BEFORE THE PARTY BEGAN…
The Head Start Summit was going to be the best thing to happen to us in 2020. As Headstart Africans, we knew it! We could feel it; and much more, we were a part of it. The tone was rightly set with the mails John Obidi (the convener) sent out mails including everything we would need for an enjoyable experience during the course of the summit. You can subscribe to John Obidi’s mailing list here.
In the mail John Obidi sent, we got acquainted with the speaking schedule for the Summit, the time for breaks, and how to stay updated with all the activities of the summit through the Telegram channel. We were informed beforehand that the learning would take place on YouTube, and internet access should be fully ensured for effective participation. Also, decorum should be observed all through the time of the summit.
For me, that was the beginning of my learning experience. It was a Global Summit, with Nigerian and non-Nigerian speakers, domiciled within and outside the shores of the country. There were certain realities that were common to us, that wasn’t common to them. If I was going to benefit maximally from this summit, I would have to upgrade first in my thinking; to catch a glimpse of their own reality.
The mail sent to us was in a bid to prepare our hearts for this process, and I didn’t take it lightly. This is one of the reasons why the data excuse, network and other excuses wouldn’t cut it.
You don’t sharpen your axe in the place of battle.
Anonymous
THE BEGINNING OF THE BEST PART OF OUR LIVES
There were 17 speakers lined up for the summit, but we had 16 turn up. These icons were: Ubong King, John Obidi, Amusan Olushola, Edirin Edewor, Paul Foh, Steve Harris, Confidence Staverly, Yetunde Bankole Bernard, Olakunle Soriyan, Adetola Onayemi, Patrick Nwakogo, Tricia Ikponmwonba, Sola Animashaun, Kwame Opoku, Joyce Daniels and Oluwatosin Olaseinde.
UBONG KING
Ubong King tore the summit open with a fresh release of motivation and drive for success. The most inspiring part of his exhortation was in the story of his 7year old daughter, who successful bought a piece of land in Lagos, worth over #400,000 (naira). This was made possible because he had intentionally created an atmosphere and inculcated a mindset in her that constantly reminded her she could be so more than she already was.
Her confidence in herself and wise leveraging of valuable relationships were her key success keys.
To reinvent yourself for the global economy, you must be dissatisfied enough in your present state and reality. And Ubong King ensured he injected us sufficiently with that healthy dissatisfaction through out his session. Follow Ubong King here on Instagram.
JOHN OBIDI
John Obidi was the next speaker, and as always, he turned up prepared for his session. John spent 45 minutes calibrating our minds to only focus on what would remain relevant post covid 19. He emphasized the need to develop our personal infrastructure; making a call to personal building and investment.
Not all seeds grow everywhere.
John Obidi
You must be aware of the relevant opportunities that are available to you and learn skills in line with them, and they include the following:
- Learn how to build a website
You must win the game of visibility. How easy is it for you to be found online? A website solves this problem and further alienates you from the disadvantages staying on a “rented land” gives you. Just as it is in the physical sense, you have no control over rented property; so seek to own your own online space.
- Run your own online advertising
Without online advertising, you can be said to be winking in the dark, with no one seeing you. To dominate post covid 19, you must learn how to get your products and ideas out.
- Email marketing
This further buttressed his point on owning your own virtual space. You need to have a system where you can compile a list of your prospects in order for sales and repeated sales to continue.
- Create online stores
These are platforms where your products can be displayed and sold.
- Work the knowledge business
This is the best time to be in the knowledge business. Before now, our knowledge was concentrated towards a particular direction, and we served it to a limited audience. With Covid 19, we have the opportunity to spread all that we have learned to a much larger audience with little or no restrictions; and this is what the knowledge business is about. Follow John Obidi on Instagram here.
KWAME OPOKU on High Income Skills
With a profound ability to foretell because of his technological advantage, Kwame Opoku introduced us to high income skills we should focus on building during this time. They include:
- Communication and presentation skills
- Copy writing
- Emotional intelligence
- Adaptive thinking
- Web designing
Kwame made a striking statement in the course of his teaching; technology advances with or without our consent. The earlier you become a part of the transition, the better for you, and the higher your chances at staying relevant. I agree with him.
Follow Kwame here on Instagram
CONFIDENCE STAVELEY
Confidence, a cyber security expert enforced the need for building secure websites. And now is the best time, as cyber crimes are on the rise. Numerous platforms and accounts are being hijacked and hacked.
One of the easiest ways to secure your account is in the two step factor authentication. She explained that it simply means, for access to your account, two steps of confirmation process must be undergone. With it, it is almost impossible for your account to be hacked. Follow Confidence Staveley here on Instagram.
JIMI TEWE on Financial Reinvention
The wealth of the world is airborne. If your business is not positioned in the air during these times, you will likely be in trouble, Jimi Tewe warned.
You must seek to develop your learning abilities such that your learning is translated to problem solving. The world will pay you for the results you bring, not the information you have gathered.
Learning must be fast paced, otherwise you will soon become outdated. Money is attracted to only people who can produce real results. This is what is known as democratization of education. This wrapped up the first day of the Summit. Follow Jimi Tewe here on Instagram.
PAUL FOH
No one, who was a part of Paul Foh’s session came out without accurate understanding of the basics of content creation. It was thoroughly simplified him and broken down into the following steps.
- Attention
This is the first step in your sales journey. Money follows attention. A cardinal part in your attempt to compel the attention of your prospects is in your headline.
There are three ways to frame a killer headline:
- How-to frame work
- List
- Question
- Conversation
Build a relationship with your audience
- Sales
The future of marketing is content marketing according to Paul Foh. The more available your content is to your target audience, the higher your probability of closing a sale.
This led us to the suya (roasted meat) man strategy. If you believe in your results enough, give out a part for free to lure in buyers.
Secondly, publish your testimonials lavishly. People always like to follow the crowd, so as not to be left out.
EDIRIN EDEWOR on Publishing Global Assets
Edirin Edewor began dealing with the mindset problem. Reinvention begins in your mind. She explained that there are unforgivable mistakes in the global world, so you have to show up prepared, or you will get swamped in the global world.
The profile of the Amazon best selling author was mind blowing and it was more striking that she achieved all in just three years. She introduced the concept of published assets as anything brings in money to you and drives your audience towards you. In the global economy, you are recognized the published assets you have. She took us through the journey of her success story and reiterated the fact that anything that doesn’t add value to your brand and image is a liability.
Your competition is anyone who can have access to your audience.
Edirin Edewor
She encouraged everyone to publish their progress reports and document processes. From her personal experience, the first time her book became a bestseller, she got just two engagements from the Nigerian audience. As she went on to publish her results and progress reports, she became known and recognized for them.
When you decide to publish your assets, and desire to go global, you must remain conscious of the audience you want to attract. This should influence your choice of words, vocabulary and communication. You must publish content that would be relevant at a global scale. She made us spellbound, as 3,100 people attended her session and claimed to get value from it.
To have a globalistic mindset, you must consciously pick the kinds of people to be around. Audit your surroundings and the places that inspire global thinking.
Follow Edirin Edewor on Instagram here.
OLUSOLA AMUSAN on How to Connect with Global Opportunities from a Third World Nation
Faith is the action you take because of what you have seen and believe. Amusan started his first initiative at age 17, where he built the first programming hub for his school. After gaining notoriety in his niche, and being listened to 27,000 individuals on radio, he knew there was still more to life. He longed for global opportunities.
He shared with us his journey, rejections, failures and resilience in gaining the global recognition he now has. In Amusan’s inspiring story, we drew out principles of faith where he had little available funds but would go all out to push for his goals. We were enlightened on how opportunities would only come to those who are proactive enough to stay prepared; and also, on the power of vision, and how it compels the resources you will need.
We were greatly inspired the seasoned words of his mouth, as Amusan always knew the right words to say when he was faced with an opportunity. To access global opportunities, here are some of the sites he recommended: Ashoka, Global Shapers Community, Young Global Leaders, among others.
Follow Olusola Amusan on Instagram here.
OLUWATOSIN OLASEINDE on How to Build a Wealth Plan (post covid 19)
Oluwatosin Olaseinde, also known as Money Africa dived straight into Savings and Investment during her session. She enlightened us on the importance of Insurance, which was a great call to action for me. Paying for Insurance is a smart move. Wealthy people know how to plan their expenditure and create a working structure for it. Insurance keeps you proactive. You save more when you deliberately set aside money in insurance, than having to incur the whole loss of a property (moveable or immovable) in emergency.
Investment begins with you. Until you learn to invest in yourself, no one would invest in you.
Oluwatosin Olaseinde
Also, investment is a long term game for long term players. . Patience and understanding your risk profile is key when investing your resources. The beauty of investment is in the numbers. She politely warned that investment should only be in the things you understand. The more money you have, the more you will make through investments.
At this point in the conference, I had to take a breather to assimilate all I had learned. I didn’t want to get overwhelmed the information, so I closed my notes and engaged my imagination. I put everything I had learned into perspective and imagined myself being reinvented and launched into the global space; prepared. I knew that it was all worth it, and every bit of information I had gathered was adding up to a masterpiece.
JOYCE DANIELS on Public Speaking Power
The art of public speaking shouldn’t be learned a specific group of people. It is a necessity for everyone who desires to be a part of the global stage.
Great public speaking is enhanced knowledge and experience. You will be confident when you garner knowledge and tap into the experiences of other people.
There are five questions you need to answer to be prepared towards life. WHAT, WHEN, HOW, WHERE and WHY if you desire to speak exceptionally. She concluded with saying, public speaking is a trust game. Your listeners must be assured that you care about them, before they listen to you.
Follow Joyce Daniels here on Instagram.
STEVE HARRIS on Acquiring Business Immunity
Steve Harris was the last speaker on Day 2 and he was absolutely phenomenal. With eloquence and dexterity, he intimated us on the present struggles of businesses in this era. Choices of sale in the marketplace has become limited to essential commodities and basic necessities. Thriving in this economy would mean a reinvention in your strategy. And he let us in on how it is being done.
He disabused our minds from believing that everyone is at the same level in life. As essential as face masks and gloves are presently, there are masks sold at premium prices, that are not accessible to everyone. To thrive, we must play the game of status. There are divided into a 90% audience, 10%, 1% and a 1% of the 1%.
To charge premium and thrive in the global economy, you should learn how to sale. And for every sales conversion to take place, conversation must precede it.
He further emphasized the need for collaboration in times like this; as opposed to competition. Then compensate your desire for success executing all the things you have learned.
In rounding off his session with about 3,400 live viewers, Steve Harris corroborated Paul Foh’s statement on Content Marketing, and gave a lasting solution to content creation. He said, don’t get caught up in creating content. Focus on documenting your experiences and progress. You will never run out of content that way.
Follow Steve Harris here on Instagram.
ADETOLA ONAYEMI on Kings of the Global Economy
Adetola’s message focused on identifying gatekeepers of the new economy so he identified three people we should always ensure are a part of our inner circle; people who can vouch for you, recommend you and give you opportunities.
He further said, know the assets and knowledge you have; and begin with the things you have.
TRICIA IKPONMWONBA on Reinventing your Business
Triciabiz (as popularly known) didn’t take it easy on us and she tore the place open, disrupting all the sales limitations we have in our minds.
She began with dealing the scarcity mindset, which is the greatest impediment to global success. The price for your product and service will be based on your mindset. If you cannot confidently charge for your products and services, this is sponsored a feeling that you do not deserve it. And much more, it is a clear indication that you would not let go of such amount of money in building and the purchasing of that product and service for yourself, if you were a customer. The logic is simple; if you cannot spend an amount of money in the constructive building of yourself, you would not believe anyone else can.
The solution to this is a process. Find people and places that will inspire you to be better, and move past your mental limitations.
Should I pivot?
This is a necessary question in the current scheme of business. No matter how emphatic we are, there are some businesses and jobs that won’t survive this pandemic. This has led to the sincere but heartbreaking question, should I let go of my business or not?
She gave a practical example of a logo designer reinventing himself to teach people how to make carousels. The answer is simple. The pandemic has exposed the focus of the market. Your job is to adjust your business to fit into the current need of the market. However, there are some businesses that need to be completely shut down in this period, she said sadly.
She instructed that we write down 10 most sought after skills right now and camp around it. She disabused our mindset on market saturation. We were informed that the saturation only happens at the surface level; and this is largely because everyone looks at the obvious needs. However, if you go a bit deeper down the channel, you will find a bigger, untapped market with less competition and saturation. We must train our eyes to be beyond the obvious needs.
Build your audience
As opposed to jumping on building a general mailing list for your audience and community, find out first which will serve your audience the best, at the current level you are at.
Ensure you dominate your local market before expanding into the global market.
Triciabiz
Learn the GOAT (greatest of all times) of business: how to sell. To sell, you must learn differentiation; and this means you must discover how to make your products or services cheaper, faster or better.
Things to note on Sales:
- Identify your sales channels
- Discover your customers’ buying journey
- Learn how to create sales funnels
- Learn the act of positioning
Other general things to note:
- No one owes you anything
- Aim always to be the best, not the biggest
- Understand the economies of your nation, and realize your disadvantage if you are a part of the third world nations
- Smartness wins over talent
3.700+ live viewers graced Triciabiz’s session. You can follow here here on Instagram.
SHOLA ANIMASHAUN on Reinventing your Economy through Digital Content
Shola, a world renowned photographer walked us through his journey to stardom with his beautiful story. As a child, he was always considered to be dull. This stigmatization followed him through his adolescent years, even up till his adult life when he found it extremely difficult to get a job.
Mr Shola began to use what he had, because according to John Obidi, what you have is enough to make a difference. He purchased his first camera and perfected his photography craft. His story inspired hope and supplied strength to the people who were considering giving up on their dreams and passion, due to discouragement. Right now, Shola is a force to reckon with, because he stayed through the process.
Follow Shola Animashaun here on Instagram.
PATRICK NWAKOGO on Moving from Inspiration to Realization
He took us on a journey into developing habits that would be required to thrive in the new economy. Knowledge is the only resource you would need; much more is the habits formed in you that will ensure greatness.
On failure, he made us realize that it is just an event. You need to deal with limiting beliefs and gain courage enough to go after your dreams again. What matters is how you are able to rise after set back. You need to re-strategize your execution plan and accountability partners that would help achieve your dreams and vision, after setbacks.
Constructive Discontent: This is the process of being dissatisfied with your current level, because of a vision you are beholding. It is the seed needed to make progress in your life’s journey.
YETUNDE BANKOLE BERNARD on Who You Need to be Now
This deals with how you remain in tune with the essence of your being. There is a voice within that directs, guides and leads you in taking decisions and finding out more about yourself. The global market is one of differentiation. You are an advantage to the world to the degree you discover and effectively deploy your difference.
Your difference is particular to a certain kind of people. When you pay attention to yourself, you will learn to be a blessing to the people you are sent to.
Understanding your self worth is an important part of being in tune with your being. You have to realize that there are certain people, culture, behavioral patterns you might disengage from, in order to appreciate yourself better. Surround yourself with honest people, who will spur you up to greatness and celebrate your progress.
OLAKUNLE SORIYAN on Creative Rebellion
Creative Rebellion is simply the ability to position yourself in any market, such that you have a stake on all the available options, and no matter the choice of the consumers in the market, it will still end up being you. It begins with questions. You have to learn to critically question everything that is being passed to you if you desire to make a change.
During the colonial period, our choices and options were taken away from us. After colonialism, we were made to believe we had our choices given back to us. But the options of leadership are always restricted from the primaries, which still restricts our choices. You are not free when your options and choices are limited.
There are three kinds of people that cannot be helped.
- People who don’t know they have a problem
- People who don’t know they lack the ability to solve the problem
- People who think you are the problem
Creative rebellion is propelled introspection. It is in your ability to figure out in everything, what is stated, overstated and understated, to understand the basic operation of things. You must choose revelation above information.
In everything, there is something that is incomplete. Look out for the imperfections and create a solution along that line. This is what makes you a creative rebel.
Although there is so much more I didn’t capture because of human limitations, I am grateful for all the information and insight I successfully garnered. It is a worthy read. It will further serve as an archive and accountability measure for all the action steps I was encouraged to take. For you, it could be a system to review your progress and refresh your memory on anything you missed.
What was the most striking thing about the summit to you? Let’s have a conversation in the comment section below. Don’t forget to hot the SUBSCRIBE too. I love you!