On Tuesday, DHL delivered my first smartwatch, Pebble Watch.
image:connectedly.com
image:feelgrafix.com
image: help.getpebble.com

 It shows me an incoming phone call. And I can pick or cut the call, right from my watch.
image: thenextweb.com

 I get to read new SMS on it.
image: appadvice.com

 I can read my Twitter timeline, replies and post a tweet right from it.
image: help.getpebble.com
It tracks my daily activities, like sleep and walking, and shows me a report of how many steps I have taken that day and how many hours I slept for. 

 It has an alarm that monitors your sleep cycle, wakes you only when you will feel refreshed and not in the middle of your deep sleep cycle. I used it this morning, set it to wake me between 4:45 and 5:15. It automatically selects the appropriate time.

 I also get to read my mails, see my calendar and get meeting notifications on the watch. It can connect to an online map (Google Map or Apple Maps) to show you where you are, the direction to where you are going and how far you are away from your destination.

 It can also help you find your phone. It will make it start ringing loudly whenever you feel you're not sure where you put it in the room. 

 It shows you your phone battery level too, so you can know if it is time to charge your phone or know if someone has unplugged your phone.
image: youtube.com

All in all, it's an amazingly cool smart watch!


If you are in a gathering or meeting addressing as little as three people you should be careful what you say and do, someone might put the video of your speech on Facebook and you will end up having more than an audience of three. The colleague you made a crude joke about in the speech will see it. The people you didn't allow to join the meeting will finally put the entire meeting under a microscope.

 We no longer live in a world with privacy. Say something not expected and you'll land yourself an infamous spot on Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and people's blogs. As long as there is a camera in the room, be it a TV camera or a phone camera, you could as well be speaking to the entire world. There is no more private meeting. And a meeting's audience is no longer just the people invited to the meeting.
image:leadershipmaxllc.com

 I think it all began with the "Oga at the top" interview. Suddenly people began taking interest in recording everything and posting them online. There is now a journalist everywhere. Say something unexpected or do something unusual and the world might know about it tomorrow. Whatever you don't want your entire world to learn about, don't say it in a room where people have their phones with them.

 If you are at a shopping mall and rudely treated by the cashier, don't raise a scene. The video that would surface online the next day won't have the beginning it would only cover the drama you did. Whatever you do, always know that someone who doesn't care about your privacy is probably filming you and will let the world or your world know about things you never intended them to know. 

 It is the new reality in Nigeria. The largest TV station is now YouTube, the most read newspapers are now Facebook and Twitter, and everyone with a phone is now a journalist. And like in traditional media, what sells most is still scandal. So make sure that if you will be in a scandal, let there be no phones around.
Last month I sold a $25 iTunes gift card to an online buyer. Then he sent me an email saying the code in it was already used. I tried it out on my iTunes store account and it loaded my account successfully. Since it had loaded on my account, I had to buy him another one. So I sent him another $25 iTunes gift card. Then for four days I got no reply. I sent him follow-up mails to ask if it worked, as it was load and pay transaction. He pays me only after successfully using the card. So on day 5 I loaded the card on my iTunes account and almost vowed never to sell him a gift card again or I make him pay first before I sell him anything again. Then he replied my mail. I got him another card and this time he replied that it worked and paid me. But in the end I had bought $75 worth of iTunes gift card and loaded $50 I never intended buying.

Two days ago, I was going through the iTunes movie store. A lot of the action movies were on sale at very reduced prices. I bought three, and Fast and Furious 6 was one of them. I spent the most part of Sunday/Monday night downloading them. And yesterday, in between and after the full day training class I had (on Easter Monday!) I watched the movie. I consider it the best action movie I have watched in a long time. I even learned a few things that I would be sharing with you today.
image: chicagonow.com

 1. You are only good at what you do.
A lot of times we feel we are good at something just because we think a lot about it. We confuse thinking with competence. We feel we can run GTBank better than Segun Agbaje. We feel we could have done better than Goodluck Jonathan. Not because we have any solid experience running a big company or leading millions of people. But because we have thought hard and long about it. It’s like believing you can race like Brian or Dominic just because you think a lot about racing and have Asphalt 8 on your phone.
The only way you can be good at anything is to do it. And if you want to very good, do it on a level others don’t get to. It is the one thing I have in my favour. By betting my entire livelihood on my competence in Excel I have put myself in a situation where I can only become very good at Excel. I now see more things I need to learn in Excel now than I saw when I started out last year. I thought I knew almost all about Excel last year, today I am convinced I cannot know all or close to all about Excel. But the part I do know, I know extremely well and make magic with it.

 2. You can be good and rich
There is this embedded thinking in our society that you either have to go after money or you go after skills, that you can’t have both. If after university you get a low paying job, you simply say you are in it for the skills/experience. If you get a job with Chevron, people say you are in it for the money.
The truth is you can be on a path for both skills and money. And that is the main reason people become consultants or set up a consulting company. They take that skill they have and try to make a killing from it. If you are a great talker, you can become a professional speaker and make more than any one person or company can pay you. And if you enjoy driving at break-neck speed, you can go into professional/amateur car racing. All I am saying is you can make a lot of money from what you are good at, you don’t have to give up your passion to make money.

 3. Have a code
Let there be something you are known for. Dominic’s code was family. Everyone knew he would do anything for the family. It was both his weakness and strength. It made him highly dependable and also vulnerable. The truth is we can’t be everything to everyone. At every point we all have what we live for (or value) and that is also our Achilles’ heel. The problem is if we are constantly changing it, then we don’t have a code. If we are constantly changing our values we will soon be of no value to anyone. And it is the main reason to have a code. Be clear about your values and stick to them.
My values are sincerity and extreme competence. You might hate me for my bad people skills and poor communications skills but you will always know that if you want a straight-forward person to deliver you the best job possible you can count on me.

And those are the three lessons I gleaned from watching Fast and Furious 6.
It seems I will be on TV next week. Channels TV. I will keep you all posted.

 Also today I will be getting my first smartwatch. It’s the Pebble Smartwatch. I had ordered it last week after I lost the watch I spent my first big Excel job money on.


Social media is increasingly becoming a platform of choice in building a reputable brand and a strong influence. It is a family of websites and applications that enable users to create and share content they find interesting and build an online community. It started as a way of helping individuals build a social network but businesses now use it to connect with their customers and reach new markets.

The major social media sites are:

  1. Blogs
  2. Facebook
  3. Twitter
  4. YouTube
  5. LinkedIn
  6. Google+
  7. Instagram
  8. Pinterest
  9. Tumblr
  10. Vine

Of the ten major social media sites the first five – Blogs, Facebook, Twitter , YouTube and LinkedIn – are most popular with businesses and professionals seeking to build their brand and grow their influence in their targeted market.
Active users on the major social media sites (March 2015)

According to Social Media Examiner’s 2014 Social Media Marketing report that surveyed over 2800 marketers worldwide on how they use social media to grow and promote their businesses:

  1. 92% indicated that social media plays a vital role in their business growth and promotion strategy,
  2. 68% use blogging to create an active community around their brand and build customer loyalty
  3. 28% are planning on using more of podcasting to reach new markets
  4. Facebook and LinkedIn were voted the two most important social networks for growing businesses,
  5. Original and value-packed content are the most important piece of growing a business’ online reputation


The report also revealed that having an active social media presence leads to increased exposure for the business and help build a loyal fan base.
Benefits of social media marketing (>2800 respondents)


Our Solution

We provide big brands a human made comprehensive report of their social media strategy and influence. It is different from software generated mass-produced reports that most other providers provide. Our solution is by a leading expert with the industry knowledge and Nigerian social media trend knowledge that he brings to bear in giving your company a very in-depth personalized report that shows how well your social media strategy is doing compared to industry average, the detailed analytics of your social media activities and relevant recommendations.

Currently, we only provide this service for companies with an already active and well managed social media marketing. If you meet this requirement, you can email dashboard@urbizedge.com for a sample.

image: ou.org
Perfection is simply when you have nothing to remove. Like a diamond, you only get it when all the impurities have been removed. And I believe it applies in the same way to our lives. In our pursuit of perfection, we shouldn't aim to add to our lives but to remove what shouldn't be there. The impurities. The aim is to be able to look at your life and see that there is nothing there that you will want to do away with. That is perfection.

According to Leonardo da Vinci, the ultimate sophistication is simplicity. It is harder to get rid of the junks and impurities in our lives than to add all those surface beauty we bother about. Whenever you think of a perfect life as owning a Ferrari, or earning millions monthly, or having a luxurious house; you are only thinking of wealth and not perfection. Perfection is when you have a life that is not weighed down by unnecessary baggage, a life that is beautifully simple, a refined life, a life that is motivated from within and not from external possessions.

For some of us, having a perfect life means living on our own terms. Getting rid of strong external influences that try to steer our lives. I fall under that category, and it is why I decided to work for myself than risk being downsized out of job again. Losing one's job is a very strong external influence, and a terrible one. It has happened to me once and even though I got another job the next month, I never recovered from it. It's the main reason I tell myself almost daily that I just have to make this entrepreneurial thing work. Living life on my own terms matter more to me than wealth. Knowing that I haven't left any potential source of negative disruption in my life that I could have fixed gives me fulfillment.

Getting wealth and stuffs can be learned and attained regardless of what path one follows but achieving a life that is full of only the things you want in it requires strictly following a particular path. The path of self-actualization. Being only what you want to be. It focuses on being and not having. It stresses the need for self-discovery and being true to oneself. It is the path we all most follow in pursuit of perfection.

A lot of us who have blogs and websites have Google Analytics set-up to track our website traffic but very few of us use the information it provides to measure the health of our website and have a deeper knowledge of user behaviour on website.

 In today's post I will be explaining the main activities Google Analytics help you track and how you can build a simple dashboard to generate an insightful report that you just need to set the date period to use another time.

 First, here is the explanation of the main activities to watch for on your website:
  1. Users. This is the number of people who have been visiting the blog. It is often measured
    over a standard period of time, usually monthly or weekly.
  2. Visits. Also known as Sessions. It is a record of every unique browsing session a user
    generates on the blog. So users generate visits and because they might come back tomorrow
    or another time, there are usually more visits than users.
  3. Pageviews. For every visit a user makes he might go to one or more pages on the blog. This
    is tracked as pageviews. So users generate visits where they view one or more pages on the
    blog.
  4. Bounce Rate. When we visit an amazing house we often checkout all the rooms and corners of the house but when we visit an unpleasant house we try to leave as soon as we can without visiting the rooms in the house. In the social media world the way to know if people consider your house an amazing home is by tracking the bounce rate. It tracks the percentage of people who leave without visiting another page on your website. It can be caused by either the design of the website or the content of the website. It is one of the metrics most vital to making strategic plans in optimizing a blog.
  5. Page Speed. This is a measure of how fast the website loads on a typical internet connection. It is believed that a relatively slow to load website will not be considered amazing to users and they might not even wait for it to load completely before they leave (causing high bounce rate).
  6. Session Duration. This measures how long people stay on the website before leaving for another website. It reflects the level of connection the blog has with the users. The more intimately affected by the users the more time they spend reading a lot of content on the website and visiting as many pages as they can. This is another strategically vital metric.
  7. Source of Visits. This reports where people come from – from clicking a link about the website on Twitter, or clicking a Facebook post about the blog or from LinkedIn, or from an email campaign, or by clicking on a Google search result that links to the blog, or by typing the website address into their browser (same as having the blog bookmarked). This helps to measure the impact of any campaign to increase the website traffic. It also helps to identify major sources of visits that should be focused on for improved results.
  8. Location of Users. This reports the countries and cities people visit the blog from. It shows where the most attention to the blog is coming from – users in Lagos, Abuja or New York. It can also help drive strategic plans and event promotion to users.
  9. Top Keywords. This shows what people search for on Google that returns results the link to the blog. It shows the top search terms. It reflects the words and phrases people associate with the website.
  10. Top Pages. This reports the most visited pages on the website, the pages that are most popular. It is a very important metric as it shows what type of contents generate great results. And it shows the pages that you can put more adverts in and make announcements on.
  11. Inbound Links. This shows a listing of the websites that link back to the website. It shows the websites that have interest in what you share on your blog and are referring people back to your blog. The more inbound links a website have the better its online ranking.
So how do you set up a simple dashboard on Google Analytics to track all these?

Not hard at all. Log in to your Google Analytics account. Click on the website or blog you want to analyze.


Click on Dashboard and New Dashboard


A new dashboard setup page will come on. Set the dashboard name and select Starter Dashboard.


This will give you the simple dashboard that is useful from the start.

The great thing about is that you can set the time period to report for and you can also export the report as a PDF file.





Finally, you can add more activities (metrics) to measure. Just click on Add Widget.



Select the type of widget and set the metric/activity you want to measure.


I have found this a very convenient way to analyse websites from their Google Analytics page rather than exporting the raw data to Excel and making charts in Excel. I can have everything done right there on Google Analytics and just refresh to update for a new period/month.

Now adding widgets can be a little confusing with the many metrics listed and the widget display type options. I can help you with some general tips.
  • The most important metrics you can add to the basic ones the dashboard has done for you if you are not selling an item on your blog are pageviews by location, pageviews by keyword and pageviews by source/medium. Select either a Pie or Bar. Set the first metric to Pageviews and the second to keyword or location or source.
  • Geomap is also good. Try it with pageviews and users.
  • Timeline is like a line chart. It's the way most of the default charts on Google Analytics are displayed.

A lot of you have requested for the practice-along files for the YouTube Excel Training videos (here's the link to the YouTube Excel Training videos). So I have decided to put the practice files all up here in one place.

First, we do a monthly very intensive and business relevant Excel training that wouldn't cost you too much. If that works better for you, you should register for it here or just read participant's feedback: Best Excel Training in Nigeria

 This month's training is coming up on the 17th and 18th, April 2015. There is a special 30% discount given already.

Video List and Practice-along File
Below are the YouTube Excel training videos link and the practice-along files.

Video 1: Introduction to the Excel Training and Trainer
Practice File 1: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo1

Video 2: How Excel handles different data types
Download the companion file here: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo2

Video 3: Data consistency, starting with the end in view
Download the companion file here: http://bit.do/ExcelVideo3

Video 4: Building Datasheets that can scale
Download the companion file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo4

Video 5: Sorting in Excel 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo5

Video 6: Filtering in Excel
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo6

Video 7: Data Cleaning in Excel 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo7

Video 8: Data Formatting in Excel
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo8

Video 9: Making Charts in Excel
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo9

Video 10: Pivot Table, Pivot Chart and PowerPivot in Excel
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo10

Video 11: Excel Training -- Business Data Analysis, part 1
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo11 

Video 12: Excel Training -- Business Data Analysis, part 2 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo12

Video 13: Power Excel Functions
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo13

Video 14: Protecting Workbook; Protecting Worksheet and formatting for Printing in Excel
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo15

Video 15: Named Range, Goal Seek, Scenario and Solver in Excel 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo14

Video 16: Creative Excel Features/Use
No Practice File

Video 17: Excel Web Query   
No Practice File

Video 18: Mail Merge
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo18 

Video 19: Creative Excel Use
No Practice File

Video 20: Excel Keyboard Shortcuts
Download the well compiled keyboard shortcuts by Exceljet: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo20  

Video 21: Data Visualization in Excel 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo21

Video 22: Excel Reports And Presentation
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo22

Video 23: Excel Macros (intro and small project)
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo23  

Video 24: Userform and more Macros 
Download the practice-along file: http://tinyurl.com/ExcelVideo24

We do a monthly very intensive and business relevant Excel training that wouldn't cost you too much. If that works better for you, you should register for it here or just read participant's feedback: Best Excel Training in Nigeria 

 This month's training is coming up on the 17th and 18th, April 2015. There is a special 30% discount given already.

I got the mail yesterday afternoon. Microsoft still considers me a very influential Microsoft Excel expert and a leader in the Excel technical community, and gave me the coveted Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award.
image: apps.microsoft.com

 The thrilling thing about the award is that no one knows the details of how the awardee is picked. You don't write an exam to become a Microsoft MVP. You can't reliably work your way into getting the award. And it is given to very few people globally. In the Excel expertise, it is given to less than 150 people in the whole world. It is the highest award Microsoft gives an independent expert. And it carries more weight and recognition than all the Microsoft certification exams (and I think put together). You get a FedEx mailed big box from Microsoft HQ with a plaque that looks like you've won Mr Universe. You are given a Microsoft services and software subscription that is $6,119.00 if you have to pay for it. Then there are so many offers for MVPs ranging from technical content training offers that pay thousands of dollars for you to make video training and also many third party companies that give MVPs their products for free hoping you will give them a good review. And when you bid for any job, local or foreign, no one doubts your competence. Only those believed by Microsoft to be the best get the award, so it's the greatest marketing help you can get in the consulting world. 

 Then the most interesting part of it is that there is a wonderful family like community among the MVPs. We share ideas, refer jobs, meet up for events and discuss parts of Excel no one else probably know exists. There is the yearly exclusive November summit at Microsoft HQ with each MVP's space fully provided for. There is a yearly meet-up for the Middle East and Africa MVPs. There are other events you get invited to just because you are an MVP.

 And it seems I am still the only Microsoft Excel MVP in Nigeria and Africa (will confirm that from Microsoft). 

The best way to describe the entrepreneurial journey is by using this Albert Einstein's quote, "It is like riding a bicycle; to keep your balance you have to keep moving."

 Last year in the month of March, I told my colleagues and boss that I would be quitting after the end of that month. That it would be my last month at the job and as an employee. I would be going on my own as a Microsoft Excel consultant. Not everyone believed. "Michael, obviously, has gotten a new job and just doesn't want us to know."

 Now it is one year on. Today marks exactly one year since I last received a salary. And I can tell you that it has been a journey nothing adequately prepared me for. I have gone this far (which isn't so far, yet) because I determined to stay in the game; I kept moving on regardless of my shortcomings and the circumstances I faced. I am still standing because, like riding a bicycle, I never stopped moving.

 Being an entrepreneur is not an act of genius or reserved for people with a special personality. It is simply a decision, and more of a personal decision than a career decision. The truth is that there is nothing being a full-time entrepreneur will give you that being employed won't give you. You will always know that someone with the kind of life you dream of and who is an employee. You will always see a path you can follow to getting all the money and professional goals you want that won't require quitting your job and being a full-time entrepreneur. In fact, you can always be an entrepreneur without quitting your job. You can grow a business without quitting your day job. And starting a business full-time in Nigeria is like tilling a mine field. Even when you want to do the right thing there is no adequate information to guide you. I am still yet to file my last year business returns and I have been trying to get the right way to go about it since last year November. I asked the FIRS guys at the tax office I pay my monthly VAT; they couldn't point me in the right direction. I tried contacting small accounting and auditing firms. The rigor of just trying to do the things that shouldn't be a big issue is almost as more as the actual revenue generating work I do.
image: thelawofmotion.net

 But the journey has been a great one for me. I like the changes it is forcing to make and the man it is turning me into. I am now less loath to partnering with people and delegating tasks. I am also now more attuned to spotting business opportunities and thinking like a big business man. I am also more less afraid of making mistakes or spending more on unsure projects/plans. I am now getting used to the fact that I might make more in one day than I have made in the previous six months. I am also doing the things I am very good at and enjoy. I am able to focus on learning only the things I intend to use and being at the forefront of the technology that matters to me.

 What I consider the greatest excitement of being an entrepreneur is that I can steer myself more easily in the direction I want to go without needing the approval of anyone. I can take big business bets. I can experience the thrill of gaining and losing and gaining. I can use to the maximum extent my knowledge and skills. It has given me a platform to prove to myself and the world that my ideas can work.

 Also today last year, I got an award from Microsoft as the only Microsoft Excel MVP in Nigeria (and Africa, then - not sure if anyone else has gotten in Africa). Today I will know if I have earned enough reputation to be given the award again (it is a yearly award to less than 200 people in the whole world). I hope I have.

 Finally, I want to say a big thank you to everyone of you who has been with me since the start of this entrepreneurial journey. You sent me mails of concern and congratulations when you got the news of my quitting my job. You constantly send me occasional mails of encouragement. And best of all you stayed around. I am most grateful to God and then to you. Thanks!
Progress is never uniform. There is always a part that catches on well and a part that is being dragged along. When you are making progress it's very rare that it will be on all fronts. In your good mood you will see all the parts you are making great strides and when unhappy you will notice more the parts that just seem not to notice/reflect your efforts.

It's like learning to swim. First, you know in your head the right thing to do, the right form to maintain and the movements to make, but your body just seem never to get it right. Then when you finally cross that barrier and your body is beginning to get the strokes right you still struggle with your breath. You are always soon out of breath no matter what you do or how you feel you are already imitating those going tens of laps at once at the same pool. So on some days you feel happy for the progress your leading parts make. Then on some days you feel sad for the lack of progress on the lagging parts. 

I can also liken it to learning to drive. No matter the progress you are making on the expressway and how straight and well coordinated you drive on the main roads, parking and making a reverse will be your lagging part for an annoyingly long time. 

So what are we to do? Is there any way to reduce the progress gap between our leading and lagging parts?
image: christologic.com


Think of Progress in Terms of the Leading Part
The number one thing to do when on a journey of progress is to appreciate your successes. When you are thinking about how far you have come and how well you are progressing, think in terms of the leading part. Don't think too much about the lagging parts, the part that seem not to respond to your efforts. This will help keep you from being too discouraged and give up.

Do More Work On The Lagging Part
Even though you may not see the immediate results of your efforts, you must put more efforts into bettering the lagging part. Do more things targeted at improving it. Note that this is different from thinking about it (as I advised against in the previous paragraph). In this case, you are not thinking but doing. 

Finally, Know That The Lagging Part Will Catch Up Someday
Yes. The part you seem awkward at now may even turn out to be that part you will be most good at in a near future, if you don't give up on it. Think back on past similar experiences where you suddenly became extremely good at something you had been terribly bad at.

So keep on working towards whatever goal you've set yourself. Don't think about the lack of progress in some areas and don't give up on fixing those areas too. Be encouraged by every progress you make, even if not uniform. Manage well the leading part and the lagging part.