How To Send A Cold Email

May 23, 2021

A cold email is an email that is sent to a recipient who has no relationship with the sender. For this post, the primary goal of a cold email is to ask for job/business opportunities.

This is how to send cold emails that convert:

1. Research the recipient

Find out as many details as possible about the recipient of your email. Then make it clear in your email that you have done your research and know what they are about. It makes your email more personalized and convinces them that your interest is genuine.

2. Highlight your strength

If you had to choose between the PS4 and PS5, you’d most probably choose the PS5. Everyone naturally wants the best option available.

Highlight your strength in your email. Sell yourself like the greatest salesman. Convince them that you are the PS5.

3. Be clear about your aim

Do not be vague or water down your aim. Come correct. Tell them what you want confidently.

You want a job position? You have an offer for them? You want to be a part of their new campaign? Don’t waste their time or yours. I’m sure they don’t read minds.

4. Include what they have to gain

Unless your recipient is a charity organization, they want something in return. If you are asking for a job position, talk about ways your skill can move their brand forward.

Convince them that they’ll be losing by not saying ‘yes’ to you.

5. Include Proof

Heard something about talk being cheap? I have too.

Anyone can claim to be an expert in their niche. Include proof that confirms you can do the work. It could be your CV, portfolio, reference, or sample of you doing something similar in the past.

6. Include a call to action

Now you’ve convinced them, include a call to action that tells them what to do next.

Should they give you a call or send you a DM on social media? Should they send a follow-up email? Or would you rather they invited you for a physical meeting?

Make the process easy!

A lot of dream jobs and great opportunities are not advertised. I have created FREE cold emailing templates and samples for you! I also included a guide to using them. Click HERE to download for FREE!

What is your dream job?

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Dear Creative, 9-5 or Freelancing?

December 07, 2020

Having a creative skill makes it flexible enough for you to decide to work fulltime or to as a freelancer. You can deliver your creative skill online, so you don't need to be in a fixed environment to work.

Should you be a freelancer or pursue a 9 to 5?

There's no one answer fits all. There's one answer fits YOU and your reality. I hope this helps you find it.

If you work full time or have a 9 to 5, you are employed full time and typically get paid at the end of the month. As a freelancer, you sell your services to clients, rather than being employed full time.

Fulltime or freelancing, they both have one thing in common; neither of them is easy. You have to put in the work to get the desired result.

Also remember, you don't have to be so rigid. Even if you change your mind later about having a 9-5 or being a freelancer, you can always make a switch. The problem is not changing your mind in the future, but not trying at all.

Freelance or full time? Which is best for you? Below are some factors to consider:

1. Both have advantages and disadvantages

Freelancing and full-time employment have good and bad sides. As a freelancer, you decide projects to and not to work on. You are your own boss. You set your own work ethics, target and generally call the shots. As a full-time worker, you work for someone, and as a result, it may not be so flexible. You have to work in line with your job description and the work ethics of your role.

However, working full time can be more stable than freelancing. As a freelancer, sometimes, you'll have an influx of clients and other times, you will almost consider moving to the village because there won't be clients.

These pathways have advantages and disadvantages. You have to consider your position and which option offers you more.

2 What's your career goal?

Sometimes, the right option for us doesn't have to to be the most comfortable option. What is your career aspiration? Do you want to start your own company in the future and need to work fulltime to learn the skills you need and network? Do want to make enough money to reach a financial goal and freelancing pays more?

Consider the goal and what option aligns more.

3. What is your work ethic?

Can you work on your own without supervision? Does working full time limit you? Is working 9 to 5 your forte? Are you a team player or do you thrive alone?

Assess your strength and abilities to decide which aligns more with who you are. That said, there's no work ethic you can't build if you put your mind to it.

4 what is the long term game?

Do not always consider what is more convenient at the moment.

How about 5 years from now? What do you hope to achieve? Which is more likely to bring you closer to these achievements, freelancing or working full-time employment? What is the big picture? What is the best option for you in the long run?

Play the long term game. Is working full time the best thing for you in the big picture? Is freelancing the goldmine? Think deeply, look beyond the present and make the right choice.

Also remember, you don't have to be so rigid. Even if you change your mind later, you can always make a switch. The problem is not changing your mind in the future, but not trying at all.

Who said you can't do both? Some people have full-time employment and still run their freelancing by the side. There is no one shoe fits all. Just find out what fits YOU and like Nike said, #JustDoIt

Do you have a full time job or are you a freelancer? Tell me in the comment section!

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How To Create a Career Portfolio Without Work Experience

September 13, 2020

A portfolio is like the face of your career. It’s a collection of your best work experiences that convinces prospective clients or employers that you are the best guy for their project.

Instead of telling them you can get the job done, your portfolio is an evidence that SHOWS them you have the capacity to get the job done.

As a creative, sending your portfolio even when it hasn’t been requested for can help you can the confidence of prospective customers or clients, especially if your portfolio is excellently complied.

Why you should have a portfolio

It makes you look more professional and credible

Having a portfolio helps the prospective client or employer have confidence in you as someone who understands their profession. It persuades them and makes them believe that you can be trusted with their project.

Not only are you telling them you can get the job done, but your portfolio is also showing them you have done similar jobs in the past and how you did it.

It promotes your talents and skills

Your portfolio is a collection of your most flattering work samples. It promotes your skills and talents. For instance, if you are a writer, your portfolio will contain samples that show your writing skills.

No matter what your career is, your portfolio will contain samples of work you have done and thereby promotes your talents and skills.

Easier way to demonstrate your skills

A portfolio is a straightforward way to show your skills. You know your capacity and how good you are. However, prospective employers and clients do not. How then do you show them?

By sending your portfolio! It clearly shows your skills and how you have been able to use them to execute their project. In cases when you want to get a client or employer, showing them what you can do is always better than just telling them what you can do.

Increases your chances of getting hired

There’s a high chance that your prospective employer or client is interviewing other people who have the same skill you do. They obviously want to work with the best guy.

Your portfolio gives you an edge over others. It shows your best work and thereby increases your chances of getting shortlisted and hired.

Helps filter the right clients

Every prospective client or employer is not right for you. Some have projects that do not align with your skills and abilities. If you end up working with people like this, more often than not, it doesn’t end well.

For instance, if you are a designer who focuses on creating graphics for social media branding, you may not be the right guy for a client looking for designers for a book cover. If you do not realize this and work with the client, it will not end well as there is a conflict of interest.

When prospective clients or employers go through your portfolio, it helps them decide if you are the right fit. They see the kind of work you do, and if that’s not what they are looking for, it saves you both the disaster waiting to happen.

Your portfolio helps filter clients that align with your vision and abilities, from those who don’t.

But what if you don’t have the experiences to include in a portfolio. THEN WHAT?

If you just learnt a new skill or haven’t had a client yet? How do you create a portfolio?

Here’s how:

Assign yourself projects and complete them. If you are a freelance article writer, for instance, and you are looking for clients or employers, give yourself various articles topics and write them.

If you are a graphic designer, give yourself graphic design projects. Create logos, social media graphics, and other projects that align with your niche.

If you are a social media manager, implement your social media management strategies on your personal page or create new social media pages and grow them with your skills.

If you are a web designer, video editor, photographer/videographer, artist, give yourself projects that align with your career and the kind of clients you want to work with, and complete the project.

Not only will this help you build your portfolio. It will also help you build your skill. It’s a win-win!

Now that you’ve created some projects, what next?

Create your portfolio!

Now that you’ve ‘created work experiences,’ go ahead and create your portfolio.

Ideally, a portfolio should contain but not only,

• Who you are

Your biographical information needs to be represented. Your prospective client or employer definitely wants to know what your name is, and basic information about yourself.

However, be mindful of not putting out unnecessary information.

• What you do

This is where you introduce your career or business story. It’s here you give a detailed explanation of what you are about, and what you are focused on. Clearly say what your niche is and how you successfully execute projects assigned to you.

Sell yourself.

• Your skills

State the skills you have. Again, in a way that sells you.

• Resume

• Education & Certification

Include your education, awards, accomplishments and certifications that further shows that you are good.

• Samples of your work

This is the main point of the portfolio. Include a collection of your best works. You can attach them directly to your portfolio or include links that lead to them.

Do what works more for the kind of work you do. If you are unsure about this, search Google for portfolio samples of people in your niche.

• Contact information

Include your email address, phone number, or however you want to be contacted.

Platforms to create your portfolio on for free

Portfoliobox.net (creatives)

Behance (Designers)

Adobe Portfolio (Designers)

Dribble (Designers)

Blogger (Writers)

WordPress ( Writers & web developers/developers)

Wix (Web designers)

Carbonmade (illustrators & graphic designers)

The freelancer by Contently (Freelance creatives)

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Lifestyle

#BbNaija Review: You Should Learn From Bright

August 05, 2020

Big Brother Naija Season 5 started sixteen days ago, and unsurprisingly, it has been all the rave. The housemates have been giving us the drama we signed up for, with viewers reacting on social media.

In the show,there are challenges, games, tasks, etc, and the eviction show, which is a kind of highlight. So far, two housemates Lilo and Katrina have been evicted.

You see, I have been keeping up with the BBNaija show and will be doing a review of the show, as often as I can. The angle of my review will be the lessons. There is so much to learn from the BBNaija show, even though a lot of people don’t agree. I’ll be sharing some of these lessons with subsequent posts. The first one is below, enjoy!

First lesson; you have to stand for something to win.

There’s a saying that, if you don’t stand for something, you fall for anything.

See the way people were making jokes about the housemate Bright at the beginning? What was he not called? What meme did he not appear in? Pastor! Evangelist! Etc.

He was just there. He always appeared clueless or deep in thoughts. He was dull, didn’t speak much. Lacked vibe and energy and came off as bland and boring; like white rice without stew or sauce.

The Big Brother Naija show is always about drama and the housemates showing their interesting personalities. With him there was nothing like that.

By the time he started being involved consistently, the narrative changed. He started giving the BBNaija housemates relationship advice. He encouraged them to shoot their shots and was a match marker of some sorts. He began to put ideas in their heads and even advised two people separate to go for one person. He advised Laycon, Wathoni, Tolani, Eric,

People now see him as a manipulator and mastermind, and some tweeps are even calling him Lord Belish.

Are there still jokes about him? Yes, but more in the positive light. People are now enjoying his personality, and he has gained relevance. He is now the grand schemer. Even though his personality can be seen as slimy and manipulative, the BBNaija viewers find him interesting.

What’s the point here? You have to align with something, good or bad. Don’t be just there. Be hot, or cold, but not lukewarm. Yes, being lukewarm is safe, but there is so much you are missing out on.

Stand for something, and be consistent with it. Have a grand strategy. Does this mean you won’t do other things? No!

Better to be known for one thing than nothing at all.

Do you watch the big brother Naija show? Who is your favourite housemate?

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5 Ways To Win In Your Career

July 10, 2020

For most of us, our career is one of the biggest facets of our lives. To a considerable extent, the success of our career determines how our lives turn out. It determines our financial freedom in most cases, and if we will live as fully as we desire.

No matter how hard we try, it is also hard to detach our emotions from our career. If your career is going badly, the chances are high that you won't feel very fulfilled, and just like all the times when things don't go as well as we want, it will be hard to be happy.

I have put together ways to win in your career. With these, you won't put everything to chance and HOPE that your career goes as well as you want it to. Instead, you will DO what you should to win in your career.

Seek learning opportunities

No matter how good you are, you can get better. I used to think there was no need for me to learn how to write better since writing came naturally to me. The god of writing must have thrown back her head and had a good laugh.

If you have a talent-related career, you shouldn't rely on your talent alone. Your talent is the icing on the cake. It is NOT enough. As a talented person, it falls on you to put it more work than people who aren't so talented. Why? It's easy to relax and think, 'oh well, I'm very good at this. Everybody says so.' In that case, people who aren't as talented put in the work, and you don't.

No matter what your career field is, it would be best if you intentionally positioned yourself to learn more and get better. Thankfully, there are online courses which are the rave right now. There is Google, YouTube and other tools to search for and find the information you need.

Do not wait till you have questions to seek answers. Do not wait till you have the need for it, to look for ways to learn. Always be on the lookout for ways to acquire knowledge that will help you advance in your career.

Have goals

You have some expectations for your career; we all do. You most probably want to be doing so well, you get wide recognition, make a significant impact and earn the money of your dreams.

I want that too.

However, it's not enough to have dreams and aspirations. It's not enough to be ambitious. You have to narrow it down to win in your career. Having specific goals is a step in the right direction. What do you hope to achieve in a month, months and years? How do you hope to achieve them?

Having career goals will give you guidance and clarity on your career journey and how best to achieve what you want to.

Your goals can't be too big or too small. What's important is that your goals align with your reality, and you are ready to PUT in the work that's required.

Pay attention to industry leaders

Industry leaders can be people in the same career field as you who are getting it right. For a book writer, for instance, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie can be an industry leader. In the business field, Aliko Dangote, and Otunba Akin Alabi can be industry leaders. Industry leaders can be famous or not so recognized people. It can be a fellow with 5000 followers on Instagram. The most important thing is that they are in the same career field as you, and they are successful. Success, however, is relative, so their success should align with your definition of success.

These people have it figured out to an extent. There are some things that would have otherwise taken you years to learn, but you can learn from them in minutes. They have an edge; experience, and the knowledge that comes with success.

Learn about them and their methods, listen to or read their interviews, consume what they share on social media, and generally listen when they talk. The point is not to copy their every move. Of course, there are some things they will say you won't totally agree with. That's fine. Make sure the information you take from them aligns with your reality and situation.

For instance, the fact that they said they started a fish business with one fish doesn't mean you should do the same. You can instead take from it that they started small, and do so too in your career.

Put in the work

Everything else mentioned here doesn't apply until you are ready to put in the work. Like Nike says, 'Just do it!'

You can take every course there is, set the most precise goals, and listen to every word opinion leaders say. If you do not do the single most crucial thing; put in the work, there's only so much you can achieve in your career.

To get to the top of your career, you have to put in the work to leave the stage you are at, and grow. It doesn't mean you have to put in all the work in one day. Taking baby steps in the right direction is good enough. Understand your abilities and your journey and put in the necessary effort.

Cheers to winning in our career and all aspects of our lives!

Tell me what work you are currently putting to do better in your career. I'll be reading you in the comment section!

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Lifestyle

Ibidun Ighodalo: 5 Lessons From Her Death

June 18, 2020

Days ago, the news of Ibidun Ighodalo's death made the rounds. Before her death, I didn’t know who she was. I thought how it was a pity that such a beautiful young woman was dead, and shrugged it off. Post after post, I would see people talking about her, and how much she had impacted their lives. It was then I paid attention.

She was the founder of event planning company, Elizabeth R, a businesswoman, marriage counsellor, and also ran her non-profit Ibidun Ighodalo Foundation to support couples with fertility issues. The former Miss Lux and her husband Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of Trinity House Church Lagos celebrated their 13th Wedding anniversary in February. It was clear from her social media posts that they doted on themselves.

This is not going to be a religious neutral post, so if you aren’t a Christian or things like this make you uncomfortable, it's best if you stop reading now. Please enjoy my other intriguing posts.

Here are lessons to learn from the death of this epitome of kindness and love:

You can’t be too kind or love too much

It is very clear that love and kindness were Mrs. Ibidun Ighodalo's other names. You can tell from the posts people made for her, and it was clear by the posts on her page.

If you read about her life, you will tell her life was very impactful. There were just so many people she had loved fiercely and helped like they had come from her womb.

The tributes to her weren’t just the generic messages people leave for dead people all the time. They were unique, soulful, and heartfelt. You can tell there are only a few of her who have walked the earth.

Another peculiar thing was that she didn’t restrict her love and kindness to a particular class. She didn’t say, ‘oh, I should only help poor people. They need it the most.’ Neither did she say, ‘I should just stick to my class with this love and kindness thing.’ It was robust and well rounded. There was something for everyone. Even the rich people that could afford it, she looked out for.

Indeed, there is nothing like being too kind or too loving. Our creator is love and kindness. There's no overdose.

The good you do will live long after you are gone

When we are gone, we’ll all have things to be remembered for. Mrs. Ibidun Ighodalo was only 39, but there is no doubt people will always remember how good she was in the short time she lived.

Women she had helped with their fertility struggles will see their child run across the room and think of her. The 'multitude' she had loved and shown kindness will think of her and be inspired to be better people.

People like me who never met her but only learnt about her after she was gone will have faith that there are good people out there, and strive to be one of them.

Tomorrow may never come

Beautiful, youthful, and happy, who would have thought she would die at 39? If someone who didn’t really lack material things, had a great relationship with God and led a seemingly happy life could die so soon, how about us?

True, we don’t like to talk about death. I don’t either. It’s not our portion like we famously say. However, it is a truth we can only run but can’t hide from. We will all die someday; some sooner, and others later. I think that if we always remember this, we will all lead a more intentional, godly, and quality life.

We all have paths to follow

We all are here for a reason. Beyond career, family, education, and all of that, it is our belief as Christians that we have a bigger purpose. If you don’t know it yet, search within you, and pray. When you find it, follow it so when you are gone, you can beat your chest in the great beyond, and like Beyoncé say, ‘I was here.’

We should take God more seriously

Beyond the church, what our pastors say and what we have been told about God all our lives, we should build a personal relationship with God. This relationship will be between you and your creator. It will be different from ever relationship there is, has been, or will ever be, away from the world and what they think of you. We should all gear towards this. I always have.

Read to this point? You are the chosen one! LOL. Well done, GOAT. Please let me know what you think about this in the comment section. I’ll be there looking forward to interacting with you.

3 Comments

You really should stop

April 09, 2020

1 Comments