Theodorah Manjo: Building a brand starts with being relatable
Popularly known as Miss Manjo on the Twitter streets, Theodorah Manjo is a digital marketer and online influencer with a thing for helping the unemployed better themselves. Her timeline exudes positivity and humility and through her social media content, her passion for guiding and assisting the unemployed through knowledge sharing and upliftment is hard to miss. In this interview, she talks about building and maintaining a brand online and how to put your best foot forward with your CV. You are essentially Twitter famous, how do you get to 63k+ followers? I came across a cool social media team called The Hand of Sas (now known as HOS) about two years ago and it was like having an online family. We spoke about everything social media, online etiquette and how to have an “online voice”. I learned how to speak to “strangers” in a familiar way, showing my personality and allowing people to be a part of my life even when they didn’t know. I started falling in love with the aspect of being able to reach & speak to people in provinces I have never been to, and it expanded to Africa. I’m now part of a team called #AfricaTweetChat where we discuss all things digital media with people from all corners of this continent. It makes me so happy! [bctt tweet=”Building a brand online starts with being relatable. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Building a brand really starts with being relatable, following and talking to people and understanding that everyone will always be “strong” behind a screen & you shouldn’t take what people say online to heart because you WILL break. Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure that you will be able to stand by that even 6 years from now because once it’s out there, somebody has already screen-grabbed it. How do you use your influencer status to continue to build your brand? It is all relationship building, making connections and again, being relatable to your audience. The biggest thing is being true to what your story is, you are either a food enthusiast, a budding entrepreneur, an artist or a student going through the motions. People follow you because they can ‘relate’ or they can learn from you and enjoy your content. I have always been vocal on unemployment, social media characters/influencers and how to conduct yourself online. Through my content on those topics, people got to know what makes me tick. Yes, my content varies – I have jokes, I have rants, but most of all I engage with my followers. I want to know what other people are busy with, what makes their day and how I can connect with them NOW so that later, we can have a meaningful relationship. It has proven to be amazing and I have met & befriended a lot of wonderful people online. [bctt tweet=”Don’t be reckless, if you say something online, make sure to stand by that even 6 years from now – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What is the ultimate story for Miss Manjo story? Hmm, what a thought-provoking question. What’s my story? I want to be able to reach and teach at least one person a month, at least ten people in a year. I want my presence online to be relevant and make sense. It’s not about me, it’s about us – how do WE get better at this life thing together?! Celebrate yourself. Are you happy, are you giving and are you helping someone be a better version of themselves? – These are my heart notes to myself daily. What is your strategy for online brand preservation? Think ahead! I want to be big in my industry, I want kids one day – will what I put out there make my future baby girl cringe? Will it result in me having a meeting with my CEO about being too expressive? If questioned about what I tweet personally, will I be able to look at the person in the eye, and stand by what I said without quivering?. I am still a person at the end of the day, things make me angry, people make me angry but what will this mean for me tomorrow morning? Is this who I want SA & Africa to think I am? Practice what you preach or change your speech. And sometimes, there is beauty in silence! [bctt tweet=”Practice what you preach or change your speech. – @MissManjo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] On helping the youth get jobs, and keep them! How did the passion to guide and assist the unemployed come about? I started working at a recruitment agency while I was in between jobs. I only stayed three months because my spirit didn’t really agree with how recruitment worked in this particular place and also, I am a creative so I felt like I was boxed. The whole trend was that they would find people already in employment and headhunt them when in reality there are thousands of people who are unemployed and have the right skills. Through my frustrations of not finding candidates for my roles, I created a Facebook page and I wanted to explore a medium that had a lot of “word of mouth” but with individuals who may not all be employed, and that was how “I Need Someone Who…JOBS” was created on a Tuesday afternoon, without my team leader knowing. It was a risk in that I would probably get kicked out of my job or receive a warning, but my gut didn’t let me down; I was ready to fight for this cause even if meant I would have to be moved to an admin position due to disobedience. This is where I discovered just how much heart I had for those who were unemployed, because a month ago, I didn’t know where to look for a job, nor did I have the means to, but thanks to friends and connections I was lead to this place that has allowed me to change potentially thousands of South
Joy Eneghalu: Using Strategy to Conquer Social Media
Joy Eneghalu is a social media strategist. She helps businesses and teaches individuals how to leverage social media to boost their brand awareness, increase their sphere of influence and make a profit. She is also the founder of the Influencer Marketing platform called Influensah. Can one thrive in today’s marketplace without social media? Social media has taken over and has the potential to expose one’s business to a larger audience. It is highly important to have your business on social media so you don’t lose out on the goodness. However, there is the offline part that people also have to maintain. Social media has become a must-have tool for every business to thrive in today’s marketplace. So, if social media is here to stay, what are the career opportunities open to young people? There are tons of career opportunities open to young people and the beautiful thing is that some of them are largely untapped and it costs almost nothing to get started. Young people can now go ahead and become some of the following professionals: Online TV Hosts Online OAPs Social media and community managers Online event planners Influencers Data specialists and Facebook ad experts Funnel experts Website designers and social media graphic designers Content creators All you basically need is a phone, internet, knowledge, skill, and visibility. If you are wondering if people do these as actual jobs and cash out, there are many of them and they aren’t even enough for the market. What were the mistakes you made when you started out? How can others avoid them? When I started out, it was basically trial and error. Eventually, I invested in courses that helped sharpen my skills. The number one mistake I made was not documenting an agreement with a client and that cost me lots of money because of the lacking proof. This lesson was very important for my success. Before discovering the essence of a community, I played a lone game for a while. However, I now belong to about 6 communities that have provided me with immense support and knowledge. With many people coming on to the social media space, what would you advise to stand out amidst the noisy marketplace? This may sound cliché but nothing beats being authentic, genuinely caring about people and adding value. These have been my own sauce and it works pretty much for everyone you see doing great things. If you are fake, people will find out. Let your style of delivery on social media speak for you. [bctt tweet=”Overnight success doesn’t exist as a social media strategist or manager; you have to put it in the work – @joyeneghalu” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What are the myths in your line of business? Overnight success!! It beats my imagination when many say to me ‘Joy, I want to blog or I want to start managing an account. They said this thing is like oil money. If I do it like this now, by xxx time, I will have xxx amount of money’. It baffles me a lot. Overnight success doesn’t exist as a social media strategist or manager; you have to put it in the work. Some people even take 10 years! Money doesn’t grow on trees in the online world. Secondly, just because one is visible and popular online doesn’t mean the person has billions sited in their account. It can be very annoying to have people asking you for money because of your online fame. If one is being visible on social media, please understand that it is part of the journey and not the destination. Could you briefly share with our Motherland moguls on WhatsApp for business? WhatsApp for Business is a highly innovative tool that businesses can use to offer fast and efficient customer care services to their customers. With a range of different features such as analytics and labels for pending payments; WhatsApp for Business is a highly effective tool for online business. I personally advice having the ‘Click to Chat’ feature on your website or social media platform. This feature enables people to easily chat you up and maintain a human relationship with your business. Final Words You can do this. You can achieve anything you want with the right mindset. [bctt tweet=”Hone the skill of recognizing opportunities and jump on it before the crowd does – @joyeneghalu” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] I look forward to having lots of young ladies kicking butts in the social media/online space. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Edirin Edewor: When failure gives you wings, fly higher
Edirin Edewor is a two-time Amazon Bestselling Author, a Mindset and Author’s Coach, and an Entrepreneur. She works with three types of entrepreneurs to help them publish their books and establish their brands. Through Edirin’s Process Publishing System, entrepreneurs are helped to write their books with ease in record time get published on Amazon and become bestsellers. She also caters to the AUTHORPRENUERS who want to sell their books profitably as well as create extra streams of income through their writing. Finally, Edirin’s 5-Step Process Blueprint helps unknown and underpaid entrepreneurs in the service industry become highly influential and highly paid personal brands. How do you think your past failures set you up for success? In 2011 when I was 20, I attempted suicide. After that, I have had 502 of my job applications rejected in 4 years. I failed in 9 out of 11 business in 5 years. I battled with depression and a diagnosis of Early Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis at age 25. With all this suffering, I felt like a failure and thought my life was over. After much reflection, I began developing a growth mindset which helped me overcome all of these difficult times. I eventually wrote two books; The Productivity Checklist which became an Amazon Bestseller in 2016 and You and Your Mindset. Understanding that my failures were only learning processes, helped me eventually succeed in life and business. These lessons have helped me effectively start, scale and sustain my business in no time. So, now I help others too. [bctt tweet=”Understanding that my failures were only learning processes, helped me eventually succeed in life and business. – Edirin Edewor” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You do a lot of great work with authors. How important is writing to establishing one’s authority in any given field? A lot of influential business people today have written books to establish themselves as authorities in their fields. From Robert Kiyosaki, Brian Tracy, to Steve Harris, Arese Ugwu, Nimi Akinkugbe and myself. Sharing your knowledge with the public shows that you know what you’re doing. It also helps you reach a lot more people with valuable information and grows your value perception. What tips would you give our young Motherland Moguls who are trying to gain influence in business? Everyone has to start from the bottom. No one gets to the top of the mountain by falling there. Getting to the top of the mountain of success requires you to climb. It will take some time, dedication, commitment and keeping a positive attitude in the face of obstacles. One great way to growing influence is getting published and growing your own community. There are many skills and tools to help with this. Social media platforms have made it easy to grow your influence and build a community of a loyal following today. [bctt tweet=”I’d like people to understand that life is in processes and you need to master one level to get to the next one. – Edirin Edewor” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] From your experience what are the difficult aspects of being an entrepreneur in Africa? First of all, being an entrepreneur anywhere, male or female, is difficult. However, Africa presents some unique challenges. The continent is not as technologically and industrially advanced as first world nations. Therefore, there are limited opportunities available to us. This forces us Africans to be creative and create unique solutions to solve our challenges. Secondly, the African market is still not largely globalized and the ease of doing business on a global scale is still being stifled by the political and economic environment. What advice would you give other entrepreneurs on handling this? As stated earlier, we have to create unique solutions to our challenges. While we wait for certain technologies to become available to us, we should maximize on what we have. This also includes constantly seeking opportunities to partner with global businesses to create more favorable conditions to do business. Here is where building trust and fostering good relationships become vitally important. From your past failures, what would you advise a young African woman getting set to start a business or career? Being patient and intentional about learning the lessons even when you fail, helps you learn faster, fail less and fly higher. Today I have built a multi-million naira business sharing this message and helping entrepreneurs build influence so they can share their stories and impact others. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Your very first steps to becoming a CEO
Life doesn’t get better by chance but by change! We all know the job business goals aren’t the easiest feat to accomplish. We may feel as though we are simply just pawns in an older generation’s game of chess, but what we must learn is that it is truly about how you play the game. Being able to control your own fate will ultimately lead you to what you want. Here are some things to realize and ways that you can market yourself to others. [bctt tweet=” Enough Excuses. Build your Image. Life is a business and you are your own CEO!” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Be your own brand Be unique, create an image that identifies you and differentiates you from others. Over time, this image becomes associated with a level of credibility, quality, and satisfaction. Know how to sell the best version of yourself and position your image that will be favorable to all. Know yourself. Get feedback from others and learn as much as you can about how you come across. Then you can accurately target how you appear in a crowd and what you need to work. Stand Out From The Crowd Our differences are what make us unique. How we discipline our self is very important, and those who understand and practice the art of discipline can channel impulses into something of substance. Embrace Knowledge. A wise man once said knowledge is power, more powerful than physical strength There is no end to knowledge. There is no limit to what a person can learn. Even big problems can be solved if we have the knowledge of solving it. By knowledge, it opens us up to possibilities and you will learn to realize that those possibilities that once seemed so far away are actually attainable and endless. Be confident. Believe in yourself it boost, only when you believe it you can do it, When you truly believe you can create what you envision, when you’re not afraid of the obstacles, that confidence will automatically make you stand out from the rest.Love yourself. It has nothing to do with ego, but a confidence within you that elevates your relationships with everything else. You’ll stand out by being modest but happy with who you are. Try not to Fake it till you make it Never disconnect with who you truly are. It is easy to do things when you are your true self. Most people know when someone is being fake, even from a first impression. It’s almost like speaking to a person and even though they’re wide-eyed and smiley, you know they’re not listening to one damn thing you say or care about what you have to offer and instead are only thinking about their own personal benefits. Love yourself. It has nothing to do with ego, but a confidence within you that elevates your relationships with everything else. You’ll stand out by being modest but happy with who you are. Cultivate emotional intelligence. A lot of smart people don’t know how to manage their emotions or relate well to others. Emotional intelligence attracts people who are looking to connect with someone who has their act together and who’s competent and capable.to work toward a deep understanding and hear what’s being said beyond the words. You will stand out in any situation if you become a person who listens from the heart. Take A Chance Often, we know what it is we want to do, but we still don’t do it. Why? We are innately risk averse and afraid of putting our vulnerability on the line. Risk-taking is the ultimate way that marketer achieves success. Products go through a life cycle and that first innovation stage is important and involves risk-taking. Be prepared. When an opportunity turns up, the person who is ready and able to be part whatever needs to happen will always stand out. Got a story or an article to share with us? Share your story with us here.