THE NORTHERN BLOG: ENTREPRENEURS

THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE SOUK TRADEFAIR SET TO HOLD IN KANO

THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE SOUK TRADEFTHE FIFTH EDITION OF THE SOUK TRADEFAIR SET HOLD IN KANOAIR SET HOLD IN KANO

Souk Trade Fair is a medium that aims to aid businesses meet their consumers and marketing needs in a unique way. The Souk Trade Fair works closely together with vendors that want to expand their market share and enjoy higher profits by deploying inventive, and disruptive means of marketing and networking.

It is an event that is hosted four times all through the year with lots of other values that are derived by participants and exhibitors such as seminars and talks tailored to help entrepreneurs in growth and development.

The souk was founded by an economist, who seeks to innovate the process of bringing the suppliers and customers together in a coordinated manner. By creating a market conducive for the vendor to realize profit, and the customers value through a collective and collaborative effort in creating convenience for trade to occur in the short, medium and long term.

Supported by entrepreneurs ecosystem Startup Kano, the fifth edition includes a bundled package of food, fun and fashion. Due to its popularity among the populace, the number of businesses and vendors patronizing the trade-fair usually exceeds that of any other event of same manner in Kano. The details of the trade-fair is as follows:

Time: 10am - 7pm Daily

Date: 20th - 21st May, 2017

Venue: The Afficent, No 74 Sultan Road Nassarawa GRA, Kano.

For stall reservation and inquiries call 09069717181 or 08034538435

No Gate Fee as Admission is Free!!!

Watch Video Promo Here:

READ ABOUT THE LAST THE SOUK TRADE FAIR HERE

MEET AHMAD, A TECHY WHO WANTS TO TRAIN 100,000 DEVELOPERS YEARLY IN KANO

Ahmad Aminu Idris is the co-founder of Quadrev, an IT company that specializes in hardware programming, telecom and general tech consultancy. Ahmad is a passionate programmer and IT professional with experience in embedded systems and creative computing. The Northern blog had an interesting conversation with him where he talked about the book he is about to launch and other projects he is working on.

The Northerner: May we know you?

Ahmad: My name is Ahmad Aminu Idris, I am 26 years old. I studied electronics and telecom engineering and I am the author of the book that is about to come out Introductory to Creative Computing using Scratch Volume One.

The Northerner: What is Creative Computing?

Ahmad: Creative computing simply means knowing how to use the computer creatively, this can be so many things but in this context it means people becoming creators rather than consumers. This means you can create the games you play, create the cartoons you watch, create the music you listen to, and so on and so forth the list is endless.

The Northerner: Our readers would like to know what is Scratch?

Ahmad: Scratch is a software developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is basically a software for programming, it is an object oriented programming that is so simple. It is a drag and drop software that allows children to learn how to program at a very young age. The age I recommend is six (6).

The Northerner: What do you intend to achieve with the book?

Ahmad: The book is like a manual that has been broken down and made so easy to understand and follow. We want people to understand the concept of programming while having fun in the process. They would be able to animate games and even write stories of their lives using scratch.

The Northerner: There is this high barrier of technology penetration in the north, how does this book help in creating awareness?

Ahmad: It will play a lot of role like I said it has been broken down to the level that even an Almajiri who has never been to the class will understand. We worked with child psychologists to make sure that the content of the book can be easily assimilated.

The Northerner: You mentioned that even an Almajiri can learn from the book, does it mean even the lay man would be able to relate to the book?

Ahmad: Yes 100%, but the only thing that is so far there will be someone that will explain it to them. Eventually they should have a basic knowledge of English language. I would really love it if I can translate it to Hausa or Ajami, I am not there yet but the ideas have come up a few times.

The Northerner: Have you worked on other projects apart from the book?

Ahmad: As a key partner, my company has been involved in a number of projects. I don’t want to say this, but I am not holding back this time. We launched a program for young tech enthusiasts who are willing to push the barrier. We finished training today and came out with four community projects with each projects headed by these youths. We are also engaging less privileged kids especially public schools children to teach them basic coding skills like html and css for building simple web pages.

The Northerner: What are your major challenges?

Ahmad: At Quadrev there some challenges, like many other community based projects we face financial hurdles. All the training we’ve carried out have been from our pockets and even though we have a goal of training 100,000 coders yearly in Kano.

The Northerner: Where do you see yourselves in the future?

Ahmad: Well right now we are doing okay, we have a fleet of drones, they are mainly surveillance drones and they are not off the shelves drones, we made them. Eventually we will also have a technology hub, it will be different from the ones we have now because we would focus on education.

The Northerner: What advice do you have for people out there who are also trying to change the narrative?

Ahmad: The thing is don’t give up. Just find a way, there is always a way no matter how hard it gets.

STARTING YOUR BLOG PART THREE

In the second part of starting your blog we covered how to design and improve your blog readability. Today we will continue how to increase your blog popularity using search engine optimization and other techniques.

Proofread and edit your posts

Sloppy writing and obvious errors can undermine your credibility and distract readers from what you have to say. Before you publish any post, you should check it for spelling and grammar errors. All blog services include a spell check feature. You should use it every time you post.

You should also reread posts before you publish them. Once you've finished writing a post, take a break, then return to it later with fresh eyes. When you reread a post, check your writing to make sure it's clear and enjoyable to read.

Connecting with a blogging community

No matter what you write about in your blog, there's bound to be other people out there who are blogging about the same or similar subject. Becoming part of this community of bloggers is a good way to get more people to read your blog. People who know you and who share your interests are likely to read your blog posts and even recommend them to others.

Being part of a blogging community can also make writing your blog more enjoyable. When you're not sure who's reading your blog, writing can feel a little bit like shouting into a void. In contrast, when you're part of a community, you may feel like you're participating in an established discussion. Many bloggers like the feeling of writing for an audience of friends. How can you do that?

Find Similar Blogs

Comment on other blogs

Reach out with social media

Promote blogs you like.

MAKING YOUR BLOG EASY TO FIND

Even if you write the best blog posts on the Internet, you'll never get many readers unless people can easily find your blog. The internet is a big place, and making your blog stand out from millions of others is a challenge. Still, there are a few things you can do to make it more likely that new readers will visit your blog.

Help search engines find your blog with SEO

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a set of techniques you can use to make your blog more visible to people who are using search engines. The more visible your blog is, the more likely it will show up in search results.

Most SEO strategies are based on the way you write your blog. For example, including keywords in your posts can influence the search results your blog shows up in.

Link to your blog elsewhere

A simple way to let people know about your blog is to link to it. For instance, you could send the link to your blog to people you think would enjoy it. To reach more people, you can use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can post a link to your blog in your profile on these sites.

You can also use the networks' sharing tools to post links to individual blog entries which you think your online friends will find particularly interesting. You can create social networking accounts specifically for your blog— your blog's own Facebook Fan Page or Twitter feed. For people who want to keep their personal life separate from their blog, this can be a better choice than using your own Facebook or Twitter account. You can learn more about social networking sites on the internet.

Make your blog easy to navigate

When people visit your blog, they should be able to easily find the posts they're interested in. There are a few things you can do with your blog posts that will make them easier for visitors to find.

Give posts descriptive titles, so that people can skim your blog and find what they're looking for.
Organize your posts by subject with tools like categories, tags, and labels.

Your blog's design will also influence how easy your blog is to navigate. Design elements like layout, color scheme, and text size will all affect your readers' experience, so you should consider these things carefully.

This is the end of our blogging series, if you want us to help you setup your blog feel free to contact us.

WHY YOU SHOULD SIGN UP FOR THE OUTPERFORM ONE ON ONE BUSINESS COACHING SESSION

Outperform is an agency that identify lapses in productivity among startups, companies, organizations and entrepreneurs. The agency specializes in improving the overall performance of businesses and corporate organizations. The Northern Blog had an interesting conversation with the lead strategists for Outperform agency. Mr Maxwell Ukueje, he took us on an extensive talk on how their strategy for productivity and results far outranks any other services in the area.

During the conversation, he quoted that " In the past 6 months I have worked with some Startups and entrepreneurs as well and I have noticed the tremendous work that they do. Some work almost round the clock and when you ask "hey how is business going" they reply with so much enthusiasm "yeyy!!! Great men! You know how we do . Sadly enough, after having some deep talk I found out that a good number of them are doing so much work with little to show forth. They invest so much time and resources but are finding it hard to get the big break. Simply put, they go out everyday to hustle but are finding it difficult to make money, or even run their businesses. I also noticed another group that have something valuable they are trying to push out but don't know how to go about it. They know they have a good product or service but are yet to hit the kind of sales they desire. They know they can do the job but they don't just have the right network. They don't know who to sell to and how to sell."

While also quoting Les Brown, Mr Maxwell said " There is no secret to success, there is a system to success". He mentioned that " via a One-on-one session they sit with entrepreneurs and business owners and help them build a system for their business, passions and skills. He cited example with people who already launched a startup but 1 year down the line don't have the market they always wanted and are bedeviled by low patronage because business isn't working for them. And also those who already launched a startup but don't have a proper business model and lastly those in business but things are not just working for them and are even considering closing up."

This is a guaranteed method of building skills especially in the areas of people management, time management, resources management, financial management, risk management etc. If you're interested in signing up for this one-on-one business mastermind program, call any of these numbers: 08025854796 or 09056759441

The requirements for joining the outperform one on one session are that:

This program is only for serious minded individuals. It's a one on one session so participant is open to choosing a favorable meet up point. The highlights include:
-Within 2 weeks, you must finish 2 books
- One-on-One sessions are Zero Device Session (ZDS), that is there will be no use of mobile devices.
- If a participant miss her/his schedule with the coach, there is a fine of NGN15,000.00
-Any assignment not submitted within due date attracts a fine of NGN20,000.00.

WOMEN FOUNDERS GROUP IS ORGANIZING SOCIAL WEDNESDAY TO TEACH WOMEN DIGITAL SKILLS

Women Founders Group will be hosting its first edition of Social Wednesday. An event that brings women in business together to train them on digital and social media skills that will assist them to boosts sales and productivity. Women Founders Group held a conference last year to celebrate women in business and in the professional world.

Social Wednesday is a medium for women especially those without any form of the tech skills to learn the various strategies and techniques and use these new skills to build a better business and re-enforce their digital marketing.

The event will be held at Startup Kano hub. The hub has being influential in bringing a lot of initiatives that are geared towards creating awareness on technology and entrepreneurship in Kano.

This is a unique opportunity for women entrepreneurs and techies to arm themselves with valuable knowledge which is no doubt essential in today’s world. Interested participants should send name to 08038088515 to register.

The event is scheduled to take place as follows:

Venue: No S268 Maiduguri Road, Opposite Oasis Bakery Kano.

Date: 26^th April, 2017

Time: 11:00am Prompt.

HOW TO WRITE A BUSINESS SALES FORECAST

A sales forecast is a projection of the performance of sales for the organization for a defined period. This is usually a year, broken down into months and quarters. The one thing you can be certain of with a sales forecast is that it will be wrong. But a business must have planning built into it, and a professionally organized sales forecast will be less wrong than a wild guess! Sales forecasting is important for any company’s planning purposes, it is key to budgeting, staff and resource planning, and management of all aspects of the business. Forecasts should be reviewed and revised regularly, in the light of actual sales figures, competitor activity and other market factors.

Forecasting is about assumptions and statistics. There are sophisticated forecasting models available, and consultants who will produce forecasts for you, but the people best placed to estimate sales are the sales management team. They know the business, competitors and markets, (ideally!), and if they produce the forecasts, they own and manage them. Forecasting in great detail is tricky, it is probably best to look at the overall figures rather than product by product, but this will depend on the individual company and your business needs.

Points to consider

It is good to have your forecasting and accounting integrated, so that actual sales can be taken from the accounts department figures. And the forecasts can feed into the company forecast. Consider a rolling 12 month forecast, with individual months (or even weeks) having their own forecast figure. It is usually best to forecast units multiplied by selling price, to show a forecast cash figure. This way you can track changes in selling price in the actual figures. You can also forecast and track direct costs, allowing you to forecast margin too.

What do you base your forecast on?

If you are an existing business, you can take past data (look at a couple of recent years to smooth out anomalies) and project forward , making assumptions based on your knowledge of the market ,your sales team , competition, new market entrants. If you are a new business, this is much more difficult, but will be required as part of a business plan. You have to consider your sales drivers and make some assumptions, use your judgement. Your sales drivers are the factors that influence the likelihood of a sale. For a hotel, the predicted number of guests; for a store, it will be predicted visitors.

Sales Funnel or Sales Pipeline

A sale is only a sale when it is closed, but one way of forecasting is track the potential business in the “sales funnel “ or pipeline . That is to say, is at various stages in the pre-sales process, various stages in the opportunity process.

The stages might be;-

Quote requested and sent
Sample sent or trial begun
Price in negotiation
Business closed

The sales person allocates a probability of sales closure to each opportunity, and the forecast sales are multiplied by that percentage. Each opportunity is itemized and moves through the funnel, with the probability of closure often increasing as it does, this will vary by opportunity obviously. Equally if there are many companies negotiating for a product the probability at that stage might be lower than suggested in the table below.

For more on how to come up with a sales funnel/pipeline contact us.

HOW TO PLAN A SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGN PART TWO

Step 4: Get social media inspiration from industry leaders, competitors, clients

If you are sure what kind of content and information will get you the most engagement? For inspiration, look to what others in your industry are sharing and use social media listening to see how you can distinguish yourself from competitors and appeal to prospects they might be missing.

Consumers can also offer social media inspiration, not only through the content that they share but in the way that they phrase their messages. See how your target audience writes Tweets, and strive to mimic that style. Also learn their habits—when they share and why—and use that as a basis for your social media marketing plan.

A final source of social media inspiration is industry leaders. Companies in every industry imaginable have managed to distinguish themselves through advanced social media strategies. Follow them and learn everything you can. See if they’ve shared any social media advice or insight elsewhere on the web.

Step 5: Create a content plan and editorial calendar

Having great content to share will be essential to succeeding at social media. Your social media marketing plan should include a content marketing plan, comprised of strategies for content creation and content curation, as well as an editorial calendar. Your content marketing plan should answer the following questions:

What types of content you intend to post and promote on social media
How often you will post content
Target audience for each type of content
Who will create the content
How you will promote the content

Your editorial calendar lists the dates and times you intend to publish blogs, Instagram and Facebook posts, Tweets, and other content you plan to use during your social media campaigns.

Create the calendar and then schedule your messaging in advance rather than updating constantly throughout the day. This gives you the opportunity to work hard on the language and format of these messages rather than writing them on the fly whenever you have time. Be spontaneous with your engagement and customer service rather than your content.

Make sure your calendar reflects the mission statement you’ve assigned to each social profile. If the purpose of your LinkedIn account is to generate leads, make sure you are sharing enough lead generation content. You can establish a content matrix that defines what share of your profile is allocated to different types of posts. For example:

50 percent of content will drive back to your blog
25 percent of content will be curated from other sources
20 percent of content will support enterprise goals (selling, lead generation, etc.)
five percent of content will be about HR and culture

If you’re unsure of how to allocate your resources, a safe bet is to follow the Social Media Rule of Thirds:

One-third of your social content promotes your business, converts readers, and generates profit
One-third of your social content should share ideas and stories from thought leaders in your industry or like-minded businesses
One-third of your social content should be personal interactions with your audience.

Step 6: Test, evaluate and adjust your social media marketing plan

To find out what adjustments need to be made to your social media marketing strategy, you should constantly be testing. Build testing capabilities into every action you take on social networks. For example, you could:

Track the number of clicks your links get on a particular platform using URL shorteners and UTM codes
Use Hootsuite’s social media analytics to track the success and reach of social campaigns
Track page visits driven by social media with Google Analytics

Record and analyze your successes and failures, and then adjust your social media marketing plan in response.

Surveys are also a great way to gauge success—online and offline. Ask your social media followers, email list, and website visitors how you’re doing on social media. This direct approach is often very effective. Then ask your offline customers if social media had a role in their purchasing. This insight might prove invaluable when you look for areas to improve.

The most important thing to understand about your social media marketing plan is that it should be constantly changing. As new networks emerge, you may want to add them to your plan. As you attain goals, you will need to set new targets. Unexpected challenges will arise that you need to address. As you scale your business, you might need to add new roles or grow your social presence for different branches or regions.

Rewrite your social media strategy to reflect your latest insights, and make sure your team is aware of what has been updated.

If you are interested in us planning your social media campaign, inbox us here.

THE NORTHERN BLOG

Labels

RECENT COMMENTS

Featured post

INTRODUCING PAYANT, A PAYMENT GATEWAY WITH CLASS

CATEGORIES

Popular Posts

Technology

Breaking News