OS BIOGRAPHY: Hellen Keller was blind and deaf but that didn't stopher! What's your excuse?

Gabriel Olatunji 'Legend'



An interviewer once asked Hellen Keller once, “What could be worse than being blind?” she replied, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision”.

Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, political activist and campaigner for deaf and blind charities. Helen because deaf and blind as a young child and had to struggle to overcome her dual disability. However, she became the first deaf-blind person to attain a bachelor’s degree and became an influential campaigner for social, political and disability issues. Her public profile helped destigmatise blindness and deafness, and she was seen as a powerful example of someone overcoming difficult circumstances.

Once I knew the depth where no hope was, and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then love came and set my soul free. Once I knew only darkness and stillness. Now I know hope and joy.

- Helen Keller, On Optimism (1903)

Helen Keller was born 27 June 1880 in Tusculum, Alabama. When she was only 19 months old, she experienced a severe childhood illness, which left her deaf and blind (only a very partial sight). For the first few years of her life, she was only able to communicate with her family through a rudimentary number of signs; she had a little more success communicating with the six year old daughter of the family cook. However, unable to communicate properly, she was considered to be badly behaved, for example, eating from the plates of anyone on the table with her fingers.

In 1886, Helen was sent to see an eye, ear and nose specialist in Baltimore. He put them in touch with Alexander Graham Bell, who was currently investigate issues of deafness and sound (he would also develop the first telephone) Bell, helped Keller to visit the Perkins Institute for the Blind, and this led to a long relationship with Anne Sullivan - who was a former student herself. Sullivan was visually impaired, but aged only 20 and with no prior experience, she set about teaching Helen how to communicate. The two maintained a long relationship of 49 years.

Learning to Communicate

In the beginning, Keller was frustrated by her inability to pick up the hand signals that Sullivan was giving. However, after a frustrating month, Keller picked up on Sullivan's system of hand signals through understanding the word water. Sullivan poured water over Keller's left hand and wrote out on her right hand the word 'water'. This helped Helen to fully understand the system, and she was soon able to identify a variety of household objects.

"The most important day I remember in all my life is the one on which my teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, came to me. I am filled with wonder when I consider the immeasurable contrasts between the two lives which it connects. It was the third of March, 1887, three months before I was seven years old."

- Helen Keller, The Story of My Life, 1903, Ch. 4

Keller made rapid progress and quickly overcame her bad habits. She became proficient in braille, and was able to begin a fruitful education, despite her disability. Keller made more progress than anyone expected. She would later learn to write with a braille typewriter.

Keller came into contact with American author, Mark Twain. Twain admired the perseverance of Keller and helped persuade Henry Rogers, an oil businessman to fund her education. With great difficulty, Keller was able to study at Radcliffe College, where in 1904; she was able to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her education, she also learned to speak and practice lip-reading. Her sense of touch became extremely subtle.

Keller became a proficient writer and speaker. In 1903, she published an autobiography 'The Story of My Life' it recounted her struggles to overcome her disabilities.

Political Views

Keller also wrote on political issues, Keller was a strong supporter of the American Socialist party and joined the party in 1909. She wished to see a fairer distribution of income, and an end to the inequality of Capitalist society. She said she became a more convinced socialist after the 1912 miners strike. Her book 'Out of the Dark' (1913) includes several essays on socialism. She supported Eugene V Debs, in each of the Presidential election he stood for. In 1912, she joined the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW); as well as advocating socialism; Keller was a pacifist and opposed the American involvement in World War One.

Religious Views

In religious matters, she advocated the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Christian theologian who advocated a particular spiritual interpretation of the Bible. She published 'My Religion' in 1927.

Charity Work

From 1918, she devoted much of her time to raise funds and awareness for blind charities. She sought to raise money and also improve the living conditions of the blind, who at the time were often badly educated and living in asylums. Her public profile helped to destigmatise blindness and deafness.

Towards the end of her life, she suffered a stroke and she died in her sleep on June 1, 1968. She was given numerous awards during her life, including the Presidential medal of Freedom in 1964, by Lyndon B. Johnson.



OS BIOGRAPHY is an initiative of OLATUNJISPEAKS.com; we intend to bring you inspiring biographies of people from around the world every week.

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5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8 AM

Jennifer Cohen



Rise and shine! Morning time just became your new best friend. Love it or hate it, utilizing the morning hours before work may be the key to a successful and healthy lifestyle. That’s right, early rising is a common trait found in many CEOs, government officials, and other influential people. Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5 a.m.; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4 am and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney wakes at 4:30am just to name a few. I know what you’re thinking – you do your best work at night. Not so fast. According to Inc. Magazine, morning people have been found to be more proactive and more productive. In addition, the health benefits for those with a life before work go on and on. Let’s explore 5 of the things successful people do before 8 am.

1. Exercise. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Most people that work out daily, work out in the morning. Whether it’s a morning yoga session or a trip to the gym, exercising before work gives you a boost of energy for the day and that deserved sense of accomplishment. Anyone can tackle a pile of paperwork after 200 ab reps! Morning workouts also eliminate the possibility of flaking out on your cardio after a long day at work. Even if you aren’t bright eyed and bushy tailed at the thought of a 5 am jog, try waking up 15 minutes early for a quick bedside set of pushups or stretching. It’ll help wake up your body, and prep you for your day.

2. Map Out Your Day. Maximize your potential by mapping out your schedule for the day, as well as your goals and to dos. The morning is a good time for this as it is often one of the only quiet times a person gets throughout the day. The early hours foster easier reflection that helps when prioritizing your activities. They also allow for uninterrupted problem solving when trying to fit everything into your timetable. While scheduling, don’t forget about your mental health. Plan a 10 minute break after that stressful meeting for a quick walk around the block or a moment of meditation at your desk. Trying to eat healthy? Schedule a small window in the evening to pack a few nutritious snacks to bring to work the next day.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. We all know that rush out the door with a cup of coffee and an empty stomach feeling. You sit down at your desk, and you’re already wondering how early that taco truck sets up camp outside your office. No good. Take that extra time in the morning to fuel your body for the tasks ahead of it. It will help keep your mind on what’s at hand and not your growling stomach. Not only is breakfast good for your physical health, it is also a good time to connect socially. Even five minutes of talking with your kids or spouse while eating a quick bowl of oatmeal can boost your spirits before heading out the door.

4. Visualization. These days we talk about our physical health ad nauseam, but sometimes our mental health gets overlooked. The morning is the perfect time to spend some quiet time inside your mind meditating or visualizing. Take a moment to visualize your day ahead of you, focusing on the successes you will have. Even just a minute of visualization and positive thinking can help improve your mood and outlook on your work load for the day.

5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. We all have that one item on our to do list that we dread. It looms over you all day (or week) until you finally suck it up and do it after much procrastination. Here’s an easy tip to save yourself the stress – do that least desirable task on your list first. Instead of anticipating the unpleasantness of it from first coffee through your lunch break, get it out of the way. The morning is the time when you are (generally) more well rested and your energy level is up. Therefore, you are more well equipped to handle more difficult projects. And look at it this way, your day will get progressively easier, not the other way around. By the time your work day is ending, you’re winding down with easier to dos and heading into your free time more relaxed. Success!



Source: Forbes



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5 signs your leadership style is outdated

Glenn Llopis



Many leaders in the workplace have lost their competitive edge.  They lack the substance that is required to be an effective and sustainable leader.  They have seemingly made the choice to grow complacent and have grown tired of trying to improve their skills and capabilities.   Great leaders know that it’s a survival of the fittest game.  Just because you are in a leadership position now, doesn’t mean that you will forever remain an effective leader.   This is why many leaders become followers throughout the course of their careers.   Effective leadership is hard work, takes patience and requires you to have sound vision, make smart decisions, and serve others through a passionate pursuit of excellence.

If you were to define your leadership style in one word, what would it be?   Controlling, transparent, collaborative?  Are you projecting a leadership style that is engaging, inspiring and forward-thinking?   Have you made the necessary adjustments and / or improvements in your leadership style that will allow you to remain relevant enough to proactively serve the changing demands of the new marketplace?

The most effective leaders know they must continually reinvent themselves.  Most leaders don’t.   They remain satisfied with the status quo and attempt to use the same style and approach – regardless of the individual employees and /or the organization they serve.  This is why they find it difficult to create and sustain momentum in their work and careers.   Rather than find ways to be proactive, they find themselves just floating along and afraid to rock the boat.

In my early 30s I had to make a choice.   Lead in ways that others wanted me to or in ways that came most naturally to me.  Follow the status quo or put my most authentic leadership style to the test.  My more passionate, entrepreneurial and collaborate ways of leading created impact and increased my influence.   I took a more bottom-up approach to leadership and focused on expansive innovation to create a workplace environment that focused on the healthier whole – not just the select few top performers.

At first, I seemed to have put my leadership role at risk because it didn’t align with the workplace culture; but as the results of my team improved, my style enabled a new attitude and spirit that others began to follow – and a new cultural promise began to take root.

Leadership is all about taking risks and knowing when to take them.   If you don’t feel comfortable being uncomfortable  – courageous enough to see and seize opportunities that others don’t and do what others won’t – it is impossible to be  an effective leader.   These are the fundamentals of sustainable leadership.   So look around you and ask yourself the following question:  Has your leadership style become outdated?

If you are uncertain about your answer to this question, here are five signs that tell you that it’s time to reconsider a change in your leadership style and approach.

1.  You Make Bad Decisions

When employees begin to question your leadership judgment, it’s time to step back and evaluate your leadership style and approach.    When leaders begin to consistently make bad decisions, it’s an indication they are becoming out of touch with the new ways of doing business.   They need to recalibrate how to best connect the dots within their workplace culture  – a requirement to grow and compete.

When leaders begin to lose their broadened observation, they become less inclusive and they make shorter-term decisions that may not be in the best interest of the organization.   This results in poor execution, lack of strategic focus, misguided hiring decisions, and the ineffective use of talent and resources.

When leaders begin to grow out of touch with the business, they start to lose confidence, question themselves, and they see through a lens of uncertainty and doubt.  

2.  You Grow Complacent

When you lose that drive and will to compete, your leadership style and approach begins to negatively expose your ineffectiveness.   I’ve seen many leaders throughout their careers lose their “it factor” – they grow complacent and their attention to detail begins to wane.    They begin to lose their composure,  their executive presence, and their passion for taking risks on the unknown.

When leaders become complacent, they appear to stop caring.  They go with the flow rather than enable the 15 things the most successful leaders do – automatically – every day.   For example, you know that it’s time to revisit your leadership style when you stop being your authentic self and as a result find yourself becoming a victim of workplace bureaucracy.

3.  Your Selfishness

Employees don’t gravitate to leaders who are selfish.  Selfish leaders make it difficult for others to follow them.   When leaders make it apparent that it is more about their own advancement and neglect to support and advance others – their employees check-out.  This is when leaders need to self-assess their leadership style and what they ultimately want to achieve in their careers.

I once worked for a leader who was totally self-absorbed and cared only about himself.  He would self-promote and find ways to expose the deficiencies of others.   He would walk throughout the hallways and talk negatively about the organization and why others should listen to his ideas.   He wasn’t collaborative unless he wanted something from others.   He negatively impacted employee morale and eventually was fired.   This individual was more of a leech than a leader.

4.  Your Likability Factor Falters

Likeability is one of the most important factors in the success of a leader.  When employees stop liking their leaders, a leadership style change is in order.   Many leaders don’t know how to manage their own leadership.  They get caught-up in the power and influence of the title and the responsibilities.  They become arrogant rather than grateful for the opportunity and fail to leverage their authority for the greater good.

Great leaders are approachable and you feel their natural warmth and sincerity.  Likeability should be a natural thing.   When you begin to sense that your colleagues are becoming annoyed with your presence than drawn to it – it’s time to change your leadership style and approach.

5.  You Stop Reinventing

If you are afraid of change – then you will find it difficult to reinvent yourself.   If you don’t know how to reinvent yourself, you will find short-lived success as a leader.  Reinventing yourself is another critical success factor of leadership.   Sustainable leadership success is dependent upon being proactive to the changing marketplace and thus requires you to continuously reinvent your style, approach and overall attitude.

If leaders can’t reinvent themselves, then it will be difficult for them to help reinvent their organizations, employees and corporate strategy.   When you stop reinventing you become irresponsible to the people you serve as well as your own career growth.   Leaders who don’t consistently reinvent get stuck in ruts – or they find themselves changing their career path too many times without a specific destination in mind.    This makes it challenging to create and sustain momentum and they eventually become difficult to hire in any leadership capacity.

Now ask yourself again:  Has your leadership style become outdated?    If so, what will it take to change your leadership style and approach?  As leaders in the new marketplace and workplace, if we want to remain relevant we must stop focusing on ourselves and our own advancement, and become reacquainted with the ideas and ideals that first enabled our leadership to take root:  good decision making and fearless risk taking; a selfless approachability and likeability; and the passionate pursuit of excellence and reinvention.



Source: Forbes



Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of OLATUNJISPEAKS.com.

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The 5 Must Have Qualities of the Modern Companies

Jacob Morgan



Over the past few months I have been exploring how the various facets of work are evolving and changing, specifically around behaviors. This started with two articles, the first was The 5 Must-Have Qualities Of The Modern Manager and the second was The 5 Must-Have Qualities Of The Modern Employee.  Today I want to take a look at how companies themselves need to evolve and change so that they can not only attract and retain top talent, but so that they can continue to exist and thrive in the future.  Here are my 5 must have qualities of the modern company.

Supports flexible work

I just don’t see how an organization will continue to exist unless it supports flexible work environments for employees.  This means allowing employees to work anytime and anywhere.  It requires a shift from focusing on inputs to focusing on outputs.  This is already turning out to be crucial today but in the next few years this will become the expected standard.  Not only do many current employees consider a flexible work environment to be desirable but new employees entering the workforce actually look at flexible work as a way to judge if they even want to work at the company to begin with.  This will require change on several levels but you better believe it will happen.

Operates like a small company

We always assumed that a large company meant a better company with job security but that is no longer the case.  If these large organizations want to continue to exist they are going to have to learn how to operate like smaller companies.  This means moving quicker, empowering employees, changing how they manage, getting rid of ridiculous rules and processes, not letting legal stall everything, and taking some chances!  There’s no reason why it should take 2 years to role out a new technology or 1 year to develop a strategy.  The world is moving much quicker then it did ten or twenty years ago yet many companies are still operating the same way they did in the 80?s.  The signs are there, the trends are there, and the writing is on the wall.  If many of these companies aren’t around in 5-10 years then I won’t feel bad for them, they had their chance.

Prioritizes want versus need

Have you ever thought about why you work at a certain company or why your employees work at your company?  Is it because they have to or because they want to?  Today many employees work at companies they don’t like doing jobs they don’t want because they need a paycheck.  But this is changing.  The new workforce is prioritizing meaningful work over pay.  Employees should want to work at your company EVEN if you didn’t pay them.  Companies of the future must create an environment where employees don’t need to work there, they WANT to work there.

Focuses on the voice of the employees (and the customers)

Thanks to new technologies employees now have the ability to share and become a recognized voice inside and outside of their company.  Employees can share their ideas, frustrations, feedback, concerns, and feelings but if the company doesn’t listen and act then it’s all for nothing.  In the past, employees were expected to be silent, they did what they were told and that’s it.  Today, the company is a living and breathing organism that must listen to what the employees (and customers) want and how they feel, and respond accordingly.

Adapts to change

Change used to happen at a much slower pace, it would take many years for something new to happen and so organizations took their time when it came to adapting.  A company could easily wait a few years before something new came around and still be fine, these were the late adopters; now, late adopter means “out of business.”  Change is happening at an exceedingly rapid pace which companies are not used to and thus don’t know how to adapt.  This is why it is so crucial to engage and connect employees and information to each other anytime, anywhere, and on any device.  These are the people who are going to help solve problems and identify opportunities, not your executives.  The companies that can quickly adapt to change will succeed, the rest will end up going bust.

What are some of the other key qualities that you think the modern company needs to possess?



Source: Forbes


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“I begged to sell CDs in US salons to survive’’ – Banky W's successstory

Kaymi



In a recent interview with Vanguard,  R n B singer, Banky W shared his success story; he didn’t just become the famous Banky W overnight, he worked hard for it.

He disclosed the hard work and pains that preceded his fame and success today and how he moved from being an undergraduate begging for audience at salons in the United States, to building a musical empire that has produced internationally acclaimed artistes like Skales and Wizkid.

See excerpts below:

“Everybody knows me to be the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of EME, but what people do not know is that EME started when I was in my third year in university in New York.  You see, we all dream dreams, but it is important to think very big and start where you are because God never gives you everything but gives you enough to start.

At that time, I knew I wanted to do music, but of course I understood nobody starts by selling a million CDs or the big screen!
I worked in fast foods outlets, clothing stores and as a knife salesman, selling knives from door to door. That way, I gathered money to pay for studio recording time. I was recording with a close friend at that time.

After making that music, we printed a thousand CDs though we didn’t have any fan. I had one battered car that broke down virtually everywhere, so, we would print black and white posters, stick them on the sides of the car, sell from the car’s trunk and drive to salons to do marketing.

We would walk to the owners of the salons, greet politely, and ask them to let us entertain their customers. Sometimes, some would kick us out and sometimes some would say yes. If told yes, after singing for a minute or two, we would sell our CDs to the customers! That was the beginning!

A lot of people see you on stage and see the success but do not know what you had to go through! I never had one really big break; it was always two steps forward and a couple backwards.
But I just decided that I was going to make music work for me. That was why I moved on to a new salon each time any salon rejected me!

I just kept going because I believe failure is when you give up. Albert Einstein said he tried a hundred times to make the light bulb. When he was asked what kept him going during the 99 times, he said: ‘I didn’t consider those 99 times as failure; rather, I considered them 99 ways that it didn’t work!’

We went about selling CDs and, on the days we couldn’t sell much, we would sit down and be broke together. I remember my friend was a member of a church that usually served food after service. So, on the days we didn’t sell CDs and were too broke to buy food, we would attend service in that church so we could pack rice and store in the fridge.

At a point, being a student of industrial engineering, I was working for an engineering company and was recording as well. I would go to work from 7am till about 2pm and then go to school till about 8pm, and then drive two and a half hours to New York City where the studio that would let us record for less was, and record until about 2am.
I would then drive two and a half hours back home to be back at work at 7am the following day.

One day, I was driving home from work and was so tired that I fell asleep while on a bridge. I would have driven off from the top of the bridge to God knows where, if not for an on-going construction work. God really saved me!”

After a while, Banky’s hard work began to pay off and, even while in school, he began winning awards, beginning with the ‘Albany Idol’ competition. Other international awards soon followed.

In 2008 when he decided to move to Nigeria after the completion of one of his albums, Mr Capable, Banky was consistently told his genre of music ‘would never appeal to Nigerians and therefore wouldn’t ‘sell’.

As he got turned down, pressure mounted on him and his manager to change their genre of music but Banky strongly held on to another long-standing principle which had taught him to stand out by being unique rather than trying to imitate anyone’s skill.
He therefore insisted on sticking to R&B, and this paid-off as he soon became a household name in the Nigerian entertainment industry!

“You cannot say enough about the grace of God and I therefore do not want to claim any form of glory. Falling down is inevitable but getting back up is optional!
Frankly, you can’t appreciate sunshine if you’ve never been through a heavy rain. Yes, life is tough, but what do you do in those tough moments?
Do you learn the lesson, stand up again, consider yourself stronger and keep going? Or do you sit down and feel sorry for yourself?

The graveyard, they say, is the richest place in the world because therein lies so many who died with their dreams. So, my advice is, do not give up! If Banky can be where he is today, you can be where you want to be if you put to mind to it.”

Source: DailyPost

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#Hypocrisy: They will add 'busy' to their BBM status but they change DPintermittently; nothing defines #hypocrisy clearly.

Gabriel Olatunji 'Legend'

On Saturday, 26th 2013 we inspired our followers on Twitter and Facebook by sharing series of tweets using the hashtag #Hypocrisy. The feedbacks from the session has been encouraging and we decided to compile all the tweets and post here for you to go through incase you missed the session; it will also serve as a reminder for you if you were part of the session. Read the tweets below;

• #Hypocrisy When people die we suddenly realize how much they mean to us; I don't have to die before you appreciate me.


• We see people every day and act as if they do not exist but when they suddenly disappear we are the first to write a tribute - #Hypocrisy


• I do not want long tribute from people whom my existence didn't matter; if you love people show them before they die. #Hypocrisy


• They will add 'busy' to their BBM status but they change DP intermittently; nothing defines #hypocrisy clearly.


• If you love her put a ring on her finger; if you are not sure step aside, don't spoil her market with a sure guy. #Hypocrisy


• The truth is bitter! Only an hypocritical person gets angry at the messenger of truth. #Hypocrisy


• Two years ago she was the best, the prettiest, the most intelligent but 12months down the line, she irritates&choke you - #Hypocrisy


• "He is the man for me", she once said. "I pity the woman who will marry him", she declares #Hypocrisy


• I married the woman of my dreams today; in her I find everything I need, he said this to the world but today.. #Hypocrisy


• In 2011, we were told that he that hath no shoes will provide shoes for our children, it's 2013 there's still no shoes. #Hypocrisy


• "The man who breaks your heart ought to have his nose redesigned. Only a fool loose a treasure." Yet he broke her heart too #Hypocrisy


• When you are making him happy you are irreplaceable but when you slack for one day, you don't mean nothing again #Hypocrisy


• Most people don't really care too much about you once they no longer need you to make things #Hypocrisy


• If you want to know your level of importance in people's lives, stay away from them for a while and their true colour shows. #Hypocrisy


• You work in the same office and you have never deemed it fit to buy your colleague #200 recharge card. You don't love people, you tolerate. #Hypocrisy


• I remember my father struggled to help a man built a house in his absence. He accounted for every penny; it's about 4 years since my dad's death, the man didn't even call. #Hypocrisy


• The day you take away the advantage people enjoy in your life is the day you know your true friends. #Hypocrisy


• Lol. Do I look hurt to you? I don't hurt. It just baffles me how much of a lie we live. People lie with their whole life. #Hypocrisy


• What you don't know is that most of the tweets I wrote today are stories of people who have been directly affected.#Hypocrisy


• Let us tell ourselves the truth and if you happen to be living like a hypocrite, time to change your ways. Don't lead her on if you wont marry her. #Hypocrisy


• I was told that if I voted them in Nigeria will be great in 4years. Its been more than four years. We are still suffering and smiling. #Hypocrisy


• If you feel a man is leading you on and he's not talking. Sit him down to ask him what he wants. Settle it&move on. #Hypocrisy


• #Hypocrisy is a cancer eating up the soul of this nation in the name of 'Transformation Agenda'; they are only transforming their pockets.


• You don't like her enough for marriage but you don't mind having sex with her or doing the other things. #Hypocrisy is your middle name.


• When you tell her, 'I love you' but the only place you show love to when she comes is her flesh, #Hypocrisy is what it's called.


• They call it 'friends with benefit', I call it #Hypocrisy; whatever it is that does qualify her to be a wife don't qualify you to play the 'shot'


• Why would you say 'You are tired' after four years of relationship? He was the best thing that happened to you before, isn't it? #Hypocrisy


• You write to condemn the president and when the president called to offer you a job, you change tune. #Hypocrisy


• 'I will always be there for you', he said. When she got pregnant, he discarded her and the baby. #Hypocrisy is your surname.


• I met her and her man some years ago, I instantly wished I had what they shared. She slept with two men already. #Hypocrisy


• When you are told that education will be free if you elect them and they multiply school fees by 100, that is #Hypocrisy in government


• #ApologiesToChristians If all u want from her is her body, tell her; if she's down with it, good4u. Don't lie to sleep with her #Hypocrisy


• We all practice #Hypocrisy but we do it in grades. How can u tel her to pack out of ur house wen she was with u wen u had nothin #Hypocrisy


• My father loved my mum, my mum too did but I was just 2years old when they called their marriage quit. #Hypocrisy is what they did.


• If u want to know whether he truly meant all the things he said, change some things u do; it's not u he likes, it's what you do. #Hypocrisy


• Why are you psyching more than one lady at a time&yet you still use lines like, 'I would rather be single if I can't have you' #Hypocrisy


• After two years of dating you come and say you feel strongly that God is saying No; #Hypocrisy is your fast food.


• You have been President for four years but you still blame opposition for not performing. #Hypocrisy is it sir.


• If you love her put a ring on her finger; if you are not sure step aside, don't spoil her market with a sure guy. #Hypocrisy


• I married the woman of my dreams today; in her I find everything I need, he said this to the world but today.. #Hypocrisy


• When you are making him happy you are irreplaceable but when you slack for one day, you don't mean nothing again #Hypocrisy


• When you say you can't honour agreement with ASUU& you buy cars with amount that can't be pronounced. How can we believe you? #Hypocrisy

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#MondayInspiration: Where are the women with whom you can haveintellectual conversation? What are you bringing to the table?

Gabriel Olatunji-Legend



Where are the women with whom you can have intellectual conversation? And they say they are wife materials; what I see are baby manufacturers. Where are the men with a sense of urgency, commitment and responsibility? And they say they are eligible; their eligibility can only be found in ‘bedmatics’ and sperm donation.

This is not to insult anyone but to propel every man and woman to grow beyond their present level into indispensable personalities. Why do we have women that cannot hold a conversation that is devoid of trivial things? Some ladies don’t even know the name of the Governor of the state they reside in and you expect a man to be proud of you; I am aware that not all women fancy political information and activities but men also do not fancy women with vain knowledge of their environment and country; no man wants to marry a dumb; no man wants to marry a woman who is asked in public about Michael Jordan and she goes, ‘Is he from Ghana?’. The intellectual woman does not have to be a book-worm; she only needs to read daily headlines of news to be in the know of things in her country and around the world. These days information is cheap as it can be found free of charge all over the blogs and internet; only a ‘cheaper’ woman still fail to access it.

I am a man! So permit me to be a little bias; if you do not want to be treated as a trophy or a thing become a person of value to your man – contribute to his conversations – research (Google) on some projects that the man is involved in and give him suggestions based on your findings. Even if he knew the suggestions you gave to him, he would see you as intelligent and an indispensable treasure. It is a failure on your part if your man finds it comfortable discussing business with another woman more than he does with you. Men find women who have an opinion sexy and intelligent – join the league.

Are men excluded from this conversation? Ofcourse they are NOT. Women are not things; they are not trophies that you place on a cabinet for showoff to friends and foes; they have blood running through their veins and they have feelings too – only an irresponsible man fails to pay attention to the feelings of his woman. Irresponsibility is not an insult but a state of the mind at a particular time. How can you love a woman and yet not be committed to her – love is not just a four letter word but commitment personified.

Are you the type of man your woman should be proud of in public? She’s only not telling you so that she doesn’t appear disrespectful – you disgrace her regularly in public with everything that you do; the way you eat, your remarks, your dress sense, your stinginess, your lack of gentleman demeanor and your obvious lack of respect for her which is obvious in your decision making process.

Are you even aware that there is a reason why women act the way they do and same goes for men; if you are as knowledgeable as you claim you would have gone in search of ‘The Five Love Languages’ by Gary Chapman and ‘Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus’ by John Gray – these are books that will make you the man to beat and will catapult you to the club of ‘Indispensable’ men to their women.

A friend of mine once broke-up with a babe because he believes she’s not bringing anything to the table. Relationship is like a business deal, each partner brings something to the table for trading. As a woman, ask yourself, what am I bringing to the table? As a man, ask yourself, is what am bringing to the table enough for her?

If you are in a relationship or you are about to enter a relationship, now will be a good time to write out what you are bringing to the table. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.



Gabriel Olatunji ‘Legend’ tweets from @OLATUNJISPEAKS



Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of OLATUNJISPEAKS.com.

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OS LIFELINE: How To Freely Acquire World Best Selling Books, Films,Etc., And Generate Income From Them

Simon Uzoma



If you enter 5 bookshops in your locality that have the book ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill in stock, chances are that you will see 2 or 3 versions of the book by different Nigerian publishers.

Don’t get it twisted, the publishers didn’t pay for rights to publish the books, and they keep all the profit for themselves.

How is this possible? How can a Nigerian just wake up one day and decide to publish and market as his own a bestselling book written by an American author without first seeking permission?

Relax, it’s just the awesome power of the public domain at work and it’s so simple any dummy can make it their primary source of income.

Let’s take for instance the book ‘Think And Grow Rich’. Armed with the knowledge you will gather from this article, you can download and resell the book as an eBook, give it away free, or even decide to publish the hard copy of the book and put your name on it as the publisher.

Such is the power of public domain materials.

So, what exactly is public domain and how do you know if something falls within your rights to use it?

The term Public Domain is a phrase coined to describe the huge body of works in the form of written books, courses, articles, images, films, and all sorts of other intellectual properties that have for one reason or another lapsed from copyright protection, meaning that we as individuals can take them and use them in anyway we see fit both legally and morally for the purposes of repackaging the works and selling them for profit.

The version of the book ‘Think And Grow Rich’ that is in the public domain is the 1st edition published in 1937. The copyright was not renewed on it. Meaning that there may be some other versions of the same book which are protected by copyright and which you’re not permitted by law to re-publish.

There are many other materials in Public domain that you can claim as your own. You might even have come across some of them or even bought them online and offline without knowing they are in the public domain. They include posters, reports, tv programs, audio recordings, music, plays, manuals of many kinds and much more!

Examples include the works of Shakespeare and Beethoven, The King James Bible, most of the early silent films, the formulae of Newtonian physics, and the patents on powered flight.

The literary classics Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, or Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm — Disney was free to make its beloved animated versions of these books because their copyrights had lapsed, as well as its epic 3D version of Alice in Wonderland (directed by Tim Burton) which had the second-highest box office gross in 2010 and ranks ninth-highest in all-time box office gross.

In 2011, other studios interpreted public domain works to create such films as Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare), Little Red Riding Hood (Perrault & the Brothers Grimm), and The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas Père).

In the patent realm, drug producers can offer cheaper generic versions of Prilosec or Zoloft, and inventors can improve and market previous innovations, because their patents have expired.

Who benefits from public domain materials?

Artists of all kinds rely on public domain materials— Homer’s The Odyssey has given birth to Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Joyce’s Ulysses, and the Coen Brothers’ O Brother Where Art Thou?, to name only a few.

Journalists and activists use facts and symbols in the public domain to inform the public and spur debate. Commercial publishers reprint public domain works and sell them at discounted prices. Teachers, libraries, museums, historians, archivists, and database operators use the public domain to collect, preserve, and teach about our past.

Scientific and technical research would be impossible without access to data and discoveries. Youth orchestras and church choirs perform public domain works for their communities.

The list goes on. Chances are, you’ve used, enjoyed, and depended on the public domain as well.

So what are the benefits of you using public domain information, or works, to create your own products?

Here are a few ideas to get your mind racing.

* Low start-up costs
* Eliminate paying royalties to others
* Quickly test a market's viability without a large investment
* Save money testing a market before further development
* Low investment of time - time is money
* You keep 100% of the profits!
* No copyright fees
* Thousands of works already exist you can use starting today
* Prior success of works usually is an indicator of future success, i.e., Grimm Fairy Tales!

As you can see the possibilities of using public domain for profits are limited only by your imagination.
The question should not be: "Can I start a profitable business using public domain?" but rather, “Are YOU prepared to do so?”

The public domain sounds really valuable, but I’m in favour of intellectual property, is there a contradiction?

Quite the contrary. You’ll be happy to hear that the public domain is a vital, indispensable part of our intellectual property system, and the inputs in the public domain are just as important to its function as the outputs protected by intellectual property. As Judge Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put it:

“Creativity is impossible without a rich public domain. Nothing today, likely nothing since we tamed fire, is genuinely new: Culture, like science and technology, grows by accretion, each new creator building on the works of those who came before. Overprotection stifles the very creative forces it’s supposed to nurture.”

Without the public domain, there would be little to protect with intellectual property rights; if copyright lasted long enough to lock up Shakespeare’s works, much of the literary canon would vanish; if data, theories and formulae were subject to intellectual property protection, then scientific progress would grind to a halt.

So the intellectual property system needs both the incentives provided by exclusive rights and the freedoms provided by the public domain.

How does something become ‘Public Domain’?

To understand the public domain, you must know how any work can potentially fall into the Public Domain. In fact, there are several ways a work can enter the public domain, and some of these are listed below:

• The work was created and published before there were copyright laws: This distinction is very important and is the sole reason why the works of Shakespeare are considered public domain while Darwin’s ground-breaking book, Origin of Species, is protected by copyright.


• The work cannot be copyrighted. This includes things such as ideas, facts, theories, mathematical or scientific formulas, and also simple things like a list of ingredients or components. Therefore you cannot copyright the Theory of Relativity, or the knowledge of how to make a Molotov Cocktail, a type of a home-made bomb (don’t ask us why we know that).

Note: Some copyright laws (for example the US copyright law) forbids certain types of works from being copyrighted. This includes the examples mentioned above, as well as government publications.

• The work is a publication by the government, related agencies and/or officials. Specifically, the US copyright law prevents such publications from being ‘copyrighted’ (this has a lot to do with the definition of copyright and copyrightable work) and thus they are directly part of the public domain.


• The work’s copyright protection has expired (and not been renewed). It is quite possible to find works published as late as 1963 whose copyright has expired and has not been renewed under current copyright laws.


• The work was never copyrighted – This is a tricky issue. Logically, if a person publishing his work does not acquire copyright, then by reason it is automatically part of the public domain.


• The copyright owner dedicated the work to the public domain. This is more common than you think. An often-quoted example is that of freeware software or freely distributed source code. Sometimes artists tend to dedicate their work to the public domain as well. Many bloggers are even donating their writings to the public domain these days!

7 Ways You Can Make Money With Public Domain Works

When it comes to the types of public domain projects you can create, the limit is really your imagination.
Let’s look at seven different ways you can use public domain materials to build an income stream.

1. You can republish a public domain book as is. You can either physically print it or offer it in electronic format. If you offer the book in electronic format, packaging it as a PDF file is the best way to go. If you choose to offer a printed book, you have a few options.

You can print it yourself on demand and use inexpensive binding equipment (spiral binding) that you can buy from any office supply store to make a professional looking book. You can go to a local printer and do very short runs of the book. They will even do the binding for you. It will typically be spiral bound at such low volume runs as it is quite cost effective when producing a few dozen at a time.

You can approach a specialty printing company and get a larger quantity printed in any type of binding you want.

2. Audiobooks - Did you know that there is a website that has public domain audiobooks that you can download and use as you wish? In fact, as of June 2008, they reached 1,500 books in their catalog of audiobook downloads. There is no cost to use this amazing service. You can learn more about this project at http://librivox.org. Also, don't think you are limited to what is on the Librivox site. Any book in the public domain can be turned into an audio version, packaged and sold to interested customers.

3. Stock photograph collections - Creative people of all types are always looking for additional royalty-free stock photo collections that they can use for projects.

With literally millions of photographs in the public domain, you could gather themed groups of photographs and offer them as stock photograph collections to interested customers. You could package these in a variety of ways. The simplest way is to put them on CDs or DVDs and sell them in that format.

But you could also offer a digital download site where people pay for each photograph that they download or a membership site where they pay a one time or monthly fee to access all the photographs in the collection.

4. Clip art collections - Clip art is basically line art or simple drawings. As with the stock photograph collections above, clip art collections are very popular and can be delivered in a variety of ways.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             A great example of using public domain clip art (or really any public domain material) in printed books is Dover Publications. They have a huge catalog of books - republished public domain works and compilations of public domain materials.

5. Prints/Posters/Maps - Prints is a very large area of the public domain and with modern printing equipment, you can actually run a highly profitable print shop in your house.

Prints can come in all sizes - anything from postcard size to huge posters - and can be offered on a variety of papers and materials - even canvas. So what can be printed? The list is almost endless. You could print civil war photographs, old maps NASA space mission images, Military images, fine art posters.

You can even combine elements of images and build your own unique images for printing - like a series of motivational posters with moving scenes and motivational quotes blazoned across the top of the poster.

6. Have you always wanted to sell e-books but you've never had the time or the ability to sit down and write a great e-book that will be a valuable information product? With public domain ebook, you can take works from the public domain and turn them into profitable e-books that boost your sales and your profits.

You can sell the e-books as is or you can make changes and distribute the improved e-book through your web site. Using public domain works is an easy, inexpensive, and fast way to sell e-books or use them as incentives for your customers.

7. Cards - There are a variety of cards that can be made of public domain images. These include postcards, playing cards, flash cards, sports cards, etc. The key to success in the card business is again to theme the cards to an interest that you’ve identified.

For instance, the Library of Congress has a great collection of baseball cards from around 1900 online. An enterprising person could use them to make decks of playing cards and market them during baseball season.

Where And How To Get Domain Materials

If you're going to take advantage of public domain material, you need to know where to find it without a lot of frustration. Below are places you can get public domain products.

There are hundreds of places you can get public domain materials but I will be sharing you some of the best places you can get it and use it to your own advantage.

1. http://www.asksam.com/ebooks   - A    selection of classic texts like Shakespeare, and assorted legal & governmental texts.

2. http://www.baen.com/library        - A library of downloadable science fiction novels, mostly the first in an ongoing series to get you hungry for more.

3. http://www.bookrags.com/browse/ebooks  -   Selection of free choices, and thousands more for premium members. Can be downloaded as PDF or Word documents.

4. http://www.gutenberg.org  -    The first project for converting public domain works into a digital format; their selection now numbers over 5,000.

5. http://manybooks.net  -   A large selection of books to be read on your PDA, cellphone, iPod, iPhone and more.

6. http://www.dogpatch.org/etext.html  -  Hasn't been updated in several years, but links still work. The books are formatted for a doc reader on Palm. Includes classic literature, the Oz books, and even some fan fiction.

7. http://www.mslit.com/default.asp?mjr=FRE  -  Over 1,500 texts provided by Microsoft for their MS Reader.

8. http://netlibrary.net/WorldHome.html    - Only a small selection for free; however, annual membership, and access to over 500,000 works, is only $8.95 a year.

9. http://ota.ahds.ac.uk  -  Over 2,000 classical texts you can download as ASCII or DOC files, some do require permission of the original uploader.

10. http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_ebooks.asp?CurrentPage=1     -    A decent sized collection of classic novels all in PDF format.

11. http://www.pocketpcbooks.net   -   Over 40 classic books specifically for your Windows Mobile Device. Come on, every one needs to carry Sun Tzu's The Art Of War on their PDA.

12. http://user.pa.net/~thompson  -   Run by an actual high school librarian, this site is specifically for Palm PDAs and features classic literature as well as books for teens and college bound individuals.

Conclusion
Finally, public domain is a powerful way of getting qualities materials that you can use for personal use and commercial use.

What I shared above will really make you lots of money if you put into practice. All you need to do is to go to the site listed above and start downloading public domain products that you can start selling.



Culled from SuccessDigest



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OS LIFELINE: 8 Proven Ways You Can Earn Real Money Online WithoutHaving To Own/Operate A Website

Charles Offokaja and Simon Uzoma



Quite a good number of Nigerians, the internet proffers many opportunities to earn a living without the hassles that come with owning or operating your own website.

Some of the complaints many Nigerians give is that they don’t have a website so there is no way they could make money online.

They look at website owners like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Seun Osewa of Nairaland and Linda Ikeji with her multi million naira blog and conclude that without owning a site, it is impossible to make tons of cash that can send you smiling constantly to your bank.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as there are still myriads of other ways one can make tons of money without having to buy a web domain name and hosting it.

Today we will be sharing with you some of the easiest ways to make money online without owning a website.

Don’t get us wrong; having a website is good and as the above examples show, is a sure fire way to tap into the knowledge economy for your own share of the multibillion dollar pie that is the internet; but in a situation where you don’t have a website/blog/forum and there’s no means or time to get and maintain one, but you are desperately in need of cash from cyber space, there are still lots of ways you can make serious money, even in Nigeria, seriously.

We want you to pay attention to what we’re about sharing because it will really help you when it comes to generating income online.
Is it possible to earn a living online without owning a website? The answer is YES

Here are some sure-fire ways you can earn money online without a website:

1. Facebook Ads

Facebook ads are one of the secret but cheap routes to millions few Nigerians know about, but which is constantly increasing the bank accounts of the few who know its ways.

A Lagos based Project Management Professional seminar organizer who wants to remain anonymous knows all about making tons of money via Facebook ads: in fact, he made his first million via the platform.

He didn’t need to go through the rigors of choosing and buying a domain name, registering it; and he didn’t just have the money to go advertising in the media.

Hear him: “I had this professional course – Project Management Professional (PMP) – which I could offer to upwardly mobile professionals who wanted to enhance their careers, but I had no money to advertise the course in the newspapers, radio, or television.

“I was discouraged and didn’t know how to reach my target market. Then, with the help of a friend, I realized that there are about 10 million Nigerians on Facebook!

"And a large chunk of these ten million are upwardly mobile Nigerians based in Lagos, where I live and operate.
“I went to the site and found it extremely easy to design my ad. It was also very cheap, so I said, “What the heck” and paid for it.

"Guess what, for the next few weeks my phone rang incessantly, and on the day of the seminar, my conference room was filled up. I made my first million naira from that seminar, and in fact, we had to bring in extra chairs into the conference room.

“For a little amount paid to advertise my seminar on Facebook I got the success that seemed almost impossible before.”

Advantages Of Facebook Ads

1. It is a medium to reach millions of Nigerians


2. It is cheap compared to the ad prices of conventional media ads


3. It is cheap compared to the ad prices of  many other websites


4. There is less limitation on your freedom to structure your ad compared to what is obtainable in many other websites


5. It is very easy to design the ad; you don’t need to be a web guru to do so. In fact, below is a guide you could use very easily to design and set up your own Facebook ad to advertise your product to Nigerians on Facebook

How To Create A Facebook Advertisement
i. You can do either of two things: create your own Facebook page or promote your existing separate web page. To create a new Facebook page, you simply fill in your business category and name of business, then you click the create page button as shown directly below:

ii. A new item will then show up in the applications list (in upper left) called the page manager.  Click on it and it will open a new page that gets you started creating your Facebook ad.

iii. You’ll see a button called "Create Targeted Ad" at the bottom of the page. If you select it, you can create an ad to drive traffic to your new Facebook page.

iv. Or, you can click on "I have a web page I want to advertise" and then type in the URL of your web page or your landing page:

v. Click the Continue button and you will be taken to the next tab "Choose Audience."  This is where you can choose your audience's demographics — like their age, gender, education status, and so forth.  You could also put in some specific keywords here to match your market.

vi. The next step is to create your ad. Read through the "Facebook guidelines for ad copy" to make sure you are complying with the rules. Here, just fill out your ad title and body. You could even upload a photo.

At this point, you could also select the option 'social actions relating to your ad'. What this means is that, if you belong to a Facebook group or you own an application, then Facebook will be able to enhance your ad by associating it with the actions of those groups. However, you may only choose sources relevant to the ad you're creating.

vii. Now it's time to decide out your budget options. There are two available options: payment per view/cost-per-impression (CPM) or payment per click.  Cost per impression is a good idea if you're just trying to spread awareness, and it's less expensive overall. Note though that just because people are loading up a page, it doesn't necessarily mean they want to purchase your product or service.

However, if you use payment per click (or cost-per-click), then you only pay when users click your ads.
At this point you even have the option of selecting the time period when you want your ads to run on FB: You can either run them continuously upon approval (Facebook will check all ads before showing them), or only run them on specified dates.

viii. The final step is to review your ad and pay by filling in your credit card details and clicking the Place Order button like the one you see below.

2. Selling Cars For Others On Nairaland’s Auto section (Nairaland.com/autos) As An Agent

To many Nigerian car sellers the only way they can sell their cars is to place a large note on their windshields with the words ‘Buy Me’ emblazoned on it. Unknown to many of these people, there is a fast, very fast market for cars on Nigerian sites like Nairaland’s Auto section where cars worth millions are sold.

That’s where you come in. You can become an agent for these car dealers; all you need is your phone and an internet connection and a Written Agreement with the car dealer, specifying an agreed commission that he must pay you if you are able to get him a buyer online.

Guidelines:

1. Get a phone and an internet connection


2. Locate a car dealer offline and get a written agreement from him, stating the commission he will pay you if you are to get him someone that buys his car


3. Go to Nairaland.com and register for free by clicking the Register button and then filling in your email address and desired password in the indicated spaces


4. Get snapshots of the front, side, back and interior of the car and upload in your computer system


5. On Nairaland’s Auto section click on Create New Topic, fill in the car’s details and price and upload the pictures of it plus your contact details


6. People should begin to bargain with you on the topic page and via telephone calls, and ask to come to inspect the car


7. At this stage you can begin to arrange meetings between the prospective buyers and the car seller – making sure that in your agreement it has been spelt out that if your customer should buy, you’ll receive a certain commission

You may not get your final offer immediately, and that is where your internet connection comes in – you should be able to come in once a day and bump the page to the top, usually by typing ‘bump’. Since Nairaland is a forum, you need to do this so that your ad/topic doesn’t get buried in the lower pages.

Note however: Nairaland Auto section rules frown at people ‘bumping’ their topics/ads more than once a day, so try not to fall afoul, as there are many other sellers who have cars to sell on the section.

Hopefully you won’t need to bump your topic much, as cars have been known to be sold almost immediately their topic is posted. Good luck.

3. Buying, Adding Value And Re-Selling Cars On Nairaland’s Auto Section

You could also buy cars on Nairaland’s Auto section, add value to it by painting it, baking it, putting leather seats in it, and so forth, and then selling it back on the same platform at a higher price. The truth is that the market is there.

According to a participant in the section who did not want his name on print, “Nairaland’s online section is a virtual market but it’s real”.

The dealer also offers some advice for people who want to buy cars from the site to sell: “Business is still the same tricky thing it was, so always endeavor to meticulously inspect the car you want to buy before you part with your money.”

Note: there are other Nigerian sites that also have large ‘markets’ for cars. One of them is Tradestable.com.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is by far the most successful money maker for most. The principle of affiliate marketing is that you are not working directly for somebody but rather promoting their products and it’s easy to learn.

Find a good product to promote and most of the work is done for you. You do not deal with delivery, product creation or returned goods. Not a lot of people realize you can do this without a website.

You need to choose the correct affiliate product, place it in the correct advertising location and learn how to promote it, and this is where a lot of new people fail. They may be great at one or two of these but they are rarely experts at all three.

Here are four things to consider before promoting an affiliate product
i. Is the product of interest to you? Start by finding what product you would like to push. Sell products that you believe in. Don't expect people to buy if you are not sold on the product you're selling.

So, find a product that you like and people will like it too. Your passion for the product will show as you promote it and be a significant factor in persuading people to buy.

ii. What promotional materials / tools does your affiliate program offer? Sample text ads / solo ads / banner ads? How about email campaigns? Do they provide you series of follow-up emails?

iii. What kind of support do they give you? Is their FAQ complete and helpful? Do they have a member area to provide support when you need help? Do they provide any online tools for you to check and monitor your sales statistics?

iv. What is the conversion rate?
When you check the above and find out that the affiliate is what you want then go ahead and promote it.

Where to get good affiliate products to promote:
A. www.cmsaffiliatecash.com
B. www.clickbank.com
C. www.cj.com

How to promote your affiliate link
Before you start promoting your affiliate link make sure you track it using www.bit.ly
There are many ways you can promote your affiliate link; here are some of them:

Facebook : using Facebook to advertise your product will really get you lots of traffic in a relatively short amount of time. And we’re talking serious traffic here.

Create a generic fan page based on your niche and start inviting your Facebook friends to your fan page. This will go a long way in bringing people to your affiliate product.

Each time you update your status add your affiliate link at the end of the update, lots of eye balls will instantaneously get to see it.

Pay Per Click: This has to do with paying for adverts, which means any time someone clicks on your link you pay for that click.
I will advise you not to go into pay per click if you are just a newbie, before going into pay per click make sure that you know what you are doing.
Having said that, Pay Per Click is still the fastest way of generating huge traffic to your affiliate link if you know how to go about it

Twitter: if you have a twitter account this is the time to start making use of it.
Tweet your affiliate link in your twitter page

Linkedin: This site is a mostly dominated by professionals in all works of life.
When you are promoting your affiliate link on Linkedin make sure you do it professionally. Don’t just spam the site. Ensure that you relate with people there and make as many friends as you can. This gives you the privilege to leverage with people who are interested in your affiliate product.

5. Cmsdone4you or Fiverr
Cmsdone4you.com and Fiverr.com are platforms where you can make money online without having a website. All you need to do is to list your products or services on the site, when you have an order you send it to the buyer.

This way of making money online is one of the easiest ways because you are not looking for traffic - the platform already has lots of traffic and the buyers are waiting for the right product or service to buy.

You can sell anything ranging from ebooks, backlinks, traffic, banner designs, web designs, social media, software, etc.

6. Apps Development
This has to do with developing an application that you can list in an app store and people can download and pay for the download. Software products like WhatsApp are actually apps or applications developed and often sold to PC or mobile phone owners because of their functionality.

Many think that apps can only be developed by technical experts. But the truth is that even people who don’t know much about the technicalities of developing apps can still own apps.

All they need to do is to have an idea, commission others to develop apps based on the idea; but it remains theirs as it is their intellectual property.  All the technician gets is his fee for developing the app. The profit goes to the person who commissioned the app as the owner of the intellectual property.

7. Info Marketing
You can make money online with information products even if you don’t have a website. Information products are lucrative when you know how to attract the right people to your offer.

Follow these steps:

1. Snoop around where people converge and discuss online, forums, FB fanpages, etc. and identify common challenges that a lot of people will be willing to pay for to overcome.


2. Go and do thorough research on that challenge and come up with a solution.


3. Turn your discovery into an information product in either of these formats: ebook, video or audio tutorial.


4. Go back to the people still facing the challenge you now have a solution to, and creatively market your solution to them.


5. When they make payment for your product, attach the info product to your email and send it to their email.

Conclusion
Whichever idea you choose be sure to pursue it fully. This will enable you to realize that long dream of financial freedom that you have always cherished.
The internet is vast. Therefore, it’s advisable to pick just one of the money-making opportunities and focus on it until you master it before moving to another one.

8. Selling African Artefacts On EBay:
Before you frown and say 'But Nigerians are not allowed to trade on ebay', be informed that a lot of smart Nigerians do trade on ebay. Stuff like African carvings, statues, textile, and others sell like hot cakes on ebay. You too can do it.

You can successfully trade just about anything on ebay right here from Nigeria if you have a paypal account to receive your payment, and an associate in the US or any other participating countries on ebay to help you fulfil the order.

Ebay payments are made through paypal and paypal alone. Under normal circumstances, ebay does not allow Nigerians on its platform, but a lot of Nigerian internet marketers have since found a way around this hurdle, and it's working well.

So, if you can set up a verified paypal account and have an associate abroad in one of countries allowed on ebay, then you could be on your way to earning some very tidy sum of dollars on the internet without having a website.



Culled from SuccessDigest


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PART 2! Let’s Talk About Sex; Singles STAY AWAY! STRICTLY FOR MARRIEDFOLKS

Paul Byerly

Read the PART 1 HERE

Touch him

His penis is the centre of his sexuality, so go there if you can.

• Feel him up at a stop light.


• Sit across from him at dinner, slip off your shoe, and massage his crotch with your foot.


• When he hugs you, or you hug him, feel his buns or penis though his clothes.


• Come up behind him and slip your hands up his shirt. Then move downwards.

Sleep naked

Wear socks if you must, but be sure he gets as much naked skin as possible. Wear something sexy to bed, and then remove it in his sight. Do this every night, not just when you want sex - you are building arousal.

Give him a show

Did you know 98.4% of men would like to see their wife masturbate? Moreover, the other 1.6% want to, but are too guilty to admit it. Okay, I made those statistics up, but the fact is watching a woman masturbate is extremely arousing to virtually every man. Even pretending to do it will get him turned on. So abandon self-consciousness and go for it. You can "play with yourself" a bit to turn him on during the day, or you can go at it more seriously to get him to want sex right then. Once you have his attention, ask if you should finish or let him join in. There is a good chance he will want to watch you masturbate to orgasm, but even that will work for you, as it will get him aroused for then and/or later.

Get a video camera

Capture your lovemaking on media. One sexually frustrated wife who tried this reported that hubby wanted to watch it right after it was made, and this resulted in them having sex a second time - something that had not happened in many, many years. You could also make a video of yourself masturbating, or better yet ask him to be your cameraman for such a video.

Variety

Most of us would get bored if we ate the very same thing day after day - no matter how good it was or how much we initially enjoyed it. Sex is the same way for most men. Adding variety is not really difficult, once you get your mind out of any ruts.

• If you always have sex in the dark, turn on the lights, if you always have the lights on, turn them off.


• Try having sex at a different time - Saturday morning is good, or lure him into the bedroom before dinner, and as you undress, tell him you have been thinking of him all day and you have to have him right now.


• Try other positions.


• Have sex in other rooms - on the kitchen counter (you seated, him standing), on the dinner table, couches and chairs, the floor, whatever. If you have a garage, have sex in the car.


• Try "making out" somewhere that is private enough for some clothed or under clothes groping, but not private enough for intercourse (the back patio maybe?). When you can't stand it anymore, head for the bedroom - or agree you are going to "finish" as best you can where you are.


• Shave off some or all of your pubic hair - or ask him to do it for you. If you can get him to shave you every other day it will mean he spends time looking at and touching your vulva, and that will arouse him.


• Buy a sex toy - an egg vibrator is a good starting place. Or get some flavoured lubricants. (Covenant Spice has such items without any nudity.)


• If you have not tried oral sex, do so. Start by doing it to him, after a few times see if he will return the favour.


• Learn to drive him crazy with your hands. With practice, you can make him beg you to finish him. Use a good lubricant, and try various ways of touching and stroking.

Just Do It!

Don't ask if he wants or will have sex, just start doing it. Get your hand between his legs and see if you can cause an erection. Keep going once he is erect until you think he is getting fairly horny, then climb on top of him and enjoy yourself. Starting the process with your mouth may work even better. Try catching him as he gets out of the shower - kneel in front of him and use your hands and mouth to get him so aroused he asks you to make love.

Take the pressure off

If you think he often feels "pressured" about sex try using your hands or mouth to give him a "no strings" orgasm - meaning you don't ask him to do anything for you afterwards (you could ask him if he minds you masturbating next to him afterwards if you like). This is a more long-term thing, as you are working to change his mind set.

Convince him his drive and desires are okay with you and God: It is shockingly common for a man to worry that his drive is too strong (he wants sex too often) or too kinky (anything other than missionary in the dark). This creates a powerful dilemma for a man - each time he has sex he is trying to restrain his natural (and God given) drive and desires. He cannot enjoy when he is worried and holding back, and he may come to dread sex for fear of “losing control” doing something wrong.

There are two separate issues here: his fear that what he wants is wrong before God, and his fear that you will be hurt, offended, or angry by what he wants. Usually the problem is a combination of the two, but for most men the concern about their wife is greater. If this dilemma is limiting your husband sexually, your job is to convince him that his drive and desires are good, holy, and not offensive to you. It is possible he wants something that is outside of what God allows, but in reality, God's boundaries for sex in marriage are very broad, and the odds are he does not want something sinful. Getting past this problem is likely to take some time, especially if he has been fighting it a long time. He will need to hear repeatedly that it's okay, that you are not offended by his sexuality, and that you do not think what he wants is wrong.

Start by praising his sexuality. Tell him how much you enjoy his body, and specifically his sex organs. Tell him how good it feels when he is inside you, and how he fulfils you and makes you feel like a woman when he makes love with you. During both foreplay and intercourse be sure to be vocal and active yourself - showing him you really like it may help him let go. Tell him you want to fulfil his sexual wants and desires completely. When he is having sex with you encourage him to let go - say things like "harder", "faster" or "let go". As he is about to climax, "command" him to orgasm in explicit slang terms.

Push Him

Ask him to let you watch him masturbate. If he sees his sexuality as ugly or dangerous, this is likely to be very difficult for him. If he can do it and see that you don't hate him for it, it may help him a great deal. Be sure to tell him you enjoyed it, and that it turned you on. If he starts but cannot bring himself to finish, take over for him.

Lay it out for him

Talk to him about what you want; about wanting more sex, and about having more variety. Be specific and graphic. Try to find out what he might like by suggesting you want to try things. If you have never tried oral sex, tell him you really want to use your mouth on his penis. If you get any hint he likes the idea, ask specifically if you can do it the next time you have sex; or just do it without asking. Try writing a sexual story about the two of you, and introduce some things you want or think he would like. If you write from the first person perspective, you can communicate your thoughts about his sexuality, how sex feels to you, and how much you enjoy sex with him.

Show him that you are sexual

If he thinks he is protecting you, showing him you are sexual will help. Many of the ideas above will help convince him that you are not the uptight sexually limited woman he has imagined. Use of slang terms, if you do not have a problem with them, may really help him because they break the "good girl" image. Openly and graphically asking for sex, or describing what you would like sexually, will also help change his understanding of you. What you wear, especially underwear and what you wear just in front of him will also alter how he sees you sexually. Writing a sexual story with your thoughts and desires clearly spelled out is a very good way to challenge his view of your sexuality.

Apologize

If you regularly rejected his sexual advances in the past, this may be a major factor in his lack of interest now. Maybe it's retaliation, but it's more likely he's put his sexual energies into something else (work or hobby) and is not interested in changing. He might be afraid you will lose interest again, and then he would get hurt all over. Maybe he just got so burned out by sexual rejection that his sex drive has faded. He may still have a good drive, but it masturbating as it seems safer. Regardless of what and why, if you refused him in the past, you need to deal with the injury that caused him – a pain you now understand.

Some things he may secretly long for, and how you can help him try them

• Performing oral sex on you: Get some ice cream syrup, apply it to your breasts, and ask him to lick it off. Then apply some a bit lower, working towards your genitals, asking him to lick it off each time.


• Rear entry (doggie style): Get in position and ask, or tell, him to do it. Help guide him in. (Putting your head down and rear up makes this easier. Reach back and help him in, the angle may confuse him.)


• Sex with you on top: During foreplay get him on his back and climb on. Encourage him to play with your breasts.


• Bondage: Nothing kinky, just one of you tied. When he is the one tied, he can relax and enjoy whatever you do because he is "not in control". You can fake bondage by tying him with yarn he could easily break free, or by putting his hands on the headboard and telling him that he is not allowed to let go. Suggest this during foreplay, with something nearby to make it happen (a bathrobe tie for example)


• Sex toys: Men particularly like to penetrate their wife. Ask him if he would use a _____ on you if you bought one – or buy and tell him you have it and would enjoy him using it if he feels comfortable with the idea.


• Being teased: Some men are really enjoy being turned on and then made to wait. So feel him up, until he is almost there, and then tell him you will finisher later. You can do this to him during commercials while watching TV, or do it before going out on a date together.


• Watch youmasturbate: Just do it!

Closing thoughts

Try these ideas, and your own, gradually, and be sure to look and listen for feedback. If something does not result in him wanting sex, does it arouse him? If he is not getting an erection, that means something different than if he gets an erection and still rejects sex. Does he say what you are doing is silly, gross, or wrong, but keeps watching? Even if your attempts do not result in sex, they may give you information that will help you discover the reason he is saying no.

Finally, there is nothing wrong with you for wanting sex. Some men try to cover their problem by telling their wife she is bad or ungodly for wanting sex. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from the fact that Paul commands men to take care of their wives sexually in 1 Cor 7, consider this passage in which Paul is instructing Timothy about which women to add to the list of those who the church supports:

“Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age ... But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry ...” [1 Tim 5:9a & 11 ESV]

Paul is saying here that women under the age of sixty will have sexual desires that will cause them to desire to marry even if they have taken a pledge to devote themselves to full time service to God. Paul is of the opinion that a fifty year old woman who has known the joy and pleasure of sex will be strongly motivated to remarry and experience sex again! That is hardly a condemnation of a strong female sex drive! God gave you the desire you feel, and He intended you and your husband to enjoy sex often.



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