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1.
Who Is This Website For?
This website -
www.spontaneousdevelopment.com
- is especially targeted at people who desire
to learn how they can take advantage of the
virtually limitless opportunities for self-determination,
accessible through diligent application of
proven self-development techniques in conjunction
with technology and The Internet.
Spontaneous
Development Dot Com is home to Self-Development
Academy Limited on the World Wide Web. We
offer New Ideas, Information, Articles, True
Stories, Strategies and Services for Career
Development, Performance Enhancement, Small
Business Best Practice, Spreadsheet Automation,
Professional Web Design, Copy writing, Freelance
Writing and more. Spontaneous Development
Dot Com is a dynamic online resource for ANY
individual, group or organisation passionately
driven to continually function at their best
in whatever they do.
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2.
What Can It Do For You?
This site's
primary objective is to offer useful, real-world relevant
information, and education, that shows people what
they can do by themselves for themselves to achieve
their set goals - with minimal trial and error. Articles,
books(print
and electronic), learning events(talks,
seminars, workshops) based on practical experience
are available. In addition, the Self-Development Academy's
Business
Support Services and Custom
Excel Software can help you increase your profits
by enabling you to do what you do at less cost, in
less time and using less resources/effort are showcased
on this site, for purchase at affordable rates. |
3.
Why The Focus On Information And Education?
"..the
biggest challenge facing most African nations is to
creatively adapt ideas to their unique environment."
- Mr. Patrick Boateng, Adviser for
Africa, US Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
at the African Internet Summit and Exhibition(AFRINET)
2002, held in Abuja, Nigeria.
In the October
20, 2000 edition of Newsweek magazine, Tim Berners-Lee,
inventor of the World Wide Web(NOT the Internet, which
was created 20 years before the web) in an interview
expressed his belief that the Internet presents a
"real chance" of integrating the Third World
with the rest of the world.
He narrated a story(told to
him by someone who had been a missionary in Africa)
about a woman who had taught herself English through
the Bible, and subsequently began earning a living
by translating documents received in English over
the net into the local dialect. As Tim put it, Internet
access can enable a person earn income in a way that
would not have been possible before, and can even
benefit an entire village. He added that there are
numerous jobs which are just "information-in,
information-out" that anyone anywhere in the
world can do if they are given access to the Internet.
(SDAc invites you to visit www.freelanceworkexchange.com
to see countless examples).
The SDAc, through
this website aims to demonstrate practically, specific
ways any individual or group can successfully utilise
self-development, in conjunction with technology and
the Internet, to empower themselves economically,
socially and politically. We will provide real-world
relevant information and education that will equip
our target audience with competencies they need to
more frequently achieve authentic personal successes,
and also show them how they can help others like themselves,
achieve similar successes. |
4.
Business Profit Making Combined With Social Development
"I want
to be part of a South Africa and Africa sending out
a new message to the world, of taking responsibility
for our own challenges. The world has got used to
a picture of Africa asking for support, with cupped
hands. It's time we create a new image of Africa.
It's time that we ourselves start giving and assert
our sense of dignity. We deserve respect. It is time
we stop apologizing for ourselves and acknowledge
our achievements".
- Graça Machel -Mandela
Even though we
are engaged in people development and empowerment,
the SDA is NOT - and has no intention of becoming
- a Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO). We maintain
a profit making focus, and believe that by so doing,
we will be better able to empower our target audience
with income-generating skills than if we ourselves
depended on grants and other unearned income sources
to fund our operations. Click
here to learn more about the Self-Development
Academy Limited. |
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How I Discovered And
Used POD Self-Publishing For The First Time
By POD I refer to the service called
Print-On-Demand now widely used worldwide by millions of people
as a means to create a wide variety of printed products. Examples
include branded gift items, like t-shirts, caps, stickers
which have high quality graphic designs printed on them. Then
there are the written publications - books, technical manuals,
special reports which have front and back cover designs that
have to be printed and bound to meet professional publishing
standards. With traditional techniques, getting all these
done used to cost huge sums. Today, POD technology makes it
easy for virtually anyone to do a lot more. In this short
piece I share with you the story of my search for and eventual
discovery of this solution.
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(True Story by Tayo
Solagbade, Founder - Self-Development Academy Limited)
In May 2002, as part of a business
marketing strategy for my work on Self-Development Education,
I began delivering – on formal invitation - a FREE one-hour
talk titled “Ten Ways You Can Use Self-Development To
Create The Future You Want”. The talk was based on my
experiences in using practical self-development techniques
to achieve consistent improvements in my ability to do anything
I was engaged in. What I wrote about in the talk were ten
steps I always applied that enabled me excel as an Manager
in Guinness Nigeria Plc over a 7 year period(up till the time
I voluntarily resigned to start my own business), and which
I was convinced would enable me succeed as an entrepreneur.
After delivering the talk to a variety
of audiences, including employees in different branches of
Corona Schools, students in the University of Lagos, members
of a Church Youth Fellowship and others, I converted it to
an automated ten week email auto responder course, which was
eventually subscribed to by over 30 persons from within and
outside Nigeria. Some subscribers were from Exxon Mobil, Standard
Chartered Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Guinness Nigeria Plc,
and NTP UK. At a point, I got emails from subscribers who
wanted copies of the entire ten week course, in book form
that they could purchase. But at the time, I only had it all
in MS word, certainly not in ready-to-publish book format!
I tried printing and binding at a business center - this
turned out to be not only cumbersome, but also expensive,
and led to variable print/binding etc quality. It just did
not work.
So I Went Searching For A Printing/Publishing Establishment
– And Almost Fainted In One!
I paid a visit to a publishing outfit
in Ikeja, here in Lagos, and was fortunate enough to meet
the Printing Press Supervisor, who kindly took out time from
his work, to provide me with specific details of what it takes
to publish a book - I mean the kind that small - 1 or 2 title
- publishers (like you and me) would want to produce. He explained
that the larger the order, the cheaper each book unit becomes
– which made sense!
Some finished book samples by known
authors in the fields of education, tourism etc in Nigeria
were shown to me. One of the books (approx. 250 pages long)
cost N104.30 per unit for a first printing of 5,000 copies
i.e. costing N520,000.00! The other book was a bit bigger(and
of higher quality) and cost N125.00 per unit for printing
of 2000 units i.e. N250,000.00 cost!! I almost fainted as
it became painfully obvious that I could not afford this
method of publishing.
NOTE that since the time the data used
in the foregoing example was obtained in 2002, inflationary
pressures in the Nigerian economy are very likely to have
pushed the prices quoted further upwards - what with fuel
prices increases and other policy changes.
Discovering the First FREE POD Company
Some weeks later while browsing on
the net, I stumbled on a website http://www.cafepress.com
that claimed anyone from any part of the world could FREELY
use their resources to produce various physical products like
books, branded T-shirts, mugs etc for sale to customers across
the world. They would only charge a little commission on EACH
item purchased. If no sale is made, they charge nothing. I
quickly signed up for this service.
By the time I checked the book publishing
learning center on their website, I realized there were a
lot of competencies I lacked which would be required for me
to get my book ready for publishing with cafepress.com It
was not until May 2005, that I felt I had adequately understood
how to typeset my document to meet the POD’s publishing
requirements; use Adobe Photoshop to design my book covers,
and also use the various tools provided on the POD’s
website to upload my book/setup my online store.
By January 2004, I had acquired self-taught
commercial web design skills, involving using applications
like Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash to create graphics
for websites I went on to build for four(4) paying clients
in 2004. The learning experiences I’ve had now enable
me guide others who wish to do what I have done so it takes
them less time and effort. And that is one of my reasons for
writing this article. 
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Buy
ORIGINAL products from our online stores,
and those of our partners.
The Self-Development
Academy partners with individuals, groups
and organisations to promote originality
and creativity in business and society.
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Eze's
Eyo Masquerade Pointillism Art Branded T-Shirts,
Caps etc
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Visit this
exceptionally gifted artist's website and
see beautiful works of Pointillism put up
for sale.
Click
here..
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| CUSTOM
DIGITAL PRODUCTS & SERVICES |
| CB Solutions(Creative
Business Solutions) is an arm of SDAc
Limited providing creative digital services
and solutions for individuals or organisations.
SDAc uses it to demonstrate the application
of business ideas and strategies it promotes.
Visit
CB Solutions Mini Site |
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