Tag: Productivity

Don’t Let Them Brainwash You

People always use the words “manipulate” and “brainwashing” in negative ways.

But it’s so wrong.

Of course, I’m not trying to argue with y’all, but let me tell you a story.

You see, 2 years ago I got an offer to work with a top 5 Nigerian bank.

I was just done with NYSC 3 months before, recently moved to Lagos, the selection process was crazy but I’d scaled through quite easily.

Didn’t have a background in traditional finance but I planned to do an MBA within 2 years.

Everything was perfect, or at least I thought so. And it looked like my stars had aligned.

But there was a small issue.

You see, just before that job offer came in, I’d been teaching Spanish on the side as a way to get by while waiting for a job.

The first client I had suggested I get a job in sales.

He’s a big time sales manager in one of the biggest wine distribution businesses in Nigeria.

I won’t say I really understood because everything I knew about sales, especially in corporate Nigeria was those bankers with wornout shoes walking under the sun begging people to come bank with them.

Didn’t sound appealing at all.

Just at the beginning of October, my client had to cancel because it was the start of the ember months and it was the season for serious business.

I was in a rut.

My only source of income at the time and I didn’t have a place of my own – I was sleeping around Lagos like an ashewo, fam 😁

As fortune would have it, I stumbled on this tweet.

I said as fortune would have it because my notifications were turned on for Toyin Omotoso.

I jumped on it and he replied, I asked to DM and we booked a date for the first meeting.

Subsequently,  we agreed on 2-3 sessions every week for 2 hours per session.

I’d leave my friends house at Satellite Town on those days we agreed on by 10-11am in order to beat traffic for 4 o’clock meetings in Lekki.

OmoπŸ˜†

Now, this is where it gets iffy.

You see, something crazy happened during those meetings.

After I was done teaching Toyin Omotoso Spanish, we’d start talking about stuff in general and next thing he’d start talking about sales and marketing, direct response,  copywriting and lots of stuff.

I had no idea I was being brainwashed – in a good way πŸ˜†

Because when the job offer from the bank came in, I was in a bus at CMS when my phone buzzed that afternoon, I wasn’t so sure I wanted it anymore.

After our class that day, I told him I’d gotten a job and he was happy for me, congratulated me and all.

But then I told him I wasn’t sure about the job anymore. πŸ€”

I said I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted out of life.

He told me to go take the job, and if I didn’t like it, I could leave.

Mind you, there wasn’t any job offer on the table from him.

But that was all I needed to hear to validate my feelings.

After the first day of work, while in the bus on my way back home, I kept asking myself:

“Is this what I’d be doing for the next 2 years? Living like this?”

It was around 11pm when I got to my street, I took out my phone and called 2 people: my good friend KCee who I always bounce ideas off and my mother.

My mother said 12 of the most shocking words I’ve ever heard:

“Whatever you decide to do is fine by me. I support you.”

It felt like a strange load had been lifted from my shoulders.

Made me wish I had dropped out from uni when I wanted to.

Never did because of her.

I knew it would break her heart so I just stayed on.

So this was crazy!

When the girl I used to ride the bus with called me the next day as she didn’t see me around, I made up some flimsy excuse.

I never went back.

I quit after one day.

I went back to teaching Toyin Omotoso Spanish and after each session he took my brainwashing and manipulation programming up a notch.

He’d print out tons of sales letters and give them to me to copy out by hand over the weekend and show it to him at our next meeting.

He’d give me books on sales, marketing and direct response to read.

The stories I was hearing then.

People running direct response campaigns and making millions.

Someone making one million Naira in a day.

From words.

As in the ABC?

You have no idea how things like this rewire your mind & recalibrate your brain.

But fam I kid you not, at some point it felt like pouring water on stone because I was a complete rookie.

I didn’t understand zilch. Nothing. Nada.

Big headed olodo πŸ˜‘

This week makes it 2 years since then.

The internship program ends in October and the girl I used to ride the bus to work with sent me this message weeks ago.

Did I make the right decision?

Lol, yes I did.

Because hunger wire me like thief between December and January 2020. 😭

But roughly 3 months after I turned that job down, I got an offer to be an apprentice copywriter under Toyin Omotoso’s tutelage.

Now, I’m currently the Digital Content Manager, Chief copywriter and content creator at Expertnaire.

2 years later, I’m in the sphere of Copywriters who are good enough to charge $5,000 per pop.

But job titles, money and growth aside, I’ve had a more peaceful and fulfilled life.

I’ve grown like weeds, my guy.

There’s something CJ Johnson always says on Twitter:

Keep reading those books and listening to podcasts and brainwashing yourself.

I want to add keep taking risks, betting on yourself, manipulating your mind and brainwashing yourself.

Like the title of this article says: Don’t Let Them Brainwash You, instead do the brainwashing yourself.

It’s worth it.

– Uche

PS: If you’d like to be brainwashed too, then you should read this πŸ‘‡πŸΏ

https://tinyurl.com/f55p2rwy

How To Enjoy Copywriting, Write Easily And Make The Most Of Your Time & Effort.

Copywriting is hard.

Don’t let anyone lie to you.

All those talk about writing how you talk, communicating simply, using power words, copywriting hacks blablabla

But here’s the ONE way I approach it everyday that makes it easier for me:

If you look at my bio, it says “Swiss Army Knife”

But what exactly is a Swiss Army Knife?

Before I define it for you, lemme give you a background.

You see, I’m what you call a telescopic learner.

Telescopic learners are people who like to know a little about everything, unlike microscopic learners, who know so much about one thing.

I’m a telescopic learner.

It’s why I can easily have conversations about sports, women, music,  red pill, books, history,  government,  current affairs, religion, coding, business, writing etc.

I’m the guy who can conveniently have a 3 hour conversation with someone talking about different things.

Truth is, I don’t know any of these things deeply. I just know enough to carry a conversation.

Secured a half a million Naira contract in my 4th year in University because I could speak coding.

Mind you, I tried to learn how to code for about 2 months in my first year in Uni. Didn’t have a laptop, couldn’t afford it so it never worked out.

I got that contract and I didn’t even know how to code.

But I knew people who could and I got it for them.

I still don’t know how to code.

Got my current job from a client I was teaching Spanish.

But teaching Spanish? How?

I’ve never even left the country as an adult.

The two times I left Nigeria for Cameroon was as a child and a teenager.

But Spanish simply sounded cool at the time and I decided to learn it.

The other helpful thing is I’ve learned how to listen.

It’s a skill you pick up when you listen to a different girl every night vent for close to 4 hours during midnight calls in your teenage years.

So, I mostly just chip in, crack a joke and let them talk while I listen.

“Smartest kid in class, most informed kid in class, sabi boy blablabla”

I’m none of that.

Being a telescopic learner has been how I’ve been able to survive for most of my life.

This is how I’ve mostly survived up till now.

But somewhere along the line,  I noticed if I wanted to thrive,  then I had to go into something microscopically.

And copywriting was one of the first things that challenged my telescopic learning abilities.

The only thing I’ve ever tried to learn microscopically in my life is Copywriting.

So much so that for an entire year in 2020, I didn’t do anything else except studying Copywriting.

But not everyone has the time to do this.

Plus, remember this thread wasn’t supposed to be me talking about myself, but about how you can enjoy the Copywriting process.

Great!

So, how do I enjoy Copywriting?

Well, I approach each new project with the idea of learning something new.

For example,  I found out recently that the bags under your eyes can be measured during a hospital test from a project I just finished working on.

That’s something I never knew before.

But it’s now a cool fact I have in my pocket to pull out during conversations 

I wow my girl every time we talk about health related stuff and I just tell her random things she hasn’t heard before.

If only she knew my health plug is Matt Cook ο˜†

Yesterday,  while sourcing for ideas for a client, I wrote a line about Thanos and the Avengers.

The truth is, I’ve never seen Avengers Endgame because I hate sci-fi movies.

But I could pull out that random idea just to illustrate a point.

Last night,  while watching Lord Of The Rings 2 (The Two Towers), I noticed a cool sales and marketing lesson embedded in one of the scenes.

I was up at 1am writing an article on it.

Copywriting has helped me notice even the most mundane things.

And that’s because I approach every single project with an open mind – to LEARN.

I know I make rookie mistakes every now and then.

I know I might write crap every now and then.

I’ve written copy that was unreadable.

I’ve written copy that has tanked.

But the only thing that makes me wake up every morning with renewed purpose to keep going is that singular possibility – LEARNING SOMETHING NEW.

And I remember I was supposed to tell you what a Swiss Army Knife was at the beginning of this post.

Anyway, Google is your friend 😁

But here’s what a Swiss Army Knife looks like, and what it means.

Cheers,

Uche.

If You Teach Your Child Nothing, Teach Them This.

Everyday when I come online I see one new tweet, post or an article about what people say they’ll teach their kids or what they’ll make sure their kids learn.

I’ve seen people say they’ll make sure their kids learn skills like sales and marketing,  copywriting, red pill and pickup artistry, coding, writing and whatnot.

I’ve seen people use terms like love, family, happiness, satisfaction etc, to describe what they’ll ensure their kids know and understand.

And of course, this is all good.

But I haven’t seen anyone talk about detachment yet.

Maybe it’s because it’s not as popular as the rest. But imagine training a child to learn how to be detached from outcomes.

And that’s because a detached person isn’t carried away so much by success they forget there are still battles ahead to be fought and won.

A detached person isn’t weighed down so much by failure or a series of failures they stop believing in themselves or fail to realize there’s always a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. And that this light is in fact hope, and this hope is a hope of success.

A detached person isn’t tied down by sunk cost fallacy – choosing to stay in a relationship, partnership, country, business or deal because of how much they’ve invested in it already whether emotionally,Β  financially,Β  physically or with their time and energy.

A detached person can always pack up and leave.

A detached person is willing to let go.

And that’s the beauty of detachment – from outcomes and people.

It’s the greatest form of freedom because it allows you see the forest for the trees.

It also gives you the much needed dose of clarity when everyone else is being led by their emotions.

It’s the greatest superpower.

If you teach your child nothing, teach them detachment.

This Is Why Leaving Your Comfort Zone Is Bad And Completely Wrong For You

I woke up on Friday and my mind went to my cousin Frank who constantly pushed us to imagine a bigger and better life than what we were used to in Cross River.

I was sixteen when I left home completely on my own for the first time. Since then I’ve been to over 20 states in Nigeria.

Some of these places were pit stops, some I passed through and some I lived in for some time.

I’m not even where I want to be yet, but a part of me strongly feels every man should leave their hometown at age sixteen, or at least eighteen, or at latest twenty-five.

Travelling to previously uncharted territory in this age and time might be the closest thing to signing up for the army or going to war as our ancestors did back in the day.

It’s one of the biggest tests of mental strength.

And that’s aside from the lifelong friendships and once in a lifetime experiences you’ll accumulate.

I look at my life and everything that has happened to me over the last nine years and I’m grateful because Cross River had little or nothing to offer us in terms of ambition.

Instead, it had everything that would blunt ambition: food (lots of it), alcohol (copious amounts of cheap premium ogogoro), beautiful women, familiarity, ease and comfort.

Kids would go to the same primary and secondary schools as their parents.

End up at the same universities with the same people they grew up with and went to primary and secondary school with.

Work at the same offices as their uncles and aunts or just go on to manage their parent’s businesses or break out and do the same businesses.

Live and know the same people for decades, drink at the same spots, engage in a few uninspiring ventures, fuck the same women and do the same damn thing every day.

Which of course, isn’t a bad thing.

Because as much as I’m a big advocate of stepping outside your comfort zone, especially in the pursuit of success and a better life, I’m not claiming everyone who left was successful.

I know a couple of people who weren’t.

But I also know a lot of people who didn’t succeed and came back and used their experience to become huge successes back home.

This clearly shows when it comes to travel, the education is in the journey, not the destination.

This is also why I don’t feel like anywhere is a permanent homeland for me.

Lagos, Ibadan, Asaba, Anambra, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Cross River.

There are all just spots in the journey.

Maybe my Igbo roots are the reason why, or maybe I’m chasing something or who knows? Maybe something is chasing me.

But I guess Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said it best:

β€œOwn only what you can carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag”

And that’s why I’ll forever travel light – no big bags, no large suitcases, no oversized luggage.

Because memories and experiences are mostly everything you need.

Thank you, Frank Obinna.

– Uche

Why You Shouldn’t Pay Anyone For Mentoring, Teaching or Guidance.

Paying for mentoring and guidance is like paying for a fresh pair of eyes and an extra brain.

But it’s not always an extra brain because the person you’re paying has accumulated a couple of brains to theirs already.

Yesterday, a stock recommendation I paid for made $35 in one day.

In one day.

Bring out your calculator and punch – times by 520.

That’s over N18,000.

In. One. Day.

This year alone, I’ve bought the 72IG Implementation Program for 2 people (almost 100k).

I also paid for Motley Fool’s 1-year sub for $99.

I just bought a program about webinars.

I know how to do webinars.

I’ve collected 250k from appearing for less than 2 hours on a webinar.

But I feel there’s a lot of room for improvement.

And I just paid for it.

One of my favourite Twitter accounts dropped a link to their book & I whipped out my card to get it immediately.

I randomly bought an e-book from one of my students weeks ago.

It wasn’t because I needed it per se.

Rather it was because I was impressed by what she was doing and wanted to encourage her to keep going.

I can’t get a Masterclass sub at the moment because my schedule is too tight & it’d be foolish adding more stuff.

Not because I can’t afford to.

The reason I haven’t paid for my Toastmasters annual sub is that we moved from physical meetings to online because of COVID-19.

And I’m not a big fan of watching screens because of my eyes.

It’s why I struggle with watching movies nowadays.

Plus, I miss most of the online meetings because of my sleeping schedule.

I might put together over 800k for Errol Gerson’s live coaching program.

Looks like it’s worth it.

But it wasn’t always like this.

There was a time I couldn’t afford any of these things.

Make I no even talk go far sef.

2 years ago, I couldn’t.

So, what changed?

I spent my entire NYSC year reading at least 2 hours every day (I don’t even read as much nowadays).

I ended up reading 60 books before the end of NYSC.

I spent the next 1-year writing articles every Sunday on a free WordPress blog.

For 52 straight weeks, I wrote at least 1 article per week and published it.

It didn’t matter if it was garbage or didn’t make much sense, I published it.

During this time, I would wake up by 3 am daily, read for at least one hour, then copy out a sales letter by hand.

I’d do this before going to work every day.

I still write letters out by hand every morning before going to work.

I did this morning too.

That’s aside from the voluminous sales & marketing materials I kept going through – some I didn’t even understand at the time.

I still do – some I don’t even understand.

I was also practising Spanish for at least 15 minutes a day.

Most of these things were free.

Maybe all of them.

The only thing it was going to cost me was data, time & attention.

I didn’t have money, but I had time.

And I had small money to pay for data.

That was all I had.

I’m saying this because most people start crying when they want to get something that might change their lives and they are told to pay.

They start asking why they can’t get it for free.

Or they complain about being ripped off.

Well, the truth is most of what you need to succeed is on the Internet for free already.

What it’s going to cost you is TIME & ATTENTION.

But the truth is you’re not ready to suffer.

You’re not ready to sweat.

You’re not ready to bleed.

You’re a baby boy or baby girl for life.

Go to YouTube.

Use Google.

Read Quora.

Read posts on Medium.

Go on Twitter and follow accounts that teach what you’re interested in.

Some of the stuff posted for free on Twitter are things you’ll learn for hundreds of thousands of dollars in Masterclasses.

Subscribe to free email subscriptions.

Get free books online.

Go to a library in your area.

Attend free seminars & conferences & webinars.

There are so many of them.

Is there a seminar in another city? Travel and go there.

The Queen of Sheba travelled from Ethiopia to Israel to see King Solomon.

She ended up getting premium dick, got pregnant for him and a successor to her throne.

Pregnant for a man who had 700 wives and 300 concubines but only 4 children – a master of the pullout game 😁

She changed the destiny of an entire nation.

My life changed from an Akin Alabi seminar I attended during NYSC.

I just sat there in the audience and told myself, “One day, I want to work with these guys I’m seeing on stage and I don’t know how, but it’s going to happen.”

Go to Church (your Pastor/Priest still has something to say).

Get a free WordPress blog.

Go to parties and socialize.

Comb through your emails.

There’s something in there.

Buy a notebook or diary and write.

Fuck that!

Write in your phone’s notes.

Someone I know wrote 150 songs in one year (2 songs every week) because they were trying to get better at songwriting.

But just know what’s most important in all of this is to TAKE ACTION with what you learn.

People have gone to work with Facebook, Apple and other big companies from skills they’ve acquired on YouTube.

All for FREE.

The data you use to scroll through Instagram every day, use it to read a post on Quora.

The time you spend looking at people’s WhatsApp status, use it to read a book (physical copy or on your phone) for 15 minutes.

Grab your PC and watch coding tutorials for only 30 minutes.

Practice what you’ve seen and watch your life change.

A friend I used to force during NYSC to code for just 30 minutes a day now works with a tech company.

And that’s aside from the other companies & side projects she regularly freelances on.

But if you feel you don’t want to waste time, then bring out your wallet or card and pay.

The only difference is you’ll spend most of your time sorting through some stuff that might be irrelevant.

But do it anyway.

After all, you don’t have money.

But you have time.

If you don’t want to pay, then do the work those people who are asking you to pay have done.

I remember a story about a woman who met Pablo Picasso in a cafe.

She walked up to him and asked him if he could draw her.

Sure, why not? He accepted.

In 10 minutes, he was done.

When she saw the drawing, she was so blown away by the sheer beauty of it.

She asked him how much.

He told her $10,000.

“What?????? It took you just 10 minutes,” she screamed.

“You’re not paying me for the 10 minutes it took me to make a drawing of you.”

“Rather, you’re paying me for the 20 years it took me to learn how to draw you within 10 minutes.”

When you pay, you don’t only pay for value at the moment.

You also pay for close association and experience.


You also pay for perspective.

My friend told me how he paid 50k for a seminar and learned just 2 things.

According to him, those 2 things were what changed his business.

Those 2 things helped him to scale his income from 1 million to over 10 million.

2 things he paid N50,000 for only.

Don’t go and tell someone who has paid for where they are today with blood, sweat & tears to mentor you for free.

Who are you exactly?

And why should they even listen to you?

Some of the stock picks I’ve seen on Motley Fool are even on my stock watchlist.

Yes, I’m that good 😁

But I’ve also seen some I never knew and have never heard of.

That’s the importance of paying for things.

Nigeria is hard already and we’re all trying to survive.

So don’t come and tell me the information I’m giving you is too expensive.

If you can’t afford it, go online and read and do your research.

I can’t even deny it.

I’m also lucky to have a mentor who gives me whatever helpful info he has which he believes will help me too.

Even when I don’t ask.

But one thing he keeps saying is, “Uche, I’m giving you all these materials because I know you’ll read them.”

My mentor drops millions of naira on courses and programs every year.

He never complains about any of them.

What he’ll tell you is no matter how bad it is, you’ll always learn at least one thing.

I also have a couple of people who pay for stuff and I get the opportunity to see them for free.

This means it’s also on me to use my time, energy & effort to get anything meaningful from these gifts.

As it’s on you too.

Use your kafa!

There’s nothing for free out there.

You either pay with money or time.

The videos you’re watching for free on YouTube, you’re aware YouTube is going to pay those guys, yeah? 😁

But it’s not me who paid for it though.

So, how about the hours you spent?

The data?

YouTube will pay them for being able to make you spend time watching their videos.

The sites you visit will get paid via Google’s ads placement program.

Don’t be foolish.

You’ll always pay for everything – one way or another.

I’ll end this by finally accepting to pay for my Toastmasters sub this year 😁

And just to add, I’ve lost money paying for information too.

The first time I paid for information was in my 1st or 2nd year at the University.

Some guy had a trick for beating sports betting companies on their virtual games.

It was around N4,000 or so.

And for someone who had it rough during university years, N4,000 was a lot of money.

I didn’t even know you needed a PC, and I didn’t have one.

I paid 100 euros for a project that never worked while in the university.

I borrowed money from my mother and paid 50 euros for something else that didn’t pan out while still in university.

Bought a guide on how to receive money from PayPal from Nigeria when I was hustling for a freelancing foreign transcriber position.

I no later use am.

We’ve put over half a million in a project that didn’t meet expectations.

I’ve got money stuck in places.

Maybe it’s the universe, I don’t know.

Just know you’re going to lose money while trying to make money too.

All the professional courses I did during NYSC look like I wasted money.

But I turned down a job from one of the top 5 fashion designing & styling houses in Nigeria, and another from a top 5 Nigerian bank.

But I probably wouldn’t have made it to those interviews if my CV didn’t make sense.

I’ve wasted time too.

Watched over 10 hours of weight loss videos in January because I was trying to develop a product.

Read a bunch of stuff too.

Ended up scrapping it because there was no big idea.

Do you know what I’m going to do by this time next year?

God willing, I’ll take what I know about the stock market, add it to what I’m learning from my paid sub, maybe collaborate with someone else and create a stock market product.

And then sell it to people.

And don’t ask me why I wouldn’t just teach people for free.

Last year, I was talking to a bunch of people about the stock market and they claimed they wanted to learn.

I went through the stress of putting together a Zoom class and guess how many people attended?

Zilch. Nada. None. Nobody.

I don’t care what you think.

But I hope this helps you.

Because that’s the way of the Shaolin.

– Uche

PS: The stock pick I mentioned earlier is Upstart Holdings.

Gratitude Journal: 2021, Part 1

It just clocked in my mind this morning that within the last 4 months I’ve written copy for 2 projects that have grossed close to 1 million Naira each.

That’s over $4,000.

One of them with ZERO ad spend.

Yes, you heard me, ZERO.

I know it might not be much. I know 😁

But one of the guys in I & my partner’s E-Commerce Mastermind group sent me a message that he did 700k last month.

Then he told me he’d been doing Affiliate Marketing since November and hadn’t made a single sale yet.

Shared a couple of ideas with him, and within a couple of hours, he made his first sale.

Lol, see how happy he was πŸ˜†

And that’s aside people in my small community that I’ve taught things that helped them increase their income.

Some of them made their first dollar online.

All these within the last 4 months.

I’m not trying to brag.

But around this same time 3 years ago I was a broke and frustrated Engineering graduate working at a Bet9ja shop on a 10k/month salary and struggling to make ends meet.

Then I quit & started teaching Spanish.

And now I’m in sales and marketing.

Lol, it’s been a crazy journey so far, crazy, crazy, crazy!

But I’m glad I listened to my first Spanish client, Tope Sanni who told me to get a job in sales and marketing.

I’m forever grateful for the opportunity πŸ™ŒπŸΏ

I’m also glad I listened to my instincts and turned down that bank job in 2019.

I’m also forever grateful to Toyin Omotoso for taking a chance on me when he didn’t have to πŸ™ŒπŸΏ

He sent out a glowing recommendation of me to his list last week.

Could never ask for a better mentor.

Thanks to Godwin Woha, the first ever mentor I had.

He read a questionnaire I filled, told me I waxed lyrical and advised I take my writing seriously.

Thanks to HillCity too for the opportunity to meet him asides other opportunities.

Thanks to my partner in crime too Emmanuel Adiotu.

Thanks for pushing me, man πŸ™ŒπŸΏ

I almost forgot Duolingo. Lol.

I haven’t even been practising my Spanish for a long time now.

But I’m dedicating at least 15 minutes every day for the rest of the year.

Because they helped unlock most of these opportunities I have today.

I have no idea why I’m up this morning counting my blessings.

But maybe it’s because today is the last day of the first half of this year.

And 2021 has been so good to me so far.

Thanks to God mehnnn.

Let’s do more for the rest of the year.

This Is What Dreams Are Made Of

Was in Ibadan over the weekend, my second time in almost 2 years since I left there.

We had an event to attend, so we had to drive past NTA and memories came flooding back.

You see, 2 years ago I was on one of the sets for my friend Juli-Ann Agorye’s show talking about digital marketing.

The show was so good I was invited back more than once.

But what’s funny was that before getting on that show I didn’t even know anything about digital marketing.

What’s even funnier is that most of the stuff I eventually talked about on the show was what I pinched from reading tweets from @ronaldnzimora, @toyinomotoso and @akinalabi.

2 years ago I was on my khaki trekking from Sango to Agodi on Thursdays.

And I had no idea where my life was headed.

2 years later, I work directly or indirectly with some of the guys whose tweets I used to front.

I also have a small community where I teach digital marketing with a few other guys.

I have a thriving blog where I write regularly about sales and marketing.

I’ve collaborated with and will still collaborate with these guys killing it out here in direct response.

Pure stuff of dreams.

And I swear, I’m not trying to motivate any of you.

I just wanted to let you know that it’s okay if you’re uncertain about what next to do with your life or you have no idea how to go about it.

It’s okay to be confused.

It’s okay to not know where next your life is headed.

I was in this same place 2 years ago and thank God for NYSC (the one reason why I’m sentimental about it).

I used that entire year to just read lots and lots of books, meet people, make friends, get my shit together, and figure my life out.

You might not have the luxury of an entire year but it’s okay to just go slow while you try your hands at different things to know what works for you.

Like I said before I’m not trying to motivate you, I guess I’ve just been lucky enough to get here.

But I just hope this helps you.

– Uche

PS: If you are interested in learning more about my journey into digital marketing, you can read up on it here.

https://www.ucheokoro.live/2021/02/18/19-things-i-learned-from-working-with-toyin-omotoso-in-2020/

Why You Should Sleep

I just discovered why I’ve been falling sick repeatedly for the past year, spent hundreds of thousands in hospital bills and eye care, almost overdosed on sleeping pills, lost my sight a few times, and nearly went insane.

So, in 2020, I got an offer to work in one of the top five Nigerian banks.

I worked for just one day, and then I left.

Now, I had a major reason for turning down that job offer (which I’ll share with you guys someday).

But one of the reasons why I said no was because I felt working at the bank would hamper my personal development.

During my NYSC in 2018/19, I had developed a routine that helped me read for at least 2 hours every day while writing a bit on the side.

I read over 60 books within 9 months or thereabouts as reading was what I used to fill up the day.

I moved to Lagos after NYSC to teach Spanish and I pretty much kept the same routine.

It was easy for me because I was teaching Spanish for just 2 or 3 hours a day, 2 or 3x a week.

I just needed to wake up early in the morning, exercise, eat, and then read before going to my classes.

And then the bank job came around October.

It was an offer to work for one of their branches in Victoria Island.

It was HUGE as I’d gone through rounds and rounds of interviews and performance-based tests for months.

This was the finish line.

But a part of me felt somehow.

I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about the job anymore, and I had no idea why.

After everything, banking school training and all that, the onboarding session was supposed to last for a week.

On my way home after day 1, I called my mother to tell her I wasn’t doing it anymore.

I lived around Mile 2 at the time & working in Victoria Island meant I had to leave home by at least 5 every morning or get stuck in traffic.

Bank closing time was 5 pm, but then we still had to service customers who were still inside and this could take up to 2 or 3 hours depending on the size of the crowd.

Then we’ll have to wait for the cashiers to balance their accounts and then the vault locked up.

Then I would get into Lagos traffic, and start making my way home.

Give or take I got home between 11 pm and 12 am.

Then I would have to wake up by 3 am to be able to read, exercise, eat, and then leave home by 5. Every day.

It was a perpetual treadmill.

One I had to run on for the next couple of years.

I tried to look at my life for the next two years ahead and it didn’t look like I’d be getting anywhere fast.

I’d just moved to Lagos, and I wasn’t making a lot of money yet so getting a house on the Island wasn’t possible.

So, I quit.

Fast forward to 2020, I got a job offer that was more suited to my skills, flexible, better work environment, and with a higher ceiling.

Since I was coming from the Mainland and traffic is terrible, part of the offer was coming in for 2 or 3 days a week and working from home on the others.

But less than a month later, I fell out with the friends I was squatting with and had to move out.

Moved to a place on the Island about 20 minutes drive from work.

But then moving to the Island meant I started working every day and I loved it.

I was waking up at 3 am to pray, read for 2 hours, write for an hour, exercise, eat, nap for a bit and still get to work before 9 am.

Close at 5 p.m. & still get home before 8 no matter how bad traffic was.

I was growing like crazy.

But then COVID struck!

It meant I could still do my routine without any problems.

But the downside was I had too much free time since we were all indoors.

To fill up this free time, I turned to books & sales copies.

But there’s only so much we can do in total isolation and over time I started filling my free time with sleep.

Sleeping during the day meant I wasn’t falling asleep easily at night.

So, even if my body was tired and screaming for me to sleep, I couldn’t sleep for long because I’d been primed to waking up by 3 every day.

I started having headaches regularly.

I chalked it up to the blue light from my laptop and got antiglare glasses to protect my eyes.

One night, I was working when I stopped seeing anything for almost 2 minutes.

And that’s how my monthly journeys to the hospital started.

I couldn’t sleep.

I was a walking zombie.

Went to an eye clinic for a checkup and was recommended glasses.

Stopped working heavily.

Stopped reading for long too.

But my sleeping problems didn’t stop.

I kept getting admitted into the hospital, and drugs and supplements kept draining holes in my pocket.

I even got prescribed sleeping pills and nothing worked.

Not being able to read and do research as I used to meant I fell off so badly at work.

I had to skip work, I missed project deadlines, lost much of my creativity and practically went from flying at 100 to zero.

It affected my writing output too.

I had to stop exercising too because my body couldn’t keep up.

My eyes would be aching, my teeth chattering, and I’d feel so weak.

Then I would get some relief and then it would start all over again.

This has been my story for the last year.

I just moved to a new place closer to work late last month.

And then this week, my eyes start hurting again.

In my head, I say “here we go again”😁😁😁

But then I decided to try something new for the last two days.

I decided to start sleeping latest 10 PM.

And brethren, I just discovered the reason I’ve been feeling this way was that my sleep pattern had been disrupted for over a year.

The result was I started getting up at exactly 3 or 4 am, pray, read, exercise, do a little bit of work at home before getting to the office.

The only downside is I feel a little sleepy during the day.

But I’ve been doing some of my best work this last week. I can’t even lie.

Dan Go put out a tweet once saying a tiny majority of people can get by with less than four hours of sleep, but most people need at least 6 hours of sleep to function properly.

I think I’m most people 😁

So, the goal now is to shift my bedtime to 8/9 pm and waking hours at 3/4 am.

Waking up at that time when the rest of the world is still asleep means I get to start my day in turbo mode.

That’s when I function best.

So, unless I’m out partying, hanging out with friends, on an online webinar or having sex, I have no reason to be awake past 9 pm.

That’s the reason why I’m putting out this tweet by this time.

I’m about to sleep 😁

See you all in the morning.

19 Things I Learned From Working With Toyin Omotoso in 2020.

I knew Toyin Omotoso from when I attended Akin Alabi’s YECO event while serving in Ibadan in early 2019.

Started following him, Ronald Nzimora, Biola Kazeem and most of the people who spoke at YECO. Turned on notifications too.

But it wasn’t until late 2019 when he put out this tweet talking about learning Spanish did I get to finally interact with him.

I started with teaching him Spanish 2hrs a day 2 or 3x a week, but by sheer divine providence he took it upon himself to teach me copywriting, sales, advertising and the entire marketing caboodle.

In 2020, I ended up becoming his protege, became the in-house copywriter and Digital Content Manager for 7Star Support Systems Nigeria, and collaborated on several projects too.

All this might not sound like much to most of you but going from teaching Spanish for 2k/hour to working with one of the greatest marketing minds in the whole of Africa, and still making money off of it for me is something you only get to see in movies.

It’s been a crazy ride this past 1 year but below are the 19 things I learned from working with @toyinomotoso in 2020.

1. Everything Is For Sale.

Pet rocks. Sparkling water. Small e-books with all kinds of information. Waist trainers. Diet plans. Exercise routines. People will buy anything, as long as it’s important to them and they can afford it.

That little piece of knowledge you have that seems common to you could be the difference between poverty and massive wealth for you. Someone somewhere needs it. And they’ll pay you for it if you can make it available to them.

2. The Offer Is King.

“I’ll make him an offer he cannot refuse.” – Don Vito Corleone (The Godfather)

Lots of salesman and marketers talk about different tactics and strategies for making a sale, but nothing beats an irresistible offer.

Your customers want to believe your product or service is the best offer (or at least the second-best) they are getting from the market.

Your irresistible offer is how you get the customer and also how you crush your competition.

3. There’s A Marketing Angle In Almost Every Story, It’s Your Job To Find It.

Everything has become an opportunity for me to learn since I started working in marketing over the last year. Books, movies, conversations, experiences etc.

These days I’ve learned to find a marketing angle even in the most mundane stories. This helps with creating powerful leads and story arcs.

People also love it when you share a story with them about an experience they can relate to.

4. Principles Are Everything.

To achieve anything worthwhile in any endeavour, it’s important to understand the principles and roots first.

Those principles form the foundation and everything is built on them. Which is why as a salesman, it’s important to always have it at the back of your mind that even if everything changes, human nature never does.

Human nature is what drives every emotion, which drives every single sale and purchase. You’re making a mistake if you don’t pay attention to how people behave.

5. Focus.

a. Focus on what’s important and ignore every other thing. There are all distractions towards your end goal.

Instead of doing 20 low-quality things, how about you just focus on 2 and make them the highest quality possible?

b. Focus on your strengths, outsource every other thing if you can afford it. This will free up time and energy for you to focus on what’s important.
If you can’t afford it, then keep working till you can.

c. Most people are lazy and distracted today. You can become a god in your chosen field if you just ‘outfocus’ them.

6. Listen.

Has someone ever told you you’re easy to talk to?

Well, the truth is you might not even be easy to talk to in the actual sense, but once people notice you listen to them, they believe you’re easy to talk to.

Plus, you pick up more from listening than from talking. People naturally open up to you when they know you’re willing to listen to them talk about their problems. Sometimes, they don’t even want a solution or an answer to their problem, they just want to vent. Most people eventually figure it out themselves.

Listening is also how you become a better copywriter and salesman. You learn about your prospect’s problems by listening and paying attention.

7. Just Do It.

Start first. Make mistakes. Correct them. Keep going. Learn along the way. You never what it’s going to be like until you take risks.

I think I should do this more 😁

8. Stay Curious: You Start Dying The Day You Stop Learning.

Your job as a copywriter/salesman means you have to keep learning till the day you die. You are required to know about a lot of things and how they work.

That’s how you create winning ads. That’s how you create better presentations. That’s how you create powerful leads. That’s how you get better clients. That’s how you do great work.

Read books. Research different topics. Watch instructional videos. Listen to podcasts. Try new things and new experiences. Always be looking to learn something new every day.

9. Quality Over Quantity, But Quantity Begets Quality.

Every day in this digital marketing world, we hear a story about someone who has made hundreds of millions of dollars from putting together an incredible offer. But nobody asks how many times they had to try or how many different things they had to do or how many projects they failed at or how many duds they had put out before or how many years it took them to get to that level.

The truth is to get to the level where you consistently put out quality work, you might have to put out a lot of mediocre work at the beginning. But consistently improving on them and getting better is how you eventually win. Which leads me to the next lesson.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice.

Ask Ronaldo, Ask Kobe Bryant, Ask Michael Jordan. Consistency is how you win. Which is why you have to keep practising every day.

11. Just One Good Offer + One Good Sales Copy Can Change Your Life.

“Just one good sales letter is what will change your life as a copywriter. It changed my life. It changed Ronald’s life. It changed Akin Alabi’s life.” – Toyin Omotoso

12. Garbage In, Garbage Out/What You Sow, You Reap.

What you consume is what you give out. Consume quality and you give out quality. Consume garbage and you give out the garbage.

13. There’s Money Everywhere.

But first, you need to understand the difference between you and the guy who has money is value. And then when you do, add value too. That’s how you make money.

14. Attention Is Scarce But Money Is Plenty.

People will pay through their nose for what they are interested in, but first, you need to find out what is this thing they are interested in and then figure out how to get their attention.

If you can get their attention, manage to hold their interest and then give them an irresistible offer, they’ll chase you down with their wallets open.

15. Strive For More.

Toyin Omotoso once sent out an email where he said he gave himself a target to be one of the best guys doing marketing in Nigeria when he first started. Years later, he feels he should have set his goals higher. I’ve never forgotten. This has stuck with me ever since.

16. Research Is Everything.

Know your market. Know your product. Know your competition. But you can only know all this through research.

Everything required to sell depends on excellent research and it’s on you to do it.

17. The Road To Success/Greatness Is Long, But A Mentor Takes You There In Twice The Time And Probably Half The Effort.

There are a lot of great people on here and in real life I see as mentors and learn from. Some of them I’ve never met physically and will never meet. But that’s not a barrier because the Internet has made it easier to access their knowledge through their books, articles, posts, and materials they put out.

Which is why it’s important to study for the masters or anyone who has succeeded in something you’re interested in.

There’s a reason why they succeeded. If you are humble enough to learn from their experiences and implement, someday you might become a master too.

18. Invest In Yourself.

People get to a certain level, make some good money or get some fame and decide to relax, but Toyin Omotoso has spent around N2million (that I’m aware of) between January and now on new materials just to continually upgrade himself.

If someone at that level keeps adding to themselves, then who am I to stay stagnant?

He once told me the reason why I give you all these books is that I know you’ll read them. That’s my inspiration.

19. Positioning Is Everything.

Everything about your approach to life changes the day you discover this.

There’s a reason why someone would see you and think you’re too cheap and not want to work with you or buy what you’re selling because they think it’s not worth it.

Positioning affects your relationships, your product and service offerings, how people see you and even how they regard you.

People like Toyin Omotoso entirely changed the game for young people.

Aside from opening our eyes to how enormously profitable the sales and marketing industry is, you have to think about the different roads he’s helped pave: Consulting, Advertising, Media Buying, Affiliate Marketing, E-Commerce, Persuasion, Personal Development etc.

I mean, you look at young copywriting geniuses like Andy Mukolo or affiliate marketing mavericks like Bruno Nwogu, or kings like Emmanuel Adiotu & Yusuf Adedeji crushing it in E-Commerce and how much he’s influenced them and then you’d understand.

Lupe Fiasco once said, “Hip-Hop saved me.” Well, Toyin Omotoso saved my life.

So, thank you for the opportunity to drink from your fountain of unending knowledge and learning at your feet. Thank you for everything, Baba mi. Every day I feel like I won the lottery.

And here’s to many more years, Maestro’s Maestro. πŸ₯‚

Also, I think I was lucky enough to be in this position. Many people reading this would wish they could. But not to worry, you too can learn from the master himself when you click on the link below πŸ‘‡πŸΏ

https://tinyurl.com/cdw7fm8t

6 Things To Do Before You Reach For Your Phone Every Morning.

Just like you, the first thing I do most mornings when I wake up is to grab my phone. I mean, who doesn’t?

I open WhatsApp and start viewing people’s statuses or go on Twitter and just scroll mindlessly.

I wish I wouldn’t sometimes, but it’s almost a habit. And then at the end of the day, I end up doing less than I intended to.

So, in trying to get more out of my day I decided to try a few things and since they’ve been working for me so far, I decided to share them with you.

1. Say Thank You

It’s easy to forget you once prayed or wished for the things you have now.

So, while striving for more, don’t forget to be grateful for waking up today. As a new day is always a brand new opportunity to get everything you missed yesterday.

Don’t also forget to be grateful for your family, friends, and loved ones.

Be grateful for growth opportunities.

Be grateful for people who continually believe in and invest in you.

Be grateful for the hard lessons. At least, there were opportunities to learn something.

And it doesn’t even matter if you’re an atheist because gratitude has no religion. It’s simply therapy for the soul – the single master key that unlocks everything.

2. Drink water

Your body needs about a gallon of water (around 3.7 litres) daily to function optimally.

Drinking water immediately you wake up helps release toxins from your body, aids bowel movement and boosts your appetite.

I also hear drinking water and minding your business helps you look younger and live longer 😁

So, if you’re going to be drinking 1 gallon of water every day, starting with a good litre in the morning is the best way possible to kick off your day.

1 litre of water is just 2 sachets or two small 50cl bottles. Easy peasy!

3. Read

Reading is an opportunity to go into someone else’s mind and then getting to reimagine things from there.

It helps you develop perspective, widens your horizon and gives you much-needed nuance on varying topics.

Imagine being the guy/girl at the party who everyone wants to talk to because you have an idea about almost everything. That’s your superpower, Hero!

1 page. 1 chapter. 1 line of thought. Nothing is too small.

4. Write

This is an opportunity to clarify your thoughts. An opportunity to brainstorm ideas and work on plans/projects you’ve been thinking about too.

And shockingly there’s no limit to what you can write about. One of the world’s best-known books, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was written by a 13-year-old.

It was simply a collection of thoughts from her diary.

5. Meditate

There’s a Bible passage which says deep calleth unto deep.

To move from a level of life to somewhere higher would require a lot of meditation and deep, clear and focused thinking.

As much as this is the hardest thing to do especially in a world filled with so much noise and distraction, you need to learn how to still your mind to achieve this kind of deep and clear focus.

Your future will be glad you did.

6. Exercise

I hard to leave the hardest part for last. I know 😁

At a beginner level, you can make do with:

5-10 pushups.

5-10 situps.

5-10 pullups.

5-10 jumping jacks.

Walking distances where you’d naturally use other options. And none of these requires a gym or workout equipment. Only determination and a will to live well.

What’s funny is that doing all of this will take just between 20 minutes to 1 hour and you’d still get to do everything you planned to do today. But the difference is you’d have started your day on a flying note.

So, try this over the next 6 months and watch your life blossom.

But wait, how do I have time to do all of this?
The answer is simple: Sleep early.