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Money Talks Newsletters Start Up Corner NG

START UP CORNER EBOOKS

Start Up Corner EBooks

You can share your thoughts on any of the topics here

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REAL ESTATE SISI Registration Forms

REAL ESTATE SISI PROPERTY OWNERSHIP COMMUNITY

If owning your own property in Nigeria is part of your goals for the year, please join the Real Estate Sisi Property Ownership Community.

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Money Talks Motivation Opportunities TTM Professionals

THE TENTMAKERS ONLINE NEWSLETTERS

The Tentmakers Online Newsletters

You can share your thoughts on any of the topics in the Newsletter here.

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Money Talks

Money Mistakes

Author Unknown

Money Mistake 1
Never borrow money that accrues interest to start a business . That is to say, never borrow money to start a business expecting that the business will generate income to pay back the borrowed money plus the interest.

Money Mistake 2
Never spend money you haven’t received. Don’t even promise someone money based on a promise you have from someone else. If someone tells you: “Ezra, come to my office tomorrow at 9am and pick #30K”don’t go out to buy items on credit based on this promise, with the hope that you will pay off your creditor when the promised money comes; it may not come as promised and this will leave you in problems with your creditors.

Money Mistakes 3
If you want to save, whenever you receive money, don’t start spending hoping that you’ll save what remains. Normally what remains is zero because as long as money to spend is available, the numerous things you can spend it on are also available. And things to spend on even incite their ‘relatives’ so that you spend even more than you had planned. When money to spend is not available, we naturally find a way of doing without it. That’s why I’ve learnt to save with an INVESTMENT CLUB. Once I send money there I assume I no longer have it. Before you spend any money, put your savings aside then spend what is left after saving.

Money Mistake 4
When you get an opportunity to meet a very wealthy person, never ask for money. Ask for ideas on how to make money. They may even choose to give you money on their own after seeing that your ideas are great, but let getting money from them never be your objective.

Money Mistake 5
Keeping your seed instead of planting it. Many people stop at saving. It’s very, very difficult to save and have all you need to maintain your lifestyle especially after retirement. When you save, your savings are seed; plant it. When you just keep the seed (saving money) some seeds begin to die (eaten by inflation and the like). That’s why I recommend that you read about the different types of investment vehicles you can use to grow your savings. I am not necessarily talking about putting the money in a business, because you can easily lose money in business. I am talking about putting it in an investment.

Money Mistake 6
Never lend someone money you are not willing to lose. By the time you lend someone money, be contented in your heart that should the person fail to pay, you will not die. You should not even lose that person’s friendship if they fail to repay the money you lent them. If you feel the person might fail to pay you and this will not affect your relationship with them, then lend them money. If their failure to pay would make you hate this person’s entire clan, please advise the person to go to the bank.

Money Mistake 7
Never append your signature to guarantee someone on a financial matter if you are not willing or able to pay the money on their behalf. Do I have to explain that one? No, it’s self-explanatory.

Money Mistake 8
Avoid keeping money you don’t intend to use in the short-term within easy reach. For instance, don’t walk with #100K in your pocket when all you plan to do in a day costs #20K. Like I mentioned in Money Mistake 3, there are always expenses available to gobble any money that is within reach, so if you don’t want to lose it, put it away in a safe place.

Money Mistake 9
Avoid keeping money in inappropriate places e.g. in socks, under the pillow, in a pit, in the sitting room, in the bra, in a travel bag that you will place somewhere in a bus … impulse buying is a devil that will keep you busy!

Money Mistake 10
Spending money on an item that you can do without (at least for the time being). These days when I pick money from my pocket or wallet, before paying for something I ask myself: What would happen if I didn’t buy this? If I find I can live with the consequences of not having that thing, I smile and walk away.

Money Mistake 11
Paying an amount for something that’s not the minimum you can get that same value for. In other words, if you are along east Legon road and you pay #5K for a shoe that you can get at #3K at Makola market, that’s a money mistake except for those who have achieved financial freedom.

Money Mistake 12:
Consistently spending all you earn or more than you earn. It’s like having a drum where you have an inlet that’s smaller than the outlet. It will never get full. And should the inlet ever reduce significantly the drum will run dry. If you do it the other way round and the inlet is bigger, it will get full and even overflow. Hence, we have to always ensure we are widening the inlet while narrowing the outlet – all the time. Your side hustle comes in handy!

Money Mistake 13:
Thinking about short-term only and forgetting about long-term or thinking about the long-term and forgetting about the short-term. For instance, Lydia was told that there’s money in land. She saved money over a long period of time and bought 30 acres of land. Now she has the land but she is always broke. She is always complaining. She’s disgruntled and she doesn’t seem to see herself earning from the land in the near future. Now, let’s ask ourselves: Having 30 acres of land and no money to feed your family or take a child to hospital, is that wealth or poverty? I think Lydia only looked at long-term needs and forgot that she has short-term needs that require money. What of those who find they are one paycheck away from salary? Are they thinking about the long-term needs?

Let’s take stock of our finances. How many mistakes are you guilty of? Do you now feel better-equipped to do better with these tips? Good luck, savers! Share this knowledge with your friends because it will not benefit you if you are selfish with it.

God bless you as you work on your financial prudence.

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Money Talks REAL ESTATE SISI TTM Professionals

Making Money Episode 1

Learn How To Make Money As A Real Estate Consultant

Learn How To Make Money As A Real Estate Consultant

You can earn some side income as a Real Estate Consultant.

Listen to the podcast here.

You can share your thoughts here.

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TTM Professionals

Ten Things You Can Do With Google Docs

PETER KANAYO

1. Voice Typing

To use the voice typing feature on Google Docs, the first thing you need to do is to open a document and then click tools on the menu.

From the menu option, you can now choose voice typing from the drop down menu that appears.

Once you are ready to make use of the voice typing tool, simply click on the microphone icon and go ahead and speak.

You can punctuate by giving a command such as period, full stop or comma.

Image credit: makeuseof.com

2. Transcribe Video Or Audio

You could also use this feature for transcribing any audio or video. How?All you just need to do is to simply play the video or audio to the voice to text.

What then happens is that as the the system picks up the audio it transcribes the audio into text then you can do any editing and your transcription is ready.

3. Offline Editing

While Google Doc is an online software it can also work offline. For example, if you want to edit a particular document you just need to activate the Chrome extension that makes it possible for you to work offline.

The name of the extension is Google doc offline chrome extension. Google doc offline extension tool works on Mac, windows and also Android devices.

4. Play with Additional Fonts

Google Docs allows you to play with additional fonts apart from the default 24 fonts available. Simply click on the font on the menu bar then you see the option of more fonts click on more fonts and you are good to go. The feature is only available on desktop.

5. Track/Restore Document Version History

You can track or restore document version history what he does need to do is to go to the menu click on file and search for version history in the drop-down.

Click on it and you’ll be able to restore a previous version either temporarily or permanently. This is a lifesaver because it helps you especially when the undo button no longer works.

Imagine losing very important documents. You can use version history to track changes made especially when there’s collaboration between two or more persons on a document.

Ten Things You Can Do With Google Docs

6. Commenting And Tagging

When collaborating with someone else on a particular document, a time comes when you need to make comments. Instead of sending emails, you can comment on a specific part of a document where you want a change or an input made.

Google Docs allow you to target specific persons even when you have more than one or two collaborators so the person who is involved can see the comment. The person can read and click the resolve button if he or she is done.

7. Find And Replace Function

Is there a particular word you want to remove from a document that appears in multiple places? The find and replace tool will help us resolve this problem. To find a particular word or phrase in your document, use shortcut Ctrl + F on a Windows PC or Command + F on a Mac. Enter the word in the “Find in document” field.

To replace the found text, click on the three dots on the right side and select Find and Replace.

8. Dig Up A Definition

Not sure about a word’s meaning? Hit Ctrl-Shift-Y (or Cmd-Shift-Y) while your cursor’s on the word. Google Docs will give you a definition and show it to you on the right side of the screen

9. Create A PDF Version Using URL Trick.

Want to send someone a link to a PDF version of your document? Copy the full URL in your browser’s address bar while you’re editing the document, then change the “/edit” at the very end to “/export?format=pdf” (without the quotation marks). As long as people to whom you’re sending have access to the document, they’ll get a PDF of your work as soon as they open the link.

10. Landing Page.

You can turn a Google doc into a landing page. Very useful if you want to test an offer

How To Create A Landing Page In Google Docs

Share if you find it useful.

What other useful tricks can you use Google doc to achieve?

Please share your thoughts here.

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Start Up Corner NG

START UP CORNER LESSONS: MARKETING LESSONS

I started a new lesson on Marketing. The first video is in the link below.

Start Up Corner Lessons: Marketing Lessons Part 1

You can share your thoughts here.

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Start Up Corner NG

MEET THE SUC ENTREPRENEUR: ADEBUKOLA BASSEY OF IMOYE BOOKS

Start Up Corner NG met up with Adebukola Bassey of Imoye Books.

Share your thoughts here.

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Start Up Corner NG

START UP CORNER BOOK REVIEW: THE ULTIMATE DIGITAL PRODUCT MANUAL

We kicked off the Start Up Corner Book Review. It was a very enlightening session.

Watch the recording below.

START UP CORNER BOOK REVIEW: THE ULTIMATE DIGITAL PRODUCT MANUAL SESSION 1A

We had a follow up session on Monday, October 10, 2022. You can watch the recording below.

START UP CORNER BOOK REVIEW: THE ULTIMATE DIGITAL PRODUCT MANUAL SESSION 1B

You can download your copy of the EBook here. Send a WhatsApp message to join us in reading and reviewing the book.

You can share your thoughts here.

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Start Up Corner NG

HOW TO HANDLE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK AS A BUSINESS OWNER

It’s International Customer Service Week 2022.

If you haven’t already solicited feedback from your customers already, you may be sleeping on the bicycle. Please go ahead and do so.

So, when you solicit feedback and you get some negative feedback, what should you do? In some cases, you don’t even solicit the feedback, it finds it’s way back to you without you looking for it.

Below are six recommended steps for handling negative feedback.

Do you REALLY want that feedback?

THANK THE CUSTOMER FOR GIVING YOU THE FEEDBACK

It takes commitment/passion to give feedback, particularly negative feedback.
We know that practically no one wants negative feedback. So, it takes a lot of courage for someone to give you negative feedback.
Note that the opposite of positive feedback is NOT negative feedback; it is actually INDIFFERENCE.
Don’t stifle future feedback due to the mishandling of negative feedback.
Also note that the customer cares enough about your business to help you identify gaps that you are blind-sided to.

TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE REAL ISSUE IS

Don’t wave them off as trouble makers that always find faults. In most cases, there is something in your process that could actually be improved upon. The other customers that have not highlighted the issues have most likely noticed the same issues but they don’t want to rock the boat. That “troublesome” customer is bringing an underlying issue to light before all your clients migrate at once. Pay attention to them.

INVOLVE A NEUTRAL THIRD PARTY
Where practical, involve a neutral third party to review the situation and give you honest feedback.
Many times, we are too emotionally invested in the matter to be objective with negative feedback. You will have reasons that you consider valid why the customer’s expectations were not met. The third party reviewer does not have such emotional investment in the situation and is able to review the issue dispassionately.

APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR LAPSES
Apologize for your lapses. Offer some discount, if feasible, to compensate for the inconvenience.
Your ego may be bruised but if you are interested in building a business that will outlast you, you’ll need to check your ego. There’s a lot of talk these

REVIEW YOUR WORK PROCESSES TO CLOSE THE GAPS

Review your work processes to ensure that there are no repeat events

GIVE FEEDBACK TO THE CUSTOMER

If practical, give feedback to the customer on the changes you have made to your work processes based on their feedback.

Do you have a story of how you converted a negative experience to a fantastic working relationship? Please share in the comments or send a message.

I have an Independence Day gift for business. Send a WhatsApp message to request for yours. You can also send a WhatsApp message if you wish to discuss your issues with managing customer feedback.

Happy Customer Service Week.