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Hello and welcome to the show. The usual. There might be some interruptions in the background. Now today I want us to talk about using content to grow your business. Now, the reason why is because I've been having a conversation, or rather a series of conversations with a very, very, very long time listener, Wendy at a current place of work and a couple of things have come up. And so I'll make a podcast episode, you know, dedicated to those conversations exclusively.
I mean, in in particular, because I think there's some things that me and Wendy are talking about that might benefit the rest of you listening on the podcast. But there have been some conversations around the role of content and how you can use content to grow your business. And I just realized that, you know, her, Olga and other people's bosses and other people's colleagues and business partners don't have a proper understanding of how you can use content to grow your business.
And so that's the reason why I'm making today's episode. Now, before we continue, I'd like to shout out to Ruth Chuku who discovered the show on Spotify and reached out to me on WhatsApp. Her business is she does CAC registration. CAC is the Corporate Affairs Commission for those of you who are not Nigerian, that is the body that is responsible for registering all businesses and charities in Nigeria. And she loves the podcast.
She said she's been implementing stuff that she's been doing and she has seen some business improvement. She she started doing that and I'm really, really happy to hear that. So I'm continuing the chat because I want to find out specifics of how it has grown her business. So I can also share it over here on the podcast so you guys can hear a testimony about how you don't necessarily have to reach out to me for paid engagement.
You can listen to what I put out here for free, but just do with a pen and a paper and write down some stuff so that you can do immediately tomorrow because trust me, these things have these things have immediate benefits. I mean, for me it was something as simple as the psychology of sales or the psychology of selling, I think by Brian Tracy and Brian Tracy talking about how about how you can be pushy so long as you're talking to a person who has a want and a need and who can afford your products or your services.
So you're only pushy when one of those things is missing. I mean, for me that that made a huge difference because I was always, I always wondered, because I can be direct. I always wondered like, am I too forceful? Am I too direct? Am I too this? Am I too that? That was not the problem was me. But then listening to Brian Tracy, I realized that the focus was off. I should be paying attention to the other person. Does this person want or need it?
Can she afford it? Is there a sense of urgency? OK. If there is, then how am I being forceful? It's something they want. It's something they need. It will help that situation. And they actually want to make a decision next week. So I'm not being forceful. If I pick up the phone and I call and I say, you know how far, you know, we discussed, I think we're good to go. This is how this thing is supposed to. This is how this might help you.
So the next step is, you know, a deposit for 40K. So let's move this thing forward. So, you know, how far are you guys ready to roll or what? You know, so simple things like that that you get for free. So I don't have to go and pay Brian Tracy if I don't know how much he costs these days. I'm surprised if he costs, if he costs maybe like more than $500,000 or something just to have him speak or something at your event, you know, so I don't have to go and pay him directly.
But listening to stuff that he did in the past and making notes and applying made all the difference. And it can make a difference for you guys as well. So summary, Ruth Chuku, thank you very much for listening to the podcast and thank you for applying. The things that I've been saying here. Please check your WhatsApp. I've responded. So let me know specifically how it has LED, how things I have said here have led to business improvements.
I want to know, I want to talk about it as a case study for those of you who are listening. You've been listening, Shar, and you think, OK, this is interesting, this is insightful, but you haven't applied anything. Please just take a pencil and a paper, write down one or two things. Tomorrow morning, 8:00 AM, apply the thing and then be persistent. Over time, you will start seeing results just like Ruth through seeing results.
And please, Ruth, share the podcast with other people who might find this to be valuable. If you'd love to connect with me for a strategy session, the business audit or you have questions you'd like me to answer, the number is 08064662140. Country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian, you can connect with me on LinkedIn. The name to look for is Tavishima Aide. I also have a YouTube channel by the same name.
All right, so using content to grow your business, that's what we're talking about today. So I want us to run through 4 main things. Basically I want us to define what content is, what kind of content we can put out, then look at expectations around contents and then also just a word about reusing content, repurposing and re sharing. So let's start off what is content? Whenever you hear me talk about content on this podcast, I just mean any photograph, any video,
any audio, any graphic, any essay, any tweets, any, you get the point that you post on any website, any social media, any blog, any podcast, any audio sharing platform, any video sharing platform, any you get the point. And when we now move into the metaverse and we all start wearing headsets and we're spending on our time in the meta space or whatever it is that we're going to do, you know, content is also going to include any photo, any video, any audio,
any graphic, any essay, any this, any whatever that we put up in no space. So content share is just everything as robot people will say Boo, Boo everything. Content is the everything that we're putting out on the Internet. Now, why do we put out these things on the Internet? Well, some people do it for different reasons. Some people have nothing else to rather to do with their time. Some people like to sow confusion because I keep receiving all these forwarded WhatsApp messages that, oh, if you take Coke and you mix it with this and I mix it with that and you drink it, you will die.
Share this to 10 other people so that they don't die. Or if you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and he's coming in 2025, share this and type Amen so that you can make it to heaven. And all these ridiculous things that I'm wondering, like who comes up with all this crap and you're just folding it up and down on WhatsApp and e-mail and everything anyway. So some people are putting out content because they're jobless.
Really they are jobless. But then for those of us who have business orientations, we're trying to do something here. We're self-employed, we run ASME, we're trying to make some money. The reason why we're putting out content over on the Internet is because we're trying to drive engagement. I know some of you thought I was going to say drive, you know, like a Maybach or an SLK. We'll get to that eventually. But in the beginning, we're trying to drive engagement.
We're trying to get people to engage with the content. Now the goal of driving engagement is we're trying to get people to know this is who we are, to know, this is what we do to know, this is what we sell to know. This is how our product or service can help them. And then also to make ourselves accessible so that somebody can slide into our DM to now say how much are you available? You know, stuff like that. So let me repeat the reason why we're putting out photos, video,
audio, graphic essay on websites, social media, blog, podcast, audio, video sharing platform, Twitter, TikTok, everything as remember people say bubble. The reason why we're doing all this bubble is because we want to drive engagement from that engagement. We want people to interact and know that this is me. This is what I do. This is what I sell. This is what this is how what I sell can help you. And then also to leave me accessible so that people can slide into my DM, send me an e-mail, pick up the phone and give me a call or whatever that might lead to future buying conversations, hopefully.
So that is the scope behind content. Let us bear this in mind because sometimes you get carried away in trying to chase what is trendy and stuff like that. And we forget that the reason why we're putting up stuff is because we have a purpose that we're trying to give in, drive engagement and that we're looking towards certain business outcomes. Please remember that. I'm saying this because I know. Oh, sorry, one moment.
Let me put the phone on silent, OK, I forgot to activate the silent settings. So that's why, you know, something just came in just buzz, buzz. And where was I? So the reason why I'm stressing this is because some of you now you start off and you start off well, but then there will be this challenge and then this trend and then that trend and next thing you're following this trend, following this challenge for and then posting, posting,
posting. I mean, like, let's not lose focus. We are not posting for the sake of posting. We have a goal in mind. So Please remember, do not get distracted. So if Kim Kardashian does something, maybe she poses in a bikini and the thing almost breaks the Internet and then you know, the Kim Kardashian something something challenge. If you can find a way to make that Kim Kardashian whatever, whatever challenge or the I don't know who's reigning amongst the boys now, I don't know if you can find a way to make this thing work.
Hey, Aproko Dr. So now Aproko Dr. What's his name? What's his name now, this guy, he dresses funny, he has blonde hair, and then he wears the guy that did Wong Wong Wong Wong Wong Challenge. What's his name? Brain Jotter. Brain Jotter. So if you can find a way to make Wong Wong Wong Challenge and Brain Jotter and all that thing work for your business, fine. But don't get carried away posting all kinds of all manner of things in the hope of trending.
Even though it is not relied, it's not tied into the business outcomes that we are trying to get at the end of the day. So what kind of content can you put out there? You know, I've spoken about photo, video, audio, graphics, essays. That is just the the species was my teacher used to say the specie. So that is just the specie of content that you can put out on the Internet. But then what kinds of content can we put out now?
What is the thrust of the content? Now, as you've been listening to my podcast for the last one week, you already know my opinion on the best kind of content. And I say the best kind of content is educational content. So there's no need for me to repeat. But that's number one, educational content #2 entertaining content. That's what most of you are used to. And then there's a third, there's a hybrid infotaining content.
The idea behind infotainment is you're trying to inform people and you're trying to entertain as well. So in my own opinion, I think educational content is the best and easiest to do. If you are talented and funny, you can do infotainment. That is what Apropos Dr. does. He puts out these videos, he makes you to laugh, but in the laughing, he's delivering something of value that look, you know what, HPV is serious. It's a serious form of cancer.
If you don't check, you can end up killing yourself and you can end up infecting your sexual partners and your sexual partners can go on and infect other people as well. So go and check for HPV, you know, all these simple things. So he makes a So excuse me if you're listening right now. And OK anyway, no need for me to go into gory details, but let me just put it this way. So our Procho Dr. can make a video. You might have a funny caption about certain female body parts and you go and click.
By the end of the day, you listen, you laugh, but then you learn about HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer amongst women and then things like that. So if you're funny, then yes, you can do that infotainment thing, but you know, that requires some talent. It's hard, which is the reason why I say everybody just do educational because you don't need to be talented. You don't have to be talented to do what I do. All you just need to do is to be educated about what you know,
have a point of view and be willing to express it. That's all. So those are the kinds of content that you can use. So like my biology teacher would say especially so the specie is photo, video, audio, graphics, essays. But then the kind is educate people or entertain people or do entertainment like a proco Dr. If you've never heard of a proco Dr. just Google him and you know, you, you see what I mean? You know, very bright young man.
Back to this whole thing about the purpose. Now you see a Proco Dr., He is a medical doctor, and then he puts out these videos and he makes people laugh and then you hear about things like cervical cancer and really, really interesting stuff. Now in watching, listening and laughing and being entertained, at the end of the day, you will have it at the back of your mind that this apropos Dr. is a correct doctor. He's a medical specialist.
He's a, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever. And then he's available over on TikTok or Instagram or whatever, so that when you have certain medical challenges, you reach out to him. Or if you want to do certain collaborations, you want him to speak at your event or something like that, you reach out to him. So you see that this is how the whole thing works. And that is how content is supposed to grow your business.
So if you never heard of him, just check Aprocho Doctor. But by the way, Aprocho Dr. is no longer, I don't think he's no longer raining again like that. You know me, I'm out of touch. I've already gotten off social media, so I'm never sure who is reigning, but this should be a perfect example. All right, now next expectations. This is something I need to help because some of you, some of you have the wrong expectations.
Like this guy, brain jotter, we won't go challenge and all that. You didn't know him before and then today you know him. So it gives the impression that the guy just blew overnight and because of that, you have the wrong expectations. That's not how it works. The same thing with this podcast. You discover this podcast and you get the impression that, oh, this thing just blew overnight because now I'm close to like 30,000 downloads.
You think I just blew overnight? These things are these things are a long a long time in the making for me. Been podcasting is like 4 ish 5:00-ish years. It's it's been a long time in the making. So sometimes you guys need to understand that sometimes you catch more of these things. You see the finished product and then it gives you the wrong expectation so that you when you're starting your own, you think that overnight you might you just blow like a broker doctor or like brain daughter.
We need to have the right expectations now when it comes to using content to grow your business. See there are some people that yes, you put that one piece of content now and that content helps you to become a millionaire or something. You know, yes, they are those people. Or please bear in mind those people are outliers. It is not the typical way it happens. So if it happened for your neighbor like that, stop thinking it will happen for you like that automatically.
That is not how it typically happens. So when it comes to content, the these are the expectations. Content to see results is usually a mid term to long term strategy. Let me repeat, it is usually a mid term to long term strategy in business. Traditionally when people say short term, mid term or long term, this is what they mean. If they say short term, it means something can click in six months to one year. Remember, we are talking about business.
In business circles, if something is short term, it means that this thing can click in six months to one year. Midterm means this thing can click between one year and three years. I repeat, midterm means this thing can click, this thing can pop off, this thing can blow. Results can come in one to three years and then long term is this thing can click, this thing can blow, this thing can realize, this thing can materialize, this thing can manifest in three to five years.
I repeat, it can yield food, it can blow, it can materialize, it can manifest, it can optimize, it can whatever in three to five years. So let me repeat, short term means six months to one year, mid term means one year to three years, long term means three to five years. So traditionally in business when people say mid term, short term, long term, that is what they mean. So if you've noticed what I heard, what I said, and if you go and check social media or business books, you will not hear anybody telling you that content is going to work in the short term.
You will not hear anybody say that. So you guys get your expectations right. If content helps you pop off or blow in one year, that is unusual and we've hanged out for you and please bleed in and maximize this thing while it's working. But nobody, I don't know anybody on the Internet, whether Oibo or Nigerian or can or or Arab or it doesn't matter. There's nobody who says content is going to make you work. Is, is going to pop off in six months to one year.
No, nobody. So content is mid to long. In other words, if you're doing this content thing, expect to be dropping stuff from day one until Year 5 before you can say, you know what, I'm done, I'm not doing this thing anymore. But truly, truly, truly, if you start from day zero and you continue to year 5:00 and you're not seeing any kind of traction, the problem is not that the strategy works. The problem is that what you're putting out is rubbish.
It's a hard thing to hear, but you know, it's just the truth because you can't be talking about boring stuff like me. I do business and business is boring. Let's face it, is boring. Like one time somebody told me that, look, I should stop saying what I'm saying, boy. And I said, look, look, look, look, let's be honest. There are these guys the the honest bunch, Chinedu Nedua Sobia and what was her name again? NECA and working.
There's four of them and have a very, very, very entertaining podcast is just based and end of this episode that they made about a Nigerian celebrity female who had sex with a snake in Hilton Hotel. So I told the person, if you have a choice between listening to my own podcast and listening to that episode, who you listen to? She now laughed. Yeah, it's the truth now like you for me too, when I heard that episode, I said in Nigerian actress slept with a snake in Hilton Hotel even me too I
listened I said who is this actress when they didn't give her name? So don't bother listening to the episode you'll find out the name of the person. But I'm just saying look, facts is facts. People who always speak Gist over business podcast. So you can podcasting on something that is really dry and boring like business or like politics. OK, no, politics is not boring anyway, Gist Gist is going to gist podcasts are going to gain more traction than business podcasts and politics podcasts.
But what I'm just trying to say is this, even if you pick the most dry subjects, like maybe you like, let's say you like planting flowers, so you're making a Nigerian podcast about planting flowers around your house, at least you will see some traction that OK, I started in year 1. 0 listeners, year 2500 listeners, Year three 1200 listeners, year 42000 listeners. You can see that there is traction. So it might not be the millions of followers that you like, but you can see that you're making traction.
And with that traction, you can assess where am I heading to, what should I improve, what should I delete, what should I, you know, you get the point. So what I'm just saying is that don't worry, you will see traction. If you are not seeing traction, the problem is not with the strategy. The problem is with you. Maybe you've picked the wrong topic. Maybe it's not authentic to you. Maybe you're not talking about it the right way, or maybe you're reading from a script.
That's one mistake people make. You make a script and you're reading from a script. People can tell you're reading from a script. You get bored, you fall asleep. Well, that's the reason why nobody for you who are listening to this podcast now, I, I know for a fact 99.9% of you on Independence Day, you guys don't watch the president. You don't because you know that the president is going to take a sheet of paper, he's going to read from a script.
It's boring. Before you know it, you fall asleep, blah, blah, blah. So that's why you guys don't pay attention to what the president is saying. Our public functions. If the minister is at the public function and he's talking, that's why you don't pay attention because somebody's reading from a script. So yeah, scripting is good. Or please stop reading from a script. Just take a script sort of like an outline when you're producing your content.
Anyway, the long and short of what I'm trying to say is this. When you come up with a strategy, since we're not going to have results in the short term, when you come up with a strategy, so this is what it means. If you don't have money, just know you're going to invest time. Just know that this podcast that I'm broadcasting, this blog that I'm blogging, this YouTube, that I'm Youtubing, this TikTok that I'm tik toking.
I'm going to be tik toking this thing for at least one to three years before I say I'm tired. I don't do again. That's the strategy. You're going to come up with a compelling content calendar, stuff that you think are going to resonate with your audience and you're going to give it one to three years before you say I no do I don't tire. Then if you have plenty of money, the strategy is the content that I'm going to make.
I'm going to use money and boost the hell out of this content, promote the hell out of this content and get maximum reach and maximum engagement. So that is the way that this thing can work short term. It only works short time if you have plenty of money. So when you have plenty of money, the strategy is I will create and then I will use my dollars or my naira and boost the hell, promote the hell, advertise the hell out of this content.
That is a strategy that CNN producers are using. That's the reason why Christine Amapour can start a podcast with 0 followers and then all of a sudden boom overnight. You know, big podcast is because she has money to be advertising her podcast. Also because she has the name of the brand behind her. And it's the same thing with Bloomberg podcasts. Bloomberg the the an American all I say financial services company. That's how all their podcasts blew because they advertise the hell out of the podcast.
I'll be listening to one podcast. I'll now hear an advertisement that so so so I started the podcast. I'd be like, really like they have a new podcast called Troponomics. So in one moment there's a pesky So I didn't realize that when I wound up windows. So 1 moment, this is going to sound really loud. OK, so I didn't realize that when I wound up the window that I trapped an insect here with me. Let me just let this thing out and then wind the window back up.
Sorry about that. These are the wonders of making content live. All kinds of interruptions, all kinds of things happen. What was I now? So I'm saying I'm. So that's the way that you make your content blue if you have plenty of money. So Bloomberg people, that's how they make their podcast blue. Like this guy, what's his name? He's on CNN. The guy has some silver hair. What's his name? What's his name? What's his name?
The gay guy, I can't remember his name. Anyway, so he started his podcast, he started advertising everywhere. And then it's the same thing. This musician Dua Lipa. So when Dua Lipa started her own podcast on Iradio, it was the same thing. They advertised it I heard. I checked and they only had one episode. Only one. She only published 1 episode. And you know, thousands and thousands and thousands of people. And I said wow, money is good.
Like at the time I think I have 500 episodes. Say see me humble me. 500 episodes. How many subscribers? Ha, only one episode already thousands of subscribers, you know, So that's how it's because she has money to advertise. And then the same thing with Mrs. Obama, Obama's wife, what's her name, Michelle, Michelle Obama, former first lady. Her podcast is the same thing. Her books is the same thing because she has money to throw around.
So if you have money, this is the strategy boost and promote the hell out of what it is you're making. Then you can get things to pop in less than one year. If you don't have money, sit down, be humble like some of us have been humble and just say that this Tiktok, I'm going to live and die on this Tiktok from year one to year three before I say I'm tired or what should I do next? Now, because you're going to be spending a lot of time in creating content.
Or if you're like Mrs. Obama, you're going to be spending lots of money in promoting your content or in producing your content because creating content is either going to be time consuming or expensive. Please listen to me how to stress this again because we have the wrong expectations. It's not going to come easy. It is either going to consume your time or it will consume your money. There's no halfway. So because it will consume your time or it will consume your money.
We need to learn how to make the most of the content that we have. That is why reusing content, repurposing content and re sharing content is very, very important. Let me repeat the same thing that they tell our children in primary school, OK, you don't have children, We have nephews and nieces. Your teachers are telling them reuse, repurpose, recycle. That's that's it. We do the same thing with our content. We reuse, repurpose and recycle and re share.
That way we get the most out of it. I have currently over 1050 episodes over here on the podcast where if you're on my LinkedIn, you notice that sometimes I share maybe 5-6 times a day. It might look as if I dropped 5 or 6 episodes every day, but no, I don't. On a good day, maybe I drop episodes every other day. That'll be maybe 3 or 4 episodes a week. But I am reusing old content from day one, from day 102 and from day 600 and something, and I'm repurposing it.
That is how you start making a mark over on the Internet and then people start to notice you. And that's how some of you have been discovering me. So it looks as if I'm prolific. No, I'm not that prolific. It's just that I have a backlog of 1000 / 1050. And so because of that, if I share, even if I share 20 episodes today, it's not a problem because I have a backlog of over 1050. So I can reuse, I can repurpose, I can recycle, I can reshare.
So you should be doing the same thing to make the most out of your content. So on some days, if I miss producing a a podcast, even for one week, I know I'll be disappointing loyal listeners like Ruth Druku and like Wendy who listen regularly. But at least I can still be repurposing old things, recycling old things. And then new people get to see me, get to know about me, get to engage with my content from there, get to get my phone number, get to send me a WhatsApp message.
And for some people, it leads to business conversations. And then some of you end up becoming my client. That's how the thing works. So like they teach our kids and our nephews and nieces, reuse, repurpose, recycle. So reuse your content, repurpose your content, reshare your content, recycle your content. It'll make your life a lot easier. Some of you are worried if people are seeing, oh, if I repurpose, you will be seeing my post.
And you guys, your concerns are your concerns are unrealistic. You don't know how busy the Internet is. Go and check your timeline. Do you realize how many people are posting on your timeline? Do you're asked how many? And you think that because you shared the post today on Monday, that if you share it again on Friday, people will say this guy doesn't have content. He's he's putting the same thing. He's putting the same thing.
Believe me, nobody is noticing. You have to do a whole lot more. You have to do more than that. Trust me, your worries are unfounded. Now if you only have one video and you're sharing that video over and over again, OK, yeah, there's a problem. But this is my point. Let's say you start January of 2020, January of 2025. That's the year I'm recording this episode. So that in January of 2025, you decide that this TikTok, you will live and die here and you're producing 1 TikTok every,
let's say 2 Tik Toks every week. So that means January finish. Now that means you have 8 Tiktoks already on your your feed. Then this is February 25th. So this last week in February, so let's say February now that's another eight Tiktoks. So now you have 16. OK, now this is the scope when it comes to reduce, reuse and recycle. You can take these same 16 videos and be posting them all over again on your Tiktok. Now that is ridiculous.
That is stupid. Yes, you will now look at say, OK, this person doesn't have content. You keep posting on your TikTok how you regularly post, but you now take these 16 posts. You now be sharing the links on other places. So since you have 16 of them, let's say you have a Facebook account, there's nothing that stops you from sharing your TikTok video on your Facebook or your LinkedIn. Since you have 16, if you share for every week, you'll be able to share.
I'll be for every week 4 * 4 that's 16. You'll be able to share for every week for one whole month before you start repeating yourself. And trust me, the thing that you shared one month ago nobody remembers. But yes, I used to feel ashamed to like people think I don't have content. So I understand where the fear is coming from, but just trust me, there's so much content coming out on the Internet that the thing that you shared one month ago, nobody remembers.
In fact, the thing that you shared last week, nobody remembers. Maybe your mom, she remembers because your mom sees checking your Instagram, checking your LinkedIn, because she's worried. My son, my daughter, after we paid for masters, she refused to go and do this. She refused to go and do that. She says she must be doing TikTok. Her father-in-law let this TikTok work. So your mom is putting her eye on your TikTok. Yeah, so your mom will know, but nobody else knows when you are repeating, reusing, recycling.
So reuse, repurpose, recycle your content. And if you know what, 30 minutes, let me just bring this to a close. So content is the photos, the videos, the audios, the graphics, the text, the essay, the everything that we put on websites, social media, blog, audio platform, video sharing platform. As you're about people say content is just Boo Boo the everything that we put on the Internet. Remember the goal, the goal is not just to trend for the sake of trending.
So stop chasing trends. The goal is to get people to engage with you. When they engage you, they will know who you are, what you do, how you can help and it will make you accessible like a proper doctor. When you're accessible, some people will slide into your DM to say how far. Can you tell me more about this? OK, I have this problem. Can you help me treat this or dear Abroko Dr. I want you to speak up my event. How much will you charge?
So that's the goal. Remember, there's nothing that you're going to do that will work in less than one year. If it works in less than one year, go and give thanks to God that He has done it for you and then try and maximize it. Most of you are going to be doing this thing for one to three years. So long as you're seeing traction, you're on the right path. If you are not seeing any traction, OK, then there's a problem. So the strategy is if you don't have money, sleep on this thing for one to three years.
Give it your best. If you have plenty of money, produce content and then boost the hell out of this thing. Then remember to reuse content because the content you're making is either going to cost you plenty of time to make or plenty of money to make. So that's a pretty much if you'd love to connect with me for a strategy session for a business audit or you have some questions you want me to answer. The phone number is 08064662140.
The country code is +234. Then connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to look for establishing my IED. I have a YouTube channel the same name as well. Thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.