Follow Your Internal Compass

William Henry Bill Gate III is the world wealthiest man since 1995 to 2010 (excluding 2008). I believe you know him and perhaps want to be as wealthy as he is? For those who had never imagined such, it definitely not possible until you imagined it. For those who had imagined it, it possible if you can pattern your life to travel in his path.

Now, I do not say drop out of college. I won’t advice that, but if you think that is the path to being another Bill Gates, then what are you waiting for. Also, I will not be among those who say wealth creation lies in computer related fields. If that is your believe, you might be making life biggest mistake.

In 2008, Warren Buffet became the world richest man; millions of indecisive disciples became stock brokers. Some crazily bought shares in its thousands and millions. When Donald Trump became famous as the You-Are-Fired-Boss, indecisive wannabes went into real estates, thinking they can build few billions like Trump. And when the recession swept across the globe, it was Bill Gate at the top of the rich list once again; billions saw computer related fields as the goldmine.

During the California Gold Rush, everybody wanted to be a miner. So was the German-Jewish, Levi Strauss. He went off to California to try out is luck, but the god of luck was against him and he failed woefully. He never succeeded as a miner, but he discovered something else—denim jeans. So began the history of Levi blue Jeans. So began the romance with different shades of jeans. And the rest is history.

Now this is one very important thing you need to know—wealth creation has nothing to do with a Bill Gate, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump or Levi Strauss. They are rich no doubt about that. But they have one thing in common—they followed their internal compass.

Just what do I mean by Internal Compass? First you need to know the definition of a compass.

A compass is a navigational instrument for finding directions.

Every human being has what I call an internal compass, something in your inside that points you in the right direction. Bill Gates internal compass told him to drop out of school. Warren Buffet compass told him to become a stock broker from age six. Donald Trump compass told him to join his father business as a real estate manager. Levi Strauss internal compass told him the miner would buy something thicker with lasting lifespan. What is your internal compass telling you?

Now, close your eyes for a minute and tell yourself the truth. If you have all the money in the world, what is that one thing you will do that you know will give you satisfaction? I am not talking about that dream vacation, car or house. I mean that dream business you would love to build wealth from. Then open your eyes, whatever your instinct, intuition or sixth sense told you, so be it. Then don’t wait for too long, follow your internal compass. For you might be just another Bill Gate around the block. I remain Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa, Editor-in-Chief, Business101 magazine.

Business101 magazine…Think. Believe. Become.

Public Speaking: A Money Making Profession (Part 2)

If you are reading this article, you must have read the first part of it. And if you have not, I would advice you read the part one before you continue with this.

If you are reading this paragraph, you definitely have learnt how to be a good public speaker. Now, you need to know how to make money as a professional speaker or how to make money from public speaking.

Now making money from public speaking is quite not a piece of cake and it’s definitely not as tedious as you think. If you can exploit the opportunities in front of you, then shortly, you will be successful and be smiling to the bank.

You need your working tools. No film-maker would shoot a movie without at least a camera. Same apply to you. Sorry, you don’t need a camera. You need your working tools. You can’t be a good public speaker without your working tools. Just what are your tools? You need a laptop. You can actually get a fairly used one if you can’t afford a brand new one. You also need business cards and letterheads. Why? Because you are now in business and if you are in business, you need them. Period!

Build your portfolio and keep building it. Just like you need curriculum vitae to get a better job, you need one for public speaking engagement too. Now your CV for public speaking might be slightly different from the one you prepare for a blue or dirty collar job. Your professional public speaking portfolio or CV should appear like a story book. Create something very interesting, something very different from the usual. Tell your past experiences and achievement with graphic images or pictures. Then have it printed on very quality and colorful paper.

Now sell your knowledge. Getting yourself to be hired as a public speaker might be quite difficult in the beginning. Not to worry, it’s like that with all beginnings. Instead of waiting on getting hired, you can sell your knowledge in as many different formats as possible. You can sell your knowledge through writing books. People will never get enough in the already published book even after yours have been published. So go ahead, write that book. Publish it in hard copy and make the E-book available on your website. You will be surprise at how much you can make from selling your book. Don’t stop there, create tapes and audio CDs. People want something to play in their cars and homes. Give them something to love at all time. You can create a quality low budget video of your knowledge too. Someone always needs to hear something different. And you might be that something different. While you are doing all this, you are also building your portfolio and soon speaking engagement will come knocking at your door with less effort.

Be on Radio and TV if possible. Not until you visit a radio station, you will be shock they always have room for one more educative and life changing radio show. Your knowledge could be that missing link. Package a show on what you do and you might be lucky to get a free slot. If you are bold enough, your knowledge in a TV Show format can be that big break you have been waiting for. Package it and luck might just be your middle name.

Get Sponsorship. Distributing your knowledge in different formats might cost you some fortune. And if you can’t afford that fortune, hope is not lost. For your radio or TV Show, you can get companies to sponsor it. And for other format, you can get an angel investor. Angel investor is an individual who finances your project and would get a fat return on investment.

If you are smarter, you can get companies to sponsor your speaking fee so they can be associated with your message when you speak. Take a moment and think of what kinds of groups would want to be associated with your message. Let's say you speak to the banking industry. Maybe mortgage or mutual fund companies would partner with you. Maybe bank equipment companies would be interested in your proposal. Think of anyone who would want to have exposure to your target audience then simply make a proposal to their public relations department. And wait….

What about direct paycheck. This might be pretty cool and straight forward. You can speak to an organization, corporation, association or anyone who would hire you and they pay you directly. If you are in for this, be smart enough to get an upfront deposit of about 50 percent and the balance on the D-day.

Join the Network. The usual cliché says “no man is an island.” You are not. So, join a public speaking network. There are countless of them around you if you look pretty well.

Public seminars. This is simply organizing seminars and selling tickets to the general public. You can also introduce it to corporate organizations and get them to buy tickets for their employees to attend. For a start, it might be quite a risk because it will cost you the printing and mailing of brochures.

Train companies. If you are good enough, companies can hire you to promote their products to the general public through a seminar. If you are smart enough, look into some companies products, send them a proposal on how you can increase their customers through seminars. And they will pay awesomely for it.

Speak free. Many professionals do this. You can speak for free in public seminars to get clients. Attorneys, doctors, dentists, accountants, real estate agents, lawyers, home builders and many other people from a wide variety of professions give seminars to promote their business and to gain clients directly from the seminars. There is nothing wrong if you do the same.

Not Comprehensive Though. This of course is not the comprehensive strategies of how to make money through public speaking. You need to sit down and think too! I remain Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa, Editor-in-Chief, Business101 Magazine.

Business101 magazine…Think. Believe. Become.

Public Speaking: A Money Making Profession (Part 1)

Today, you can make nothing less than ten thousand dollars per hour through public speaking if you are a celebrity. And making three thousand dollars per hour as a non celebrity is not uncommon. This of course does not include other expenses like hotel reservation and flight fare if you are to speak in another state or country. Those expenses will be taking care of too!

Now, why would I be killing myself trying to earn less than three thousand dollars in a month when I can make more for just talking about what I know or do? Ignorant is the right answer to that question.

Few people who had realized that public speaking is a money making vendor are diving into it. Why not you?

Oh, I understand. You can’t be a public speaker, so you think. Pastor Thomas Dexter Jakes was told he would never be on National TV because he sweats a lot, screams and makes funny gestures while preaching. But today, he’s on global TV, if there is anything like that.

Now, how can you make money from public speaking despite never done it before?

Very simple!

First, you have to be a good public speaker before you can learn the art of making money through it. To be a good public speaker, take to these tips:

Face the Crowd. Not everybody can face the crowd, no doubt about that. But everybody talks to someone. If you have ever spoken to someone before, then you can face the crowd! Your crowd could be one or two. You have to practice a lot in your secret place, then, start by facing your friends, families and so would your crowd increase and you will build your confidence.

Have a message. When the messiah walked this planet, He had a message—to unite God and humanity. When Martin Luther King Jr. turned an activist, he had a message—to stop segregation. Adolf Hitler had an unusual message—kill the Jews. So, you need to have a message. Not a negative, but a positive one. One thing you must know is that, any message you have for the people will sell in as much as it is solving their problems.

Specialize. Now, having a message is a good thing when it comes with specialization. I do not mean you need to get a doctorate to be an effective speaker. It could be a plus, but your specialization should be based on what you are doing for a living. Or what you enjoy doing. People want to hear how you have successfully managed yourself to become a success, so package your story for your audience. Donald Trumps is a successful real estate guru and would be and wannabes are paying thousands of dollars to hear him talk about his success in real estate. People want to hear your success story too.

Be your self. Now, some would-be-public speakers want to be great orators. So, they enrolled in communication or public speaking classes. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong about that if you have some money to throw away. You have to learn to be yourself. You have to learn to talk like yourself. Great orators like Abraham Lincoln never went to any of those schools; they only spoke from their heart. Learn to speak from your heart. Nobody can teach you how to tell your story, or how to captivate your audience. You have to teach yourself. And the only way to do that is by standing in front of the crowd. But if you believe you can get better through public speaking classes, good luck!

Know your personality. This is something nobody can teach you. You have to know your personality all by yourself. Public speakers are not those who fit into corporate dress like the penguins. Nope! Look yourself in the mirror. Do you feel good in tee shirt? Then wear it. Wear what you feel comfortable in. It’s your image.

Stride and gestures. If anyone is going to teach you any of these in a public speaking school, it will be a plus. Your strides and gestures are very important. You have to walk like you are just another Julius Caesar. Do you understand what I mean? You need a lot of confidence like you are about to conquer the world. While talking, your gesture matters a lot. Make use of your hands. Walk in-between the audience if you have to. Tap your feet if you need to. Wink at someone. Laugh, smile and jump if necessary. Create what makes your audience singles you out of the crowd of public speakers. I can tell a Zig Ziglar from a Brian Tracy by just looking at a gesturing silhouette. People should be able to tell yours too.

Avoid reading from your laptop or notepad. This is perhaps one of the great flaws of some speakers. If you really want to be taking serious, avoid reading from your laptop or notepad. Nobody wants to listen to your thesis. Rather, they want to be entertained and inspired. Instead of reading from your laptop or notepad, glance at it one in while. Talk from your heart like you know what you are talking about. Anybody can read from his or her laptop and you should not be caught.

Graphic pictures and stories. Principles are better explained graphically with pictures and stories. Your audience will forget the principles you are given to them. But they will never forget your graphic images and stories used to illustrate your principles. So, tell a lot of stories and use countless images in your presentation, but don’t over do it.

Smile, laugh and humor. Nobody wants to listen to you when you are not smiling or laughing out loud. Why do you think Ellen Degenere’s got more crowds these days? Because you can laugh and dance on Ellen’s Show. People want some smiling and laughing. And humor is just the key thing. Never stand in front of your crowd without some brilliant humor. People want to laugh their worries out and that is part of what they are paying you to do. Then, do it!

Interact with the audience. Whatever you do just don’t stay glued to the lectern. Move around. Interact with your audience. Laugh, tap shoulders, wink, and smile and make lots of eye contacts. It’s a plus for you anytime.

Use layman English. Except you want to be booed by the crowd, drop your grandiloquent words. Use layman English. Talk to the mechanics in the crowd and the professors will understand you. Don’t try to impress your crowd with vocabularies, you will only lose them. Be simple not complicated.

Create fluidity and transition. I am not saying talk like a parrot. But move from one point to another gracefully. Your transition is a very important part of your speech. And it conveys your message to your audience without complications.

Brand yourself. Now, if you have read through all these tips and learn from them, then you are a brand. You will be everything different from just the public speakers. You will be original and that is what makes you a brand.

Be approachable. Don’t be quick to disappear from the venue, let people have time to see you after your speech. Someone always have a question to be answered. Someone wants to give out his or her card or telephone number. You may never know where your next speaking engagement is coming from. Stick around for a while before you disappear into thin air.


Now you know what it takes to be a good public speaker, then you have to start making those grand pretty soon. Check back soon. I remain Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa, Editor-in-Chief, Business101 magazine.

Business101 magazine…Think. Believe. Become.

Estas Bienvenido!

“Until you become self employ, you can’t be an employer.”

—Alfred Ade-Ijimakinwa


Hey you, bienvenido! It means welcome. Yes, welcome to Business101 magazine Blog. Please, hold on. Before you go any farther, you have to know what this blog is all about and those we created it for.

This blog is an extension of Business 101 magazine, a self help / business magazine for established—would be—entrepreneurs, wannabes (yes wannabes too), employers and employees.

Now, just what is this blog all about?

Good question to ask. Like I said, it’s an extension of Business 101 magazine. It was created to help you become what you have imagined. It will also help you get rich quickly.

Now, hold on. We are not going to make you rich by playing poker, lottery or being on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Nope! But we’ll be talking about how you can make money from what you do and what you cannot do. Did you get that? If your answer starts with an “N” in caps, then here is the explanation in a layman’s English.

For example, frustrated Ray Kroc (you probably don’t know him. You will soon) had worked with Lily Tulip Cup Co. as a salesman for 17 years before he decided to open his own firm at the age of 52. He became a distributor of Multi-mixers, a machine that mixes five malted-milk shakes at a time. While going through his sales report, he noticed a restaurant in California was the largest purchaser of his products. So, the self employed salesman decided to visit the restaurant and there he met two brothers who owned the restaurant.

He was amazed to see people standing in line clamoring for 15-cent Hamburger. He advised the brothers to open branches. They declined because they wanted to be close to their homes and families, but they sold the franchise to Ray. Ray Kroc went off with the franchise license, started a franchise of the restaurant, opened more restaurants, and after some years, bought the brothers out of their family business and turned the business into a money spinning empire.

Now, Ray Kroc never knew he could build an empire until he decided to be self employed, then he started thinking like an employer of labor and so the opportunity came and he became the owner of MacDonald Restaurant.

Until you become self employ, you cannot be an employer. So, the truth here is; this blog will help you become one great self made millionaire. Perhaps Billionaire.

But before you read farther in excitement, you have to meet the criteria to be here. Or else your visiting will be a waste of time.

Now, the criteria are:

1. You must be an avid reader because all the ideas and information we will be sharing here will appear in written format.

2. You have to be a thinker. You don’t have to be another Herbert Einstein. Just be someone who thinks about anything. Just about anything!

3. You have to be a believer. Not a believer in luck, a religion, talisman or voodoo. Just believe that whatsoever you imagined will come alive. Just believe!

4. You have to be ready to become. We are not kidding here. You must be ready to become what you have imagined. So, be careful what you wish for!

Did you meet these criteria? then “estas bienvenido!” We are simply saying you are welcome in Spanish.