5 Marketing Tips from Business Guru P.Diddy
Sean “Puffy/Puff Daddy/ Diddy/Brother Love” Combs is one of the greatest marketing geniuses on earth. He has remained relevant and dominant to hip-hop music, culture, fashion, business and entertainment over the past 20 years. Last year, Sean was also recognized as one of the Forbes 100 Greatest Living Minds. He is also often considered one of the top 3 of 5 wealthiest hip-hop artists on the Forbes list. Amidst all these, you may wonder, how does he keep all eyes on him? In this article, we will discover 5 tips from Diddy that can help us improve our marketing game and slay! 1. Say Your Name If there is one thing Diddy always does, is use every advantage to promote his products or name. Whether its an interview on Ellen or a cameo on The Breakfast Club, Diddy always has his products such as a bottle of Ciroc. You should take advantage of every airtime you get to promote your brand and products. Through being strategic, you should find a way to guide the conversation in a way that allows you to talk about your products. This will help increase your revenue and the reach of your brand. 2. Make The Circle Bigger The fact is you can only be in one place at a time, but you need to get the word out about you, your brand or business. You need people spreading a positive word about you to others. Diddy figured this out in his early days as a music producer when he started Bad Boy Records, which celebrated its 20-year reunion tour last year. Diddy has been instrumental in the careers of musicians like Notorious BIG, Mase, and more recently French Montana. Whenever a record of their plays, it will at some point announce “Bad Boy.” Through shaping and promoting the careers of the musicians he worked with, Diddy also extended his marketing reach. When you help other people achieve their goals, you also, in turn, grow your circle of influence and people who will do anything for you. 3. Stay On the Beat Is Diddy an expert of the FMCG, Film and Music industries? Probably not, but he knows enough of the field to spot a real opportunity. You don’t want to seem like you are all over the place, but rather that you ‘happened’ to be in a certain place or sector because you keep your finger on the pulse. Whatever you are working on, you need to know all the new developments and contribute to the conversations in a meaningful way that elevates the topic. Diddy lost his father to gun violence at a young age. Though he became successful, he didn’t forget to empower his people. His response to Black Lives Matter through building a world-class school in Harlem, the neighborhood he grew up in. 5. Have Fun Diddy always looks like he is having a great time, from salsa dancing in his underwear to the energy he brings when he is hosting shows. People are attracted to someone who is upbeat, so plaster a smile on your face and get hyped about whatever you do! We are always exchanging energy so make sure you put out positive vibes only! DO YOU HAVE ANY BUSINESS LESSONS TO SHARE? Let us know here.
#YasminSays: Here’s why that interviewer never called you back
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to hire new talent for SLA. It’s been brutal. I often hear young people talking about how they can’t find jobs. They always blame the system. They don’t want to hire new people.” ”They didn’t like my face.” ”They don’t like people from different tribes.” After 3 months of looking at applications and interviewing a bunch of people, here’s a thought I’d like you all to consider…. Maybe you’re the problem. Maybe you went about getting a job the wrong way. Maybe you played yourself and set yourself up for failure. I know… I’m mean right? And I’m not meant to be mean because I founded SLA and we’re meant to be this cuddly organization that helps women. Hell – we probably spend our evenings braiding each other’s hair and giving group hugs as we sing kumbaya. WRONG. My job as a founder of SLA is to keep it all the way real with you and turn you into a corporate beast. Someone who’s going to go out and crush it all over Africa. So in the spirit of keeping it real with you, here’s a list of the dumbest things you can do if you’re applying for a job. Don’t ask basic questions A couple of weeks ago, I was searching for a new program manager. One of the prospective candidates sent me a question asking whether or not we charged people to be members of SLA. Needless to say, I didn’t even bother to look at her application. Why you ask? Because she asked a basic and frankly stupid question. All she needed to do to get that information was to go onto the SLA website and do her research. Yet, she decided not to and instead came off looking like the Founder, CEO and Chairman of SimpleHeauxs.com. When you choose not to take any initiative in learning about the company or gaining basic, publicly available information, you show that you actually aren’t that serious about the company and they shouldn’t take you seriously either. Don’t overhype yourself This one is so obvious that I’m actually sad that I have to write it down. One person who we interviewed called herself “an innovator from birth.” Is that so….? From birth huh? The only reaction someone will have when they see that is: The best thing you can do when applying for a job is to be honest and straightforward about your results and what you’ve actually been able to deliver. All the grammar in the world won’t help you if you can’t show that you know how to get things done. Don’t overhype your qualifications A couple of weeks back I was talking to a girl who said that she graduated from Harvard Business School. On further investigation, it comes out that she just did a course there for a couple of weeks. Her CV went straight into the dustbin because now I know she is a bona fide massage therapist – massaging the truth all day every day. If you didn’t have to take an entrance exam, then calling yourself a graduate is a stretch. Doing a summer course does not make you a graduate of that institution so chill your life. Not everyone in the world went to Harvard and THAT IS OKAY. No need to be so insecure. Don’t act entitled This one goes out to all you returnees out there. Especially the ones who went to fancy schools. Y’all think that because you went to fancy schools with big names like Stanford and Harvard that I should be falling over myself trying to hire you. False. Some of the most basic, offensive, simple-minded heauxs I know went to these Ivy League schools so relax yourself. No degree can overcome a stank, arrogant attitude and I’d rather take a chilled out, smart local grad over your annoying self any day. Chill with the fone If you spent one year in England and yet try to sound like Queen Elizabeth herself when I interview you, you will be rejected immediately. Why do we Africans feel the need to pretend to speak English with a foreign accent? It’s so weird and makes you seem really insecure. More generally, I’m not quite sure what the intended effect is. People know that you’re faking it and they’re probably judging you. In fact, sometimes the fone is be so strong that it’s actually hard to understand what you’re trying to say. I have a sort of English-American Nigerian twinged accent because I spent 14 years abroad. Does that make me better, more professional or smarter than someone with a Nigerian, Kenyan or Ghanaian accent? Absolutely not! An accent is an accent not a badge of intelligence so stop faking it. Speak as you speak and be confident with your bad self. So there it is. Five reasons why you may have gotten rejected from your last job interview. To those of you who’ve engaged in some of this behavior. Don’t worry. It is well. No one can fault you for not knowing but if you continue to make these mistakes moving forward… you have only yourself to blame. For those of you who are interested in learning more about how you can be well prepared to CRUSH the job market, check out a bunch of FREE resources we’ve created to make you the baddest B you can be. Till next time! Xoxo Yasbo
Odunayo Eweniyi: I kept going on interviews but was never hired
Odunayo Eweniyi’s story is one that is probably familiar to most young graduates. Leave school excited for the real world. Apply for several roles and go out on interviews. Wait to hear back from the interviewers. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Keep waiting. Give up hope and become a permanent indentation on your mother’s couch. Instead of just wasting away until a job found her, she went out and created her own job by forming PushCV. The Chapter Lead for the Nigerian chapter of Women in Tech Africa, wanted to create a platform where qualified candidates could get connected directly to job opportunities and cut through the delays. Odunayo shares with us where she thinks most young Nigerians struggle with getting a job, how she’s differentiating her company and what she believes is the most important element of a CV. Why did you start PushCV? We started PushCV right out of university. When I graduated I went on a couple of interviews and I never even heard back, despite being told that I passed the interviews. It went on like that for a bit, plenty of CV submissions and no call backs. So PushCV was borne of a personal need. I wanted to be more involved in how employment is done. We started PushCV because we thought that employment and recruitment could be done better. Every other service was going digital, so why couldn’t recruitment move with the times? Hence we launched PushCV for people – both employers and job seekers – to fully harness the power of technology in the search for the perfect candidate or the perfect job. In what areas do you think most young Nigerians struggle when it comes to finding a job? I have heard employers complain that great candidates don’t exist and I have heard job seekers talk about the lack of jobs. While there’s a degree of truth in these claims, the problem is more of a divide between the employers and job seekers. The struggle is essentially in two places. Employers struggle to find the best suited candidates for their vacancy, and the truth is that sometimes, those candidates do not exist. As a result job seekers struggle to mold themselves into the cast of the perfect candidate. But really the biggest problem is employability. Most of the graduates in the country currently lack the technical or soft skills that would satisfy prospective employers. That is why PushCV is committed to bridging that divide. We created the Elite Employee Quest for this purpose – to isolate the already built up candidates and put them in front of employers; and to work with and on the jobseekers that are lacking in some respect, and make them better. We aim to make every candidate into the perfect candidate by building all aspects of them – soft skills, innate employability, interpersonal skills etc. We do not send candidates who have not met our rigorous standards for interviews. How do you ensure Push CV stands out against all of the other job search platforms on the market? We never stop innovating because we listen to our customers. We believe that we can only move forward when we are fulfilling a pain, not just a need. We have a robust feedback system that we use to track customer preferences of employers and job seekers. What do they want? How can we make it better? Those are the questions that we answer and use those answers to develop a constantly evolving product. What can we expect to see from Push CV over the next 6 months? Over the next 6 months, I think that you can expect to see us gaining an even stronger foothold in the market. The next 6 months will see us pushing the boundaries and bringing better alternatives into the very traditional world of recruitment. Unemployment is one of the biggest problems that Nigeria is facing. As someone who is committed to education and labor and I feel privileged to run a startup that wants to solve this problem. I think that the one thing I can promise is that we will do our absolute best to bring unemployment to the barest minimum. We often employ unconventional methods, so people can expect more outside the box thinking from PushCV over the next few months, What is the most important element to a CV? Here, I should tell you that it’s your “Work Experience” or your “Education”. But really it’s just the top third of your first page. The average resume gets about six seconds of review time before it’s either retained or pitched. So, you need to make a compelling argument for yourself in those six seconds. If the top of your resume works hard and quickly makes your case, you will be retained for review consideration.
10 East African songs that will get you hyped for your next big interview
No matter how many times you practice your introduction or write down the skills you’ll bring to the position, interviews can be the most stressful part of getting a new job. We all know the stakes are high for an interview – you can go from the bottom of the pile to the #1 candidate by presenting yourself well and telling a compelling a story. With so much riding on your success, you can’t go into the interview room full of jitters and unsure of yourself. The best way to make yourself stand out is to be confident and calm. Not sure how to do that? We’ve pulled together a list of 10 East African songs to help center yourself and find some inner peace before the big moment. 1. Habida – Superwoman As the title suggests, this song will get you into a ‘conquer the world’ mood. With its catchy beat and uplifting lyrics, it is just the kind of song you need to conquer an interview. 2. Octopizzo – Black star Straight from the chorus, it is clear that the song is telling the listener to believe in themselves. “Forever you will be, a shining star… You will always be, a black star…” Go forth black star and rock that interview. 3. Khaligraph Jones – Yego This song is about Julius Yego, the Kenyan javelin thrower who broke the African record twice and Kenya’s national record four times. Seeing as the song is based on a champion, it shouldn’t be hard to get into a winning spirit when listening to this song. 4. Juliani – Exponential potential The title says it all and so does the video. The video is set within the confines of a boardroom which seems appropriate given the lyrics of the song. This is just the song you need to get the energy to unleash your full potential. 5. STL – Dreamer Stella Mwangi (STL) uses this song to encourage all the dreamers to go out into the world and follow their dreams while recounting her own story. It will definitely get you in the mood to conquer your fears and ace the interview. 6. Wangechi feat Karun – Analogue dreamer Although on the surface, the song seems to be talking about following your dreams, the more profound message is about being courageous enough to be different and to be you in a world clogged with similarity. Just the dose of courage anyone needs before an interview. 7. Muthoni the Drummer Queen (MDQ) – Nai ni ya who? This song was written for the city of Nairobi and what it takes to make it. But the song’s universal message also applies to any other city in the world. At its core, the song emphasizes the importance of getting up and doing something to change your life. The track’s awesome beat will get you hyped in seconds. 8. Avril feat Rabbit King Kaka – Ninaweza ‘Ninaweza’ means ‘I can’ in English. The song stays away from metaphorical analogies and remains as simple as its title suggests. It is the only motivation you need to get hyped for your interview. The message is clear, ‘You can.’ 9. Vanessa Mdee – Hawajui With a colourful video, Mdee encourages her listeners to overcome any obstacles that come their way, including unfair judgement from people who have no idea who you are. 10. Jua Kali – Baba Yao The song begins with these words, “Hauezi niekea chini, me ni baba yao” “You can’t put me down, I am a champion” (English Translation). Side Note: The Direct translation of the phrase, ‘me ni baba yao’ is ‘I am their father’ which is a sheng colloquialism used to refer to oneself as the best or a champion among colleagues. Which of these are your favorites? Any ones we missed? What is your all time favorite song for getting pumped your big interviews?