Intriguing! Unending Opportunities on Social Media

A day or few hours can't cover the abundance of opportunities on social media, but we'd cover some major aspects today.

Our focus is to look at opportunities we could tap into on social media (not just making money alone).

In recent years, social media has emerged as a powerful tool to use to get immense opportunities at your fingertips,make money, market yourself and your products. Social media is networking on a global scale, listening to and looking for opportunities.

For you to really maximize the opportunities on social media or make money online,
you must be enthusiastic about interacting with people, you must be able to manage major social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+... In that order!

To maximize opportunities laying on social media, you need to start updating your idea bank.

Never stop learning. The more you learn, the more wonderful opportunities you will be exposed to.

That's why I recommend you join futurelearn.com, edx.com, shawacademy.com and Alison.com for free courses that will boost your skills and in that way, your profitability.

Currently, am undergoing training on Digital Marketing on shawacademy.com, for FREE.

Why online marketing? Currently, online (or digital) marketing is a big deal. You can be in the comfort of your home, making millions. All you do is market brands, companies or products and get paid right in the comfort of your home.

By the year 2020, it's been estimated that all businesses will be online.

Then, businesses will need competent hands to market them online. You don't want to miss out on that.

I remember some few years back. Say about three years or so, the first ways I made money online was on BBM.

I had more than a thousand people on my list. I market on BBM there, by sending broadcasts and helping people put up their company/businesses images or graphics as my display picture.

Then, for each broadcast, I charge #500 recharge card, depending on type of business. Ridiculous yeah?

Well, that was then...

Fast forward to now, if you need me to do you a broadcast or put up a Dp for you, its something something oo.

Earlier I was talking of knowing how to manage social media platforms.

If you can manage social media accounts well and good, you are in for success.

A lot of businesses need social media managers and are on the lookout for the best hands.

If as a business owner, you don't have the time or experience to manage your brand or business online presence, talk to or outsource to professionals who would do it for you excellently.

Let's take a look at the major social media platforms I talked of; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+...

 1) Facebook: Facebook has over 1.3 billion users from around the world.

There's a specific place for business on Facebook, the Facebook page.

Facebook pages creates awareness, generate excitement for campaigns or use as hub for your customers. By and large, Facebook is the best platform to harness opportunities on social media.

2) Twitter: Twitter is an open social network with over 240 million users.

People converse in short messages (tweets) to connect with individuals, celebs and brands.

One thing about Twitter is that the profiles are the same for everyone, no separate profile for businesses, like we have Page for Facebook.

If you are not on Twitter yet, you need special deliverance. :)

This is 2015 for crying out loud.

Even as a secondary school student, you can use Twitter to find contents that will help you in school.

3) Instagram: I did a post about Instagram on my LinkedIn account; https://touch.www.linkedin.com/?sessionid=1456287746170975&as=false&rs=false&can=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Elinkedin%2Ecom%2Fin%2Fsannihussein#stream-detail/publishArticle-article:7516336915883533702-activity:6071975170183045120

Someone asked why I think Instagram matters a lot.

Instagram recently turned 5 and is getting more and more popular as times goes on.

It has introduced advertising options, upgraded its video and has a user base you don't want to leave out for your business.

1) Huge, rapidly growing platform: Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform for 2015, with over 2.5billion likes from half a billion active users. This is a 4-times growth over last two years.

(Social Media London statistics).

Over 80 millions of photos are posted daily... That's a lot of salad, if you ask me.

You wondering what next year will be like? Explosive!

And you not on Instagram? Or your business is not on Instagram? OK!

2) Young and Engaging: Instagram's user base is perhaps the most friendly of all social media platforms.

53% of Instagram users are younger than 29.

These set of people check Instagram multiple times a day (on an average, 3times a day).

The other percentage check at least once a week.

Wonder why fashion stores and ecommerce business want to 'die' on Instagram? 

3) Effective offerings for advertisers: 2015 has seen brands spend $600 million on Instagram, with a projected ad spend of $2 billion in 2017.

Instagram's highly visual feed is perfect for showcasing video posts, with posts generating 100% traffic from mobile devices.

The 'Explore' feature makes finding content very easy.

And its direct messaging service is getting cooler, it might challenge WhatsApp, WeChat and SnapChat as time goes on.

LinkedIn: This is the professional network with over 250 million members. With LinkedIn, you grow your network and explore career opportunities.

LinkedIn is the best place to show your expertise.

I remember clinching a contract from LinkedIn.

Because of how I use LinkedIn.

Need I say at this point that if you are willing to make money on social media, you need to position yourself as a true professional and thought leader.

Don't use abbreviations or these annoying acronyms in writing everything on your post.

Learn to write good, well structured, grammatical-blunders-free statements or sentences.

Know what to post and how to post it.

Now, if you are willing to make money by managing social media accounts for brands and companies, get trained, get a certificate and write proposals to businesses or brands or individuals. Position yourself well on social media and watch as people come to you for social media management.

These are some opportunities you shouldn't miss out on social media or on the internet:-

1) Add AikiNigeria on WhatsApp-: +2348177495045

Send a message, indicating you'd love to get opportunities and see as you get opportunities posted daily to you. 

2) Join Facebook groups that are of your interest.

I recommend joining YALI Network Face2Face.

YALI - in full, Young African Leaders Initiative is an initiative of President Barack Obama to connect young African leaders.

There are a lot of opportunities on YALI, both in entrepreneurship and leadership.

Join the Facebook group: https://mobile.facebook.com/groups/729414073806303?view=info&refid=18

Then there's SmartBusiness community:- https://mobile.facebook.com/groups/1190287324318148?notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1475493728442105&ref=m_notif&refid=7

And there's Ennavator's hub, https://mobile.facebook.com/groups/394585010735744?notif_t=group_activity&notif_id=1475485517228622&ref=m_notif

Still on Facebook groups, join Facebook.com/groups/AdreSocial to get tips on how to supercharge your social media presence and also how to make money on social media.

There are still a lot more I'll give as time goes on.

3) Do virtual assistance.

Visit, justfrom5k.com, fiverr.com, dorojobs.com and get paid to assist others in their tasks, from five thousand naira and above.

6) Get paid to fill surveys.

These are some you should check out;

www.myvoiceafrica.com

www.answeredinsight.co.za/

7) Teach others online.

If you are good with a course or subject, teach others and make money.

Visit tuteria.com

8) Start a blog.

Establish solid online presence and let investors or advertisers come to you.

Don't you wonder how Linda Ikeji is able to buy a mansion from the proceeds of blogging?

On making money through blogging, you need to invest a lot in it. Take courses and master classes to know how to blog the right way.

9) Earn money as a Social Media Manager for brands.

Have mentioned earlier how managing brands is important.

Did I forget to say when I was in school then (Lagos State Polytechnic), I was making small money on Twitter as a student.

I was paid token for managing some brands, especially non-profits.

All these boosts my CV and brings in recommendations.

Then, together with my friends, the Twitter cartels (as we call ourselves) will always make hashtags trend.

And this brought us investors and brands, wanting us to hype them on Twitter.

Today, successfully, we are all social media managers for brands and making our money.

10) Continue to search for opportunities.

Open your eyes to opportunities.

Never relent in using Google.

I remember discovering canva.com through Google.

With canva, you can design simple graphics.

This helps a lot, especially if you are managing brands online or you use social media for your business.

You know you need to add graphics to your post for visibility and more reach.

With canva, you don't have to use the service of a graphics designer, except when you need a very solid graphic design.

Opportunities on social media are like buses, there's always another one coming.

But please note, don't be so busy looking around for opportunities that you miss the one right in front of you.

Take it one at a time, any opportunity you feel you can tap into now, start with that before tapping into others.

Also, you need to Invest in social media now and expect returns.

Attend master classes and conferences on social media and related issues, either free or paid.

Get all required training and skills.

For you to maximise opportunities on social media, you need to have a smartphone. A laptop is an added advantage.

If getting subscription is a problem, find means to solve that problem.

I believe as times goes on, subscribing for internet service in Nigeria will be very cheap and reliable.

With this I round up my session:-

Be Determined. Be Focused.

Consistency is key. Work hard (if you are just beginning on sociL media), but work smart when you are getting established.

And dont forget to talk to God.

The 'G' factor is important to run this RACE.