If You Can't Build an Online Business, Build Your Business Online - Clement Oyinlola - Head of Operations, Terabyte

If you do not believe the popular saying that running a business without doing advertisement is like winking at a girl in the dark (you know what you are doing but the lady does not), Clement Oyinlola in this interview will convince you. Read his interview with NNI below.

NNI: Can we meet you sir?

Guest: My name is Clement Oyinlola, born on the 18th of February, 1995. I'm a graduate of OAU from the department of Economics after spending my first three years in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, lol. I'm an entrepreneur and a business owner, currently working as the Head of Operations of The Tera Brand (Africa's number one and fastest growing advertisment, marketing and consulting firm). I'm a firm believer and currently serving as the Point Man Delegate of David City Tabernacle (DCT Church), Ile-Ife.

NNI: How has the digital entrepreneurship journey been for you so far?

Guest: Well, it has been a bumpy ride, full of lessons and lots of down-moments. I started business fully in 2015 and failed in my first 2-3 years. I started another business late 2017 and failed just about 12 months after. Then in July 2019, I started the business that's thriving today, The Tera Brand. Of course, I'm prepared for more failures, but I am certain I won't quit until I hit my goals, no matter how long it might take.

NNI: To you, what is the relevance of digital marketing and how can individuals leverage them for growth?

Guest: The world has evolved. Everything can now be done on the internet. My usual saying is if you can't build an online business, build your business online. Either ways, make sure you are leveraging the digital space. Business has never been this easier with the tons of available courses and training videos available online, much more, you can automate your entire business process down to payment and sales tracking. Not to now talk of the deep blue sea called digital marketing where you can access limitless amount of potential customers. The relevance cannot just be overemphasized. Individuals who really wanna gain presence and visibility have no choice but to use the digital space. WhatsApp is part of digital marketing, so if you're posting on WhatsApp status, you're part of the game.

NNI: What digital media lessons have you learnt from establishing a PR Firm like Terabyte?

Guest: When you are true to your values, people will respect you and seek you out. There are lot of copycats and fake people everywhere. Everyone is going about the fake it till you make it. I'm against this phrase, why fake what you don't have? Don't give the impression of who you are not. Be true to your word. I've learnt this practically from clients who request for metrics especially from WhatsApp views. And I always tell myself that if I promise 100k views and I deliver 70k views, I'm not true to my word. I recently underestimated our current reach with The Terabytes to 70k views across 15 campuses but in the real sense, we have about 100k reach. I won't tell customers 100k reach because of whipsaws. So, I'd rather underpromise and overdeliver. When I do this, customers are wowed and they become repeat loyal customers. I'm not out there to impress anyone. I'm out there to deliver value!!!

Clement Oyinlola

NNI: How does startup branding affect the future of digital revolution?

Guest: Your branding is the personality of your business. And your personality is what makes you different from the next person living next door. You are permitted to overlook branding when you're just starting, but you're not permitted to keep overlooking your branding. Apple is where they are because of their branding. They have given themselves that class and others are trying to be like them. Same with Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Coca-Cola, Nike, Disney and many others including Tera (winks). We guys (you know, I'm now sitting in the class of Apple), we guys are revolutionaries. We don't follow the conventional branding strategies, we are enforcing a new strategy that you already know subconsciously. It's called emotional branding. Lemme stop there!

NNI:  What do you think of data rates? How do they affect your businesses online? 

Guest: There's nothing we can do about that. Just factor it in as part of your operational cost. It's like when you're trying to have an office and you're saying you don't need a generator, remember, this is Nigeria!

NNI: What is your experience so far in the Forex Industry?

Guest: Hmm... I started my Forex journey in early 2017 and it has been full of ups and downs. But in the last one year, it has been consistent ups as a result of the many lessons I've not just learnt but adopted. I'm a learner, in every single thing you can think about. I just wanna keep learning and much more teach as well. I started my personal brand (ClementOyinlola.com) and it's my way to teach individuals on the different ways of earning from the Forex Market and also on marketing, branding and sales. It's still at the starting phase, it's all still rough, but in a matter of 30-60 days, you'll start seeing it everywhere. So, for all Forex traders or aspiring Forex traders, relax, there's legit money in the Forex market, the question is, *are you ready and patient enough* to master how to pick the coins from the mouth of the crocodile?

NNI: Many have results to prove that digital skills do not yield actual conversions. Is there anything they are doing wrong leading to these results?

Guest: Permit me to smile here...lol... Everyone is looking for the magic beans for instant result. Truth is you can manipulate the results you get from the digital space. Remember anything digital can be hacked. Also, some people don't have the concrete understanding of how digital conversion works. For example, you ran an ad on Facebook and Facebook metrics showed you that your ad reached 5,647 people. Those 5000+ people that saw your ad are Facebook's leads. If out of them, only 60 messaged you or clicked your link, those 60 people are Facebook's conversion. At that level, Facebook has done her job and has converted 60 people to you. Now, those 60 people are now your own lead which is your sole responsibility to convert them. If you are able to convert 10, good and if you are able to convert none, it's all on you. Facebook already done her job. So, when you're working as a digital marketer, you need to understand how different leads and conversions actually work. I was forced to come up with a disclaimer for our clients last month that we are an advertisement company, we do not promise that you will make sale, we only promise that we'll show your ad to as many people as possible who are your potential customers. Those who reach out to you (which I'm certain people will), it is your responsibility to convert them to sales.

NNI: Is advertising always a worthy investment?

Guest: There's this popular saying that running a business without doing advertisement is like winking at a girl in the dark, you know what you are doing but the lady does not. So also is advertisement. As long as you're not doing your business just for yourself, you need to reach out to people outside your circle. I'm not the social in quote kind of person, but I realised that I can't be running a social media business and not be social, so I learnt it. I currently have over 800 students in our organization across 15 campuses in Nigeria and 4 African countries (which will be launching soon). That's not even the goal, that's just our introduction into the market...lol... So, back to the question, advertisement, if done well and right, is a worthy investment. And about doing it well and right, we have the best and smartest brains on our team for that. We don't just want you to run your ad because we want your money, we want your advert to be effective and get you leads.

NNI: What is your view on Global Youth Development and growth as regards the digital world? 

Guest: Like I already mentioned, the Digital world has made all those easier. You can attend a summit via teleconferencing and so, there's a positive correlation between global youth development and digital world. Just yesterday, I dropped an idea with my team that we would be working on soon across the entire African continent, it's called THE AFRICAN FACE, we are yet to have the full structure but it's sure going to be a creative strategy for all African youths to connect with each other using the most basic platform.

NNI: What's your believe as regards interconnected growth? Is it absolutely possible for a brand to develop in isolation and without partnerships? 

Guest: For the past 11 months, our partners have been our customers and potential clients. We are currently at the stage where we are raising funds for growth through external investors. Our company registration is currently ongoing and so once it's done, we'll be partnering with external investors for our brand growth and development. Apart from business, there's no self-made person, success is not really a lone wolf journey as we have been made to believe. You only need to find the right set of people to be your best set of people. I am partnering with over 800 Nigerian students to deliver value through Tera and I'm also on the lookout for investors to partner with for our growth and development. There's need to connect and partner for growth. You just need to find the right set of people to connect and partner with. Even at that, you'll still meet some Judas (permit me to use that name). I know of people who started with us in some schools and felt like they could also do same. They left the team and started their own brand. It's quite painful but it's expected. The sky is wide enough for anyone and everyone to soar. I'm a keen believer in loyalty and trust and it gives me joy that my managers are loyal and trustworthy. In short, I have the best team and partners.

NNI: Demand is making price for digital skill courses increase. This is fast becoming a problem and turning back potential students. From experience, how can this be solved?  

Guest: We stick to the basics. Simple. I was discussing with a friend, you might know her, she's Toluwakemi, the WhatsApp Queen. She was talking about how a particular investment program fee is high and I was like, very soon, yours will be high too, that it's only a matter of time. Same discussion ensued with the co-founder of Tera, and he was also telling me that very soon, we'll become expensive. Inasmuch as I love expensive cause it gives you a class of your own, we should not forget that there's something they call volume and depth. When you're expensive alone, you have depth, that's Apple. But Microsoft leveraged both volume and depth. They are expensive, yet affordable for the masses. You can combine both volume and depth. Segment your packages but make sure each package is valuable enough and allow you to afford the next package. Lemme explain... Assuming I have a community and monthly subscription is $29, I can also have a package for $9 for those who can't afford the $29 such that if you by my $9 package, I'll be able to equip you enough so that you can afford my $29 package. That's value. Not just about me making money, but about making your life better. So, there's a way trainers or tutors can adopt this strategy and it will also build trust in your students and you can easily keep them forever. I mentioned something like this briefly in the last part of my eBook, The Forex Scam (which you can pre-order for $19 against the regular price of $49). So, the more the demand, the more valuable the product is, and the more you can leverage on volume while also building depth.

NNI: What is your advice to fellow young individuals?

Guest: My fellow young individuals, let's prove to the world that we are not lazy. Let's prove to the world that not all Nigerian youths are scammers or fraudsters. Let's prove to the world that we can achieve our dreams legit. That we can put our hands to work and get the results we are proud of. That we are not ready to fail and that we are ready to keep pushing and digging till we find the diamond. That we are ready to wait and endure the growth process and be proud of the person we are becoming. That we are ready to fight our Goliath, walk on water and rise again from the dead.

NNI: What new heights do you hope to scale in the near future?

Guest:  I will be launching the V100 project soon. It stands for The Vision 100. The goal is to establish my presence and brand presence (The Tera Brand) in 54 African Countries, 100 Campuses each with nothing less than 200 Active Ambassadors in each campus. The project should last for the next 5 years, so watch out for 2025! There are many other heights I hope to scale, like be featured in Forbes 30 under 30 (well, who doesn't). This has been a goal for me many years back even before I knew what kind of business to do. Also, this may sound funny, but I wish to be appointed as the CBN governor before I clock 40 and before I'm 50, I wish to be on the board of directors for the World Bank.

NNI: Thank you very much for your time sir.

Guest: Thank you for taking your time to follow me! I'm open to new and valuable friends.