By fiifi DZANSI
MacGyver always knows how to liberate his team from trouble.
He puts his knowledge to use by devising, often simple, solutions to complex obstacles.
Moments like these, instead of dimming his light, make him shine.
By fiifi DZANSI
Malaria is cruel.
Symptoms may include headache, fever, loss of appetite, weakness, and nausea. Depending on the severity of the sickness, you may have to spend some days at the hospital receiving treatments.
Life, too, can be pitiless.
It backs you in a corner and pounds you repeatedly until all your will abates.
A very unpleasant it may be.
However, when you have the stomach to take in all the humiliation, embarrassment, shame and keep moving, you may find yourself come out triumphant.
The rains are here.
Water is flowing through the land endlessly.
It’s good news for the gardeners and farmers in the countryside.
But a misfortune for the homeless and poorly built structures in the city.
By fiifi DZANSI
An entrepreneur can’t go it all alone.
She needs others to buy into her vision.
Unfortunately, when you move across the grain in your endeavour to bring some relief to a world, opposition becomes imminent.
No! is more of the answers you’ll get to your request.
That’s how it works.
You don’t need the entire world to rally behind you from the start.
All you need is a few believers to say yes.
By fiifi DZANSI
A sinking ship has two groups of people on board.
The first group accepts death as their fate.
As they wait for the water to come and swallow them alive, they’re full of regrets, anger and blame.
All their thoughts are locked up in the past.
Why am I the one to die?
Why me?
I shouldn’t have been here.
The second group is busy devising ways of survival.
To them, this is just another challenge nature hurls at them.
Life is all about the present for them.
Let’s try another method.
Let’s hold on a little longer.
It shall be ok.
By fiifi DZANSI
Under the sweltering sun, Kwame paces back and forth, desperately calling out customers to come to buy his stuff.
He’s not sold anything for days. His two children were dismissed from school because he couldn’t pay their fees.
Many conflicting thoughts racing through his mind at this moment.
To quit for something else or not.
Suddenly, a Range Rover pulls up in front of him. A man with a potbelly comes out.
“How much is that?” asks the man. “
“Only 50.” Replied Kwame.
“No. I can only pay 10.” The man yells.
Kwame will lose by settling for such a mediocre amount. His products are of high quality, and he spends so much time sourcing them.
This is the only customer he’s had for days. Letting him go will be painful. But the man is adamant and presses on.
Kwame weeps.
This is the dilemma of many freelancers in our part of the world. It’s either the client wants to pay so low or with exposure.
Paying low results in a loss.
Exposure, on the other hand, never pays the bills.
By fiifi DZANSI
Every creator has a process they go through before a final piece comes out.
That process, though, does not traverse through linear space. It starts with a simple idea then gets messy in-between.
Once mastered and embraced over the years, it becomes the norm no matter how uncomfortable it may be at times.
By fiifi DZANSI
The world is not a perfect place. Sometimes it’s the imperfection that makes our world interesting.
This is why tragic plots make great novels. And overcoming adversity makes blockbuster movies.
Sharing only success stories and the shiny stuff on social media makes your brand appear unreal and cold.
Let your followers see your struggle.
Share behind the scene and your work in progress. When you do, your followers would appreciate you for all the effort you put in to create. They’d also understand what inspires you.
Not many dare to share their failings and perhaps vulnerabilities. Sometimes you have to share these to teach vital lessons.
Did a client reject your work? Did you lose clients as a result of mistakes on your part? Or did your previous business collapse?
Share with your followers. They’ll learn from it.
After all, we are human.
By fiifi DZANSI
I once met a guy downtown. He kept talking about himself – his accomplishments like his second college degree, his brand new Ford Fiesta, his attractive girlfriend with many admirers blah blah blah…
He never allowed me to say a thing. It was all about him. And you know, that was the first time I met him.
Boring guy.
It’s selfish behaviour when people don’t value the opinions of others. Or worse, when they feel they can do it all alone.
Collaborating with others brings out the best in your brand. It’s also a way of supporting what others are doing.
One way to collaborate with your fans is to ask them what specific topics or questions they’d like you to discuss in your next post. And create content to address that.
Also, share quality contents that your fans or others have created and give them credit.
And you can invite other creators to take over your account for a day.
Be on the lookout for people who have mentioned you or used your branded hashtag in their posts.
By fiifi DZANSI
Humans are social beings.
This is why we want to live in communities, form relationships and have a sense of belonging.
Social media platforms make it easy to satisfy this need online.
Engagement is what puts ‘social’ in social media.
When you engage with your followers, they know a human is behind that computer or mobile phone who deeply cares about them.
But how do you engage with your followers?
Make use of questions. This is the best way to get people talking. Sometimes after posting your content, ask your followers what they think.
Host a contest. We love competitions, and winning makes us feel good about ourselves. And don’t forget to reward the winners.
Send Shoutouts. Greet your followers using their individual handles. When a follower achieves a milestone, congratulate them. In addition, if you realise a follower is having difficulty with a particular task, you could offer suggestions.
Above all, your goal is to form a relationship with your followers. So your reactions to their questions, comments and DMs should be unique to each individual and not generic.