Planetary Negotiations by Yejide Negotiations.

Yejide Kilanko

News & Interviews

2014

-Nigerian Edition of Daughters to be published by Farafina Books http://farafinabooks.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/2014-kachifo-limited-launches-breeze-books-and-kamsi-two-new-imprints/

-US Online Publicity campaign for Daughters  http://tywebbinpublicity.com/2014/01/02/daughterwhowalkthispath-online-publicity-campaign-for-yejide-kilanko/#.Uu0t0vldXdl

Yejide Kilanko was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. A therapist in children’s mental health, Yejide, lives with her young family in Ontario, Canada. Daughters Who Walk This Path (Penguin Canada, 2012) is her debut novel. For more information about Yejide or her writing, please visit www.yejidekilanko.com

Book Excerpt: Daughters Who Walk This Path by Yejide Kilanko

When I returned to Lagos, Kafiyah, who knew how stressed I was over the wedding, insisted that we needed a movie night. On our way to Silverbird Cinemas, she said we had to make a quick stop at her house. I had no idea that she had other plans.

“Surprise!”

Startled, I took a step back from the doorway. Kafiyah laughed as she gently pushed me into the room. Eniayo and a beaming Ekanem were among the small group of women. Balloons with wedding bells and streamers were everywhere. Eniayo handed me a sash with “Mrs. Nwosu” printed on it to wear over my clothes. Kafiyah had organized a surprise wedding shower.

Ekanem and I flew into each other’s arms. I had not seen her since her own wedding. She was glowing.

“Ekanem, you came!”

“Bride-to-be!” Ekanem said. “You know I would not miss this for the world.”

Later Kafiyah teased, “Okay now. Morayo, let us see what Ekanem bought you.” When I unwrapped Ekanem’s present, I recognized the gift box. It was from one of the exclusive lingerie stores on Victoria Island.

Ekanem smiled at me. “Morayo, do you remember that conversation we had about getting ammunition for our marriage arsenals? I bought you some essentials. I know Kachi has been waiting impatiently all these years.” My neck grew warm when everybody started laughing.

Lifting up the tissue, I saw a matching pink silk and lace bra and panties. The women all ooh’d and aah’d as they passed the lingerie around.

“That, my friends, is known in select married circles as the grenade,” Ekanem said. “Small but mighty, guaranteed to produce an instant reaction.”

“Eky Baby!” Kafiyah said with a laugh.

“Trust me, Kaffy; I am a true Efik woman. My mother shared the notes she took down inside the fattening room.”

“Morayo, please bring out the next item for viewing,” Ekanem said. It was a red silk chiffon teddy with shiny gold silk threads.

“Aha!” Ekanem exclaimed. “The Tear Gas. Grown men have been known to weep at the sight of this little mama.”

Eniayo’s face was now almost as red as the teddy. “Ekanem,” I laughed, “I beg you, please don’t kill my sister.”

“Eniayo, close your eyes,” Kafiyah commanded. Eniayo covered her eyes with her fingers, but I saw her smiling anyway. After all, her Tunde was patiently waiting for her to finish school, and someday she would be unwrapping such gifts too.

I pulled out the last item from the box. It was a backless lilac nightgown with a plunging neckline and a matching robe. Ekanem bowed her head. “Last but definitely not the least. Behold, the Rocket Launcher M4 Special Edition. The ticket to that guaranteed honey pot in the moon.”

“Honestly, Ekanem, you missed your calling,” Titi from head office said. “You should be on stage doing stand-up comedy.”

“Or selling lingerie to premium ladies of the night along Allen Avenue!” Kafiyah said.

Ekanem narrowed her eyes at Kafiyah. “Kaffy, I guess you will be public relations officer for the lingerie business?” Ekanem laughed when Kafiyah visibly shuddered. “My sisters, it is good to know I have some options if this banking career becomes too much for me to handle. Very soon, I don’t think I will be able to find any more family members with money to deposit at our bank!”

The rest of the evening passed quickly as we ate, laughed, played some games, and danced.

On our way out of the house, we went to greet Kafiyah’s aunty, Hajia. “Hajia, thank you for your hospitality.”

Hajia wove her dainty fingers in the air. “It is nothing, my dear. I am happy you enjoyed your evening.”

As we walked out of the room, Hajia called my name. “Morayo.”

I turned. “Yes, Hajia.”

“I would recommend that you start with the Tear Gas,” she said with a shy smile.

Ekanem’s hearty laughter echoed throughout the house.

Thread Of Gold Beads Hits The Stage.

Thread Of Gold Beads hits the stage in October this year. 

Daughter Who Walk This Is Written By Yejide Kilanko.

Praise for Daughters Who Walk This Path

“Daughters Who Walk This Path is a subtle yet complex exploration of what it means to be a young woman growing up in contemporary Nigeria. Kilanko does not shy away from tough subjects. Just as importantly, she does not sensationalize them. This is a delightful, haunting book from a very talented writer.”

–Chika Unigwe, award-winning author of On Black Sisters’ Street.

Thread Of Gold Beads

Nike Campbell-Fatoki is the author of Thread Of Gold Beads.
Nike was born in Lvov, Ukraine to Nigerian parents.
The book is set during the French-Dahomey war of late 1890's in Benin Republic and early 1900's in Abeokuta and Lagos. The book depicts the strength of human spirit in the face of adversities. 

OLAKEVWE EVENT & INTERIOR DECOR

                 Who we are

Olakevwe Event & Interior Décor was established in 2012 with the motive of creating unforgettable memories for our clients as we plan their events and decorate their homes and offices. Creating unforgettable memories is the basis for every decision we make and the guiding principles to our daily activities. Olakevwe Event & Interior Décor is diversified with crop of skilled personnel to sooth demands and needs of our clients. OEID is the No. 1 brand for events planning & interior decoration. When it comes to Olakevwe Event & Interior Décor we have the best ideas for your events, homes & offices. We work with your budget, serve your needs and satisfy you but we do it your way. With Olakevwe Event & Interior Décor you can sit down at home while we do all the work. We established this company to provide quality services.

Get in touch

+234 7013 075 456

olakevweeventplanners1@gmail.com

9, Kehinde Odusote Street, Anthony Village, Lagos.

Logo designs

Why social media

Grand Pa was forced onto the rides.

GrandPa

Brazil 2014 World Cup Goalkeepers

WCG

Serena resting

Serena crashed out Wimbledon women's double because of  an eye virus she had. Anyways she is getting better.

Social Media

7 Reasons Why Social Media is an Absolute Must for Business Branding.

Showcase Your Brand : Social media will help create awareness for your brand & it will also showcase your brand to your target audience.

Develop a loyal community of prospects: Social media will give your business the brand loyalty it needs.

Increase digital exposure: It will give your brand the digital exposure it need. Who doesn't like digital exposure.

Enhance company trustworthiness:This will give your company the trustworthiness people are looking for in companies.

Expand sales: Social media will can increase sales if you are ready to use it.

Boost traffic and search engine ranking: This will increase your company's search engine ranking. It will make you visible to the world.

Cut marketing costs: Social media reduces the cost of marketing & advertising.

NEWSLETTERS

WHAT IS A NEWSLETTER?

A newsletter is a publication that is generally about one topic of interest to its subscribers. It is used to provide information. It could be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. Newsletters are published by companies, churches, organizations, schools, churches etc.

HOW ARE THEY WRITTEN?

Before you write your newsletter, you need to source for information on whatever you are going to write in the newsletter. After your research you will need to plan how they will be released. Will it be daily, weekly or monthly? You have to decide when it will be sent out to you subscribers. The next thing is to start writing the editorial. After writing you will need to edit it so as to correct the errors in your write up. When the correction has been made, it can now be sent to your subscribers.

FOR WHAT PURPOSE ARE THEY WRITTEN?

Ø  Newsletters are written to distribute information to its subscribers.

Ø  Newsletters are used to build credibility for brands, products, organizations etc.

Ø  Organizations and companies use it to educate their clients and prospects.

Ø  It is also used to improve or maintain an organization’s reputation.

Ø  Newsletters are used to advertise brands or products.

Ø  It is used to create contact information for an organization.

HOW FREQUENT ARE THEY WRITTEN?

Newsletters are written daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, every six months or annually. It depends on how whoever writes it wants it to be written. Some companies might prefer it to be written monthly while some might like it to be written quarterly. It all depends on how they want it.

RELEVANCE OF COLOR SELECTION IN LOGO DESIGNS

As a logo designer you may think color is not as relevant as other aspects of designing a logo but color is also important. As a logo designer you need to take into consideration how humans interpret colors. In understanding how humans interpret colors a designer needs to under the psychology behind colors. Colors prompt emotional response and it catches the eye of people. Colors are able to trigger certain emotions, appetite, hunger, moods, behaviors or wants. As a designer, knowing color meanings is vital and it will help you use each color properly and accordingly. Since people react to colors easily designers always have to know what kind of color he or she will use for a particular design. People associate meaning with colors, so if the wrong color is used; you will end up conveying the wrong message to people who will be seeing the design. Some colors could mean calmness, amusement, passion, enthusiasm, creativity, distrust, peace, playful, balance, energy, trust or adventure. For example orange evokes enthusiasm. A company’s logo is their identity so the color of their logo should be able to convey their brand message. When selecting your color choice you can try out different color combinations. You can also play around with individual colors and try to match the colors to the overall tone and feel of the brand. The key is for the designer to use colors that evoke remedying feelings people desire when they seek for a brand. The kind of color a logo has can also help people to easily remember the logo design. For instance blue makes a person feel calm and relaxed. When a person sees a blue logo he will easily have a calm and relaxed feeling for the brand. A designer should have it at the back of his mind that the logo is not just for him or her alone to see. As a designer you might not see anything wrong with a black logo design but people might have a wrong feeling towards it. To some people yellow means sickness and decay. So if they see a yellow logo design they will easily think of sickness.  As a designer one last thing you should think of is using subtle colors because they are colors that are assuring and they inspire confidence in a brand.

HOW TO IDENTIFY A QUALITY WEBSITE.

What is a website?  According to general opinion a website is a set of interconnected web pages usually including a homepage generally located on the same server, prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group or company. A high quality website should be able to provide a good user experience and also provide effective and important content. However, many independent components need to be present for it to be considered a quality website. Here are tips on how to recognize a quality website:-

§      User friendly/Good user experience.

§      Easy navigation (The website will be simple and logical to navigate).

§      Website Optimization: This would improve speed, links are not broken, good user experience and the image could be scaled down without losing quality.

§      Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a quality website maximizes number of visitors  and appears easily on different search engines

§       Quality websites are always responsive. It should provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors).

§      Browser Compatibility: A quality website always looks the same no matter the type of browser or search engine.

§      Details on the homepage wouldn’t be overwhelming but it should have links.

§      It will have good content accessibility; free of spelling and grammatical errors, contents wouldn’t be unnecessary, overlaying and duplicating (the success factor of every website is content).

§      There won’t be too many ads (The ads should always be lesser than the content in the website).

§      A quality website will have consistency in its style and presentation.

How Your Company Image Sells Your Products.

A company’s image is very important to the growth of the company. Your company’s image is its identity. A company’s image is what makes a product stick in the minds of potential clients. A company’s reputation and respect is connected to its image. Your company image is more powerful than any ad. The perceived emotional corporate image in the minds of your target audience represents your brand.
A visual aspect that forms part of the overall brand is the logo which identifies a business in its simplest form via the use of a mark or icon.  

Your company image helps:

§      Create an image of your product in your target customer’s mind: Anytime someone needs a particular product or services the first thing that will come to their minds is your brand. The reason is that they have your company’s identity registered in their mind. A true example of this is Coca cola.

§      Launch your product into the market. This is what will give your product the right position it needs in the market.

§      Advertise your product without you being there: A company’s logo design should pass its message without the company having to say much about the product.

§      Boost sales; the fact that your brand comes first to the minds of its target audience when they think about particular products or services means your company sells more.

§      Tell your current customers/potential clients why you are better than your competition and people can trust your products and/or services. Therefore, people will only want to patronize your product. An example of this kind of product is Nike.

§      Gives your customers the right feeling about your brand. If customers have confidence and trust towards any company it is their product(s) they will always go for.

HOW TO CREATE A COMPETITIVE EDGE OVER YOUR COMPETITION

                     In business a competitive edge is having the lead over your competition. A competitive edge is all about producing goods and services more effectively than your competitors. This is where an organization has an advantage over its competition. A lot of organizations create competitive edges over their competitions to gain better recognition in the market. They use different unique ways to stay relevant in the market. Every organization always wants to stay ahead of their competition. Virgin, Google, Coca-Cola, Apple, Oracle, Chevron, Coscharis and Julius Berger are examples of companies who have created a competitive edge for themselves in the market. These are some guidelines on how your organization can create a competitive edge for itself.

1.     Identifying your competition: Before you can have a lead on your competition you will need to map out your competitions. You will need to know the kind of service they offer and what kind of products they sell. If you know who they are, you will know how to have a lead over them.

2.     Study and determine your target: After you have known your competition you will need to determine your target market. You will need to understand your target market. You will need to know their needs. If you understand your target market you will know how to serve them better.

3.     What are you selling and to whom: You need to understand what you are selling and to whom. To have a competitive edge you will also have to understand the market you are selling your products and services to.

4.     Which other companies are doing the same business as your company: You will need to find out the companies that offer the same service as your company. You will need to understand how they do what they do. If you can understand these companies, it will be easy for you to create a competitive edge over them.

5.     List out their strengths and weaknesses: Every organization has to know their competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Your competitors’ weaknesses might be your advantage. You will need to compare your company’s strength with your competitors own. Comparing your strengths with your competitors allows you to focus on your relative strengths and grow them at your competitors’ expense. Knowing your competitions weakness will help you work on your company better.

6.     How do they draw in customers: You need to know how your competitors market their customers?  You need to understand the kind of marketing and advertising strategies they use in winning the best clients. You will need to know how they promote their brand. If you know all this, it will give you the ability to work on your own marketing skills that will beat that of your competition. This will help you know how to improve on your marketing skills.

7.     How do they stand out from other competitors: You will need to know what stands out about your competition?  You need to understand what they are doing that makes them stand out. In order to stand out you must be ready to offer quality products and services that your clients can trust. To stand out you will need to come up with strategies that will be unpredictable by your competition. Your company will need to develop the x-factor that will separate it from its competition.

8.     Why are your competitors pleasing to their existing and attainable clients and customers: what are your competitors doing that you are not doing. Is there any business strategy that they are applying that you don’t know about? To take the lead on your competitions you will need to make sure your company is customer-focused. Also you must make sure your customers are satisfied with your products and services. In doing this you will need to build trust between your company and its clients. If your existing clients trust your brand, they will definitely refer your brand to other people.

9.     Trimming down on your product price and service charge: What can make you have a lead over your competition is if your prices and charges are affordable for your customers. If your prices and charges are affordable for your customers, they will definitely patronize you. Making your price lower than your competitor’s own will attract more customers for your company.

5 ingredients for a successful Instagram campaign.

§      The first thing is to understand your Instagram audience.

§      The second ingredient is to get a short and easy to remember URL.

§      The third ingredient is by using Hashtag to spread the word about the campaign.

§      The forth is to use Re-gram to spread the word about your campaign.

§      The fifth is for you to use your Instagram profile to your advantage.

Why branding is important for your business?

In a very simple definition, branding is the process of using a group of words or an image to identify a company or its products and services. This is the perception people have about a product, idea or service. The perception could be negative or positive.

 Branding is what separates you from your competition “WHY DOES MY BUSINESS NEED BRANDING?” Your company can be transformed through branding as it influences people to perceive your business or company as distinctive, reliable, and trusted and whatever else applies to your business. Companies that have branded their businesses stand out from competitions. Coca-Cola is a typical example.

Branding also helps boost sale; If you need your product/service to be the only solution for your customers then you need to start branding your business. Branding can create emotional sensation for your company in the minds of consumers who choose products and services based on emotions. This way if your customers have emotional sensation about your products/services they will sort only after you. Nestlé Milo Beverage is a product that has used emotional significance to win over their customers especially the young. Branding can give your business the recognition and loyalty it needs. Branding creates an image for your business. Through branding people will see your product and they will quickly attach it to your company. Whenever people see Tom-Tom sweet they easily associate it with Cadbury.

This is why branding gives you the opportunity to say everything about your company in one outstanding image. The added value your business has been longing to have can come through branding. No one likes to go for unbranded products or services so if your business is branded people will definitely choose you over your competition. Every company likes to be connected to their customers at all times, with branding no matter how amateur you are it can give your business the credibility your customers/clients are looking for. Every business owner wants to be on top and to be on top you need to brand your business.

 

Marketing

How To Improve The Result Of Outbound Marketing And Make It Measurable?

Are outbound marketing strategies still effective?

Many people think that outbound marketing techniques are getting less and less effective over time. When it come to marketing measurement and optimization, there is always room for improvement.

In this article, I’ll show you how to do the outbound marketing the inbound way.

Question: Is this picture considered an example of OUTBOUND Marketing?

Definition: Outbound marketing (n) is the traditional form of marketing (TV Ads, Roadshow etc) where a company initiates the conversation and sends its message out to an audience. Outbound marketing is the opposite of inbound marketing, where the customers find you, mostly through various paid and natural search engine marketing efforts.

[Source : Word Stream]

The answer to my question should be “yes” (Even a tree on the road can be a medium of outbound marketing.)

The publisher may be a good creative designer, but not a good marketer.

Some important marketing elements are missing in the ads.

#1 Call to Action

People might be interested when they read the ads, but there is no way to take action. The website URL below the tagline does not help as it is too small.

[Solution] : Put in an QR Code

Based on the statistics the Mobile Technology Fact Sheet from the Pew Research Internet Project,

As of January 2014:

• 90% of American adults have a cell phone
• 58% of American adults have a smartphone
• 32% of American adults own an e-reader
• 42% of American adults own a tablet computer

[Source] ]http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/

The QR Code makes it easy for viewers of advertisements to take action. Upon scanning it with their smartphones, the code will bring them to websites or landing pages where they can make a donation, or do whatever the advertisement is prompting them to.

However, do note that displaying the QR Code alone may not encourage people to take action – acall-to-action (CTA) sentence is needed too. For example, “scan here” explicitly directs people to do so.