Would you try these amazing black tomatoes?

Source: +Amusing World

Amazing.

Learn Google Adwords' Mobile Bid Adjustment

Learn how to use Google Adwords effectively especially in Africa.

How to Generate Great Business Ideas from Blogging

You can generate bright business ideas from bloging

I have some friends that have great passion for certain hobbies and I am always encouraging them to turn their hobbies into businesses. A business is any legitimate profit-oriented activity and as such your hobby becomes a business when you seek to make money out of it for yourself. 

However, it is not everybody that has it easy getting ideas they actually want to develop into a business. Try as they might, they just do not feel inspired by any business ideas or opportunities suggested to them.

It is very easy for people like me with entrepreneurial spirit to accuse them of not being brave and bold-enough to start a business but the truth is that without having a passion for what you do, any business you start is likely to fail.

The solution I have for this problem is to encourage such people to start a blog. Yes, blogging is hard work for most people especially in terms of generating traffic but if you get the basics such as generating your own content and sharing your posts with relevant communities that would have interest in what you write right; you are likely to get some feedback that will give you indication of where your strengths are and this will help you develop a business you would be happy with.

If you are blogging and sharing your content consistently, you are likely to get 3 types of responses on it:

1. Positive Engagement 

You will get responses from people who like your blog. It may be the design, layout but more importantly your content and personality that they like. What these types of responses tell you are your areas of strength. You should note and build on them because if you keep developing your strengths, you would begin to become an authority in your niche and the more authoritative you are, the more valuable you will become.

2. Negative Feedback

This should be broken into 2 –people who genuinely do not like you, your ideas, opinions, post etc. and Internet trolls who are simply troublemakers. You should study the responses of the former seriously and see if they have valid points that can help you improve as a person and blogger. As for the trolls, remove their offensive comments and ban those who continuously cause trouble. The experience you get from handling negative feedback is important because it lets you know the things you have to change if you want to get people’s attention positively.

3. Enquiries 

These are the responses on your blog that you should really give a lot of attention to if you want to get the best business ideas and opportunities from it. Identify and observe the trends in the types and frequency of questions you get asked on your blog. The most asked questions are what you should identify as a need from people who want answers or solutions to a problem or set of problems. People have asked you as a potential source of answers or solutions for the problems they have based on your blogging. Hence, you are in a strong position to organise yourself and create channels through which you can address those needs at a profit. 

Once, you can achieve this, you are in business. All that is left is for you to fine-tune your processes and build on what works best whilst you avoid repeating costly mistakes.

This process takes a while to mature but if you follow it in a dedicated manner, you can create your own business from blogging even if you are seriously averse to risk-taking which is what entrepreneurship and starting a business is all about. 

Anyone can start a business, you just have to find ideas you are passionate about and blogging is a great way to do this.

National Conference Adjourns following Death of Justice Kutigi's Wife

Confab Adjourns Till Monday As Kutigi Loses Wife

Proceedings at the National Conference was on Wednesday adjourned till Monday following the death of Hajia Maryam Kutigi, wife of conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi (rtd).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Deputy Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, made the announcement on resumption of plenary on Wednesday.

Akinyemi said the deceased had been in hospital for a while, a development, he said, did not deter Kutigi from carrying out his function at the conference.

“Distinguished delegates, it is with a sense of deep sorrow that I announce the death of Hajia Maryam Idris Kutigi, wife of our honourable chairman.

“She died at 2.00 a.m. in the hospital today.

“The chairman, in spite of the fact that his wife had been in hospital for these times, had been attending session every day.

“This is indicative of the sacrifice that people in leadership make,’’ Akinyemi said.

The deputy chairman explained that the burial ceremony would take place at the Gudu Muslim Cemetery at 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday.

According to him, prayers for the deceased would be at 10.00 a.m. at the chairman’s residence at Asokoro, Abuja.

Following the announcement, Akinyemi announced that it was improper to hold the session.

“You will agree with me that, it is only proper and human to adjourn our sitting so that we can attend these ceremonies.

“It is my understanding that you (delegates) don’t wish to meet tomorrow, which is a public holiday, and that was the feeling from the hall.

“So, if that is right, we will then adjourn until 9.00 a.m. on Monday. We will proceed to Kutigi’s house since we do not have much time.

“So this conference remains adjourned till 9.00 a.m. on Monday,’’ Akinyemi.

Source: Leadership

Google Presents Its Self-Driving car

Google self-driving car.

Haha! Just what I have been waiting for! But wait, they are not coming for sale yet? Oh well, I can wait...

Google presents its own self-driving car prototype

Google has presented a prototype of a self-driving car built in Detroit specially for the company. The two-seater electric city cars will be used for further development of self-driving automobile technology.

Google has had a self-driving car development program since 2009. Until now, the company has taken ordinary cars like Toyota's Prius and Lexus SUVs, and modified them for self-driving with special on-board computers, radar, lasers and cameras. They've logged hundreds of thousands of road miles with these early self-driving cars.

Now the company has presented a small two-seater electric car that it plans to use as a test-vehicle to develop its automated driving technology further.

The city-car looks like a cartoon automobile, with a rounded shape and a foam-like front and flexible windshield to soften any collisions.

Not for sale
Google has ordered two hundred prototypes from manufacturing partners in Detroit. For now, the vehicles will be limited to a top speed of about 40 km per hour, and have an auxiliary plug-in steering and brake system for test drivers to be able to intervene if necessary.

But the car is meant to drive without any of those things - no steering wheel, no accelerator or brake pedals. The only user-operated features are "go" and "stop" buttons, and a means for specifying the destination.

Google's prototype won't be for sale. Instead, it will enable Google to take the next steps on a journey toward mass-market automated vehicles that the automotive sector increasingly says will dominate in future. Automated vehicles are meant to become safer and more efficient than human-operated cars.

Source: Reuters via dw.de

Mauricio Pochettino is New Tottenham Hotspurs Manager

Is Mauricio Pochettino the man to take Tottenham Hotspur to the next level?

Or is it head coach? I just like the sound of the man's name, let us see if he can transform the greatly underachieving Tottenham into a world-class team...

Mauricio Pochettino appointed new Head Coach

Mauricio joins us from Southampton where he guided them to their highest-ever Premier League finish of eighth place last season.

During his 18 months at St Mary's, Mauricio also oversaw the progress of home-grown stars such as Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, James Ward-Prowse and Calum Chambers.

Mauricio built his coaching reputation in Spain with RCD Espanyol, winning admirers across Europe for his high pressing attacking brand of football as well as for prioritising the development of young players from the side's youth setup before his departure in November, 2012 after almost four years in charge.

Mauricio enjoyed a highly successful playing career, making his debut in 1988 with Argentinian side Newell's Old Boys at the age of 16 and winning the Argentine Primera División with them in 1991. Two spells at Espanyol followed from 1994, sandwiched between time with Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux. He won two Copa del Rey titles with Espanyol and also earned 20 international caps with Argentina.

Commenting on the appointment Chairman Daniel Levy said: "In Mauricio I believe we have a Head Coach who, with his high energy, attacking football, will embrace the style of play we associate with our Club. He has a proven ability to develop each player as an individual, whilst building great team spirit and a winning mentality.

"We have a talented squad that Mauricio is excited to be coaching next season."

Speaking on his appointment, Mauricio Pochettino said: "This is a Club with tremendous history and prestige and I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to be its Head Coach.

"There is an abundance of top-class talent at the Club and I am looking forward to starting work with the squad.

"Tottenham Hotspur has a huge following across the world and I have great admiration for the passion the fans show for this team. We are determined to give the supporters the kind of attacking football and success that we are all looking to achieve."

Mauricio is joined by Jesús Pérez (Assistant Head Coach), Miguel D'Agostino (First Team Coach) and Toni Jiménez (Goalkeeper Coach) with whom he previously worked at both Southampton and Espanyol.

Source: Tottenham Hotspur

How to advertise your business cost-effectively

You should love advertising if you want your business to be successful.

Many small business owners and managers tend to be skeptical about the effectiveness of advertising primarily because of cost. They are usually too busy trying to ensure the survival of their business by reducing costs to realise that what a business needs to survive is revenue, lots of it and the only way to generate revenue is to make sales and the best tool that helps to boost sales for a business to match its costs (break-even) and then move on to profitability is advertising.

Advertising is any presentation that is made by a business in order to convince members of the public to buy its products or services. It is a part of marketing but it is not the same because marketing entails delivering value to your customers profitably; advertising is a tool to convince people to become your customers. 

The reluctance of many small business owners and managers to invest in advertising is very understandable; they do not want to lose money even if they are not making enough of it. This approach may ensure the short-term survival of their business but it is likely to lead to its failure long term.  What business managers need to look out for is cost-effective advertising that brings the best return on investment (ROI). So, instead of deciding not to invest much in advertising, you should seek to invest in the most cost-effective advertising that delivers the best returns for you in terms of product awareness, interest generation and actual purchases from your target market. 

Cost-effective advertising can be achieved by considering your finances, the nature of your products or services and what your target market is. Once, you study your business and its external environment to properly define these factors, you would then have to research to find the best advertising medium that would enable you achieve your advertising objective which ideally should be: “generating the most sales at the lowest cost”. There is no one-size-fits-all perfect advertising medium for all businesses. Each business is unique and as such has its own peculiarities. Hence, it is up to each manager to determine what the best advertising medium or mix (selection of advertising media) is for his business.

A great way to fine-tune your skills when it comes to advertising is to try out your ideas using media that allow you to advertise for free. Hareewo.com is one of such and it provides you with an opportunity to create a really good sales page online for your business which you can share on social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, BBM, WeChat and lots more.

There are also many free classifieds websites that you can use with OLX being the most popular one in Nigeria.

Someone once said: “doing a business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark; no one knows what you are doing except you.” Give your business an added impetus today by being more active as an advertiser.

The World's Former Fattest Man Dies

Former world's fattest Man, Manuel Uribe dies at 48.

Awwwww...

World’s fattest man dies in Mexico

A Mexican man once listed as the world's heaviest human being has died at the age of 48.

Manuel Uribe had slimmed down to about 867 pounds, well below his then-record peak weight of 1,230 pounds, which was certified in 2006 as a Guinness World Record.

Uribe's death was confirmed today by an official of the health department of Nuevo Leon state, where the city of Monterrey is located.

Uribe had been confined to his bed in Monterrey for years, unable to walk on his own.

He had to be taken to the hospital with a crane earlier this month because of an abnormal heartbeat.
Doctors have not yet certified the cause of death.

Nigeria's Military Knows Where Kidnapped Chibok Girls Are

Nigeria's military knows where Chibok girls are

 Interesting! We await the conclusion whilst we pray for a positive outcome...

Military knows exactly where Chibok girls are – Defence Chief

The Chief od Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh has authoritatively stated that the Nigerian military knows the exact location where the Chibok girls are being kept by Boko Haram.

Badeh called on the Nigerian public to exercise patience and let the military do their work in a professional manner as storming the Boko Haram base may lead to heavy casualties among the girls.
Addressing members of  Citizens Initiative for Security Awareness who paid a courtesy visit to Defence Headquarters in Abuja, Badeh said, “We want our girls back, we want our girls back, we can do it, our military can do it but where they are held, can we go with force?

“If we go with force, what will happen? (they will kill them). So nobody should come and say the Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We know what we are doing, we can’t go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back. So we are working.

“The good news for the girls is that we know where they are but we cannot tell you, we cannot come and tell you military secrets here. Just leave us alone, we are working, we would get the girls back.”

Source: The Herald

Remember "The Merchant of Venice"? See the city at Night!

Venice at Night
Source: +Amusing World

Shakespeare would love this picture I am sure...

Who will win the UEFA Champions League Final?

Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid?

We will find out from 19.45 tonight #Godwilling.

Very Important Warning for Twitter Users!

Do not tweet about a fire from a burning building.

#Commonsense advice for a crazy world.

Video: CBS Interviews Boko Haram Member

How do foreign journalists do it when the Nigerian security apparatus seems incapable of tracing these terrorists?

How to use LinkedIn Effectively for Lead Generation

Source:

Strategic Sales & Marketing, Inc

The Young Shall Grow

Young farmer and animal- fantastic!
Source: +Ani ta 

Meet the lady who was fired from her own company!

Sramana Mitra at 22

This is the worst thing that can happen to you as an entrepreneur but she survived. Learn how she did it next...
 
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."
- Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1913)

This was Tagore's vision for his country, India: poor, backward, oppressed by a few hundred years of British colonization. In these words, however, I have always found great resonance for a beautiful personal vision that is both contemporary and timeless.

It was true in 1993, when I graduated from college, on a beautiful spring afternoon in New England — eyes full of dreams.

It is true today, as I navigate my way from Silicon Valley through the mazes of a complex, global challenge — eyes still full of dreams.

It is not always easy to hold your head high. Life throws curveballs at you. Tries to beat you down.
In 1999, I was fired from one of my own companies. I raised the Venture Capital from NEA, and we brought on a middle-aged, supposedly experienced guy as CEO. I was in my twenties. The guy was incompetent and political. He didn't understand the product, and he had no vision. We didn't figure any of these qualities out until he joined, because he was on a charm offensive until then and I had limited experience making this kind of a hire. We thought he could complement my product skills and vision with superior sales skills.

Once he was on board, it started going downhill very quickly, and he set out to fire me. I had massive immigration challenges, and very little negotiating power because I didn't have a green card yet.

Long story short: I was in Buenos Aires when he called a board meeting over the phone, and fired me. The board let him.

I walked around on the streets of Buenos Aires, alone, trying to absorb the blow.
For a week, I danced 12 hours a day — my way of trying to hold my head high.
Six months later, they had to fire the idiot.
The angel investors offered to fund me again, and start another company. I did.
Life went on.

Life always goes on.

In 2010, I started One Million by One Million (1M/1M), currently the only global virtual accelerator in the world. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, its mission is to help a million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars and beyond in annual revenue, thereby creating a trillion dollars in global GDP and 10 million jobs.
At 16, long before that spring afternoon in New England, I had decided that I was going to be an entrepreneur, and work on something consequential.

There have been many ups and downs since, but I have tried to stay true to that vision.

I hope that you too will develop a vision for your life, pursue it with grit, resilience, and work ethic, and as life deals you the inevitable blows, continue to hold your head high.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. Upon being released, he dismantled apartheid in South Africa, and without bitterness, took the reigns of his country, leading it towards becoming the kind of nation that Tagore had envisioned for his country.

In prison, Mandela sustained himself with this poem by William Ernest Henley. It's called: Invictus.

"Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul."

Source: LinkedIn

Luis Enrique is New Barcelona Manager

Luis Enrique is new Barcelona manager

 After a disappointing season culminating in the resignation of Tata Martino, FC Barcelona have appointed one of its legends as new manager...

Luis Enrique signs two year deal as new FC Barcelona manager

The FC Barcelona Board of Directors have this evening confirmed  Luis Enrique Martíneza the new first team coach, following a proposal from Sporting Director Andoni Zubizarreta. Luis Enrique, 44 , will sign a two year deal.

This wil be Luis Enriqu’s third spell at the Club, having previously joined as a player from Real Madrid in 1996, when he soon became a firm favourite with the fans for his competitive attitude. In addition, his versatility, knack of scoring big goals and technical ability made him a key member of the team.

In his first three seasons he won two League titles, two Spanish Cups, a European Cup Winners Cup and a European Super Cup . In his eight years as a player, Luis Enrique played 300 games and scored 109 goals and was captain from 2002 to 2004, when he finally hung up his boots as a player.

 

5 Lessons You Should Learn From Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone thrown in the air as Atletico Madrid celebrate first La Liga title in 18 years.

Atletico Madrid on Saturday won their first La Liga title in 18 years with a 1-1 draw at fellow title contenders Barcelona.

This victory is put into proper context by the fact that it broke a 10-year duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the 2 great football clubs in Spain winning the league title. So, how did relatively unfancied Atletico achieve this great feat? I have a few suggestions that I want you to consider and probably learn from. They are:

1. Positive Experience Matters

Atletico's manager, Diego Someone was a player the last time Atletico won the Spanish league in 1996. In fact, that team won the Copa del Rey (King's Cup) as well getting the domestic double. This provided the foundation for his success because he had done it before as a player with the same club and knew how it could be done. Perhaps more importantly, his players also knew it could be done because their manager had done it before as a player. Hence, they had a precedence to attempt to follow and replicate. This was very important to Atletico Madrid's success his season.

2. Having the Right People Matters More than Money

To win this title, Atletico Madrid's team had to compete with the squads of superstars that Real Madrid and Barcelona have with the likes Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Xavi, Iniesta and so on. Atletico could not afford such great individual players but they have built a great team of competent and professional players with a simple but effective style of playing built on a strong defence. Real Madrid has the highest wage bill in Spain for this season at €220 million, Barcelona had €195 million and Atletico Madrid were a distant third with €72 million, less than half of what their 2 big rivals spend on their players. This is a clear indication that you do not need to have the most money to be successful in competition, you just need to get the right people that are best suited for your business, organisation or institution.

3. Do not Succumb to your Mistakes

Human beings are not perfect, we make mistakes no matter how disciplined and dedicated we are. Atletico had 2 previous chances to seal the title but they failed to get the required results which meant they had to do the job in their final game with Barcelona who  knew a win at their home, Camp Neu would give them the La Liga title. They led at halftime but Atletico came back in the 2nd half to equalise and get the draw they needed to secure victory. The team could have easily settled for less because they were never expected to win the league, 2nd place would have been a remarkable albeit disappointing achievement (on the final day), Liverpool comes to mind at this point.

4.Build on Your Successes

Atletico Madrid have in the last 5 years won 2 Europa Cups and beat city rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Copa Del Rey (King's Cup) in 2013. The team had been making steady progress, improving over time. It is an excellent example of continuous improvement especially if we consider the fact that it is playing Real Madrid in the final of the UEFA Champions League this Saturday.

5.Be Bold in Challenging Your Bigger Rivals
Atletico Madrid have had a decent run against Barcelona in particular this season, not losing to the Catalans in 6 games whilst being competitive against Real Madrid except in the King's Cup where Real Madrid outclassed them.

These are lessons we can learn from Atletico Madrid in managing our organisations, businesses and other institutions so that we too can achieve exceedingly good results with relatively small resources.

Kindly let me know what you think of this post and my analysis by dropping a comment and share this if you find it worthwhile.

Thanks for reading.

Tecno R7 Specifications

Tecno R7

Tecno have slowed-down release of new phones in 2014 and it seems they are more interested in developing better smartphones with more high-end specifications rather than flooding the market with products that basically have the same fuunctions with slight modifications under different names. The company has released its most advance phone yet in the Nigerian market, it is called the R7. It comes with scratch-proof screen and a 2GB RAM which many Tecno fans will love. View specifications next:

Tecno R7 Specs


Frame Size: 158 x 78.5 x 8.4mm

Display: 5.5 inches

Screen Resolution: 720 x 1280 pixels

Screen Resolution Density: 267 ppi

Screen Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass

Operating System: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

CPU: 1.5GHz hexa-core CPU

RAM: 2GB

Memory: 16GB

Micro SD: Yes, up to 32 GB

Rear Camera: 13MP

Front Facing Camera: 5 MP

LED Flash: Yes

Battery Size: 2430mAh Li-Ion

Extras:
Ambient light sensor
Dual SIM

Manchester United Confirm Louis Van Gaal as Manager

We know he is a good manager, let us see if he will do great at Manchester United...

Louis Van Gaal is Manchester United's new Manager

Van Gaal named United manager

- Club appoints Dutch national coach, who won multiple titles in Holland, Spain, Germany
- Ryan Giggs to be assistant manager
- Frans Hoek and Marcel Bout join as assistant coaches

Louis van Gaal will take over as manager of Manchester United from the 2014/15 season. He has signed a three-year contract.

Louis, 62, has managed at the top level of European football for over 20 years and in that time has won domestic titles and domestic cups in three countries, as well as the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Cup, an Intercontinental Cup, two UEFA Super Cups and domestic Super Cups in Holland and Germany.
He will take up his post after the FIFA World Cup, where he will manage the Dutch national team.

Ryan Giggs, English football's most decorated footballer and the United player with the most appearances in the club's history, has been appointed as assistant manager. Ryan took charge of the first team for the last four matches of the 2013/14 season.

Announcing the appointments, Ed Woodward said: "In Louis van Gaal, we have secured the services of one of the outstanding managers in the game today. He has achieved many things in his career to date and Old Trafford provides him with a fitting stage on which to write new chapters in the Manchester United story.

Source: Manchester United

 

Hareewo: A New Online Classified Listings Directory is Launched

E-Promote Ventures has launched a brand new classified listings directory website that is designed to help promote all classes of businesses from the smallest to the biggest, it is called Hareewo.com. Signing-up on Hareewo is free and you have the option of posting a free listing for your business with pictures and links to your website and all your social media platforms.

As a co-founder of Hareewo with Tope Bailey, I know this website is really cool and useful for businesses because a lot of people seek to promote their business for free online and this is a great solution for them.

We are going to introduce paid featured adverts for those who want to maximise exposure for their business but for now all listings are free.

Try out Hareewo.com today and let me know what you think of it and any ideas you may have to improve it.

Baby Miraculously Survives 11-Storey Fall

Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest)!

‘Miracle baby’ survives 11-story fall' 

A 15-month-old boy, described by doctors as a "miracle baby", was in critical condition at a Minneapolis hospital on Wednesday after surviving an 11-story fall from the balcony of an apartment building. Musa Dayib slipped through slits in the balcony railing and landed on a patch of mulch on Sunday, his family told reporters. He was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, a pediatric level-one trauma center.

The boy suffered a concussion and fractures to his arms, ribs and spine. He also has a punctured lung, said Christine Hill, a spokeswoman for the hospital. Dr. Tina Slusher, who is treating the baby, said he avoided any major head injury, and she has never before seen a child survive such a plunge. "That's a gift from God to the family, because he shouldn't have made it," she told television broadcaster WCCO.

Source: Reuters via First Post

 

A 15-month-old boy, described by doctors as a "miracle baby", was in critical condition at a Minneapolis hospital on Wednesday after surviving an 11-story fall from the balcony of an apartment building. Musa Dayib slipped through slits in the balcony railing and landed on a patch of mulch on Sunday, his family told reporters. He was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, a pediatric level-one trauma center.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/miracle-baby-survives-11-story-fall-1524121.html?utm_source=ref_article

Miracle baby’ survives 11-story fall

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/miracle-baby-survives-11-story-fall-1524121.html?utm_source=ref_article

Miracle baby’ survives 11-story fall

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/world/miracle-baby-survives-11-story-fall-1524121.html?utm_source=ref_article