I met a young lady on Twitter about seven months ago. An issue was trending on twitter back then and we had opposing opinions, we kept attacking each other to the point that she insulted me and called me a novice.
I finally entered her DM with the aim of advising her…but she was waiting with an apology which I accepted and we became pals.
After thirty days of chatting non stop we decided to meet! She lives in Port Harcourt while I’m based in Lagos, she arranged my flight, booked my hotel, without asking for money. She told me to give her when we see. I was touched.
So I met Dara, 29, she is not drop dead gorgeous, not beautiful by the standard of many but the most unusually beautiful girl I have seen. Chatty, funny and charming.
She took me to the hotel and long story short, we had sex. She didn’t spend the night with me but returned the next day to see me.
I returned to Lagos with nothing in my heart but the accomplishment of ‘catching’ another girl. I told my friends everything about her, and they laughed at how easily I laid her.
I stopped chatting with her, avoided her calls for two weeks until I realized I was hooked, not infatuation, not the sex, I was in love. I talked to my friends and they thought I was a fool. They called her ‘cheap’ ‘slut’ and all that, they said she’d sleep with everyone like that.
The thing is I don’t think Dara is like that, I think I seduced her and gave her no room to really resist. I called her and apologized for being MIA. We’ve been good since then, but my greatest regret is talking to my friends about her.
They don’t treat her well, they are convinced she is bad. “No one marries the girl they slept with on the first date” they keep telling me.
I love her, I want to marry her, she has given me no cause to worry… I want to believe my friends are wrong on this! Is there a guy here who married a lady he slept with on the first date? Am I safe? I haven’t proposed but I know I want to marry her…
Tuesday, 19 June 2018
Ajaokuta Steel
No Nigerian can visit Ajaokuta Steel Company ASC, see investments of more than $8b rotting in the African sun and not cry. i went there, I cried. what exactly is the problem? if I have written severally on this topic, but today let me do a comprehensive post.
Ajaokuta Steel Company is massive, she has 68km road network, 24 housing estates on the project. Some of the estates have over 1,000 homes, a seaport, a 110mw power generation plant, there are 43 separate plants in Ajaokuta alone. It is estimated that if Ajaokuta becomes operational, it will create 500,000 jobs.
There is no industrialized nation on earth that does not have a steel sector it’s that simple. A report by the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that Nigeria currently imports steel, aluminum products and associated derivatives of approximately 25 metric tonnes per annum estimated at $4.5bn, this figure will continue to rise, and the Nigerian economy continues to expand. Ajaokuta is an integrated steel company, it was designed by the Russian to be self-sufficient to get all its inputs from Nigeria and make steel. Ajaokuta strength is also its weakness, Ajaokuta can only work with all inputs available.
this will be a slightly technical post, but please try and follow.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon amongst other things, iron is the base metal in steel, to make steel, you need Iron Ore, Coke from Coal, Limestone as main components. these components are mixed in a blast furnace to produce liquid steel which can be long steel for rail lines or flat steel for automobile making etc
To give a simple example, look at steel as making jollof rice, iron ore is the rice, the limestone and coke are the pepper and salt the pot is the blast furnace. At a steel plane the blast furnace is ONLY turned on when the steel company is ready to make steel. Blast furnaces operate continuously and are never shut down. The raw material to be fed into the furnace is divided into several small charges that are introduced into the furnace at 10- to 15-min intervals. this means everything must be in place BEFORE the blast furnace is turned on, the iron ore, the coal, the limestone, everything, why? Because you do not switch off a blast furnace for another 10 years or however its campaign life is.
Nigeria has blessed with all the major raw materials needed to produce steel including iron ore in Kogi, coal and limestone in Enugu.
Nigerian iron has very low iron concentration. Agbaja has the largest iron ore deposit in Nigeria with about 2 billion tonnes but the Agbaja iron ore has a high phosphate content. Phosphate can cause brittleness in steel making it to fracture, thus Agbaga was abandoned for Itakpe. Itakpe iron ore has no issues with phosphate but has low iron content, thus to make steel with Nigeria iron ore, a process called “beneficiation” has to be done to process the Itakpe ores to raise its iron content to meet the required standard for steel production.
Coal? Most of the coal found in Nigeria is non-coking, thus, unsuitable for steel production. coal deposits in Enugu, have no impurities but are non-coking. The good news? Nigeria has abundant deposit of limestone and we have natural gas to provide power
So back to Ajaokuta, what really happened? why can Nigeria not make steel anytime soon? let’s link up the elements
Policy Failure: The Ajaokuta contract was signed between the Nigerian government and the Soviet state-owned company, Tiajpromexport (TPE) the company was scheduled for completion in 1986. In 2012, the Federal Government launched her backward integration policy. Going forward import licenses for steel products was only granted to companies producing steel locally. TPE to ensure they could import steel parts for Ajaokuta simply went ahead and built the rolling mills in Ajaokuta before the actual steel plant was completed, they imported billet from Ukraine to accomplish this. Thus, Ajaokuta was producing steel before the actual steel plant was started. Thus, amazingly Ajaokuta has a functional rolling mills but no operational blast furnace, Ajaokuta cannot produce steel from basic iron ore found in Nigeria in her blast furnace.…this is the definition of cart before the horse.
NIOMCO Factor: The iron ore in Nigeria earmarked for Ajaokuta is from Itakpe, it has low iron content thus the FG built National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) a 2.15 metric tonnes beneficiation plant designed to process the low-quality iron ore from Itakpe to iron ore suitable for Ajaokuta Steel. Simply put, if NIOMCO does not operate, Ajaokuta CANNOT operate (unless Ajaokuta uses imported iron ore.) as at today, June 17th 2018, NIOMCO is not operational
Railway: 15m tonnes of iron ore cannot be moved by road, as it will destroy the roads, thus a railway was to be built from Itakpe to Ajaokuta to take iron ore from the beneficiation plan in Itakpe to the Ajaokuta. The. Itakpe to Ajaokuta by rail is just 52km, the rail line was to be delivered by March 2019, but the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi revised the delivery date to June 2018 and converted the purely commercial railway to also carry human passengers. These changes meant the cost of the project and delivery dates had to change as passenger wagons and train stations had to be built. To achieve this, 12 new passenger stations and 12 access roads had to be designed and built. The Itakpe to Ajaokuta (IA) has two stations. As at June 2018, The station IA1 – Eganyi to Itakpe, is still under design. Station AW1 – Ajaokuta (standard station) (zero per cent work done). Thus the railways are not functional
Blast Furnace: The furnace in Ajaokuta is the heart of Ajaokuta, it is the pot where the jollof rice will be cooked, however it has never been turned on, why? because there has never been any time Ajaokuta has had raw materials available to ensure continuous day in day out production for 5 years. Why has there never been materials? Because there is no rail way to take iron ore from Itakpe to Ajaokuta. Why is there no railway from Itakpe to Ajaokuta? Because NIOMCO in Itakpe is moribund and no functional and cannot convert Nigeria iron ore to high grade ore for the furnace in Ajaokuta.
So, it follows that for Ajaokuta to work, we MUST have three key critical paths
1. NIOMCO must be functional
2. Itakpe to Ajaokuta Railway line must be functional
3. Blast Furnace operational
U
All three are not functional, so its clear Nigeria cannot make steel in Ajaokuta. Nothing however stops a corrupt government official from importing billets and running them in the rolling mills to deceive tax payers. So, when anyone tells you Ajaokuta will soon work ask them, can a steel plant work without NIOMCO, railways and a blast furnace?
All is not gloom, Kayode Fayemi as Minister was able to secure an out of court about Ajaokuta, we must build on this
In closing, Ajaokuta is the only steel plant in the world built by the USSR, sold to Americans, then to Indians, all these teams have come and gone with their own technical style, there have even been accusations of asset stripping by the Indians.
So why this post? because I am a patriot, I will not sit by and watch scarce resources be wasted in a grand deceit. Probably some corrupt folks have told Mr President that Ajaokuta can produce economically viable steel if “small” dollars are spent. You can already see how the critical rail line delivery dates was moved back to ensure it is done in time for 2019 elections, yet it is still in design stage. Ajaokuta is Nigeria and probably Africa biggest failure. It has failed. Can it be made to work yes but the cost to integrate Ajaokuta with her mines and rails can be used to build new smaller modern turn key functional steel mills. The government should get out of Ajaokuta, sell the place and allows the private sector capital and expertise restructure and own it.
If you want to make jollof rice and there is no rice the solution is not to keep boiling water without rice but to go and get rice.
Ajaokuta Steel Company is massive, she has 68km road network, 24 housing estates on the project. Some of the estates have over 1,000 homes, a seaport, a 110mw power generation plant, there are 43 separate plants in Ajaokuta alone. It is estimated that if Ajaokuta becomes operational, it will create 500,000 jobs.
There is no industrialized nation on earth that does not have a steel sector it’s that simple. A report by the Central Bank of Nigeria shows that Nigeria currently imports steel, aluminum products and associated derivatives of approximately 25 metric tonnes per annum estimated at $4.5bn, this figure will continue to rise, and the Nigerian economy continues to expand. Ajaokuta is an integrated steel company, it was designed by the Russian to be self-sufficient to get all its inputs from Nigeria and make steel. Ajaokuta strength is also its weakness, Ajaokuta can only work with all inputs available.
this will be a slightly technical post, but please try and follow.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon amongst other things, iron is the base metal in steel, to make steel, you need Iron Ore, Coke from Coal, Limestone as main components. these components are mixed in a blast furnace to produce liquid steel which can be long steel for rail lines or flat steel for automobile making etc
To give a simple example, look at steel as making jollof rice, iron ore is the rice, the limestone and coke are the pepper and salt the pot is the blast furnace. At a steel plane the blast furnace is ONLY turned on when the steel company is ready to make steel. Blast furnaces operate continuously and are never shut down. The raw material to be fed into the furnace is divided into several small charges that are introduced into the furnace at 10- to 15-min intervals. this means everything must be in place BEFORE the blast furnace is turned on, the iron ore, the coal, the limestone, everything, why? Because you do not switch off a blast furnace for another 10 years or however its campaign life is.
Nigeria has blessed with all the major raw materials needed to produce steel including iron ore in Kogi, coal and limestone in Enugu.
Nigerian iron has very low iron concentration. Agbaja has the largest iron ore deposit in Nigeria with about 2 billion tonnes but the Agbaja iron ore has a high phosphate content. Phosphate can cause brittleness in steel making it to fracture, thus Agbaga was abandoned for Itakpe. Itakpe iron ore has no issues with phosphate but has low iron content, thus to make steel with Nigeria iron ore, a process called “beneficiation” has to be done to process the Itakpe ores to raise its iron content to meet the required standard for steel production.
Coal? Most of the coal found in Nigeria is non-coking, thus, unsuitable for steel production. coal deposits in Enugu, have no impurities but are non-coking. The good news? Nigeria has abundant deposit of limestone and we have natural gas to provide power
So back to Ajaokuta, what really happened? why can Nigeria not make steel anytime soon? let’s link up the elements
Policy Failure: The Ajaokuta contract was signed between the Nigerian government and the Soviet state-owned company, Tiajpromexport (TPE) the company was scheduled for completion in 1986. In 2012, the Federal Government launched her backward integration policy. Going forward import licenses for steel products was only granted to companies producing steel locally. TPE to ensure they could import steel parts for Ajaokuta simply went ahead and built the rolling mills in Ajaokuta before the actual steel plant was completed, they imported billet from Ukraine to accomplish this. Thus, Ajaokuta was producing steel before the actual steel plant was started. Thus, amazingly Ajaokuta has a functional rolling mills but no operational blast furnace, Ajaokuta cannot produce steel from basic iron ore found in Nigeria in her blast furnace.…this is the definition of cart before the horse.
NIOMCO Factor: The iron ore in Nigeria earmarked for Ajaokuta is from Itakpe, it has low iron content thus the FG built National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) a 2.15 metric tonnes beneficiation plant designed to process the low-quality iron ore from Itakpe to iron ore suitable for Ajaokuta Steel. Simply put, if NIOMCO does not operate, Ajaokuta CANNOT operate (unless Ajaokuta uses imported iron ore.) as at today, June 17th 2018, NIOMCO is not operational
Railway: 15m tonnes of iron ore cannot be moved by road, as it will destroy the roads, thus a railway was to be built from Itakpe to Ajaokuta to take iron ore from the beneficiation plan in Itakpe to the Ajaokuta. The. Itakpe to Ajaokuta by rail is just 52km, the rail line was to be delivered by March 2019, but the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi revised the delivery date to June 2018 and converted the purely commercial railway to also carry human passengers. These changes meant the cost of the project and delivery dates had to change as passenger wagons and train stations had to be built. To achieve this, 12 new passenger stations and 12 access roads had to be designed and built. The Itakpe to Ajaokuta (IA) has two stations. As at June 2018, The station IA1 – Eganyi to Itakpe, is still under design. Station AW1 – Ajaokuta (standard station) (zero per cent work done). Thus the railways are not functional
Blast Furnace: The furnace in Ajaokuta is the heart of Ajaokuta, it is the pot where the jollof rice will be cooked, however it has never been turned on, why? because there has never been any time Ajaokuta has had raw materials available to ensure continuous day in day out production for 5 years. Why has there never been materials? Because there is no rail way to take iron ore from Itakpe to Ajaokuta. Why is there no railway from Itakpe to Ajaokuta? Because NIOMCO in Itakpe is moribund and no functional and cannot convert Nigeria iron ore to high grade ore for the furnace in Ajaokuta.
So, it follows that for Ajaokuta to work, we MUST have three key critical paths
1. NIOMCO must be functional
2. Itakpe to Ajaokuta Railway line must be functional
3. Blast Furnace operational
U
All three are not functional, so its clear Nigeria cannot make steel in Ajaokuta. Nothing however stops a corrupt government official from importing billets and running them in the rolling mills to deceive tax payers. So, when anyone tells you Ajaokuta will soon work ask them, can a steel plant work without NIOMCO, railways and a blast furnace?
All is not gloom, Kayode Fayemi as Minister was able to secure an out of court about Ajaokuta, we must build on this
In closing, Ajaokuta is the only steel plant in the world built by the USSR, sold to Americans, then to Indians, all these teams have come and gone with their own technical style, there have even been accusations of asset stripping by the Indians.
So why this post? because I am a patriot, I will not sit by and watch scarce resources be wasted in a grand deceit. Probably some corrupt folks have told Mr President that Ajaokuta can produce economically viable steel if “small” dollars are spent. You can already see how the critical rail line delivery dates was moved back to ensure it is done in time for 2019 elections, yet it is still in design stage. Ajaokuta is Nigeria and probably Africa biggest failure. It has failed. Can it be made to work yes but the cost to integrate Ajaokuta with her mines and rails can be used to build new smaller modern turn key functional steel mills. The government should get out of Ajaokuta, sell the place and allows the private sector capital and expertise restructure and own it.
If you want to make jollof rice and there is no rice the solution is not to keep boiling water without rice but to go and get rice.
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
The Truth About Making Money On Fiverr As A Nigerian
Fiverr is a marketplace and everyone is on the platform for serious business, be it the client or the seller.
Think of Fiverr as a real business, wake up every morning and look for ways to better your business. Work on every order like it is your first, treat every client like they are your only client (Excluding those Indian, Bangladesh & Pakistani client sha �)
I'll address 2 things on my post;
1. Making sales
2. Charging big bucks
Talking about making sales, I've always believed and reiterated that the best means of traffic is from Fiverr itself. If your gig is visible and you offer quality services plus good reviews, the sales will definitely come.
So before you even think of starting, equip yourself with a skill. Get someone to teach you or make YouTube and Google your tutor. Once you learn the basics of any service you want to offer, go on create your account and set up a gig. Improve yourself along the way until you are good enough.
I started a new account recently, I'll tell you what I did.
After creating my account, wrote my profile description, used a profile pic that actually depicts that of a professional. I didn't hurry to start creating a gig just yet, I had to search for sellers offering the same service I wanted to offer, I checked what they were all doing and the price they were charging. Now I realized I had a lot of competitors here an it'll take something spectacular to stand out.
What did I do? I decided to offer something extra and enticing.
I'll give you some examples.
Seller 1 gig: I will write a 500 words article for your blog
(Seller 1 is offering 500 words article and has gotten enough online presence and reviews, if I set up a gig like that. Client will clearly choose seller 1 over me �)
My gig: I will write an engaging 600 words article
(An extra 100 words can do magic you know �)
Now if you can add something enticing to you gig description it'll get better.
Examples;
1. Free stock photo for your blog post (there are so many free photos to use on google search)
2. Give you a free plagiarism report ( Even a free plagiarism checker can give you a report). Attach it and send to your clients.
Extra additions are valued by client and it could be the sole reason why they will be attracted to you.
Even if you are into graphics niche, you can offer PSD file for free.
(Note: This is done to attract the clients to yourself, you can charge higher once you attain higher levels).
Even after offering something extra, you might not get the sales yet.
What next?
Reviews!
Reviews!!
Reviews!!!!
Don't underestimate the power of reviews, no client will entrust his job to a newbie unless of course you are lucky.
But you don't have to wait for luck. So get the reviews up, 2-4 reviews should do for a start.
Even after offering something extra and buying reviews, what next?
Patience, patience my friend �
After setting up my gig and buying reviews, I didn't get any order for 1 week and 3 days. I wasn't bothered, I was only checking my gig analytics for number of clicks and impressions.
Well, when the messages and orders started coming it was overwhelming.
• Getting Clients from Outside Fiverr?•
Yes, you can get clients from outside Fiverr.
Have you ever searched online looking for a solution to something and then you open a blog post, then another. And after reading through the blog post you find yourself going through the comments under the blog post? Yes, that's it!
You can drop comments on YouTube videos or top forums on topics relating to the service you are offering.
For instance, you are offering and SEO service on Fiverr. You can search on YouTube for Videos on SEO.
Make a helpful comment attaching your Fiverr profile link to it (using a link shortener)
Example:
"Thanks Nate for your SEO tutorial, I find linkbuilding really difficult and confusing. I'll definitely put this to practice, but I'm using a professional SEO expert for my website now. Found him in one of those freelancing site, he's been amazing for me. (Profile link here) is his service page , you can check him out."
Above is a sample comment, and believe me 2 out of 10 people who read through will check you out. You can also try this on top forums like Quora �
• About Charging Big bucks •
One thing I've realized over time is, if you keep offering a service your client knows everything about. You will die of revisions and you can't charge high regularly �
A client can easily pay a writer $50 for $10 articles ($5 per article).
Another client will easily pay a video animator $300 for a 10sec animation video or a web designer same amount.
It's obvious web designing & animation requires much more skill and tools compared to writing.
But the client is also paying more because he has little knowledge on how it is done.
This is not to make you think your niche is poor, No! For every niche on Fiverr someone is averaging at least $2000 monthly, so why can't you?
Every category on Fiverr has sub categories, some are more difficult than others. If you think it's possible to make thousands of $$$$ on Fiverr with a basic skill, I'm sorry it doesn't work that way. You will have to master your craft and learn more about your field.
• Knowing The Difference Between Personal Task and Business Task •
If you offer a service that is mostly patronized by individuals, you will find it difficult to make the big bucks.
No one will fork out $1000 dollars just to draw a cartoon portrait of himself or pay you $2000 to build a blog to post his personal activities.
If your gig is not adding or improving a business, then it's time for a rethink. Every service can improve a business depending on how it is packaged.
80% of clients on Fiverr are small business owners or digital marketers working for companies.
Now think of how your gig can benefit their business and offer it to them. If your service will help them make money then you make money as well.
Example:
I run a blog and monitize it using Adsense, after spending $1000 on ads I made just $1300 for the month ($300 in profit). Now this is poor in every standard, then I come on Fiverr and see an expert who says he can help me do blog SEO and increase my Adsense earnings. He charges me $600 and did a good job, I earned $2500 the next month with same $1000 spent on ads.
Now will I pay this same expert more money to improve my blog or increase my ads spent?
Your guess is as good as mine �
• Communication •
Communication is one key to getting or losing a potential job. Learn how to communicate with your client. Every message you receive is a potential order, if your client request to know more about your service and ask you how much you'll charge him, he has also messaged other sellers too. The best communicator with a reasonable pricing always gets the job.
After working for your client, always try to upsell if you can. Look for something extra if you can and offer it to your client.
Sometime ago, a client messaged me to help her write an Ebook. I agreed!
Now an Ebook is not just about writing, but also design. Time to upsell �
I simply asked the client if she has an Ebook cover yet or need someone to help her with it. Well, she said yes!
I simply talked her on how I can get my graphics partner to help her with it. Sent her a couple of samples and she loved it. Then she asked me the question I love hearing "How much will this cost?"
I simply sent her a custom offer, she accepted while I got someone to help me with the design. I ended up profiting not only from writing but also from designing even without drawing a line.
• Last one is Packaging. •
You are graphics Designer, you can't even design your own gig image and you don't have a gallery online to show your clients? Weldone!
You are a writer, you don't have a blog sample or personal blog to show your client when you can open a blogger's blog for free? C'mon!
You are a video editor, you don't have a YouTube channel or sample account? Issokay!
You are serious seller and you can't pay $5-10 bucks to get a pro gig image or video. But you expect your client to pay you big money. Who are you kidding!
Appear pro, look pro, then charge pro �
I'm sorry I couldn't make it brief as promised, but I'll conclude with 3 things you need to grow on Fiverr.
- Patience
- Packaging
- Persistency
Think of Fiverr as a real business, wake up every morning and look for ways to better your business. Work on every order like it is your first, treat every client like they are your only client (Excluding those Indian, Bangladesh & Pakistani client sha �)
I'll address 2 things on my post;
1. Making sales
2. Charging big bucks
Talking about making sales, I've always believed and reiterated that the best means of traffic is from Fiverr itself. If your gig is visible and you offer quality services plus good reviews, the sales will definitely come.
So before you even think of starting, equip yourself with a skill. Get someone to teach you or make YouTube and Google your tutor. Once you learn the basics of any service you want to offer, go on create your account and set up a gig. Improve yourself along the way until you are good enough.
I started a new account recently, I'll tell you what I did.
After creating my account, wrote my profile description, used a profile pic that actually depicts that of a professional. I didn't hurry to start creating a gig just yet, I had to search for sellers offering the same service I wanted to offer, I checked what they were all doing and the price they were charging. Now I realized I had a lot of competitors here an it'll take something spectacular to stand out.
What did I do? I decided to offer something extra and enticing.
I'll give you some examples.
Seller 1 gig: I will write a 500 words article for your blog
(Seller 1 is offering 500 words article and has gotten enough online presence and reviews, if I set up a gig like that. Client will clearly choose seller 1 over me �)
My gig: I will write an engaging 600 words article
(An extra 100 words can do magic you know �)
Now if you can add something enticing to you gig description it'll get better.
Examples;
1. Free stock photo for your blog post (there are so many free photos to use on google search)
2. Give you a free plagiarism report ( Even a free plagiarism checker can give you a report). Attach it and send to your clients.
Extra additions are valued by client and it could be the sole reason why they will be attracted to you.
Even if you are into graphics niche, you can offer PSD file for free.
(Note: This is done to attract the clients to yourself, you can charge higher once you attain higher levels).
Even after offering something extra, you might not get the sales yet.
What next?
Reviews!
Reviews!!
Reviews!!!!
Don't underestimate the power of reviews, no client will entrust his job to a newbie unless of course you are lucky.
But you don't have to wait for luck. So get the reviews up, 2-4 reviews should do for a start.
Even after offering something extra and buying reviews, what next?
Patience, patience my friend �
After setting up my gig and buying reviews, I didn't get any order for 1 week and 3 days. I wasn't bothered, I was only checking my gig analytics for number of clicks and impressions.
Well, when the messages and orders started coming it was overwhelming.
• Getting Clients from Outside Fiverr?•
Yes, you can get clients from outside Fiverr.
Have you ever searched online looking for a solution to something and then you open a blog post, then another. And after reading through the blog post you find yourself going through the comments under the blog post? Yes, that's it!
You can drop comments on YouTube videos or top forums on topics relating to the service you are offering.
For instance, you are offering and SEO service on Fiverr. You can search on YouTube for Videos on SEO.
Make a helpful comment attaching your Fiverr profile link to it (using a link shortener)
Example:
"Thanks Nate for your SEO tutorial, I find linkbuilding really difficult and confusing. I'll definitely put this to practice, but I'm using a professional SEO expert for my website now. Found him in one of those freelancing site, he's been amazing for me. (Profile link here) is his service page , you can check him out."
Above is a sample comment, and believe me 2 out of 10 people who read through will check you out. You can also try this on top forums like Quora �
• About Charging Big bucks •
One thing I've realized over time is, if you keep offering a service your client knows everything about. You will die of revisions and you can't charge high regularly �
A client can easily pay a writer $50 for $10 articles ($5 per article).
Another client will easily pay a video animator $300 for a 10sec animation video or a web designer same amount.
It's obvious web designing & animation requires much more skill and tools compared to writing.
But the client is also paying more because he has little knowledge on how it is done.
This is not to make you think your niche is poor, No! For every niche on Fiverr someone is averaging at least $2000 monthly, so why can't you?
Every category on Fiverr has sub categories, some are more difficult than others. If you think it's possible to make thousands of $$$$ on Fiverr with a basic skill, I'm sorry it doesn't work that way. You will have to master your craft and learn more about your field.
• Knowing The Difference Between Personal Task and Business Task •
If you offer a service that is mostly patronized by individuals, you will find it difficult to make the big bucks.
No one will fork out $1000 dollars just to draw a cartoon portrait of himself or pay you $2000 to build a blog to post his personal activities.
If your gig is not adding or improving a business, then it's time for a rethink. Every service can improve a business depending on how it is packaged.
80% of clients on Fiverr are small business owners or digital marketers working for companies.
Now think of how your gig can benefit their business and offer it to them. If your service will help them make money then you make money as well.
Example:
I run a blog and monitize it using Adsense, after spending $1000 on ads I made just $1300 for the month ($300 in profit). Now this is poor in every standard, then I come on Fiverr and see an expert who says he can help me do blog SEO and increase my Adsense earnings. He charges me $600 and did a good job, I earned $2500 the next month with same $1000 spent on ads.
Now will I pay this same expert more money to improve my blog or increase my ads spent?
Your guess is as good as mine �
• Communication •
Communication is one key to getting or losing a potential job. Learn how to communicate with your client. Every message you receive is a potential order, if your client request to know more about your service and ask you how much you'll charge him, he has also messaged other sellers too. The best communicator with a reasonable pricing always gets the job.
After working for your client, always try to upsell if you can. Look for something extra if you can and offer it to your client.
Sometime ago, a client messaged me to help her write an Ebook. I agreed!
Now an Ebook is not just about writing, but also design. Time to upsell �
I simply asked the client if she has an Ebook cover yet or need someone to help her with it. Well, she said yes!
I simply talked her on how I can get my graphics partner to help her with it. Sent her a couple of samples and she loved it. Then she asked me the question I love hearing "How much will this cost?"
I simply sent her a custom offer, she accepted while I got someone to help me with the design. I ended up profiting not only from writing but also from designing even without drawing a line.
• Last one is Packaging. •
You are graphics Designer, you can't even design your own gig image and you don't have a gallery online to show your clients? Weldone!
You are a writer, you don't have a blog sample or personal blog to show your client when you can open a blogger's blog for free? C'mon!
You are a video editor, you don't have a YouTube channel or sample account? Issokay!
You are serious seller and you can't pay $5-10 bucks to get a pro gig image or video. But you expect your client to pay you big money. Who are you kidding!
Appear pro, look pro, then charge pro �
I'm sorry I couldn't make it brief as promised, but I'll conclude with 3 things you need to grow on Fiverr.
- Patience
- Packaging
- Persistency
Tuesday, 6 February 2018
Footballer Dele Alli's Estranged Parents Beg To Be Allowed Share His Life...
Nigerian-born England footballer and Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli’s heartbroken yesterday, revealed their despair at having no part in the superstar’s life. In an extraordinary interview, Dele’s mum Denise repeatedly breaks down as she tells how she now cries herself to sleep at night over the ordeal.
And his father Kehinde, a multi-millionaire businessman, tells how the only thing missing in his life is his first-born son.
Despite splitting when Dele was a child, his parents came together this week and spoke out in a desperate bid to repair their relationship with the £60,000-a-week Spurs midfielder.
As they opened up family albums to reveal happy photos of Dele’s childhood Kehinde, 47, told the Sunday Mirror: “I just do not understand what we have done wrong. He refuses to speak to me and it feels like he’s been taken from us. But I won’t give up on getting him back.”
Dele’s mum Denise, 53, added: “I’m a very miserable person because I get so sad that Dele is missing out on his family and we’re missing out on him. I want to be able to hug him and let him know we all love him to bits. I’m not interested in his money, I’d love him the same if he worked in McDonald’s. We just want our son back.”
Dele, 20, is considered English football’s biggest rising star. He won the prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of last season and is now being linked with a mega-money move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
But while his career has rocketed since leaving home-town club Milton Keynes Dons, his relationship with his parents has completely broken down.
Neither has been able to see him since he signed for Tottenham in February 2015 – an estrangement which has not only broken their hearts but left them bewildered.
Dele Alli said he had no comment to make on his parents’ claims.
From Mirror
And his father Kehinde, a multi-millionaire businessman, tells how the only thing missing in his life is his first-born son.
Despite splitting when Dele was a child, his parents came together this week and spoke out in a desperate bid to repair their relationship with the £60,000-a-week Spurs midfielder.
As they opened up family albums to reveal happy photos of Dele’s childhood Kehinde, 47, told the Sunday Mirror: “I just do not understand what we have done wrong. He refuses to speak to me and it feels like he’s been taken from us. But I won’t give up on getting him back.”
Dele’s mum Denise, 53, added: “I’m a very miserable person because I get so sad that Dele is missing out on his family and we’re missing out on him. I want to be able to hug him and let him know we all love him to bits. I’m not interested in his money, I’d love him the same if he worked in McDonald’s. We just want our son back.”
Dele, 20, is considered English football’s biggest rising star. He won the prestigious PFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of last season and is now being linked with a mega-money move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
But while his career has rocketed since leaving home-town club Milton Keynes Dons, his relationship with his parents has completely broken down.
Neither has been able to see him since he signed for Tottenham in February 2015 – an estrangement which has not only broken their hearts but left them bewildered.
Dele Alli said he had no comment to make on his parents’ claims.
From Mirror
Monday, 29 January 2018
Farmers in Nasarawa State kill 73 cows, injure 18 in reprisal attacks
Seventy three cows were killed while 18 more were injured in an early morning attack on Yamadaga village, Kadarko community in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State by suspected cattle rustlers.
The cattle rustlers invaded Kadarko community around 4:00 am on Sunday, January 29 shooting into the air. They were reported to have kidnapped two persons, chasing other cows into the bush in the process. The victims of the attack who were mostly herdsmen claimed that the masterminds of the attack were Tiv farmers and that it was a reprisal attack.
Ahmed Abdullahi one of the cow owners said the rustlers unleashed mayhem when the villagers were asleep. “I was sleeping and then I heard bullet sound everywhere, I didn’t see anybody but they killed my 73 cows, some of them were dispersed into the bush and I haven’t seen two of my children,” he said.
A chief in the village, Ardo of Yamadaga, Husseini Adamu, said the attackers were numbering close to 1,000 and they struck welding various dangerous weapons. “In the morning around 6:00 am, our children saw some Tiv people numbering up to 1,000 holding sophisticated weapons. They killed some cattle, went away with many. They even took motorcycles. Before I came, the place was already in chaos and we realised that at a spot they have killed 73 cows excluding the ones that they carted away with and also they went with two of our children,” he said.
Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Bello, confirmed the report of the attack to Channels Television. He said investigations are on to unravel the identity of the attackers.
BBNaija 2018 Rules For The Housemates!
This year's BBnaija which is themed “Double Wahala” has just kicked off.
Our ever blazing presenter- Ebuka obi-uchendu is doing what he knows how to do best and new housemates are gradually being introduced, they are all coming in on a race to win a whopping sum of 45 million naira in this third Season.
Last year’s was tagged, “See Gobe”, This year’s edition is tagged: “Double Wahala”
The aim of the show is to have fun; however for the duration of the show, the Housemates are subject to Biggie’s rules.
These rules need to be followed from the moment the Housemates enter the House until the moment they leave. Take a look at the below;
Big Brother’s rules of law:
Rule 1: Housemates must respect the House and their fellow contestants at all times.
Rule 2: The Housemates will have no contact with the outside world and they are kept busy by the various tasks and challenges set by Biggie. Being in such close proximity with a house full of strangers can be tough going and Biggie has set rules that need to be followed.
Rule 3: Big Brother has complete control over everything going on in the house and Biggie never discusses anything that goes on outside of the house with anyone inside.
Rule 4: The Housemates are filmed 24/7 and they must have their microphones on at all times. The viewers must be able to hear all conversations at all times and are not allowed to whisper or cover their mouths while speaking to fellow Housemates. They are also not allowed to reveal the location of the cameras and microphones.
Rule 5: Diary Sessions are one of the most important aspects of the show’s success and are compulsory. Once a Housemate is called to the Diary Room, they must drop everything they are doing and proceed to the Diary Room. Failure to do so will result in a fine, “a strike” or worse. Housemates can request to enter the Diary Room at any time of the day or night. Sunglasses and hats are not permitted in the Diary Room. The door for the Diary Room will be locked when not in use and no one is allowed into the room if it is occupied.
Important to note:
Diary Sessions and Nominations are compulsory and Housemates need to give valid reasons for nominating a fellow Housemate. Biggie reserves the right to take his time to answer any questions, but will always return with an answer. Biggie will not entertain any personal questions. What happens in the Diary Room stays in the Diary Room and Housemates cannot discuss anything that happens in the Diary Room. Exceptions to this rule are events such as Head of House Tasks.
Rule 6: Nominations are important and Housemates are not allowed to discuss the reasons for their nominations with anyone other than Big Brother. If a Housemate does so it will be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to influence others. They are not allowed to communicate via hints, signs, symbols or written notes. Housemates are not allowed to enter into any alliance or scheme to plot the downfall of fellow Housemates. Communication in the house in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and any other local language other than English is not permitted.
Rule 7: Housemates are not allowed to strike, intimidate, threaten or act in any way that can be construed as violent towards any fellow Housemates. This could result in immediate disqualification.
Rule 8: Housemates are not allowed to bring the following into the house:
– CDs, CD players, radios, iPod, iPad
– Walkmans, DVD/Blu-Ray players, televisions
– Mobile phones, Smart phones
– Computers, Laptops, Notepads
– Video game consoles, Computer games
– Calendars
– Diaries
– Pen and paper or any writing materials
– Eyeliner (Or any other make-up that could be used for writing.)
– Alarm clocks
– Watches
– Any electronic equipment requiring batteries
– Weapons, drugs and narcotics
– Medication (except for agreed personal medication in consultation with Big Brother)
– Clothes with prominent logos, clothes with fine stripes or dots, silk clothes, solid white clothes.)
– Your pet cat and your children (although, you can bring pictures of your children and your cat)
Rule 10: Housemates can bring the following into the House:
– Cigarettes / cigars / tobacco
– Reading material, either a book or magazine.
– Moisturising cream
– Shaving foam, deodorant, shower lotion, pack of razor blades
– Day cream, night cream and eye cream
– One cleansing lotion. Cleansing tonic.
– Perfume or after shave
– Hairspray/ gel hair conditioner and wax
– Lip balm
– Musical Instrument (provided it doen’t need batteries)
Rule 11: Biggies’ word is law and all Housemates must comply with his requests at all times without fail.
Rule 12: Only Biggie can open up the storage room where the Housemates will find everything that they need for Tasks, Challenges etc. Biggie will inform the Housemates that the Storage Room is open and the Head of House will proceed there to retrieve what Biggie has put there for the Housemates daily and weekly needs
Our ever blazing presenter- Ebuka obi-uchendu is doing what he knows how to do best and new housemates are gradually being introduced, they are all coming in on a race to win a whopping sum of 45 million naira in this third Season.
Last year’s was tagged, “See Gobe”, This year’s edition is tagged: “Double Wahala”
The aim of the show is to have fun; however for the duration of the show, the Housemates are subject to Biggie’s rules.
These rules need to be followed from the moment the Housemates enter the House until the moment they leave. Take a look at the below;
Big Brother’s rules of law:
Rule 1: Housemates must respect the House and their fellow contestants at all times.
Rule 2: The Housemates will have no contact with the outside world and they are kept busy by the various tasks and challenges set by Biggie. Being in such close proximity with a house full of strangers can be tough going and Biggie has set rules that need to be followed.
Rule 3: Big Brother has complete control over everything going on in the house and Biggie never discusses anything that goes on outside of the house with anyone inside.
Rule 4: The Housemates are filmed 24/7 and they must have their microphones on at all times. The viewers must be able to hear all conversations at all times and are not allowed to whisper or cover their mouths while speaking to fellow Housemates. They are also not allowed to reveal the location of the cameras and microphones.
Rule 5: Diary Sessions are one of the most important aspects of the show’s success and are compulsory. Once a Housemate is called to the Diary Room, they must drop everything they are doing and proceed to the Diary Room. Failure to do so will result in a fine, “a strike” or worse. Housemates can request to enter the Diary Room at any time of the day or night. Sunglasses and hats are not permitted in the Diary Room. The door for the Diary Room will be locked when not in use and no one is allowed into the room if it is occupied.
Important to note:
Diary Sessions and Nominations are compulsory and Housemates need to give valid reasons for nominating a fellow Housemate. Biggie reserves the right to take his time to answer any questions, but will always return with an answer. Biggie will not entertain any personal questions. What happens in the Diary Room stays in the Diary Room and Housemates cannot discuss anything that happens in the Diary Room. Exceptions to this rule are events such as Head of House Tasks.
Rule 6: Nominations are important and Housemates are not allowed to discuss the reasons for their nominations with anyone other than Big Brother. If a Housemate does so it will be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to influence others. They are not allowed to communicate via hints, signs, symbols or written notes. Housemates are not allowed to enter into any alliance or scheme to plot the downfall of fellow Housemates. Communication in the house in Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and any other local language other than English is not permitted.
Rule 7: Housemates are not allowed to strike, intimidate, threaten or act in any way that can be construed as violent towards any fellow Housemates. This could result in immediate disqualification.
Rule 8: Housemates are not allowed to bring the following into the house:
– CDs, CD players, radios, iPod, iPad
– Walkmans, DVD/Blu-Ray players, televisions
– Mobile phones, Smart phones
– Computers, Laptops, Notepads
– Video game consoles, Computer games
– Calendars
– Diaries
– Pen and paper or any writing materials
– Eyeliner (Or any other make-up that could be used for writing.)
– Alarm clocks
– Watches
– Any electronic equipment requiring batteries
– Weapons, drugs and narcotics
– Medication (except for agreed personal medication in consultation with Big Brother)
– Clothes with prominent logos, clothes with fine stripes or dots, silk clothes, solid white clothes.)
– Your pet cat and your children (although, you can bring pictures of your children and your cat)
Rule 10: Housemates can bring the following into the House:
– Cigarettes / cigars / tobacco
– Reading material, either a book or magazine.
– Moisturising cream
– Shaving foam, deodorant, shower lotion, pack of razor blades
– Day cream, night cream and eye cream
– One cleansing lotion. Cleansing tonic.
– Perfume or after shave
– Hairspray/ gel hair conditioner and wax
– Lip balm
– Musical Instrument (provided it doen’t need batteries)
Rule 11: Biggies’ word is law and all Housemates must comply with his requests at all times without fail.
Rule 12: Only Biggie can open up the storage room where the Housemates will find everything that they need for Tasks, Challenges etc. Biggie will inform the Housemates that the Storage Room is open and the Head of House will proceed there to retrieve what Biggie has put there for the Housemates daily and weekly needs
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