Category: Business

Posted in Business, Career, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Review, Vision

Brave Review: The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Leadership can be a very dicey path and can sometimes be very complex.
With a lot of believe in the many myths and assumptions of leadership.It is certainly clear that this remains an important discuss and area of focus for all people.


John C. Maxwell, a leadership expert, speaker, Coach, Author and Influencer, with over 4 decades of experience in leadership development and growth; he shares some great insight in his book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership”.


This revised and updated version shows a depth of knowledge from one who has walked the talk, conversed with a wide array and network of diverse leaders across industries globally. Training, coaching, mentoring and grooming many leaders via his books and leadership conferences.


The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership is a great read, if you’re looking to improve on your leadership competency, impact and success.


The great news is, this book is for all people, not just positional or industry leaders.
Certainly a great recommendation for all who desire to have a great leadership journey and a sustainable and impact full legacy.

Posted in Article, Business, Finance, Money, Self development

Article: The Financial Pig

Posted on by @bravepublicity

You are most likely to get offended when someone says to you: “You are such a pig!”. This is possibly because of the unattractive nature and habits generally associated with pigs.

The Nature of Pigs.

Pigs care less about their environment, and will happily wallow in mud and dirt. They are excited about eating all the time, anything and almost everything that comes their way, including food from dumps!
The irony about this creature is, it also happens to also be a symbol for money savings and wealth, and is easily recognized world-wide.
It is worthy to note that, the value placed on pigs is not determined by their behavioral nature, but by what can be harnessed from them.

The Value of Pigs.

From a pig, one is able to obtain hide and skin, for manufacturing costly and valuable leather products (shoes, bags, purses etc.), their hair can also be used for making brushes, their meat for making beacon, their fat for the production of cosmetic products, and even gelatin for food and non-food products like toothpaste, pizza etc.

As attractive as some of these highlighted values may seem, many people rarely indulge willingly in commercial pig farming, because of the herculean tasks it entails in rearing them. What most likely repels people the most is the smelly nature of pigs and difficulty in coping with such bad odor all day long.

So the job of rearing pigs can be a difficult one. The same applies to financial discipline or the mastery of savings.

It is worthy to note that, the bigger a pig is, the bigger the chances of harnessing much value from it. The same principle also applies to our personal finances and money management skills. The bigger our financial capacity, the bigger the investment opportunities before us.

The Piggy Bank.

Ever wondered why the pig has for a long time been an identity for petty savings items, made into boxes shaped mostly as an attractive pink or white pig item for saving some money?
The piggy bank has for a long time been a symbol for financial savings, especially one used in the home, by young children and young adults.

It represents strongly finance, especially the savings habit that one hopes to inculcate from a tender age to adulthood. So when the image or the thought of a pig comes to mind, please think again and think about how your finances are doing.

Two Kinds of Financial Managers.

There are two kinds of people when it comes to financial management, those who operate their finances based on their immediate wants and those that operate their finances in view of the future.

Those who operate their finances based on their immediate wants, splurging on whatever comes their way, without a care in the world about tomorrow. They love to live in the moment, enjoying all of their earnings and what it has to offer in that moment. They only like to think about the future, when they reach cross roads and never think to plan ahead.

Then, there are those who operate their finances in view of the future, reserving and compounding their financial spendings, for the value that will be obtained from it in the long run. They ensure that their finances are robust and ready for the harvest of great investments.

So you should ask yourself these often: Are you spending all of the resources that come your way? Or are you ensuring that your financial pig or piggy bank is well fed and robust to produce much in the days ahead, to secure a bright future, full of prospects and limitless opportunities?

Your Relationship with Money.

Maybe you don’t exactly have a great relationship with money or your finances and feel justified to splurge on things you think you need, since your earnings are really small.

Well, let’s let you in on a secret.
No matter how much you earn, if you are unable to master the art of “Savings and Investments” from very little earnings, even when you have so much more, you’ll find yourself operating your finances based on only your immediate wants.

Some Solutions.

There are a few ways to effectively manage and grow a robust financial pig and they include some of the following:

Have a Budget:

A budget helps you know how much needs to be allocated for your spendings, gifts, savings and investments. With a budget, you are able to stick to a precise amount and percentage for all of your allocations.

Track your Spendings:

With a daily or weekly budget and tracking system, it’s easy to know where your money goes and adjust accordingly, when you discover that you are going beyond your daily or weekly allocations.

Without keeping track of where your money goes, it becomes easy for your finances to grow wings or just disappear without tangible proof of what you’ve done with your money.

Simple tools like your mobile phone and applications like Microsoft-Excel can prove to be very useful for tracking. There are also numerous fee applications that are ready to use and can be accessed from some online stores, to aid financial tracking.

Have an Intentional Savings Plan:

A percentage of your earnings for savings is non-negotiable, irrespective of how small you may be earning. This is like paying yourself a percentage for all of your hard work.
This percentage should be increased over times, just as your earnings also increase. To achieve this, it may mean having a bank arrangement that enables automatic deductions of a percentage of your earnings or bars you from being able to withdraw beyond a specific amount for a period of time.

You could also put aside your savings manually, into a separate account with no easy access such as services that include: ATMs, Credit Cards or Online Banking access.
The bottom line is, ensure you intentionally grow a robust financial pig. So you can have something to fall back on for the rainy days or have something tangible for great investments opportunities that may come your way.

Make Careful Investments:

It’s not enough to grow a robust financial pig, you must find ways to multiply what you have. Just as the value of a pig lies not in being just fat and big, but in being able to harness other things from it.
The same principle applies to your saved up finances, you must find ways to make profitable trade. So do your research and make careful and wise investment.

Beware of quick money making schemes, and investment models that you do not understand. Many today have lost their hard earned money from such numerous Ponzi schemes. So do your research and ask the relevant questions before taking a plunge.

It is worthy to note that, some of the best investment opportunities are in things that appreciate over time and things that are required for or are non-negotiable for everyday living. Such as ‘land’ for real estate investments, ‘food’ etc.

In conclusion.

It’s really no coincidence that the home made piggy bank for putting aside petty cash in homes often comes designed as a pig. We hope it serves as a reminder about the value that can be obtained from the mastery of the difficult habit of financial discipline.
We also hope whenever you sight a piggy bank or an actual pig, it also serves as a subtle reminder to grow a robust financial pig and operate your finances in view of the future. Simply by mastering the art of “Savings and Investments”.

Thank you for reading.

Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!

Posted in Business, Career, Leadership, Self development

Brave Review: The Rules of Management

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Effective Management is an integral part of any successful career. 
Whether as Top Management, Middle Management, Grass-root Leaders or a member of a Bigger Team.

One cannot hope to function effectively as an individual or professional at any level of leadership without the knowledge of effective management of time, resources, projects, people or circumstances that require a level of managerial capacity and skill.

Just as always, “Richard Templar” highlights a wide variety of actionable and effective rules applicable to the work place and personal management.

In his book “The Rules of Management”, he touches base with two core areas: Managing Your Team and Managing Yourself.
These highlighted rules not only guide you with strategies and principles that work.

They also take into consideration the role and effect of being realistic, considerate, strategic and emotionally intelligent in management.

The is indeed a very carefully crafted read, as always!
Doffing our hat to the amazing author #RichardTemplar!

The “Rules of Management” is just one book out of the many Rule books written by Richard! You may want to see our previous reviews too on his other books!

Posted in Article, Business, Career, Corporate Communications, Entrepreneurship, Public Relations, Strategy

Article: Working Virtually.

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Organization and a well rested mind is key to achieving success as a virtual worker or coordinator.

Today’s jobs no longer entail just physical coordination, but also a handful of virtual responsibilities, since a lot of job roles are beginning to get more automated and entail a lot of digital tools and applications for successful operations.

For a person whose sole work entails virtual coordination or for a person who has a mix of both virtually responsibilities and physical responsibilities, some ground rules and balance have to be established in order to achieve success.

Here are seven (7) things to consider:

Structure:

Just like a physical workplace, your virtual work place also needs to be well structured to function optimally.

From the devices needed for your execution, to the resources and tools such as the internet, power supply, your work space and furniture, applications and software that are required to get the work done.

The state of all of these determines if you will experience less stress while working. If these are all in good condition, it influences and enhances the mind’s productivity and reduces the number of hitches that may be experienced.

Coordination and Prioritization:

To stay organized virtually implies good organization and coordination.

From proper naming of files to grouping of relate items or files, to effective and clear communication about tasks to your virtual team, to prioritizing on the urgent and important tasks that need to be attended to before others, etc.

When all of these are properly aligned, it enhances greatly the success and speed of execution of tasks that you may have for each day. Creating a “To-Do-List”, scheduling tasks and setting reminders for your activities will certainly help you achieve better coordination and prioritization. 

Automation and Activities:

Working virtually can be a very huge task, especially when multiple minute tasks are lined up for execution daily.

Many of these monotonous tasks would be more enjoyable if they were automated.

It is very easy to fall into the trap of thinking these things would take very little of our time, however after a while, it can become tiring, especially with others physical tasks that need our attention come our way. It is also very easy to lose interest in the monotonous ritual and we find that some crucial details in communication may become mixed up often or lost when working virtually.

All of these can be avoided when software, applications or structures that aid automation or reduces the daily stress or responsibilities are used. Some of them include cloud services such as (Google Drive, Dropbox etc.), file sharing applications (WeTransfer, Google Drive), Content automation Services (MailChimp, Hoote Suite, Buffer etc.) and any other applications that enhance your workflow virtually.

Third parties and Team work:

Having a strong and reliable team, that understands the work process, the purpose of a project, the urgency of various task and the cooperation required for execution, is very important.

It also helps greatly if the team members are equipped with the relevant hard skills for execution.

This is very important especially for rainy days, when you need the total support of the team or their assistance in getting some things done on your behalf.

To achieve this will require effective communication, sometimes training and a lot of patience as the team grows. In the long run, time with a steady team helps you understand each member, their strengths and weaknesses.
This eventually leads to the establishment of a workflow that empowers you all to work in sync without too many corrections, back and forth conversations or confusion on how to get things done virtually.

Activity follow-up:

Working virtually can many times entail multiple communication platforms and tasks with a variety of people.

As an enabler or driver of a task, it is important to do a regular follow up regarding diverse responsibilities assigned to the people you work with virtually.

This is because as humans who have other needs that require our attention daily, we sometimes forget virtual conversations that require our input or feedback.

So, it won’t hurt to do a follow up or send a subtle reminder regarding tasks and responsibilities. This way, you would be able to meet the timeline assigned to various projects or responsibilities.

Boundaries and the close of business:

It is easy to fall into the “Superman” and “Wonder Woman” trap.

Meaning, getting caught up totally in work without adequate breaks or short walks instead of long hours sitting and other self-care routines.

Many times, we find ourselves working late into the day or night and this could sometimes be a strategy for urgent projects for short periods, but the long run effect of such a work culture is “Burn-Out” and “Ineffectiveness”.

So it is important to draw the line without guilt and set some boundaries and switch off from the work mode, like you would for a physical work place. Effective virtual work requires that these rules and boundaries be adhered to achieve success.

Some of them could include: having a check-out time from work without taking work home virtually and creating a system that accommodates your lunch breaks and other rest periods as required.

Relaxation and mental health:

Sometimes working virtually or remotely can be hard and lonely, especially when your team is located in a different geographical location or if you work alone as a consultant or an entrepreneur.

This sometimes affects your motivation to keep working effectively and consistently. So a leave from work or a period of long rest is always welcomed after a long sessions of work, because it is really important to get refreshed and get the necessary rest required for the long haul.

This time off virtual work, creates room for you to bond with friends, catch up with colleagues or with other more relaxing and fun activities. This certainly is a good investment for sound health (physically and mentally) and enhances productivity at work.

In conclusion, working virtually at optimal performance can be achieved, but not without the required efforts to ensure your virtual work experience and that of your team becomes enjoyable and effective.

The above highlights are only guides that can enhance this process, however, what counts most, is being able to have clarity of purpose and establish a virtual structure that works for you, one that is sustainable and can be replicated.

Thank you for reading.

Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!

Posted in Article, Branding, Business, Colors, Corporate Communications, Design, Inspiration

Article: What Your Brand Colors Say.

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Did you know, that colors have a voice of their own and they speak in diverse tones?

When it comes to colors, many people are usually inclined to choosing something they like or are comfortable with, like their favorite colors.

However, when it comes to branding for business and choosing colors for your brand identities, designs and print materials, there are certain principles that should be taken into consideration to reflect an organized entity and professionalism as a business.

This is because colors have over the years been associated with certain interpretations and meanings and there are also some rules pertaining to color application. These need to be considered, for a brand to be well positioned, attractive and still reflect its brand’s values.

Let’s begin with the basic things, we think you should know about colors.

The Color Wheel

The color wheel reflects the primary colors (any color that cannot be made from the combination of other colors), the secondary colors (colors derived from mixing two primary colors or additive primary colors in equal proportions) and tertiary colors (colors derived from the combination of a primary and secondary color in equal proportions).

The color wheel is the foundation of any brand’s color application for design, as well as its brand identity and colors choice; whether you choose to make use of primary, secondary or tertiary colors or other colors that can be derived from the combination of any of these three.
This Includes the use more or less saturation (lightness, with the combination of the white hue and any other color) or more of less value (darkness, with the combination of the black hue and any other color).

Your choice of colors should reflect your brand’s values and the kind of image it intends to project to its target audience.

This is why certain well-known global brands, as well as smaller brand have over time selected specific colors for their brand identity.
As we go through the meaning of some predominant colors, think of well-known brands and why they may have selected certain colors to represent their business.

Below are summaries of some of the most principal colors and their meanings.

The Primary Colors

Red, know to reflect: Passion, energy, love, romance, danger, style, excitement, pain, bravery, active, bold, power, ambition, youthfulness and assertiveness.

Yellow, know to reflect: Joy, cheerfulness, friendliness, intellect, energy, warmth, caution, optimism, understanding and smartness.

Blue, known to reflect: Stability, leadership, trust, responsible, truth, confidence, calmness, tranquility, affection, success, loyalty, authority, peace and sincerity.

The Secondary Colors

Orange, known to reflect: Creativity, productivity, thoughtfulness, warmth, instinct, freedom, impulse, motivation and new ideas.

Green, known to reflect: Growth, clarity, generosity, freshness, life, money, safety, healing, environment, hope, youth and nature.

Purple, know to reflect: Vision, royalty, diplomacy, fashion, dignity, passion, spirituality, luxury, wisdom, magic, plentiful and loyalty.

Other Dominant Colors

Black, known to reflect: Sophistication, power, mystery, death, grief, strength, finesse, subtlety and infinity.

White, known to reflect: Purity, cleanliness, peace, goodness, simplicity, hope, freshness, light and coolness.

Gold, known to reflect: Supremacy, royalty, creativity, warmth, loyalty, friendliness, loyalty and strength.

Silver, known to reflect: stability, authority, security, strength of character and maturity.

Color Use and Branding

After examining all of these colors and some of their generally acceptable meanings. You may be very tempted to make use of a lot of them for your brand representation. This is quite understandable, since many of them reflect some very good and desirable qualities and values.

However, this is not always the smartest route, especially when choosing colors that would in the long run reflect your brand’s values, style, creativity and organization.

Your vision and mission statement for your brand, as well as service offerings should be carefully considered before the choice of brand colors are made, such that your color choices remain pleasing to the eyes and reflect balance.

Below are some formulas that can help you decide on how you could combine certain colors, taking into consideration the color theory rules and application.

The Monochromatic Formula

This entails that the application of a single hue from the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value. Say you picked a blue hue.
You would eventually have a variety of that specific shade of blue to be applied consistently across your brand identity, designs and brand assets.

Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See the image sample below for better understanding.

The Analogous Formula

This entails the application of three hues that appear next to each other on the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value of any of these hues selected.
This gives your brand a lot of creative room for color application and use for your brand identity, designs and brand assets.

Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See the image sample below for better understanding.

The Complementary Formula

This entails the application of any two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel with the combination of more or less saturation or value. Say you picked a red hue, the complimentary color for this hue on the color wheel will be the green hue.

You could decide to apply these two selected complementary colors using a specific saturation or value consistently across your brand identity, designs and brand assets.

Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept, that would help with more insight.
See image sample below for better understanding.

The Split Complementary Formula

This entails the application of any hue on the wheel and two opposite colors to it on the color wheel, with the combination of more or less saturation or value.
Say you picked the orange hue on the color wheel. The split complementary colors for orange would be the green and blue hues.

You could choose to apply these three selected hues using a specific saturation or value consistently across your brand elements, designs and brand assets.

Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.
See image sample below for better understanding.

The Triadic Formula

This entails the application of any three (3) equally spaced hues from the color wheel, using a triangular method of selection (an equilateral triangle).

This can be a very dicey method of color application, however care must be taken to ensure that the three selections are not hard to the eyes and remain balanced.

This can be achieved by applying more or less saturation or value to the three selected colors.
Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.

See image sample below for better understanding.

The Tetradic Formula

This entails the application of any four (4) hues from the color wheel, using a rectangular method of selection.

This also has to be selected carefully using a suitable saturation or value of the selected hues and applied across the brand identities, designs and brand assets.

Think of brands you know that may have applied this concept. This should help with more insight and creativity.
See image sample below for better understanding.

Conclusion

Even though these are great formulas that can be followed when creating designs for your brand’s assets or designing in general.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box or try something new or unique.

Remember, there is beauty in moderation and balance, but there is also a beauty that comes with variety. As long as your choice of colors are balanced and have great contrast, without being hard to the eyes. This ensures that such designs or branding efforts remain attractive, irrespective of your colors choices.

Don’t also be skeptical about nature’s inspirations.

Some of the best designs and color combinations of all time for some brands have been obtained from the natural things around us.

Also remember to generously make use of neutral colors: white, black and grey (using a saturation or value of hue that comes off as most suitable for each design) to bring balance to your all of your branding and design efforts.

We hope all of these information remains helpful in making concrete decisions about your choice of brand colors for your brand identity and design efforts.

Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!