity to gain recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products. Advertisers often advertise their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite products or wear clothes by specific brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general products. The use of celebrities to endorse a brand can have its downsides, however. One mistake by a celebrity can be detrimental to the public relations of a brand. For example, following his performance of eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, swimmer Michael Phelps' contract with Kellogg's was terminated, as Kellogg's did not want to associate with him after he was photographed smoking marijuana.

Sales promotions
Sales promotions are another way to advertise. Sales promotions are double purposed because they are used to gather information about what type of customers you draw in and where they are, and to jumpstart sales. Sales promotions include things like contests and games, sweepstakes, product giveaways, samples coupons, loyalty programs, and discounts. The ultimate goal of sales promotions is to stimulate potential customers to action.[16]
[edit] Media and advertising approaches

Increasingly, other media are overtaking many of the "traditional" media such as television, radio and newspaper because of a shift toward consumer's usage of the Internet for news and music as well as devices like digital video recorders (DVRs) such as TiVo.

Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Prices of Web-based advertising space are dependent on the "relevance" of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives.

Digital signage is poised to become a major mass media because of its ability to reach larger audiences for less money. Digital signage also offer the unique ability to see the target audience where they are reached by the medium. Technological advances have also made it possible to control the message on digital signage with much precision, enabling the messages to be relevant to the target audience at any given time and location which in turn, gets more response from the advertising. Digital signage is being successfully employed in supermarkets.[17] Another successful use of digital signage is in hospitality locations such as restaurants.[18] and malls.[19]

E-mail advertising is another recent phenomenon. Unsolicited bulk E-mail advertising is known as "e-mail spam". Spam has been a problem for e-mail users for many years.

Some companies have proposed placing messages or corporate logos on the side of booster rockets and the International Space Station. Controversy exists on the effectiveness of subliminal advertising (see mind control), and the pervasiveness of mass messages (see propaganda).

Unpaid advertising (also called "publicity advertising"), can provide good exposure at minimal cost. Personal recommendations ("bring a friend", "sell it"), spreading buzz, or achieving the feat of equating a brand with a common noun (in the United States, "Xerox" = "photocopier", "Kleenex" = tissue, "Vaseline" = petroleum jelly, "Hoover" = vacuum cleaner, "Nintendo" (often used by those exposed to many video games) = video games, and "Band-Aid" = adhesive bandage) — these can be seen as the pinnacle of any advertising campaign. However, some companies oppose the use of their brand name to label an object. Equating a brand with a common noun also risks turning that brand into a genericized trademark - turning it into a generic term which means that its legal protection as a trademark is lost.

As the mobile phone became a new mass media in 1998 when the first paid downloadable content appeared on mobile phones in Finland, it was only a matter of time until mobile advertising followed, also first launched in Finland in 2000. By 2007 the value of mobile advertising had reached $2.2 billion and providers such as Admob delivered billions of mobile ads.

More advanced mobile ads include banner ads, coupons, Multimedia Messaging Service picture and video messages, advergames and various engagement marketing campaigns. A particular feature driving mobile ads is the 2D Barcode, which replaces the need to do any typing of web addresses, and uses the camera feature of modern phones to gain immediate access to web content. 83 percent of Japanese mobile phone users already are active users of 2D barcodes.

A new form of advertising that is growing rapidly is social network advertising. It is online advertising with a focus on social networking sites. This is a relatively immature market, but it has shown a lot of promise as advertisers are able to take advantage of the demographic information the user has provided to the social networking site. Friendertising is a more precise advertising term in which people are able to direct advertisements toward others directly using social network service.

From time to time, The CW Television Network airs short programming breaks called "Content Wraps," to advertise one company's product during an entire commercial break. The CW pioneered "content wraps" and some products featured were Herbal Essences, Crest, Guitar Hero II, CoverGirl, and recently Toyota.

Recently, there appeared a new promotion concept, "ARvertising", advertising on Augmented Reality technology.
Current trends

Rise in new media
With the dawn of the Internet came many new advertising opportunities. Popup, Flash, banner, Popunder, advergaming, and email advertisements (the last often being a form of spam) are now commonplace. Particularly since the rise of "entertaining" advertising, some people may like an advertisement enough to wish to watch it later or show a friend. In general, the advertising community has not yet made this easy, although some have used the Internet to widely distribute their ads to anyone willing to see or hear them. In the last three quarters of 2009 mobile and internet advertising grew by 18.1% and 9.2% respectively. Older media advertising saw declines: −10.1% (TV), −11.7% (radio), −14.8% (magazines) and −18.7% (newspapers ).

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Definition

1. The non-personal communication of information usually paid for & usually persuasive in nature, about products (goods & services) or ideas by identified sponsor through various media. 2.Any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization, product ,service, or idea from an identified sponsor. 3.Paid non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media to persuade influence an audience. 4. The element of the marketing communication mix that is non personal paid for an identified sponsor, & disseminated through mass channels of communication to promote the adoption of goods, services, person or ideas. 5.An informative or persuasive message carried by a non personal medium & paid for by an identified sponsor whose organization or product is identified in some way. 6. Impersonal; one way communication about a product or organization that is paid by marketer.

History

Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock art paintings that date back to 4000 BC. [2] History tells us that Out-of-home advertising and billboards are the oldest forms of advertising.

As the towns and cities of the Middle Ages began to grow, and the general populace was unable to read, signs that today would say cobbler, miller, tailor or blacksmith would use an image associated with their trade such as a boot, a suit, a hat, a clock, a diamond, a horse shoe, a candle or even a bag of flour. Fruits and vegetables were sold in the city square from the backs of carts and wagons and their proprietors used street callers (town criers) to announce their whereabouts for the convenience of the customers.

As education became an apparent need and reading, as well as printing, developed advertising expanded to include handbills. In the 17th century advertisements started to appear in weekly newspapers in England. These early print advertisements were used mainly to promote books and newspapers, which became increasingly affordable with advances in the printing press; and medicines, which were increasingly sought after as disease ravaged Europe. However, false advertising and so-called "quack" advertisements became a problem, which ushered in the regulation of advertising content.

As the economy expanded during the 19th century, advertising grew alongside. In the United States, the success of this advertising format eventually led to the growth of mail-order advertising.

In June 1836, French newspaper La Presse was the first to include paid advertising in its pages, allowing it to lower its price, extend its readership and increase its profitability and the formula was soon copied by all titles. Around 1840, Volney B. Palmer established the roots of the modern day advertising agency in Philadelphia. In 1842 Palmer bought large amounts of space in various newspapers at a discounted rate then resold the space at higher rates to advertisers. The actual ad- the copy, layout, and artwork- was stilled prepared by the company wishing to advertise; in effect, Palmer was a space broker. The situation changed in the late 19th century when the advertising agency of N.W. Ayer & Son was founded. Ayer and Son offered to plan, create, and execute complete advertising campaigns for its customers. By 1900 the advertising agency had become the focal point of creative planning, and advertising was firmly established as a profession. [3] Around the same time, in France, Charles-Louis Havas extended the services of his news agency, Havas to include advertisement brokerage, making it the first French group to organize. At first, agencies were brokers for advertisement space in newspapers. N. W. Ayer & Son was the first full-service agency to assume responsibility for advertising content. N.W. Ayer opened in 1869, and was located in Philadelphia.[3]
An 1895 advertisement for a weight gain product.

At the turn of the century, there were few career choices for women in business; however, advertising was one of the few. Since women were responsible for most of the purchasing done in their household, advertisers and agencies recognized the value of women's insight during the creative process. In fact, the first American advertising to use a sexual sell was created by a woman – for a soap product. Although tame by today's standards, the advertisement featured a couple with the message "The skin you love to touch".[4]

In the early 1920s, the first radio stations were established by radio equipment manufacturers and retailers who offered programs in order to sell more radios to consumers. As time passed, many non-profit organizations followed suit in setting up their own radio stations, and included: schools, clubs and civic groups.[5] When the practice of sponsoring programs was popularised, each individual radio program was usually sponsored by a single business in exchange for a brief mention of the business' name at the beginning and end of the sponsored shows. However, radio station owners soon realised they could earn more money by selling sponsorship rights in small time allocations to multiple businesses throughout their radio station's broadcasts, rather than selling the sponsorship rights to single businesses per show.
A print advertisement for the 1913 issue of the Encyclopædia Britannica

This practice was carried over to television in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A fierce battle was fought between those seeking to commercialise the radio and people who argued that the radio spectrum should be considered a part of the commons – to be used only non-commercially and for the public good. The United Kingdom pursued a public funding model for the BBC, originally a private company, the British Broadcasting Company, but incorporated as a public body by Royal Charter in 1927. In Canada, advocates like Graham Spry were likewise able to persuade the federal government to adopt a public funding model, creating the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. However, in the United States, the capitalist model prevailed with the passage of the Communications Act of 1934 which created the Federal Communications Commission.[5] However, the U.S. Congress did require commercial broadcasters to operate in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity".[6] Public broadcasting now exists in the United States due to the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act which led to the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio.

In the early 1950s, the DuMont Television Network began the modern practice of selling advertisement time to multiple sponsors. Previously, DuMont had trouble finding sponsors for many of their programs and compensated by selling smaller blocks of advertising time to several businesses. This eventually became the standard for the commercial television industry in the United States. However, it was still a common practice to have single sponsor shows, such as The United States Steel Hour. In some instances the sponsors exercised great control over the content of the show—up to and including having one's advertising agency actually writing the show. The single sponsor model is much less prevalent now, a notable exception being the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the introduction of cable television and particularly MTV. Pioneering the concept of the music video, MTV ushered in a new type of advertising: the consumer tunes in for the advertising message, rather than it being a by-product or afterthought. As cable and satellite television became increasingly prevalent, specialty channels emerged, including channels entirely devoted to advertising, such as QVC, Home Shopping Network, and ShopTV Canada.

Marketing through the Internet opened new frontiers for advertisers and contributed to the "dot-com" boom of the 1990s. Entire corporations operated solely on advertising revenue, offering everything from coupons to free Internet access. At the turn of the 21st century, a number of websites including the search engine Google, started a change in online advertising by emphasizing contextually relevant, unobtrusive ads intended to help, rather than inundate, users. This has led to a plethora of similar efforts and an increasing trend of interactive advertising.
Advertisement for a live radio broadcast, sponsored by a milk company and published in the Los Angeles Times on May 6, 1930

The share of advertising spending relative to GDP has changed little across large changes in media. For example, in the US in 1925, the main advertising media were newspapers, magazines, signs on streetcars, and outdoor posters. Advertising spending as a share of GDP was about 2.9 percent. By 1998, television and radio had become major advertising media. Nonetheless, advertising spending as a share of GDP was slightly lower—about 2.4 percent.[7]

A recent advertising innovation is "guerrilla marketing", which involve unusual approaches such as staged encounters in public places, giveaways of products such as cars that are covered with brand messages, and interactive advertising where the viewer can respond to become part of the advertising message.Guerrilla advertising is becoming increasing more popular with a lot of companies. This type of advertising is unpredictable and innovative, which causes consumers to buy the product or idea. This reflects an increasing trend of interactive and "embedded" ads, such as via product placement, having consumers vote through text messages, and various innovations utilizing social network services such as Facebook.

Public Service Advertisement

The advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as HIV/AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation and deforestation.

Advertising, in its non-commercial guise, is a powerful educational tool capable of reaching and motivating large audiences. "Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest—it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes."

Public service advertising, non-commercial advertising, public interest advertising, cause marketing, and social marketing are different terms for (or aspects of) the use of sophisticated advertising and marketing communications techniques (generally associated with commercial enterprise) on behalf of non-commercial, public interest issues and initiatives.

The granting of television and radio licenses by the FCC is contingent upon the station broadcasting a certain amount of public service advertising. To meet these requirements, many broadcast stations in America air the bulk of their required public service announcements during the late night or early morning when the smallest percentage of viewers are watching, leaving more day and prime time commercial slots available for high-paying advertisers.

Public service advertising reached its height during World Wars I and II under the direction of more than one government. During WWII President Roosevelt commissioned the creation of The War Advertising Council (now known as the Ad Council) which is the nation's largest developer of PSA campaigns on behalf of government agencies and non-profit organizations, including the longest-running PSA campaign, Smokey Bear. Continues

Management 101

What is management? What do managers do? How do I manage?

These are standard questions that most of us in the management profession have been asked more than once. And questions we asked once in our careers too. Here, then, is a basic look at management, a primer, Management 101 from my perspective.

Art and Science
Management is both art and science. It is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you. The science is in how you do that. There are four basic pillars: plan, organize, direct, and monitor.

Make Them More Effective
Four workers can make 6 units in an eight-hour shift without a manager. If I hire you to manage them and they still make 6 units a day, what is the benefit to my business of having hired you? On the other hand, if they now make 8 units per day, you, the manager, have value.

The same analogy applies to service, or retail, or teaching, or any other kind of work. Can your group handle more customer calls with you than without? Sell higher value merchandise? Impart knowledge more effectively? etc. That is the value of management - making a group of individual more effective.

Basic Management Skill #1: Plan
Management starts with planning. Good management starts with good planning. And proper prior planning prevents… well, you know the rest of that one.

Without a plan you will never succeed. If you happen to make it to the goal, it will have been by luck or chance and is not repeatable. You may make it as a flash-in-the-pan, an overnight sensation, but you will never have the track record of accomplishments of which success is made.

Figure out what your goal is (or listen when your boss tells you). Then figure out the best way to get there. What resources do you have? What can you get? Compare strengths and weaknesses of individuals and other resources. Will putting four workers on a task that takes 14 hours cost less than renting a machine that can do the same task with one worker in 6 hours? If you change the first shift from an 8 AM start to a 10 AM start, can they handle the early evening rush so you don't have to hire an extra person for the second shift?

Look at all the probable scenarios. Plan for them. Figure out the worst possible scenario and plan for that too. Evaluate your different plans and develop what, in your best judgement, will work the best and what you will do if it doesn't.

TIP: One of the most often overlooked management planning tools is the most effective. Ask the people doing the work for their input.

Basic Management Skill #2: Organize
Now that you have a plan, you have to make it happen. Is everything ready ahead of your group so the right stuff will get to your group at the right time? Is your group prepared to do its part of the plan? Is the downstream organization ready for what your group will deliver and when it will arrive?

Are the workers trained? Are they motivated? Do they have the equipment they need? Are there spare parts available for the equipment? Has purchasing ordered the material? Is it the right stuff? Will it get here on the appropriate schedule?

Do the legwork to make sure everything needed to execute the plan is ready to go, or will be when it is needed. Check back to make sure that everyone understands their role and the importance of their role to the overall success.

Basic Management Skill #3: Direct
Now flip the "ON" switch. Tell people what they need to do. I like to think of this part like conducting an orchestra. Everyone in the orchestra has the music in front of them. They know which section is playing which piece and when. They know when to come in, what to play, and when to stop again. The conductor cues each section to make the music happen. That's your job here. You've given all your musicians (workers) the sheet music (the plan). You have the right number of musicians (workers) in each section (department), and you've arranged the sections on stage so the music will sound best (you have organized the work). Now you need only to tap the podium lightly with your baton to get their attention and give the downbeat.

Basic Management Skill #4: Monitor
Now that you have everything moving, you have to keep an eye on things. Make sure everything is going according to the plan. When it isn't going according to plan, you need to step in and adjust the plan, just as the orchestra conductor will adjust the tempo.

Problems will come up. Someone will get sick. A part won't be delivered on time. A key customer will go bankrupt. That is why you developed a contingency plan in the first place. You, as the manager, have to be always aware of what's going on so you can make the adjustments required.

This is an iterative process. When something is out of sync, you need to Plan a fix, Organize the resources to make it work, Direct the people who will make it happen, and continue to Monitor the effect of the change.

Is It Worth It
Managing people is not easy. However, it can be done successfully. And it can be a very rewarding experience. Remember that management, like any other skill, is something that you can improve at with study and practice.

The Pathway to Reputation

Brand reputation does not happen ‘just like that’. There is a yellow brick road that is more or less paved, leading from brand professionals thinking about the subject, right down to the reputation being formed.
Intent

Brand management aims to create brand by intentional action. Deliberate decisions are made about brand personality, brand values, brand positioning, brand logos, etc. Attention is paid to customers and competitors. Done smartly, the whole strategy and culture of the company are lined up behind the brand to deliver on the intent.

And yet none of this is the brand. It may be intended to be the brand, but brand itself is still far away.
Enactment

Despite best intent, there’s many a slip and the enactment of brand-oriented plans will never come off perfectly. Even when people start with a perfect intent, they have to formulate their action based on their inner world of understanding.

Unfortunately, the map is not the territory. But we constantly act as if it is. We take our inner maps that we have built to help us understand the world around us and then formulate actions that will perfectly achieve our intent. But the plan is already flawed because nobody has the right map. Our inner maps are gross simplifications of a massively complex outer reality.

And as if this was bad enough, even putting the perfect plan into action is doomed as our actions are secretly twisted by our inner biases, goals and deeper needs.

Enactment is still not the brand. However it is getting closer than the intent. It is the difference between Argyris’ Espoused Theory and Theory In Use. You are what you do, not what you say. Company values is the totality of what their people do, not a neat list of values on the website.

Like a bullet fired, the enactment of the brand has no meaning until it reaches its destination. And even then it has far to go before a reputation is formed.

Perception

When the brand messages in all their glorious forms reach the people standing in their way, the brand itself is starting to form. This happens in the perception that is created in the heads of both intended customers and innocent bystanders. It is as perceived by everyone who touches the brand in any way, whether from a lifetime’s experience or a brief third-hand mention from a passing stranger.

Perception does not come clean and pre-packaged. We take direct experience and infer meaning by passing it through a set of highly-biased perceptual filters. First we classify, using broad mental models and unique memories. Then we assess for immediate threats. Then we test against expectations and goals, re-predict the future and compare against our values. To complicate things further, all of this is biased by our current emotional state.

The eventual perception we infer is thus far from the sensory inputs we receive. Even after the original perception, we continue to ponder, muse and reflect on our experiences, changing their meaning even further.

Perception is the brand as experienced. Perception is not reputation, but reputation is perception.

Transmission

When I buy something from a company or otherwise experience the brand, I am getting a first-hand snapshot of what the brand really delivers. From this I directly develop my perception of the brand. On the other hand, if I listen to what others say then I am getting a second-hand version of events. I get their perception, which I then modify via my perceptual process. And if that transmission is third-hand, fourth-hand or more, then the effect is multiplied further.

Communicated perception is reputation, but from a single person it is just a single data-point. If I am inclined to believe that person and act on their perception, then for me, that is all the reputation I need. But many people do not just go on the say-so of a single point of authority. They listen to others and think for themselves, too.

Communication

We not only listen to other people when they talk about brands—we also talk back, asking them questions and offering our own perceptions. Out of the conversation a shared meaning (or as much as this can happen) arises. Thus brand reputation may be viewed as being socially constructed.

Thus reputation is not created in individual perception, nor even in a second-hand, unidirectional transmission, but in the dynamics of real communication between two or more individuals.

True communication is communing, the joining of minds as is sought in open inquiry or dialogue. However this nirvana seldom happens. It is more like a battleground of ideas and wills, where evolution occurs in real-time. Discussions go around and about and eventually the loudest voice or the clearest idea takes root as an unspoken, tacit agreement.

In many ways, the birth or change of a brand reputation is tied up with the brand reputation of the people doing the arguing. People with strong reputations, who command attention and trust, have the greatest potential to forge the actual reputation of the brand under discussion.

Diffusion

Beyond the local conversations whereby I get a personal sense of brand reputation, there are thousands of such conversations that travel across the unbroken network of human relationships. This is where the total reputation of the brand is built. There are many factors that affect diffusion, as identified by Everett Rogers and others.

Some people know more people and talk more than others. Some people are listened to more carefully than others. The brand perception as received by these people will thus travel further than from others.

But people belong to groups, and almost by definition converse more with in-group people and have different attitudes toward them than towards out-group others. Reputation is thus likely to grow differently within each group. Brand ideas will jump between groups like a forest blaze leaping a fire break only when there is sufficient heat and sufficient connection.

And at any one time, reputation reaches as far across groups as the fire has spread. In some it may be fixed and established, whilst to other it may still be novel and a subject of heated debate.

Decision

In the final analysis, the value of a brand comes in the simplification that it brings to decision-making. The inferred promise of a brand enables us to short-cut the evaluative part of the decision process. In our inner construction of the brand we have already done this, mapping out a simplified meaning.

When we choose between brands, rather than guess or choose on tangible aspects such as price, we compare the brand values that we have inferred and hence rapidly make what we assume will be a wise and safe decision.

The reputation of a brand includes an element of reliability. The psychology of judgment under uncertainty rears its head here, and our perceptions of 100% reliable are very different from even a 99% perception. This explains at least in part the fragility of reputation. The psychology of betrayal and retributive justice is another minefield for the unwary.

The Branding message in a New Month

There is no doubt that whenever we're to experience another month, we are always preparing for: new heights, character, blessing, expectations are always on the high side, either positive or negative. And each new months are profoundly branded that we all know their names, infact; some of us even know what each months means Biblically or otherwise, February and March, biblically means: "New Heights". In line with this; if each month, year etc, comeswith an expectation in the minds of the target audience, the qustion now is: What is/are the perception of Nigerian in arriving in each of these months, what are the plans of our representatives at the governement house, how did they intend to make our brand promise a reality via "Nigeria, Good People, Great Nation", are we really a good people from on-the-inside? Fine Nigeria is a great nation, but mind you, a nation cannot be great when the people in it are not great cus a nation does not drive itself, it's being pioneer by the intellectuality of the people that resides in it. As i want to saddle us with the responsibilty of a branded mind that would achieve a targetted goal in this new month of February, pls be positive about this country, it ddoesn't matter what the "fear-dogs" are doing, but with you and me, together with same vision, mission, mandate and task, we'll indeed make Nigeria the homeland of "good people, great nation"!

Still to come: New Month - My Brand, My Mind

Kind Regards

The Diamond Team

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Perception Management

Things are not always what they seem to be.

And that is exactly the way some people like it.

When times are bad, they want us to think they are good and getting better.

When damage is being done, they hope we will be unable to see the clear cutting behind the line of trees cleverly left to block the sight of drivers along the road system.

Long ago, Alice discovered that Life really was a Mad Tea Party and Wonderland was a clever theme park meant to displace that tedious thing called reality.

Concealing the truth from public view has become a dishonorable but lucrative profession in many nations as power brokers seek to maintain their grip by distorting perceptions of reality. Good citizens in this brave world will be compliant and accepting rather than challenging and critical.

Power brokers hope to continue doing bad works by making them seem like good works.

Some call this SPIN. Others call it MisInformation. Still others call it propaganda.

Just Say It Isn't So

Some of this phenomenon is caused by wishful thinking. Sometimes folks have a low tolerance for bad news and reality. Sometimes they find reality shows (a true oxymoron) a huge relief from the real world. At a time when action heroes and wrestlers become governors or world leaders, the cartoon replaces serious drama while fiction, melodrama, soap opera and fantasy shove aside that boring thing we used to call LIFE.

Ironically, the BIG LIE is easier to swallow than the BITTER TRUTH.

Next thing we note true believers swallowing the latest party line hook, line and sinker without questioning its veracity.

Do we want our children to grow up embracing such weak standards of veracity?

Must verity and veracity become orphaned twins, casualties of a cynical age willing to sacrifice truth to the winds of expediency and fashion?

Shall we allow presumption and bias to substitute for judgment and reason, displacing longstanding traditions of gathering evidence and looking before leaping?



Soft Truth, Soft Evidence and Soft Drinks

Some of the population is content with coddling and pandering. Few leaders are rewarded for confronting or communicating the difficult truth.

"Tell us what we want to hear!" the voices shout in chorus as a host of leaders and PR merchants churn out messages of reassurance and optimism to mask the fumes of cultural landfills.

Media Literacy?

Is there a literacy lurking here some place? Is there a curriculum?

What should schools do to equip students to live in these times of pessimism dressed up as optimism and of greed masquerading as compassion and generosity?

In the past we have relied upon media literacy to arm students against misinformation, propaganda and grotesque marketing, but it may not be sufficient to the task at hand.

When veracity is sent packing to loud applause from the general public, the society lurches like a runaway freight train screaming down a mountain grade. The Roman Circus kept folks happy and entertained as Rome's reach exceeded its grasp and its world ambitions led to its eventual decline. Efforts at entertainment often seems to peak when cultures reach self-defeating extremes. Recent freakish experiments with reality shows should serve as a warning as we lurch into a new century celebrating the eating of insects and the firing of apprentices.

Sugar-Coatings

When air pollution, water pollution and other forms of corruption are packaged attractively as social benefits, we lurch and stumble away from decency. We lose our way. We wander and stumble. The bitter pill starts to taste like candy. Why worry about water quality when we can mask the taint and the sour flavor with enhancers and artificial sweeteners?

How would you compare this to be a reality and not a perception of the situation in Nigeria?
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Happy New Year, Public Relator

The main goal of a public relations department is to enhance a company’s reputation. Staff that work in public relations, or as it is commonly known, PR, are skilled publicists. They are able to present a company or individual to the world in the best light. The role of a public relations department can be seen as a reputation protector.

The business world of today is extremely competitive. Companies need to have an edge that makes them stand out from the crowd, something that makes them more appealing and interesting to both the public and the media. The public are the buyers of the product and the media are responsible for selling it.

Public relations provide a service for the company by helping to give the public and the media a better understanding of how the company works. Within a company, public relations can also come under the title of public information or customer relations. These departments assist customers if they have any problems with the company. They are usually the most helpful departments, as they exist to show the company at their best.

PR also helps the company to achieve its full potential. They provide feedback to the company from the public. This usually takes the form of research regarding what areas the public is most happy and unhappy with.

People often have the perception of public relations as a group of people who spin everything. Spin can mean to turn around a bad situation to the company’s advantage. It is true that part of the purpose of public relations is to show the company in a positive light no matter what. There are certain PR experts that a company can turn to for this particular skill.

The public often think of PR as a glamorous job. Public relations people seem to have been tarred with the image of constant partying and networking to find new contacts. The reality is usually long hours and hard work for anyone involved in public relations.

There are certain skills necessary to work in the world of PR. These include a very high level of communication skills, written and verbal. The PR person must also be very adept at multitasking and time management. He or she may also have some form of media background or training in order to understand how the media and advertising work. Organizational and planning skills are also important in public relations.

The PR worker must also be able to cope very well under pressure. He or she must have the ability to cope with a barrage of questions from the media and the public. If a company comes under critical attack, it is the PR department who must take control of the situation. They must effectively answer the criticism and turn it around in order to protect the company’s reputation.

A public relations worker usually has some form of relevant college qualification. Competition for jobs in PR is fierce. A talented public relations person has the opportunity to work up from a junior account executive to an account director in around five years. This is not a nine to five job; the hours are long and can be stressful. However, for successful PR workers, the pay is good and the perks may be even better.