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I am sure most people who are familiar with
the Google Adsense tool, or who use it will find this title I have
put up quite curious - if not ridiculous. But hold it, for just a
few minutes! Please do NOT judge me before I have explained in
detail exactly what I mean.
You see, I happen to be one of those VERY few (to be honest, I do
not know any of the others) who believe that we here in
Nigeria/Africa need to STOP being passive users of the net, as it
relates to CREATING value that others can benefit from.
Think about it. Today, Nigerians/Africans make use of various net
based resources like Yahoo!, Hotmail, Facebook.com, Twitter.com,
Ezine Articles.com, Youtube.com - the list is endless. Virtually all
of these tools cost no money to access. Not surprisingly, numerous
Nigerians/Africans find such places most attractive to be online!
"Who no like better thing?" as we say in Nigeria. Everyone loves
freebies, and there really is nothing bad about that.
My "Problem" With Google Adsense
But here's my grouse: In contrast to our situation, Asians,
Americans, Europeans...even South Africans have found a way to
create THEIR OWN value adding systems online for the rest of the
world to use. Examples include the home based highly skilled
software/web developing young Indian; the European/American offering
a variety of products for sale online, and the South African
providing after hours office phone support service for foreign
companies.
What we are extremely good at is rapid, multiple adoption of the
latest "craze" on the web. Our presence on Facebook and Yahoo! alone
is intimidating to say the least - yet most of what we engage in on
these systems are rarely value adding in any way.
I ask: Why can't we introduce some creative concept or resource of
our own online, to be adopted and massively used by the rest of the
world? For instance, if you are a consultant or specialist in
engineering, you can choose to include Google Adsense code on your
web pages to present advert for visitors to your site to click -
making you some money. BUT, you could do even better by developing
YOUR OWN branded content - publications/services etc - that visitors
can be invited to purchase from you over time.
You would diligently add useful, relevant content to the site, that
would (a) attract new and repeat visitors (b) boost their perception
of you as a competent/credible specialist in your chosen field (c)
convince them to eventually purchase your information (packaged in
various forms) or your services (e.g. consulting you or even
inviting you to speak, work etc with them).
Every now and then I hear some chap announce the impressive earnings
from his Google Adsense or other money earning scheme available on
the web. Quite often, I cannot help but wonder if he (and other
Nigerians/Africans like him) realise they can develop their own
original money spinning concepts to be deployed online for OTHERS
across the world to use, make money from and share with others!
Why Most Nigerians Do NOT Currently Offer Useful ORIGINAL Content
On The Web
The big problem we have is that we do not like THINKING - which is a
crucial part of the creative process needed to develop original
concepts. Another thing we do not like is NURTURING the products of
our thoughts into maturity. We lack that aspect of emotional
intelligence, which makes a person give up temporary comfort in
pursuit of a valued goal. Delayed gratification for most Nigerians
is something to be avoided at all costs. Anything we engage in must
yield immediate benefit/returns - else we'll discontinue it as
quickly as possible.
But successful living requires more than that. Back in
1998, I recall stumbling across a personal domain name service
called "Namezero.com", whose American owners chose to startup by
offering EVERYTHING FREE for the first two years. You got a free
domain name (mine was tksola.com), with all the bells and whistles -
a personal webmail account with massive storage space at you domain;
plus domain URL forwarding and many other powerful features. They
were new on the net, and they wanted to WIN OVER huge numbers of
potential customers by PROVING they were reliable and competent.
I signed up, like many other people on the web, and enjoyed a
wonderful quality of service from these chaps for those two years.
By the time (in 2000), that they announced to us via email that
retaining our accounts with them would require us to make payment,
most of us had had enough time to evaluate what they had to offer,
and were convinced enough to pay to KEEP what we had with them. I
took up their wonderful bundled purchase offer, and paid for two
years, making great savings.
Today, Namezero remain in their business of Domain name
registration, e-mail accounts, and have even added web hosting, to
their suite of offerings.
My point is - these guys chose to offer something that already
existed, in a NEW way, that added value to their target audience.
And they believed in their idea enough to offer it FREE, and SERVE
their potential customers for long enough to win them over as paying
customers. And they gained valuable experience providing their
services to potential customers, addressing issues they raised,
until the service became valuable enough to be offered at a
competitive price.
How Nigerians Can Begin To Offer Useful ORIGINAL Content On The
Web
Nigerians can invest time, intellect and energy into developing
their own original variants of money-spinning web based solutions
that are targetted at the Nigerian/African population, but which the
rest of the world can still find attractive enough to buy into.
We could start by writing our own e-books - instead of ONLY buying
and selling those sold by others. Then there are the membership
websites offering useful information to a niche market. And there
are countless other ways we can use the net to win over people from
beyond our shores - using the net. Do
you recall what used to be the case in the music industry here in
Nigeria? Back in the '80s it was difficult to hold a party
playing ONLY Nigerian music. Today, we all know our industry
practitioners have continued to succeed in creating new music that is
increasingly marketable to an international audience.
If we can do the same with our Internet based resources by offering
more original content that others will be willing to BUY from us, the
benefits - financially and socio-economically - will be tangibly felt
in our societies. By then, just like people no longer discourage their
kids from going into music, we will find that more Nigerian parents
will stop frowning at their kids spending long hours on the net or the
PC. Indeed, many of our current crop of Yahoo! boys is likely to
"switch" over to more positive roles, bringing their unique skills to
bear in the evolution of a new and legitimate way of earning online
income.
One more thing: those who depend on Google Adsense,
Clickbank.com and other online systems maintained by people in
developed societies MUST keep in mind the fact that if those people
were fraudulent minded, most of the cheque payments for their
Nigerian/African participants would NEVER arrive! And they would
consequently not be able to brag about making all those dollars
online. Which is why Nigerians starting ventures like this must be
honest in their dealings online.
But come to think of it, is it not a FACT that most of these
foreign internet money making website actively discourage use by
Nigerians? Does PayPal for instance not have restrictions in
place to prevent Nigerians to get in on the action? is it not FACT
that many of our online money making Gurus in Nigeria use "IP hiding"
software to register for and use these same systems? And does that not
imply some degree of "dishonesty" on their part?
See what I'm getting at now? We are forcing our way into other
people's money making systems, even as they work hard to keep us out.
That's why most of our Gurus here cannot rub shoulders with their
colleagues from developed societies without fear of being found out.
Would it not be better if we started our own online money making
systems - even as we continue with those from other countries - that
will allow us generate income via online transactions among ourselves,
as well as from outsiders? After all, many of us today use ATM and
Debit cards that enable online purchases/transactions. Does that not
make PLENTY of good sense? Would it not benefit us MORE. And isn't
that something we would all be proud to show to the rest of the world?
I say YES. It was because I felt this way that I allowed my Google
Adsense account to fall into disuse over 2 years ago. I am a
performance enhancement specialist. I sell my knowledge and expertise
to a niche market - which does not include everybody that surfs the
net. Why should I depend on Google Adsense (alone) to make money
online? Should my website not be about me and what I can do to benefit
those who need me/my services? Yes, of course it should - and so
should yours.
Visit www.briantracy.com. Check out www.jimrohn.com. Go to
www.automedics.com. And many other sites owned by specialists,
professionals etc. You will find that they all focus on offering their
own content for sale to their visitors.
Don’t get me wrong. It's not a crime to have Google (or any other)
Ads on your website, but if you REALLY have – and know - your stuff,
it makes a LOT MORE SENSE to offer (via adverts etc) your own products
and services for your target audience to buy from you.
Indeed, you will be able to make significantly greater earning margins
from sales of your own products than you would from sales of other
people’s. And that would be in addition to cementing your credibility
as an expert in your field in the eye of your potential
clients/customers.
Now, to me, that makes bucket loads of SENSE! What do YOU think?.
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