As the year 2019 gradually wind up, there have been so many uncertainties especially for people who do not know what to do to survive the dwindling economic situation in the country.

There are those who believe they must travel abroad to succeed in life, while others try to take the short cut with criminal tendencies.

But for those who seek greener pastures abroad, legally or illegally, one thing they should know is that the taxes abroad are driving so many of them over there nuts. For instance, unlike in Nigeria, where you can just park your car in any public space, over there you must be ready to pay, just like for other services rendered.

As for those going through Libya to Europe, they should desist from such decision forth with because of the attendant risks and uncertainties of their survival at their destination, that is if they make it through the harrowing experience.

According to the scriptures, ” my people are perished for the lack of knowledge”. And in actual fact ignorance is a disease which has led many to their early death, both spiritually and financially for many people.

Now, There is this wrong impression about young men in the counry who cruise in luxurious vehicles in town. They are branded as yahoo boys or seen as people who have acquired their wealth through fetish or criminal means.

But to change such negative perception that any young man on the wheel of a flashy car or holding a lap top is a criminal, a live training on freelancing and Digital marketing was held in Benin City sometime ago by Mr. Bayo Ajayi, a successful Net- prenuer and a freelancer.

A king of Fiverr, as fondly referred, Bayo has trained over 100 youths in different digital services and skills and as at today, he earns over $3,000 monthly through rendering digital services on fiverr.com and other freelancing sites.

The training which was proudly sponsored by Rehoboth Dreams Empowerment Initiative was entirely free and you can imagine that there was a full house of young men and women who came along with their smart phones and laptops with the expectation that it was time to be self employed and liberated from jobs and entitlement mentality.

In the words of Mr. Bayo, the idea is to build a society of entrepreneurs as well as people who will join them to fight against the wrong notion that any young man with a laptop or flashy car is into internet fraud popularly called yahoo.

A guest of Mr. Bayo, a freelancer and spokesperson on fiverr, Chizom Belinda was introduced to the participants and while she gave a brief talk, it became clear that the social media can help you sell anything, if you know how to go about it.

In her words, she was an insurance agent who did not get satisfaction in what she was doing and she had to quit her job.

The Genetic Engineering graduate of the University of Calabar and now social media manager disclosed that there is oil or gold mine in every one of us, but we do not know this, except through self discovery.

According to her, knowledge is the new gold and there is something inside of every one that people want to buy and this can be made known through the social media.

In her presentation, she dwelt on the importance of the Instagram which is her niche and how to build a business and manage the social media platform, by creating content and the necessary App’s to work with.

“But the most important step to be taken is to have a page that must be catchy, with videos, pictures and contents,” she noted.

It was obviously an interesting and educative talk with step by step moves that can be made to efficiently manage an instagram account, social media marketing and create a social media package for a client.

The second resource person was Mr. Richard Eserumu, a nobody who became somebody through the social media.

According to him, the starting point begins with four steps.

I Be Found
2 Be Relevant
3 Be Engaging
4 Be Accountable.

While narrating his personal experience on how he paid his way through school by selling shoes on the social media, Mr. Richard disclosed that the first strategy is to get the desired audience and he pointed out that you can be found through google search page.

He advised the participants to start by defining their brand, consider what is driving their business, as well as aim to build long term relationships with their customers and take advantage of prime time.

The facilitator of the training, Mr. Ajayi Adebayo who came with his lovely wife, disclosed that some people find it hard to believe what they do that brings so much money to some young men and women.

He is of the view that people need to learn how to make money while they are sleeping through a proper understanding of the social media.

He disclosed that some of the digital services that can be rendered online to make money on Fiverr are proof reading and editing, impersonating celebrities, virtual Assistant, transcribing Audio Files, Article writing, Book writing and running digital errands for people.

According to Bayo, people should acquire the skills and have a mentor to succeed online as well as learn it and stop buying everything online.

It is also necessary that people should be ready to sacrifice some money, be patient, consistent and learn from the right person. In the same vain, people should be open to learning, stop trying to do everything and be willing to pay a coach. People should also be ready to leave their comfort zone, explore new opportunities and be in the right place as well as find where their passion lies.

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Eubaldus Enahoro is Ag. Editor of the NIGERIAN OBSERVER
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