Social Media Marketing- What? Why? How?
[bctt tweet=”Social media marketing has gone been perceived as a fad to a must-have for brands today” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Let’s start with 2 definitions to answer the What: social media noun websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking Source: Oxford Dictionary social media marketing noun the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites Source: Searchengineland Simple right? Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s dive right into the Why! Social media marketing has gone from what was perceived as a fad in the early 2000s to a must-have for brands today. Every brand, business, and entity wants to have a presence on every social media platform. Why should YOU think about social media marketing? Well, it starts with you as a brand. Social media is an opportunity for you to build your personal brand, and grow your authority on your subject. Your social media profiles are the first thing to show up in a Google search for your name. These are the best places to start with establishing you as a brand. Twitter is a great place to weigh in with your opinions. LinkedIn is the best place to detail your professional experience and showcase your expertise. Facebook allows you to keep in touch, and share your views. Instagram provides a place to chronicle your life’s journey. When it comes to your business, social media lets you reach a staggering number of people at a fraction of the cost of traditional media. Take Facebook, for example. There are more than 15 million Nigerians on Facebook. For $10/day, you can reach up to 40,000 people. That’s a staggering amount of people and dirt cheap when you compare it to the cost to reach those people through traditional media channels. The best part is you don’t always have to pay to reach them. It’s all about how you communicate with them. The variety of social media channels means you can showcase your business and its personality in different ways. Social media allows you to get in front of your consumer where they are. And believe me, they are everywhere! Social media is becoming an integral part of the marketing funnel. With the advent of messenger bots, live video, and VR, it is now possible to sell a product and an experience without any physical process. That is huge in itself and signals a drastic shift in how consumers’ purchasing activity. [bctt tweet=”Social media is becoming an integral part of the marketing funnel” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] So how do you start? For starters, do not go and create an account on every social media platform for your business. Yes, that’s right, do NOT. It starts with listening. You understand your business and your target audience. The next thing is to see where your target audience is and what they’re saying. When you’re armed with that knowledge, you can then think about which platforms your business needs and how your business is going to join in the conversation on them. Remember each platform has its own nuances, and it’s best to understand them before jumping on them. Take the time to study each platform. Some tips for your content: Keep it relevant and informative. Statistics show that consumers engage most with relevant and engaging content. Use an 80:20 approach. 20% of your content should be sales focused. The 80% should educate, showcase, inform and entertain your consumers. Always be ready to adapt. What works today might not work tomorrow, and the landscape is always changing. Be ready to change with it. Be conversational. Integrate. Your social media sales communication should not be in isolation of any other marketing activity you’re running. Social media marketing is not a thing of tomorrow, it is a thing of now. And every passing day, it’s evolving. All aboard? – This article was written by Prashant Kirpalani. Prashant is the Social Media Manager at Wild Fusion, Wild Fusion is Africa’s leading Digital Marketing Agency. When he’s not working, he likes to game, DJ, and tweet about Chelsea and fantasy football.
Patience Nkosi: I’m obsessed with making women look extraordinary
[bctt tweet=”In business, one needs to do thorough research and have a plan before executing their idea – Patience Nkosi” via=”no”] Patience Nkosi, makeup artist and founder of PashyN, affectionately known as Pashy, is a small town girl with an unstoppable passion for transforming and enhancing how women look and feel through makeup. Pashy is obsessed with making woman look extraordinary by eliminating self-consciousness in young women one brush stroke at a time. She believes that if you look good, ultimately, you do better. After completing her BSc in Computer Science, Pashy found that her true calling was in makeup. SLA contributor Jeanette Nkwana talked all things beauty, business, and PashyN with her. Have you always wanted to go into the beauty industry? It is true when they say that certain situations only happen because they are all part of the process of leading you to your true path. Being in the beauty industry was never really my plan. I somewhat “stumbled” upon an opportunity which led me to my destiny, a founder of a beauty brand & makeup artist at PashyN. What challenges did you face going into a market (that you have previously worked in) as an entrepreneur? Starting a company isn’t as easy as it may seem. One needs to do thorough research and have a good plan before they execute. One major challenge I came across amongst many others was acquiring startup capital, a setback which delayed my progress. Who do you look up to in the industry and how do you identify with him/her? I’m such a groupie of so many of international makeup artists. I follow them on Instagram, some have worked with famous international celebrities. Makeup artists like Jack Emory, Alexandra Annele, Sonja Deluxe to name but a few inspire me. I draw my inspiration from them and try to incorporate that in my own craft. Literally, I’d spend hours and hours on YouTube checking out their stuff. They pretty amazing. What is the biggest misconception people have about what you do and how do you address it? [bctt tweet=”Beauty is NOT standard, it moves, transforms and differs from person to person -Patience Nkosi (PashyN)” via=”no”] Society has placed us with the burden of enormous expectations of what beauty seemingly is or should be. The popular phrase, “true beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” speaks to me in volumes. To my understanding, this implies that beauty is NOT standard. It moves, transforms and differs from person to person. Therefore no woman needs to be validated by society norms. Makeup is not a way to hide a woman’s beauty but rather to enhance the beauty that already lies in her. Many women that had never had a single touch of makeup applied on their faces today wear makeup simply because I had taught and made them understand this phrase. You are now an official ambassador for Elizabeth Arden, how did this come about? My first ever job was in retail where I found myself working as a cosmetics generic. Five months in the field, I worked for one of the world’s leading prestigious brands, Elizabeth Arden. Today I am proud to say, in a period of just over a year, I became an award winning Elizabeth Arden Brand Ambassador. This was after long hours of hard work and determination. I set goals and I achieved them, being a go-getter worked in my favour. In our field of work, we are given sales targets which we are expected to meet on a monthly basis. Targets set according to how the counter would’ve performed in the previous year ultimately rounding off to a yearly target. In my first year of being with Elizabeth Arden, my sales performance skyrocketed and I had grown the counter just over and above 60% from the previous year. My performance led me to where I currently am, an Elizabeth Arden Ambassador. What did you do to become a makeup artist? I’ve been trained under Elizabeth Arden as a beauty advisor with the right skills set for a clear understanding of skincare and makeup. However, most of the advanced makeup I practice was self-taught. I believe one can never stop learning therefore, I do dream of someday enrolling in an international makeup institution where I can further my skills. [bctt tweet=”I believe one can never stop learning. – Patience Nkosi (PashyN)” via=”no”] What is the most fulfilling aspect of what you do? Too often we find that we women tend to have a low self-esteem. This may be due to events from their past or present that make us forget to look after the one thing that speaks volumes when we walk through the door, our canvas, the face. A person buys your face before they buy you. It is the reaction a woman shows when she finally get to realises how beautiful she is through my art that’s most fulfilling when it comes to my work. Knowing that I’ve changed one’s perspective about themselves and giving them a dose of confidence in their looks makes my heart complete. It drives me to reach my absolute potential with each client. If you had a time machine and could travel back in time, what would you do differently and what would you do the same? If I had a time machine and could travel back I’d probably believe in and trust myself a little more. I’d use my God-given talents to my advantage as opposed to shying away from them. My teen years were probably the best times of my life and I wouldn’t exchange that for anything, I would relive that time of my life any day. What can we expect from PashyN three years from now? Expect the unexpected. Our ultimate goal at PashyN is to be amongst one of the best leading brands, and with time we can only believe that shall come to pass. Three years, I believe, gives us enough time to build a solid
Mpho Makhafola: You’ll look back on this time and be proud of the woman you became
[bctt tweet=”Mpho Makhafola greatest passion in life is inspiring young women through her writing” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Mpho Makofola is an inspired storyteller and creator of the Young Mothers Series, a platform that grew out of her very interesting and addictive blog, I Am My Own Gift. Through the blog, she has created a safe haven for young mothers to feel accepted and loved. Mpho’s blog in a way validates the worth of young mothers as valuable members of society. It creates a sense of community, belongingness, and sisterhood as well as a safe space for young mothers to share their stories about the joys and hurdles of existing in a world that largely discriminates against them. Tell us about yourself, who is Mpho? Mpho Makhafola is a linguist who studied at the University of Pretoria (South Africa). She is also a blogger and an educator at an all-girls school in Pretoria. Her greatest passions in life include writing and inspiring young women through her blog posts and being surrounded by strong women who in turn inspire and motivate her to be great. Mpho loves a good laugh and is absolutely a girly-girl who loves having her nails did and her face beat 🙂 What is that one tipping point that caused you to create the Young Mothers Series on your blog? And are you yourself a young mum? What inspired the Young Mothers Series was all the young mothers I have the privilege to have met and engaged with. Many if not all of us have a friend or family member who is/was a young mom and I noticed just how negative society is towards these young women and how falling pregnant young has been and is still such a taboo across all races and groups. This really broke my heart because I believe that being a young mom is a challenge in itself. Why add on to that by hiding your pregnancy and loathing oneself just because society is so negative? Why not accept of one of life’s greatest gifts to women, motherhood? So the continued judgement and ostracism of young mothers pushed me to seek these young women out, document their journeys to motherhood and give them a voice to say, “Yes world, I fell pregnant young, but I am still capable of achieving my goals and pushing myself to get my education and so much more. A baby doesn’t mean the end of my life and all that is good in it”. And no, I am not a young mom myself. I initially thought this would make it hard to capture the stories of these young mom’s realistically without watering them down because I “can’t relate”. I really tried by all means to treat each feature as a new experience and always remembering that these young women deserved their truth’s to be shared as raw and beautiful as they are. [bctt tweet=”The Young Mothers Series helps young moms with whatever they are struggling with at the moment” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What is your favourite thing about the blog? It has to be the impact that it has had on strangers, on the featured mommy’s and even on me. Some of the responses I got still get me emotional. I had no idea of the struggles and emotional trauma some of these young moms go through because the world is so unkind to them. I mean some even had family turn against them, partners desert them and literally had no support at all throughout their pregnancies. And I’ve always been so humbled to hear that my blog has resonated with someone or given them hope in knowing that they are not alone. Besides the young mother series, I was also lucky to feature a number of amazing personalities like Fareida Metsileng (pharoahfi), a young poet Thuto Gaasenwe and I also did a blog post for NUK and Artemis brands in relation to the young mother’s series. What obstacles have you overcome in order to be the kind of woman who’s capable of reaching out to uplift other women? I’ve always said that it’s hard being a woman, we go through mountains of struggles and obstacles are constantly put in our way to break us yet we still show unbelievable strength and manage somehow to put on that lipstick and fight on. I’ve had my fair share of challenges, struggled a lot with self-image and body issues, insecurities, relationships and all of that negativity seeped into all areas of my life. My blog started out as a place to vent about my relationship frustrations and how hurt I was at that point. But God had better plans for my hard times and I managed to still heal and share on myself whilst healing women out there who shared some if not all of my sentiments. I also was raised in an underprivileged area so I always felt the need to fit in with friends and be someone I wasn’t, especially in high school. I had to really dig deep to find myself and be comfortable with who I was and where I came from and not be ashamed of myself and blame myself for things I had no control over. So I saw the need for the upliftment of women especially in our personal lives, we are often so ashamed to speak about our hurts. I decided to basically tear myself apart and to share deeply into my life in order to piece other women together one blog post at a time. [bctt tweet=”I saw the need for the upliftment of women especially in our personal lives – Mpho Makhafola” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What inspires you to continue your work every day? It has to be my admiration for women. I am absolutely amazed when I see women pioneering in life and breaking down barriers to achieve and be phenomenal. I just light up inside when I see a fellow sister making waves. And of course, the thought that this blog post I
Tindi Nancy: I am looking forward to promoting self employment among women
[bctt tweet=”Once in a while, a ‘wrong turn’ can end up as a new design – Tindi Nancy” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Tindi Nancy was born in the agricultural town of Eldoret, Kenya. Growing up, Tindi craved for independence and life away from home, so she jumped at the first chance to go to Nairobi for university. It is at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology that she developed an interest in African jewelry and it turned into a side hustle. After graduating, Tindi was not so lucky in getting a job and because she was just sick of the whole job search she decided to grow her side gig into an actual business. It’s been three years since Tindi went full time and she says she has no regrets. Being an entrepreneur has made her grow in a lot of ways and she has also invested in meaningful relationships along the way. You create and supply Maasai tribe jewellery. Can you brief us on the Maasai culture and why jewellery is important to them? The Maasai are found in Kenya and Tanzania. They are known for their colorful beaded jewelry and clothes. Although the world around them have been westernized, they have refused to be influenced. They have stayed true to their traditional beliefs and customs. Women are the ones who make the jewellery and colors used represent something in the community How do you decide what you want to create? It’s all a process of demand and supply. I am always watching out for new trends and l work with my tools to create something similar. Once in a while, a “wrong turn” can end up as a new design. Another way is through customised jewellery, some of our customer’s ideas contribute to a new design. Beyond applying basic techniques, how do you evoke an emotional response to your work? By establishing a relationship with a client. Listening to them and making sure I deliver beyond their expectations. [bctt tweet=”You need to come up with new provocative designs – Tindi Nancy” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] I reckon jewellery making requires patience especially when you are making a piece with small beads. What other attributes are important for a jewellery maker? Creativity and artistry. You need to come up with provocative new designs. As a jewelry artisan, you should also pay attention to detail because you work with small pieces and it’s those small items that affect the whole design or quality. What’s the most valuable lesson you have learnt? Consistency. It takes time to grow and be the best in something. Every failure or trip along the way is an opportunity to improve your skills. You build your network with time, and through your network, you learn the ins and outs of the business, you get to learn from their mistakes and improve their shortcomings. What materials and techniques do you favour? I enjoy working with beads, l love being surrounded by vibrant colors. It is versatile, and I get to put it on almost everything from bags to shoes as well as other accessories. How often do you release new collections? At least four times in a year. What’s your favourite solo outing? I enjoy reading every morning, I spend at least thirty minutes reading. Once in a while, I come across books that make me struggle with the choice of finishing the read or working. It’s always a tough choice. I just finished Trevor Noah’s “Born A Crime” and it was excellent. Every book gives me a new perspective of the world and because l love diversity, I struggle to answer what my favourite genre is. [bctt tweet=”Tindi Nancy’s aim is to give talented Africans a more dignified way of earning money” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] You are launching an online marketplace in May, what are your expectations? I am looking forward to promoting self-employment among women and young people by providing them with marketing services as well as a global platform to sell their handmade products. The aim is to give talented Africans in marginalised areas a more dignified way of earning rather than for them to rely on handouts. They know how to fish, all they need is the hook! On the other hand, this will give consumers a wide range of unique handmade products from across the continent. I am also expecting Africans to support local economies by buying locally made products. When supplying crafts to boutiques, what attributes do you look for? How do you choose which boutiques to supply? The boutiques should be keen on ethical practices and it’s very important that they uphold fair trade values and value the uniqueness of every product. Mostly, they are the ones who come after me, but I have to make sure they are an ethical business and will pay on time and as agreed for the products received. Businesses need to receive their orders on time, on specification and also enjoy profitable price margins. [bctt tweet=”I make sure the price point is profitable both for the business and the artisans – Tindi Nancy” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] As a supplier and artisan, I am very conscious about pricing. I know how it feels when a customer makes an awful offer for an item that took three days to make (earning $5 for a three-day work is insulting) so I make sure the price point is profitable both for the business and the artisans. l also make sure that l supply quality products that are worth more so I take the time to go through the products. My customers have come to terms with that side of me, so when I place an order they go the extra mile of perfecting everything. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Kagiso Madibana: Believe in your product, Create your own hype
[bctt tweet=”Kagiso Madibana driving the change she wants to see with social entrepreneurship” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Kagiso Madibana is a social entrepreneur and a former Chevening Scholar. She was selected as a participant from Botswana for the African Union’s Youth & Gender summit. In September 2016, Mail & Guardian Africa and Gabz FM named her as one of the 50 Batswana Change-makers under 40. Kagiso is a founder/chairperson of Nayang Association. Nayang aids and empowers the underprivileged, in remote areas through a school clothing, shoes, food, and sanitary pad drive. With an MA in Communications and Media from Cardiff University, she has also worked as a Lead Researcher for Botswana with Global Integrity/Mo Ibrahim for their Africa Integrity Indicators study. Before that, Kagiso had worked as a print journalist since 2008, during that time she was selected to join the International Journalist Programme(IJP)and was placed with the Deutsche Welle in Germany. Kagiso was also a part of the Women In News Programme from WAN-IFRA. She owns a small communications company called MD Africa Communications which offers editing and proof-reading services for companies amongst other things. Last year, she self-published a fiction book, “Tales from the Heart of Botswana: Baareng’s Journey” which is available on Amazon and select stores in Botswana. What would you say is the innovative idea behind Nayang Association and starting MD Communications? Nayang and MD Communications were birthed from youth driving the change they wanted to see in their communities. In my case, spearheading the initiative was a chance to get young people involved in contributing to their communities through social work. I also wanted to inspire young people to tell their stories. I wanted us to tell stories that any Motswana or African can relate to. How did you go about growing your “brand” and impact to run a social enterprise and become self-sustaining? At the beginning, Nayang Association was dependent on donations and membership fees for us to meet our mandate. We have since moved from that to intensive fund-raising strategies which require innovative thinking and new approaches to show our growth. [bctt tweet=”Using innovative thinking & new approaches Kagiso Madibana shows the growth of her projects” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] We organize yoga sessions, workshops and hiking sessions in the country’s hottest tourist attractions. We also collaborate with other organisations and youth ventures that want to make a difference in the community. Our biggest challenge in the first few months was consistency, something we could not have due to a shortage of funds but we worked on that and we are trying to find ways of becoming a sustainable entity. What four skills have you found yourself learning frequently since starting your social enterprise and publishing a book? I am learning to become more assertive about public speaking. Also, I am learning how to network strategically and make the right connections for any project that I am undertaking. I have accepted that I don’t know everything and I listen more, especially to people who are in the same industry. I always pick up valuable lessons on how to best improve our everyday operations at Nayang. Finally, I have learnt that delegating tasks and commending the people you work with is important for the growth of your organisation. What challenges have you faced that are unique to your business and writing a book? We had to start our project from scratch with nothing and ask the public to get involved. People are skeptical because we have had scams and a lot of community-based projects have failed due to mismanagement. So initially, it was tough to get the support and have people believe in what we wanted to do. We had to prove ourselves first so that required a great deal of financial sacrifices. [bctt tweet=”We had to start our project with nothing and ask the public to get involved @otwngal” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] As a self-published author, I struggled to get my books into an already fraught reading nation. The reading demographic, especially for fiction books, has changed and I had to adapt. Instead of the traditional bookstores which are only available in towns and cities, I had to take my books to Choppies, a chain store that has a presence in most areas of Botswana. This of course also comes at a cost. In what ways have you diversified your product to suit your market? Especially considering the Botswana context? Nayang plans activities across Botswana as we want to bring attention to the beauty of the country. We use hashtags such as #VisitBotswana #HikeBotswana #Buildingcommunities on social media platforms because we want the average Motswana to know that they are not only contributing to a great cause but also that they are developing a sense of pride about being a Motswana. My book, “Tales from the Heart of Botswana: Baareng’s Journey” is a book of untold stories of hope. Any Motswana who grew up in Botswana is able to relate to the stories and feel a sense of belonging. My intention with the book was to inspire through fiction. Ensuring that the book is available for any Motswana to access, whether you are in Mochudi or Shorobe has been my biggest priority. In both areas, social media and traditional media have been a great platform for me and the team to reach out to the community. This is the main reason why I started the MD Africa Communications company which deals with everything from social media management to Media relations and CSR project management. With running so many projects, what do you do to unwind? I watch Isibaya and every TV show known to man, I see myself as a Shonda Rhimes someday. I look up to Ferguson Films productions as well. Reading is obviously a hobby! I also love travelling, hiking and adventure sports. Some people want to write a book or start-up social enterprises, how would you advise them? Believe in your product and create your own hype! Start, that’s always the hardest part. Funding should never be a
Second Stop on the Delicious Naija Food Tour? Ibadan
Delicious Naija is back with a trip to Ibadan, ‘the city at the edge of the savannah’ – capital of Oyo State. After a visit to Mapo Hall for a good dose of history, Bunmi is off to visit with her good friend Saka. Yes the very same warm and funny Nollywood actor & comedian Saka is Bunmi’s first host. They visit the lush Agodi Park & Garden and then move on to have a meal that is always in the same sentence with Ibadan. You guessed right: Amala! But the trip isn’t complete without making a meal traditional to Ibadan and so the MAGGI Star of this episode, Grace Obagunwa, teaches us how to make the local Ishapa soup. This mother, wife and teacher tells us the perks of being on good terms with your mother-in-law, one of which is learning traditional recipes like Pounded Yam and Ishapa Soup! The food journeys of Delicious Naija can always be watched at 7:30pm Saturday on Africa Magic (Family), at 5pm Sunday on NTA and at 5:30pm Friday on Arewa24. But if you can’t get to these, that’s okay – there’s Facebook, Instagram & Youtube to keep you updated! Go watch! Sponsored post
Fatsani Banda: Self-ship is the enemy of leadership
[bctt tweet=”Fatsani Banda’s passion comes from the desire to leave the world better than she found it” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Fatsani Banda is a young woman carving a path for herself in the world of global health. Born and raised in Malawi, Fatsani studied journalism and worked in a number of organisations before gaining a fellowship at the Global Health Corps (GHC). During her GHC fellowship year, Fatsani worked as a Procurement and Logistics Coordinator at Partners in Health stationed in Malawi. She helped manage a $500,000+ budget for the purchase and delivery of clinical items as well as the construction of new surgical wards. In partnership with the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, Fatsani helped implement an electronic stock management system for tracking drugs and essential commodities. Following her fellowship, Fatsani remained with Partners in Health Malawi as an Operation Manager for two years. When Ebola hit Liberia, Fatsani was spurred to action and joined the Partners in Health team in Liberia, working as an Operations Manager to support in strengthen the country’s health systems. In a former life, you worked at a bank. We’re always inspired by bold career moves, but tell us -why did you make the switch to global health? My main drive in life comes from the desire to leave the world better than I found it. Global health is a platform for me to give back to this world. Only healthy people can contribute to the development of society – even those who work in the bank have to be healthy to render their services. [bctt tweet=”Global health is a platform for me to give back to this world – Fatsani Banda” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] When most of us think about health, we think about doctors and nurses. How are you leading efforts to solve global health challenges despite not having any medical training? When I stepped into the health sector as a Global Health Corps fellow in Malawi in 2012, I had a similar perception. Over the past five years, it has become very clear to me that factors beyond medical training are important determinants of health and access to healthcare. [bctt tweet=”Fatsani Banda shows that you can have a career in health despite having no medical training” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] There are remote areas in developing countries that have a good number of physicians, but patients still do not get the essential drugs they need to prevent and treat disease because there is no functioning system to make this medicine accessible. This is where I fit in. My job is to collaborate with medical personnel and vendors to bridge these gaps and strengthen supply chain systems. In the aftermath of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, many people moved away from the region. What motivated you to leave your home country of Malawi to help with relief efforts in Liberia, one of the hardest hit countries? Just as I did nothing to earn decent health services throughout my life, those born in Liberia with a dearth of health resources similarly did nothing to deserve such conditions. Perhaps because of my undeserved good fortune, I feel an obligation and a desire to help rectify inequity. It’s been so rewarding to serve the people of Liberia, whose health system was in shambles before the intervention by Partners in Health (PIH). The Ebola situation has calmed down, but you’re still working on rebuilding health systems. What does a typical day look like for you? Most developing (and even some developed) countries have entrenched health problems, and Liberia is not spared. Working with PIH to strengthen the health system in Liberia has been quite thrilling in many ways. On a daily basis, we see our interventions impacting, and often times saving, people’s lives. We provide modern healthcare options and supply essential medicine in communities which are far from the capital. What has been the most rewarding aspect of your work as a health equity leader so far? What’s been the most challenging? Progressive service delivery is what makes me happy. As part of PIH’s Operations department, I work with a team that is the hub of all functionalities of the organization. Seeing patients getting the lifesaving drugs they need in the rural facilities that we support really keeps my heart at peace! The flip side of this is the challenging part –Liberia’s road network, especially in rainy season, is very poor and is often the cause of delays in operations. Accomplishing our planned tasks becomes hard in this situation, but we have to carry on. It seems like your work, by nature, is very collaborative. What it’s like to join efforts with people across sectors and borders to improve health outcomes? The greatest ideas are the ones that are dreamed up by teams of people. When two or more people gather and brainstorm around a challenge, the probability of getting an excellent outcome is high. [bctt tweet=”Fatsani Banda: The greatest ideas are the ones that are dreamed up by teams of people” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] I find the nature of my job very thrilling as it involves cooperating with other people who have different perspectives from mine. Together we think up and implement solutions to the difficult challenge of strengthening the health systems of Liberia. You also supervise and mentor other young health equity leaders who are following in your path. What’s the best piece of advice you share with them? Everybody has a role to play in this work. Title and rank do not matter as much as people think –anyone can step up as a leader and come up with an idea. The supervisors and managers in any work environment depend highly on their subordinates. I usually share with my team that we need bottom-up efforts, collaboration, and a commitment to long-term change to be successful. The world feels very chaotic right now, and new health and development challenges are emerging every day. What motivates you to keep working for a brighter future? We all hope for the best, but the
Tanaka Nombulelo Mandidi: My spirit is awakened with every opportunity to remind someone what their beautiful is
[bctt tweet=”From plaiting hair in high school to celebrating African beauty, Tanaka Nombulelo Mandidi” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Tanaka Nombulelo Mandidi is the creative mind behind the Cape Town-based Slay Studios, which is building its reputation in providing quality affordable products and service offerings that celebrate African beauty and heritage. She is driven by helping people take their dreams and turn them into business concepts. She is a makeup and hair enthusiast who loves to team her passions with social entrepreneurship. Tanaka considers wine her first love (apart from her husband), hates hiking and loves having a good laugh. What was the spark that led you to start Slay Studios Cape Town? I’ve always loved hair. I’ve been plaiting hair since high school and as time went on (through Youtube gurus) I taught myself more intricate styles and methods. In 2015, I had a near death experience that made me reflect on how I was spending my time. I had a successful career, was married to the love of my life and adulting was finally making sense. Yet something in the deepest depth of my core was missing. I felt a joy in my heart every time someone asked me about hair, makeup or self-awareness. And before I knew it, I had resigned from my job and stepped into what I believe God was calling me to. Society has taught us that different is not ok. That there’s a standard of beauty we should all aspire to. That #proAfro means #Antiweave. There are so many distorted truths that have been sold to women of colour and its time those truths are unravelled. That’s what Slay Studios is. A place where who you are is perfect. [bctt tweet=”Tanaka Nombuleleo Mandidi’s Slay Studios is a place where who you are is perfect” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What services do you offer your clients? At the Weave Bar, we specialise in all things lace -closures, frontals, wigs and customisation. We talk through exactly what the client wants so everyone walks away from the experience satisfied. Our premium virgin hair is sourced directly from India and undergoes a UV treatment before being retailed to our customers as Slay, our hairline. Currently, our services include bridal makeup or special event makeovers. Our Designer Accesories include our #eyecandy, #armcandy, #scentcandy and #clutchcandy collections. At the heart of what we do is the Slay Foundation. 10% of sales from our services and accessories go into the foundation. Sometimes we makeover young girls, or wash and care for a homeless mother’s hair. Our mission is to make a difference in one person’s life a day. Why Cape Town? It’s very hard to find a clean, modern space where African people can get their hair done without compromise. We’re so used to bad service that its normal to not like your hair when you leave. Cape Town has so much room for improvement in services provided to young, modern black women. [bctt tweet=”Tanaka Mandidi: Cape Town can improve in services provided to young, modern black women” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Our next target cities are Johannesburg and Harare in Zimbabwe -the latter being our attempt to staying close to home and bringing change in our home community. How has the journey been from when you decided to open up shop to now? Start up a business they said. It will be a walk in the park they said. THEY LIED. When you work for a company you’re hired to perform a specific task. With a start up, you are EVERYTHING to your business. You are the accountant, marketing director, lawyer, and stylist. Your business requires you to fulfill all those roles (or hire someone who will) for the cogs to move. And that’s where its so easy to drop the ball. It took about a year for me to figure out what I was doing and a good 5 months after resigning for me to open up the storefront. Some days are amazing. Some days aren’t. Those amazing days keep me going. Planning and vision are also very important. The details? – not so much. When the small stuff faces you, you make a quick decision and move on. The key word there is moving on. Where do you see Slay in the future? My dream is for Slay to grow, influencing fashion, beauty and having an impact on social issues. Our *top secret* in-house makeup line for women of colour is under construction. We plan to expand into the African accessories platform and exclusive virgin hair extensions line. My hopes are to interact with different women and inspire them to own their identity. [bctt tweet=”My hopes are to interact with different women and inspire them to own their identity” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] We’re hoping to grow our team and move into a bigger space to allow for content production, hosting makeup workshops and development classes. With growing sales, we’ll have more contributions to our social impact ventures and be able to bring beauty to more women in the Western Cape and one day, all over Africa. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Are you a pain to work with?
In every workplace, there is the good, the bad and the ugly! Some colleagues are as sweet as pie, fun as bubbles, but others can be a pain like you’re having your period cramps all over again! So, how do you know if it is you who is the difficult person or if the difficult person is someone else? Before you start pointing fingers, take this quiz and find out the kind of person you’re at work. [viralQuiz id=10]
The super-basic practical introduction to digital marketing
[bctt tweet=”Digital marketing works, if you’re ready to make it work for you start here @Wildfusion” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Digital marketing is such a catchphrase today that it parades the Internets with a long line of acronyms: ROI, CAC, SEM, SEO, CPC, and so on. It gets overwhelming. But beyond all these acronyms, there is real value to it. According to a 2016 independent research [PDF] by Wild Fusion Digital Center and Pan-Atlantic University School of Media and Communication, 17% of surveyed Nigerian marketing executives will spend over 40% of their marketing budget on digital marketing in the next five years. And the prominence of digital marketing isn’t limited to Nigeria or letting off. The Content Marketing Insitute and MarketingProf’s 2016 survey [PDF] shows that 51% of marketers expect to see digital marketing budget increase in 2017. [bctt tweet=”51% of marketers expect a digital marketing budget increase in 2017, are you one of them?” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] People are jumping on this bandwagon … The very obvious deduction is that digital marketing works. But what is it, really? To understand it, a breakdown of its component parts is in order. At the core of digital marketing is “marketing.” And at the heart of marketing is “promotion”. Digital is simply about connected electronic devices. With an eye on this, digital marketing happens every time you use connected electronic devices to reach people with your content, product, business or something else. So, is your business on social media? Yes? Then you are doing digital marketing. That’s basic. So what’s all the fuss about? Social media presence, though, doesn’t begin to touch the tip of digital marketing iceberg. It is a new type of marketing, but it expresses itself in sophisticated ways. This is a big, winding, fantastical rabbit hole and later in this series, we’ll tell you how far that hole goes. For now, what’s the fuss about it? This is no easy question to answer, but one way to understand why businesses have caught on to the idea is to inspect the benefits of digital marketing (compared to legacy marketing). Digital Marketing Vs. Legacy Marketing Top on the list is that digital marketing is much easier to start. It used to be that to market your business for the largest impact, you needed to sign an agency or have a contract with a big media corporation. Now, all you need is a functioning AdWords account and you are well on your way to maximum visibility. With the tracking capability (called analytics) baked into digital marketing, it’s easier to measure your success across different stages of your marketing. Marketing is a cumulative process and not every marketing campaign immediately leads to sales. Digital marketing lets you see what progress you are making. This is not possible with legacy marketing and you’ll often give up your marketing effort in the face of what you regard as a failure. You can make your promotion more targeted with digital marketing. If you are selling to millennial males earning N100,000 per month with interest in travel and photography, you can speak directly to them. Using search engine marketing (a type of digital marketing), you can speak to them when they are ready to interact with you -when they are searching for services like yours. It’s almost like magic. With legacy marketing, all you have to go on are blurry guesses of audience delineation. Then there is the fact that digital marketing is non-linear. Instead, it’s a two-way conversation, which leads to more authentic dialogues between you and your audience. There are more benefits of digital marketing than we can exhaust in a basic guide. So, let’s get to see how far that rabbit hole goes like we promised. [bctt tweet=”If your business is on social media, you’re already doing digital marketing but there’s more” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Digital marketing channels Digital marketing is more sophisticated than social media presence and the many expression of this marketing movement proves it. Here are some of them: SEO – Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is when you improve the visibility of your business, product or website in search engine results. This process involves finding and using the right keywords in your content and copy. Email marketing – This happens when you use emails to keep your customers engaged with your brand. For instance, sending new offers or useful content. Content marketing – Creating and publishing content that stimulates interest in your product. Pay per click – Pay per click (PPC) involves paying search engines (such as Google, Bing and Yahoo) to generate direct traffic to your business or product. PPC serves up your product or business when people search for keywords related to your business. Social media marketing – Social media marketing is an extension of content marketing with an organic always-on social dialogue as seen on social media. Getting social media right requires investment in the right engagement strategy. The starting point is a social media calendar. Download a customizable free social media calendar for Nigeria here. Other channels are display ads, affiliate marketing and mobile advertising (including SMS, Ringback Tune and Lockscreen Ads) There are many more sides to this. Alas, this article is a basic guide. The purpose of this piece is to be a jump off point for your interest in digital marketing. What next? The great thing about digital marketing is that anyone can do it. All you need is the skill. And all the skills you need already exist online in one form or another. You can start now. — This article was written by Gbenga Onalaja. Gbenga is a Content Strategist at Wild Fusion, Wild Fusion is Africa’s leading Digital Marketing Agency.