Apple has lost its creative and visionary leader Steve Jobs. Even if you never knew him he has influenced humanity. His brilliance approached in develop Apple brand of products remain the keystone of Apple’s success story. It is still hard to imagine Apple without him.

Social media in particular has become an epidemic that is transforming every business and economic sector. The impact of these new technologies and systems throw up new challenges and opens up opportunities to most professional especially  Public Relations professionals and those who are in the business of promoting brands on the Internet. For people and individuals seeking resources and websites, I have decided to post this comprehensive list provides by Bschool, an online resource for business professionals on interesting websites and posts on Social Media and PR.

1. PR Daily: Provides the latest PR news stories through this great tech-focused blog. Recommended post: “Report: PR pro is the second-most stressful job.”
2. PR Newser: If you’d like to see what other companies are putting out in press releases, this site is the place to do it. Recommended post: “The Ten Myths of Creating Web Content.”
3. Prnewspros: Check out this blog to find news geared especially towards those who are trying to build a career in the PR field. Recommended post: “Your PR Career: What Your College Coursework Doesn’t Teach You About Succeeding in the Workplace.”
4. PRSay: The Public Relations Society of America maintains this blog, chock full of the latest news and views on everything PR-related. Recommended post: “The Nine Lives Of Public Relations?“
5. PR News: From advising you on how to make business calls to providing the latest news on business, this PR blog has it all. Recommended post: “PR News’ Going Green: Outstanding Green Business Practices.”
6. Everything PR: Follow the public relations field as a whole when you read this blog and learn a bit more about global news and pop culture that can help your business. Recommended post: “100 Media Monitoring Tools for PR.”
7. PR Fuel: This blog will teach you about the power of a press release and offers up some ideas on how to get the most out of online press release sites. Recommended post: “30 PR Experts You Should Follow on Twitter.”

For PR Pros

These blogs will help to educate you on things you’ll need to know to get ahead as a professional working in the field of public relations.

8. Wired PR Works: Barbara Rozgonyi offers her expertise on getting your business noticed, finding new clients and building a better business community here. Recommended post: “3 YouTube and Video Marketing Tricks You Should Not Miss.”
9. ComPRehension: Explore the field of PR with some experts in the Public Relations Society of America through this blog. Recommended post: “Annual Grunig Lecture: Remembering The “Relationship” In PR.”
10. Strategic Public Relations: Learn a bit more about public relations strategies both online and off from this blog. Recommended post: “Starbucks’ In-Store Wifi Leveraged Into Branded Media Network.”
11. The Publicity Hound’s Blog: Looking for some publicity for your company or clients? Then check out this blog for some tips, tricks and tools that can help you get all eyes on your business. Recommended post: “9 ways to spy on your competitors online.”
12. 6 A.M.: This PR firm shares their business strategy and some great PR pointers, a great read for anyone interested in establishing their own business or trying to get ahead in their field. Recommended post: “A Word to the Wise.”
13. POP! PR Jots: Jeremy Pepper, the author of this blog, works in PR and communications. Through this site, he shares his own commentary on the biz and offers some great insights to newbies and seasoned vets alike. Recommended post: “PR Pitching and Blacklists.”
14. A PR Guy’s Musings: Stuart Bruce’s blog touches on a wide range of PR topics, from social media to business basics to politics. Recommended post: “Public relations is about reputation, not SEO.”
15. The Flack: Through this blog written by Peter Himler, you’ll be able to learn how PR impacts fields like politics, pop culture, business, entertainment and more. Recommended post: “Long Live PR (and the Press Release Too).”
16. National Public Relations Examiner: Valerie Merahn Simon, Senior Vice President at BurrellesLuce media monitoring and measurement, maintains this blog that is the perfect place to learn about some of the biggest issues in PR today. Recommended post: “What are the major differences between B2B and B2C social marketing?“
17. Murphy’s Law: Blogger and PR guy Tom Murphy shares his thoughts on a wide range of topics related to PR, social media and CSR on this site. Recommended post: “PR + CSR = Just Good Business.”
18. Valley PR Blog: This blog from a PR firm is maintained by several experts in the field who comment on topics like social media, marketing, the world of PR and current events. Recommended post: “The REALITY of publicity.”
19. PR at Sunrise: From working with difficult clients to navigating the strange new world of social media, you’ll find a wealth of advice for PR pros here. Recommended post: “Top 10 Signs You Are The Official Social Media Nerd Of Your Company.”

Communication

Whether it’s with clients or with the general public, there’s no doubt that communication is a key component of public relations. These blogs will give you an idea of how to improve your communication skills and be a savvier PR pro.

20. SteDavies: This PR blog is a great resource for professionals hoping to learn a bit more about the role of communications in PR and find some fun and engaging articles about everything from business to finance. Recommended post: “10 Trends of 20-Somethings.”
21. PR Communications: Learn more about marketing, social media and the internet on this blog from marketer John Cass. Recommended post: “Corporate Blogs in the Fortune 500.”
22. Public Relations Matters: Dr. Barbara B. Nixon posts to this blog about a number of public relations and communications issues. Recommended post: “Five Ways to Keep Current in Public Relations News & Trends.”

New Media Marketing and PR

These blogs are focused on using the latest technology to get the word out about brands, campaigns and businesses.

23. A Shel of My Former Self: Focused on communication and technology, this blog by Shel Holtz is a great read for any PR expert looking to take their business digital. Recommended post: “Business-produced content could fill the sharable-content gap created by paywalls.”
24. The Future Buzz: Find commentary on media, marketing and PR from Adam Singer on this blog. Recommended post: “19 Reasons You Should Blog And Not Just Tweet.”
25. aimClear: This blog offers up some great articles that can help you promote your brand or business through search engine optimization. Recommended post: “Blog Optimization, Post Title SEO & Deadeye Targeting.”
26. 360 Days in Our Circle: With several contributing bloggers in the PR business, this blog offers some multifaceted insights into PR in the digital age. Recommended post: “Email and Social Media- A Match Made in Marketing Heaven?“
27. ProPR: CEO of firms Thornley Fallis and 76Design Joseph Thornley writes this blog. Check it out to learn more about building strong client relationships, implementing creative designs and latching onto the power of the internet for PR. Recommended post: “Six keys to success in social media.”
28. What’s Next? Blog: B.L. Ochman is an expert on new media marketing, and she shares some of that expertise, as well as her commentary, though this blog. Recommended post: “Five Reasons Why Companies Should Not Block Employee Access to Social Networks.”
29. Deirdre Breakenridge: From using Facebook to cyberbranding, Deirdre Breakenridge shares her thoughts on all things PR 2.0 on this blog. Recommended post: “PR 2.0 Sharing With Your Competition.”
30. Diva Marketing Blog: Get some tips and tools for better marketing your brand, especially using digital media, on this site. Recommended post: “RSS Beyond Blogs.”
31. Media Culpa: These Swedish bloggers follow media and public relations on their site, posting about topics like Twitter, blogging, branding and much more. Recommended post: “Flickr reaches 5 billion photos.”

Social Media

Social media plays a huge role in most businesses marketing and PR work these days. Learn more about how you can better implement it in your own work through these blogs.

32. PRSarah Evans: For advice and information on getting your business rolling with social networking and online media, check out this site. Recommended post: “STUDY: The Future of Content.”
33. Dave Fleet: This blog, by PR professional Dave Fleet, discusses communications, PR and social media. Recommended Post: “57 Social Media Policy Examples and Resouces.”
34. PR Squared: Learn more about social media and marketing from blogger and public relations expert Todd Defren on this site. Recommended post: “Facebook Marketing: Success Factors.”
35. Danny Brown: Need some help understanding what role social media and online marketing should play in your business? This expert may be able to help. Recommended post: “52 Cool Facts About Social Media.”
36. Chris Abraham: Chris Abraham, the president and COO of a social media marketing firm, shares his insights into using online tools for business promotion here. Recommended post: “Best Practices of Social Media Marketing.”
37. The Proactive Report: Help your business stay ahead of the curve by reading this blog written by Sally Falkow. It focuses on social media, but also contains general advice about online PR. Recommended post: “Are Your Customers Too Old for Social Media — Not a Chance!“
38. Fresh Influence: Learn more about social media and word of mouth marketing from this 360 Digital Influence blog. Recommended post: “10 Stunning (And Useful) Stats About Twitter.”
39. Convince and Convert: Here, Jay Baer shares information on using social media and online content in PR marketing. Recommended post: “Develop a Social Media Strategy in 7 Steps.”
40. prTini: If you’ve got an interest in better utilizing social media to promote your business or product, give this blog by Heather Whaling a read. Recommended post: “The 5 Cs of Blogger Relations.”
41. Peter Shankman: Social media entrepreneur and consultant Peter Shankman offers some business advice on using social media to its fullest on this blog– much of which can be quite useful to PR professionals. Recommended post: “Is your social media expert really an expert?“
42. Communications Conversations: Get a leg up in the social media marketing world by reading some of the tips Arik Hanson has to offer here. Recommended post: “5 LinkedIn groups for PR pros.”

Niche

From tracking your stats to learning from the mistakes of others, these blogs focus on some niche areas of PR.

43. Brian Solis: Want to learn more about new media and how it’s affecting those who use it? This blog from research firm professional Brian Solis is a must-read. Recommended post: “The Rise of Social Commerce.”
44. Young PR: PR isn’t just for businesses. Learn a great deal about using social media, technology and marketing to help a non-profit through this blog. Recommended post: “PdF Audio: Using Social Media for Non-Profit Fundraising.”
45. SpinSucks: PR has a bad reputation for being manipulative and dishonest. This blogger shares some ways that PR professionals can get out of this mindset as well as posting about topics like social media, communications, advertising and more. Recommended post: “Five Signs A Social Media Star’s Reputation Is Spin.”
46. Bad Pitch Blog: Read this blog to see bad PR pitches get called out and to learn what you shouldn’t do in your own work. Recommended post: “PR People: Stop Being Bad at Stuff and Read This.”
47. PR Measurement Blog: Learn how to more effectively monitor the impact of your online marketing, public relations, internal communications and more with the help of this blog. Recommended post: “The originial HITS = How Idiots Track Success Speech.”
48. Spinning Around: This blog is a fun place to see some creative marketing campaigns for other brands. You may just be inspired to come up with your own. Recommended post: “The UK’s Top Marketing Weblogs.”
49. PR Disasters.com: Want to see some PR campaigns gone wrong and big PR snafus? This blog is the place to do it. Whether they make you laugh or cringe, you’ll get an idea of what not to do while you’re on the job. Recommended post: “Five lessons from Nestle’s Facebook PR disaster.”
50. Personal PR: While you’re sure to find some great PR tips here, this blog also offers up some ideas on how to be more productive and get ahead in your career. Recommended post: “27 Secrets to Linking LIke a Master Networker.”

Guest blogging means many things to different categories of people. To internet marketers and bloggers, it is a powerful way of helping boost internet rankings and generate traffic/leads. To organisations, it is the opportunity to create a platform to engage site visitors, it also to provide that personal connections that static websites have not achieved. Guest blogging will soon be well pronounced with more organisations creating blogs and platforms to engage fans and customers alike. Most reality shows have engage tdhe services of a independent bloggers in managing communication on their platforms.

Meet Mr. Dele Onilabusi, a 18-year old blogger born on December 22, 1993. he presently makes about $3,000 monthly blogging about guest blogging, affiliate marketing,buying and selling online. He succeeds in smiling to the bank making about $3,000 monthly doing this.

Excerpts:

1. How long have you been blogging?
   I have been blogging for 18 months now, but my main blog, YoungPrePro.com is only 14 months.
2. How many blogs/forums do your manage presently?
   I presently own and manage only one blog, the blog can be found at YoungPrePro.com.
3. How long does it take for you to write a post?
   That depends on the type of post I want to write but most of my posts take me an average of 2-3 hours.
4. 4. Do you ever get stuck when writing an entry?  What do you do then?
   I get stuck sometimes, but if I get stuck I simply don’t write because I know my readers won’t enjoy the post
5. How did you get into blogging? Did you start with the purpose of making income?
   I started blogging after reading a blog post by Steve Pavlina on how to make money blogging. I started my blog because I wanted to help people, I wasn’t motivated by the money.
6. You are fast becoming an authority in guest blogging, in simple terms, what is guest blogging and how did you get to land in this niche?
   Guest blogging is the process of writing for another blog and in return you can get a link back to your blog. I started guest blogging around 3 months of me starting blogging when I read that it can be very effective and it has since never disappointed me.
7. Plug-ins have been used to enhance weblogs and its functionality. Which are your favourite ones?
   I have no favorite plugin, sincerely; I’m okay as long as my blog is perfectly running!
8. 8. The money it is said is in the list. How important is a mailing list to any organization that wants to succeed on the internet?
   Your mailing list is as important as your internet marketing career. Focus on it!
9. Do you make money directly from your blog and how do you promote it?
   Yep, I make money from affiliate marketing and I just launched my guest blogging consulting service which will be supplementing my income.

10.  What is your advice to someone who wants to start a blog?
Get started with what you think you’re best at and always live by the principle of giving value first before expecting results.

11.  What do you think are the Key Measurements for a site to measure success?
There are  no specific results because success depends on the achiever but to me a successful blog is a blog with an active community and that is making the owner more money than is needed to maintain it.

12.  Google and Facebook may soon be slugging it out offline for the Nigerian market? What does that portend for internet entrepreneurs?
Google? Facebook? It comes to advertising revenue. I think if Google and youtube still rank among the first 3 in terms of search in the world, Face book has a lot to do. But then tou have to consider the amount of specific details that Facebook has, it makes them a potential superpower….

13. Kindly share your favourites;

Color: Blue

Movie: Supernatural

TV Show: None

Book: The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Time of day: Saturday

Tweeting or blogging … which is cooler? Blogging by all means

Thank you so much Mr. Dele it’s been nice having you on my blog.

It’s my pleasure.

Have a clear social media strategy

Going online has gone far beyond the era of just developing a beautiful website. The evolving demand for online media marketing and social media engagement requires clear policies, guidelines and experienced staff that will involve employees in every aspect of your business operations – Human Resource, Customer Service, Branding and Marketing.

It also involves profiling your target audience before pouring resources into Facebook. Several PR tools will be useful in this regard. Don’t be busy spending money on ads if your audience is busy in traffic or with their phones.

Be prepared

Dealing with social media attacks require a robust crisis plan. Brand haters exist but unlike the past, a coordinated attack can easily be organized against a brand. Consider the Boycott British Airways campaign organized by the Nigerian Village Square and Respect Nigeria Coalition when officials of the UK Police forcefully ejected Ayodeji Omotade and about 136 other Nigerians from a Lagos bound flight from the UK. Thousands of online signatures were collated which later saw British Airways apologizing for its misbehavior.

When opening your brand to social media, you relinquish ownership of the brand, so before the case ever comes up you need to be sure if your agency has a community management expertise to avert or mitigate a social media crisis? Have a set of best practices been established? Think again.

Classify mud-slings and don’t fight dirty
Ok the deed is done and you have a crisis in your hands, what do you do? The next step is not to have a hurried response to your online audience. The next step is to determine the type of response necessary. It doesn’t matter the kind of crisis, one rule is critical – stay positive. Being bitter and negative about comments is the easiest way to expose your brand to bashing.
Some problems or complaints direct you to a particular challenge your customers are facing with your product/service, nicely thank them for bringing it to your notice and deal with it. If the comments are as a result of customers not understanding your methods and policies, you score a bigger point. Simply thank them and explain why you do it that way. You won’t take all suggestions, but be careful to win their loyalty and trust by being appreciative. But then some mudslings are downright dirty, they are designed to draw or bait you into an unnecessary I-am-right-get-lost fight thereby exposing you as inept and leaving your organization at the mercy of a community of angry comments and future readers of the page. Nescafe (international) will never forget this lesson when they multiplied their challenges by mishandling Facebook attacks during protests by members of Greenpeace.
Finally, in going social, always remember a Facebook page isn’t a social media strategy. Using social media engagement strategies includes identifying your brand personality, profiling your target audience and going to engage them. If your brand is hoping to leverage on social media, it should be ready to create new teams to proactively listen, learn and engage your customers in real time. Cheers

It is no more news that customers are evolving. The individual habits and expectations of modern consumers have changed the landscape into which marketing and advertising campaigns are launched. Simple ad campaigns and increase in bottomline are no longer simple equations – advertising agencies are working overtime and business owners are getting worried. This is because individuals now prefer to do their own research rather than just believe advertisers’ word for it. They are increasingly forming communities online and people have been discussing – including brands. Dissatisfied customers no longer waste time calling auto-responders for complaints – they simply turn to their peers online and are empowering others with information that is likely to have an impact on the reputation of your brand.
Businesses now need to get out of their comfort zone and begin to engage their customers through a comprehensive social media strategy. Starbucks coffee, an international brand is leading the way in engaging its customers on social media platforms. On the Nigerian scene, KPMG conducted a banking industry customer satisfaction survey and rated GTBank as the most customer focused bank (retail and corporate). It can safely be deduced that GTBank is certainly doing something right on the web. Beyond just opening media channels, what is it about GTBank’s social media strategy has made it so successful? Let’s analyze GTBank social behavior across the web:
Beyond having a beautifully designed website, Facebook or twitter pages, GTBank has been able to harness the power of online communities in delivering value to customers and potential customers. Here are some lessons for employing social media strategy for yours.
Don’t shout, Listen
The first way to begin to engage customers is to listen first. What are your customers saying and where are they? Whether your organization believes it or not, conversations are going on online about your brand, customers are sharing their experience and they are mentioning things you won’t ever find out even if you search your beautifully designed suggestion box.
Instead of leaving customers to complain about long queues, GTBank brought banking to their customers on the web. Listening before engaging your target audience ensures you don’t throw money at your business challenges. Innovative Public Relation tools are now available that enable PR professionals track conversations going on about people and brands on blogs, forums, social media websites and to be able to analyze and counsel organizations for online consumer engagement.
Go, join the conversation
While some organizations find it is easy to worry less about social media reports and to wish them away, lots of brands including GTBank, Honda, Mercedes Benz and Starbucks have gone to join the conversation on social media. Creating your own community on social media platforms online ensures that you have a platform where potential consumers come to complain, make enquiries, ask questions and you ultimately have your own online customer service forum where open communication and feedbacks are available for customers to interact with one another and with the brand.
GTBank is no longer busy shouting for attention and interrupting people with adverts; they are busy chatting with about 112,268 fans on Facebook, and over 1,259 followers on Twitter. Don’t just hurry to join the people community to control the conversation and restrict negative comments – you better not be found out. The goal is to help customers find solutions to their challenges, inspire consumer loyalty and to influence buying choices.
Content – push your stuff out!
Traditional campaign materials can be turned into online friendly versions and can be distributed freely. In two months of GTBank opening a YouTube Channel, 2,042 people have viewed its uploads. GTBank uploads videos, product launches, adverts on Facebook. The bank also has an interactive multimedia e-zine called Ndani which it distributes periodically. This is fully readable with flip pages, links and videos – all easily transferable among customers. What makes social media attractive is not only fruitful discussion, content is key. Why would someone visit your brand website if it doesn’t deliver value? GTBank’s website has a fully integrated internet banking service. Print adverts, videos and other freebies make it easy to get others do the advertising for the organization. One of the most successful viral marketing strategies is to get easily distributable materials out into the open.
Blendtec, a company which manufactures professional home blenders, produced an in-house video, which gained maximum exposure with 134.2million views on YouTube and a fivefold increase in sales.
Engage your customers
Having an online platform is not enough. Websites like Facebook is now awash with inactive fan pages without meaningful activity going on. The goal of social media engagement is not to have a page or website; it is to give customers the opportunity to gain ownership of the brand. Don’t forget, your goal is not to control, just discuss. Even with Starbuck’s 705,000 followers on twitter and over 5,428,000 fans on Facebook, it has gone ahead to open a website where consumers share their ideas on Starbucks (www.mystarbucksidea.com). GTBank uses it platforms to invite people to events and engages them by also moderating competition for fans – people love free stuff, ask GTBank. Fans have a place to open discussions and comment as many of them do. Go on ahead and participate, engage them and deliver value, and the customers will relate with your brand in a personal way.
It is becoming imperative that even customer service is no longer about sipping coffee while expecting customers to call your automated answering machine. Most of them never do anyway. However, many brands can learn a great deal from the way that GTBank is winning the heart of customers through the social web. The GTBank brand has created a digital dialogue with its customers, enabling online enthusiasts a platform to experience the brand and to give feedback on their services. GTBank is again showing its customers and potential customers that customer service remains their key selling proposition by putting communicating with their customers and prospective customers a top priority. Do you?

Though life is calibrated and measured in years and accomplishments, the outcome of those times will depend on the little details of our lives – in days, hours, minutes and seconds. The key to success in life is getting to do little things correctly, all the time, every time, so that the summation of our actions will yield a balanced, structured end result which is a brand of impeccable and sound quality.

Even in my work, where I demonstrate a passion for work and idea generation, I have come to appreciate that commitment to quality and relentless attention to details are essential hallmarks of excellence. Attentions to details save organisations a lot of time, frustration and money. Most organizations and people that have enjoyed the greatest success understanding that it takes hundreds of small, seemingly insignificant details repeated day in and day out to create an unforgettably excellent experience.

Lesson #1: Train your brain, but back it up

Some clichés become so common they often lose their significance like it is often said that the shortest pen remembers better than the shortest memory. I have thus learnt to carry notebooks about wherever I go. I have notebooks for my work plan, personal projects and ideas, meditations and church notes- and I use them.

It’s not that the devil is in the details, but that every detail we forget contain a seed that can potentially make the difference between success and failure. If the benefits of your work, prayers and efforts will be reaped, attention to detail is an absolute necessity.

Lesson #2: Write your life

Even when you have a notebook, make sure you put things down- the stupid, necessary and the critical. Most time we can’t track our progress because we don’t care to measure it by writing it down ab initio. It doesn’t matter the information, put it down (and keep sensitive details secure!). The reason why the history of global development is western is that Africans propagate history by word of mouth which eventually gets lost in transmission.

Lesson #3: Order

Anyway you look at it; they’re going to be times within your job or life where your attention to details will save you. One of the key issues to being exact is orderliness. Having an organized desk, room or life may seem minor, but when the outcome of a circumstance clean and organized desk it’s easy to find papers quickly. And just like your desk, the rest of your job should be organized and neatly projected that so that little things like going over budget don’t get by you.

Lesson #4: Do things immediately

One of the reasons we lose details is usually the ‘I will do it later’ syndrome. The idea that there is a convenient time to do things always makes us rely on our memories to keep us up to speed.

Putting off tasks till later is half leaving things undone.

Lesson #5: Learn how to do things right the first time

No matter what business or personal activities you are involved in, you will be confronted with greater challenges that could have been prevented if you had paid closer attention to the details in the first instance.

Lesson #6: these things are a reflection of your leadership and personality

I was told of someone applying for the post of a financial analyst who was called to an interview. The man was astute in his presentation and was heavy on pedigree, but he forgot his CV and credentials at the venue of the interview when he left.

Excellence in any endeavor is a production in which every little detail tells a story about one’s personality, commitment, and character. Pay attention to the small stuff. Consistent attention to details produces excellence and that’s why every detail counts!

“The magic behind every outstanding performance is always found in the smallest of details.”

I would really just want to know how you felt, what went through your mind, how you currently feel about the value system in Nigeria and how you intend to further tackle the issue of wrong values. I look forward to reading ur reply.

Thank you.

Sincere regards

xyz xyz”

As I read his mail, many things came into my mind. I remember the unending bad publicity about the double standards and scandals that have continued to rock most of the respected leaders in the society. From of Tiger Woods, Juanita Bynum, T D Jakes and Paula White to Nigeria’s respected leaders both in the political and religious sectors of the polity, we are fast losing role models to scandals- from sex to money.

So many thoughts have ran through my head as news and rumours have managed to form an odd mixture that continually batters the conscience of people who once believed in the few leaders who have managed to stand up to what is true. Why are these leaders failing?  Are there still true mentors? Here are my thoughts

Role models didn’t choose themselves – we chose them.

Mentoring is defined by someone whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others. We choose them, we make them celebrities, we form our opinions of them through the things they have achieved, their pedigree, credentials and we develop and form an opinion of the code of life they should follow and when they intimately cannot follow them, we get disappointed and blame them for not being up to the standards.Role models are not necessarily mentors- we chose them because of what we heard, read and our opinions of them, then we can’t blame them for our idolizing them.

The best of men are still men at their very best

No matter how great a mentor or role model is, he/she is till man/woman at his very best. I was conducting an interview for someone two weeks ago and he made a profound statement. If there were no checks and balances, even a holy man can fail. I personally don’t idolise people and my Pastor totally abhors it. I’m pastored by Tunde Bakare and though I’ve been ministered to by him for over ten years, I still have a room for him to fail. The only problem we have is usually that we have equated some people to the nature of Christ himself. We listen and respect and learn from men, but ultimately we follow God. If your CEO, Pastor, Role Model falls, we don’t have to fall with them, pick up yourself and follow Christ Though as we move in life, we tend to focus less on the things we shouldn’t do and to focus on the things we should do; we still need to give men room for the frailty of the human nature. Broken promises, backstabbing, heart breaks are all a result of putting too much trust in the infallibility of the human nature.

Most times role modeling can be addictive.

When you’re a role model, the primary focus is on you- I mean people can’t have enough of you. You speak here and there and you suddenly think having moments in front of the large audience and microphone and are tempted daily to present the polished and structured part of their lives. But when you become a mentor, the primary focus is on your protégés. The time commitment of role modeling is simply the life you lead, with everyone free to observe. Your actions continually speak and everyone can consciously predict where you stand even when you have not spoken. The time commitment of mentoring is a personal involvement in the lives of a select group of protégés. As a role model, you say: “Here’s a way to live that you might want to emulate.” As a mentor, you say: “Here’s a way to live that you might want to emulate…and let me share the details of my journey.”

Role Models must mentor

While a role model is “someone whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others” a mentor is a mentor is “a trusted counselor, guide, tutor or coach”. Mentoring is a progression of role modeling. Most times we chose mentors we do not have an idea of why they do the things they do, we only see them at their best- giving speeches, smiling on red carpets and well scripted books they probably never wrote a line of it. If role models communicate, they become mentors. Role models must share from their heart the things that have influenced their lives, how they have navigated the difficult choices of their lives (not only the ones that yielded results). People are not tending to find role models among the people they relate directly with and those who have the opportunity to influence their lives.

Finally we must communicate. Since our mentor-deprived generation is desperately searching for one, we hardly encourage peer communication as we even navigate our own challenges and even churches can be very guilty of this. Most times we talk about every thing except the things that matter to us. Look and search for a mentor, they may not have time, but create it. We need them, we need friends.

Selah.

This I am thankful for.

Today is my birthday and I’m alive. It is a luxury that if I had all the resources of the presidency, I still can’t buy it. This I am Thankful for.

I studied Microbiology in school. After deciding hospitals and test-tubes were not the way to go, all hell broke loose. Today, I do something I enjoy and I have no regrets. This I am thankful for.

At the height of all hell breaking loose, I sat down under a tree depressed.  two ladies approached me and thanked me for talking to them in JSS2 six years ago. It was one moment I’ll never forget. I was re-fired to continue to do well. This I am thankful for

I made many decisions last year. For every door I dared to knock last year, they opened. When not qualified, I outclassed. Even ones I bungled I got a second chance. It’s a good feeling, God can we do this again? This I am thankful for.

I had traveled to Benin for a meeting but was running late. The bus broke down around 11pm on Benin-Ore expressway. We slept in the rain praying we won’t be preyed upon by thieves. We got another bus and got to Benin. This I am thankful for

Thank you for giving me Damilola. Relationships require smart work and a balance of love, passion and commitment. I didn’t need to be sweating in hard labour to build this one. Over the years I thank you. This I am thankful for

One thing I have never lacked in my entire journey- The support of people who believed and encouraged me, especially at those times when I found it hard to believe in my self. I have in turn helped many to find encouragement on their pathways in life. This I am thankful for

Last Sunday, I couldn’t drive to Church so I took a bike. 15 minutes later, the bike man skidded under a 911 truck while I stood watching. I later saved the bike man from being crushed by the vehicle. I later went on my way. This I am thankful for

This coming year is starting and I know I have to begin to thank God for successes I have recorded in it. When I thank God the earth and everything will respond to me. This I am thankful for

Thank you to everyone who made last year a glorious one. I have been embarassed by text messages, wall posts,  cals , thanks all…. this I am thankful for

Pens up!