1

Should You Spend Money On Branding? ( My Response May

Shock You)

In one of my premium mastermind group, someone asked me if

she should spend money on branding. She even went on to say
that, she’s ashamed of her ‘brand presence’.

She’s not the only person who’s worried about branding. So,
today, I’m going to ‘KILL’ this issues once and for all.

My answer is this, if you have not made your first 5 to 10

Million naira in your business, forget branding. It’s stupid. It’s
rubbish.

People see branding as the only mixture of colors and graphics.

So, they spend all the money in the bank branding their website
and do all sorts of crazy stuff instead of focusing on the main
thing that will push the needle in their business.

The best kind of branding you should do is a super fast customer

satisfaction.

Let’s even face it, most of the banks and telecoms who have
‘correct’ branding, how cool is their services?
I was in a Nigerian bank the other day, I spent over 3 hours and
yet they spent billions on branding.

Don’t get me wrong, branding is cool but when you are just
getting started, that is not what you should spend your time and
money thinking about.

Focus on customers’ acquisition and marketing.

Once you hit your first 5 Million naira, you can then talk about
branding.

I have seen people who branded their website but they are not
making sales. They are dead broke. They minor in the major and
major in the minor.

I can also list at least 5 online marketers who had the worst
online brand in the history of the internet when they got started,
yet the went ahead to make over 1 Million dollars before coming
to brand.

If you are one of my followers, you know I launched

www.Johnsonemmanuel.com and trust me, it’s not well branded
but it has generated millions of naira since launch in January.

The photo on the homepage was taken in 2013.

Focus on making the sales and delivering value to people, then
once you hit atleast 5 million naira, you can then talk about
branding.

Over to you, what do you think is the number one thing standing
between you and success in your online business venture? Drop
your comment and I will respond.

2
Should You Spend Money On Branding? ( My Response May
Shock You)

In one of my premium mastermind group, someone asked me if

she should spend money on branding. She even went on to say
that, she’s ashamed of her ‘brand presence’.

She’s not the only person who’s worried about branding. So,
today, I’m going to ‘KILL’ this issues once and for all.

My answer is this, if you have not made your first 5 to 10

Million naira in your business, forget branding. It’s stupid. It’s
rubbish.

People see branding as the only mixture of colors and graphics.

So, they spend all the money in the bank branding their website
and do all sorts of crazy stuff instead of focusing on the main
thing that will push the needle in their business.
The best kind of branding you should do is a super fast customer
satisfaction.

Let’s even face it, most of the banks and telecoms who have
‘correct’ branding, how cool is their services?

I was in a Nigerian bank the other day, I spent over 3 hours and
yet they spent billions on branding.

Don’t get me wrong, branding is cool but when you are just
getting started, that is not what you should spend your time and
money thinking about.

Focus on customers’ acquisition and marketing.

Once you hit your first 5 Million naira, you can then talk about
branding.

I have seen people who branded their website but they are not
making sales. They are dead broke. They minor in the major and
major in the minor.

I can also list at least 5 online marketers who had the worst
online brand in the history of the internet when they got started,
yet the went ahead to make over 1 Million dollars before coming
to brand.
If you are one of my followers, you know I launched
www.Johnsonemmanuel.com and trust me, it’s not well branded
but it has generated millions of naira since launch in January.

The photo on the homepage was taken in 2013.

Focus on making the sales and delivering value to people, then

once you hit atleast 5 million naira, you can then talk about
branding.

Over to you, what do you think is the number one thing standing
between you and success in your online business venture? Drop
your comment and I will respond.

How I Was Almost Shamelessly ‘Embarrassed’ By…

==========================================

It happened in Port-Harcourt many, many years ago.

I was leaving in a one room self-contain but when the rent was
almost due and the Lord smiled on me and gave me some cool
excess cash.

As stupid as I was, I decided to do what most people would do,

represent my ‘big boy’ status.
I said to myself ‘Johnson, you deserve some ‘accolades’, go get
a two bedroom somewhere in Ada Gorge or even GRA, afterall,
the Lord is good’,LOLz!

A salient voice said to me ‘DON’T be a mumu, invest this money

into your business’ but because I was blind to wise counsel, I
listened to the former.

I decided to move to the area where the ‘big boys’ stay to

‘celebrate’ my new ‘status’. I even told the Landlord of my self-
contain to ‘rent it out and keep the change’, the Lord is good,
hahaha!

I felt it was the best decision, I defended it by actually lying to

myself.

Guess what?

All the ‘babes’ and ‘big boys’ started to show me green lights in
this new arena.

Then within few months, things became almost ‘dead’

and before I could say ‘Jack’, it was time to renew the rent but
there was no cash to do so.

It was crazy!
‘Oga landlord’ gave me an ultimatum and he told me, if you
don’t provide the money at XYZ, I will throw all your things
outside and this dude wasn’t kidding.

So, I got in the mirror and scream ‘Johnson, you can do it’.

I’m a marketer, what can I sell?

What do I have that I can sell?
What can I create that people will buy?
What problem can I solve in the fastest possible time?

A silent voice would scream ‘Johnson, you can do it’.

Then I packaged something I know a niche market would need,

I stamp a high fee on it. As a true marketer, I created desire.

To me, it was a matter of life and death. I no go fit fall my hand

before the ‘babes’ and the ‘big boys’, God forbid!

3days to the day, Oga Landlord asked the caretaker to remind

me that it was only 3days left.

Since I was selling a high ticket stuff, I needed to sell ONLY 1½

but I told myself, I was going to get 2 high ticket clients.

It wasn’t going to be easy but when there’s a 'will', there will

always be a way.
Just 1day to the expiration of the day, I got a client and then,
10.30PM that same day, I got an alert from another client.

The client had paid since but I didn’t know because the bank
delayed alert.

I was over the moon.

Then, the deal day came, Landlord brought some thugs to come
get my stuff out.

Menh!, Money is powerful sha,kia!

I remember that day like yesterday.

Oga landlord came to me and asked me ‘where is my money?’.

Since there was nothing like transfer at the time, I asked him
‘should I give you cash or check?’.

He said anyone is fine and with my hand in my pocket, I asked

him to come inside.

He came in and took a seat, I gave him raw cash, the one you
can ‘mint’ and I used the 'left' over money to go buy my very
first property in PH.

He jokingly said to me ‘you are a good person’. I laughed and

said ‘I know’.
It was marketing that saved me.

What if I didn’t know how to do marketing?

I believe that the best thing I have in this world is ‘my marketing
‘ skills.

Take me to any country so long humans are there and they can
speak and understand English, I can build a 7-figure business in
3-6months.

7figures in their own currency.

Think am 'mouthing?' Let’s go to the ring.

Marketing is my life, growing businesses is my hobby.

I will CONFESS to you guys today…

When I got started, I took a BIG gamble.

Yes, a very, very big one.

I’m not sure if I should call it a risk, hence the word ‘gamble’.
I told my very first mentor, Dr Sunny Ojegbase, who is the
owner and publisher of complete sports that I will prefer to get
int’l clients who will pay me hard currencies.

It was a hard decision but I did it.

All I wanted was dollars, I wasn’t even sure how to get it.

Then I got my first client, a beautiful lady whose picture you are
seeing.

Her name is Jessica Erenwort, that's her pic you seeing.

She paid me my first ever $3,000 back in 2008.

Yes, 2008.

I didn’t have a Paypal account or even any US account at the

time, she had to pay me through western union money transfer.

See, the odds were completely against me.

I had a deep Nigerian accent (unlike now,I’m superb now), I was

from a corrupt country, people fear Nigerians, It was my first
attempt but I killed all those inner fears and did it.

See, most of all the excuses you give are bullshit.

I knew I had a lot of limitations, I still went ahead to do it.
Excuses are complete bullshit!

These Oyinbos listen to me and take instructions from me.

When I talk, they shutup and listen.

Why?

Because they know I have something to offer, and secondly, I

believed in myself.

Jessica and I have done bigger businesses since then.

Today, i own international companies that rank in a lot of hard

currencies.

Why?

I believed in ME.

Do you believe in YOU?

How To Be Cool Like Cucumber No Matter What Happens To

You

Have you ever been broken and broken hearted?

I’m not sure if it is right to talk about this but as someone who
always talk about my personal experiences in life and business,
I’m going to say this.

I went through a lot of challenges these past few weeks but I

remained cool like cucumber despite.

My dad needed to do a minor ( and I mean very minor) surgery

in June of this year.

Everything was fine and he returned home happy, then a few

days, it resulted in complications.

He was in coma for two weeks and trust me, for that two weeks,
I died many times.

Gosh!

However, I never showed it, no body knew about it but me alone

and a few family members.

I was going about my normal activities, doing all my training

and executing new ground breaking marketing strategies.

I was going from one church to another, teaching them the

gospel according to JohnsonEmmanuel.com
In one of the churches, I mentioned it to the pastor and he was
totally shocked and said ‘you are a strong guy, Johnson’.

Was I disturbed?

Yes, 10 million times but I chose to remain as cool as cucumber.

Then he was on life support, this time, I was in another world.

I was crying in one of the nights. Yes, I was crying bitterly.

I was saying ‘Oh God, save my dad’. I was crying like my 5year
old, well, let me not lie, I cried more than him sha.

I had to purse at one point and said to myself ‘God doesn’t

respond to tears or emotions, he only responds to his word’.

Immediately, I started reaching all God’s promises on healing

like a hungry lion.

This time, my emotion had failed me.

I had to really on God’s word because it had nothing to do with

money anymore if it were, I was ready to spend anything to save
my dad’s life.

Then the morning came as I was making preparations to fly him

abroad, all these ‘bad news breaking doctors’ announced that he
had died.
I heard my uncle who’s over 60 crying like a baby, I didn’t cry, I
had to tell him it is OK.

At one point in life, stuffs will happen to us but happiness is a

choice. Never be sad, always find ways out when life happens.

Yes, I won't forget August 22, 2017 but I’m not broken even
though my heart is shattered.

6
Here’s a new business building technique to try TODAY.

It’s contrary to what all the ‘gurus’ say.

We are told to send people to a page, and offer them a ‘bribe’ to

get their email and names.

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that advice.

It’s still working.

The only problem is that email open rates are low.

I typically get between 19% and 24% open rate, and I know
mine is one of the highest. I know people who get 13%.

Crazy, right?
So, I decided to test something.

Take a look at the image attached.

I’m not offering any ‘bribe’ here, instead, I’m asking them to
APPLY to join my list.

‘Johnson, are you OK?’

Calm down.

I know this is completely against what we were told but it’s

more powerful.

Let me tell you the result first...

So far, about 800 people are on the list.

Two consulting deal sealed. These are NOT cheap consulting

gigs.

I would have had more but for the high price but I’m cool with
the high fee because it allows me to over-deliver value.

Email open rate? Between 35% and 58%.

Crazy, right?
The reason is very simple, people are ACTUALLY applying
unlike when they just sign up and get a freebie they never
consume.

In this case, they are answering about 12questions before they

get on the list.

So, these sets of people are naturally going to be more

committed than others.

7
The guy who is alleged to have killed the job seeker said he used
“reverse psychology” on her.

I saw a comment that made me laugh heavily.

A guy said that must be some heavy juju from Akwa Ibom.

He didn’t stop there, he went on to say “Akwa Ibom people na

juju people”.

I probably wouldn’t be bothered if he had stopped there, he said

the police should look for the native doctor and also arrest him.

He’s right, the police should look for him, but “reverse
psychology” is not a Nigerian concept.

I’ve talked about it severally.

“Reverse psychology” is a very powerful tool, and many people
use it, but most times, they don’t even know it is what they are
doing.

I love to make what seems complicated dead simple…

Let me give you a real-world example.

In 2007, during the election campaigns, one of the guys who was
going for senate came out to say “if you like the suffering, you
are going through, don’t vote for me in the next election”.

Now, instead of telling you to vote for him, he is indirectly

telling you to vote for him, by saying the opposite.

Another example…

When I was in JSS3, my dad gave me the beating of my life one

afternoon.

What did I do?

Because I didn’t go to school.

Then, the next morning, he said to me, “if you like, no go school
today, when you come, we go see?”.

What was he doing?

Reverse psychology!

I was in a church one time, and the pastor said, “Don’t give,
keep your money, even if you don’t give, we’d still explode
financially, and you’ll lose the blessing”.

What’s going on here?

Reverse psychology!

Ofcourse, this is me giving reverse psychology a simplistic

definition so that everyone will get it, and yes, it does, go way
more than this.

It’s a powerful tool but many people use it for bad, instead of
using it for good.

So, what do you think?

8
I love this story...

So, my good friend walked into my office today and we got

chatting.

After a while, he saw me trying to optimise some ads we are

running for ourselves.
Then the questions started pouring in...

'Dude, how profitable is that ad?'

Me: Quiet profitable.

Then, he fired the second shot.

'How come I've never seen the ad?'

Because we know that you wont pay us, we know you are not
our ideal client.

At this point, everyone busted into laughter.

One thing you want to do is to be sure that your ad is so super

targetted that it reaches only the exact customer you want it to
reach, else, you'll be burning money.

74% OF AD BUDGET ARE WASTED.

Sadly, most people don't even know who or what their ideal
customer looks like.

Listen, it's one thing you MUST do if you want to run a

profitable ad.
Stop burning money.

Your expertise isn't good enough, relationships are everything.

Let me share a personal story.

in 2009, my business experienced 'slow growth' even though I

worked my ass off and pretty good at what I do but I
experienced 'go slow' when it comes to growth.

I had a terrible social life because of my upbringing,I thought I

could do it through hard work and prayers alone.

Life was tough until my elder brother advised me to go out of

my 'circle' and I think that was a piece of priceless advice.

So, I decide to join Full Gospel businessmen fellowship but I was

strategic, I went to a high-brow chapter.

One day the chapter president asked me to deliver a

presentation and I can't forget that day, ever.

I spent 5days working on my slides and the day finally came...

I knew I needed to crush it because this is a gathering of top

business owners who are big boys and gals.
One of them has over 100 workers as at the time.

I over delivered on the day and every single person was blown
away.

Then the members and president asked me to do another

presentation after 2weeks.

Since I'm in marketing, everyone wanted to be my friend.

Words got out to other chapters, i started getting invites to come

speak there.

In 2010/11, I closed one of the biggest deals with a company

owned by one of the members.

I have gotten way more than 5 high valued clients and other life-
changing opportunities from those relationships.

Sometimes, a relationship will close more deals for you than

your expertise or experience.

A relationship can open doors that your expertise or skill can't

open.

10
I Quit! (Don't feel sorry for me!)

It’s been an amazing journey since 2016 when I decided to shift

focus from the US market where I operate majorly to the
Nigeria/Africa market.

I’ve been doing this online stuff for more than a decade now but
my focus has been STRICTLY the international market until
2016 when a great friend of mine threw a challenge at me.

I have a lot of things to say today but space won’t allow me. So,
I’m going to make them snippets so I can cover as much as
possible.

First, I have made a lot of friends, I mean, a lot of them. Top

CEOs, entrepreneurs, captains of industries, etc.

I may not be able to mention names because they’re too many

and most of them are not on FB but let me thank Padebi most
sincerely because she spoke at one of my events.

She was even gracious enough to allow me to use her pix for the
ads.

Let me also thank Emeka who spoke at my event in PH and he

even brought his PC for us to use when ours developed fault.

Not forgetting Alex Zubi ,Tomiwa and many others who are not
on FB.
‘So, Johnson, are you quitting marketing?’

God forbid!

You see, marketing is my life.

I don’t do what I do because of money. I had already made some

good cash and had great investments before coming to Nigeria.
So, money wasn’t the motivation.

‘So, what is the quitting all about?’

You see, if you want to build a very BIG business, the people
you work with matter ALOT.

Next year, I’m NOT likely to work with individual Nigeria

clients, only corporate (except if God touches myheart).

You can’t build a 9 or 10 figures business working with people

who pay you 6figures. It’s going to be very, very hard.

Let’s say you charge a client 150K for a coaching program. It is

very likely that the client may not pay you anything close in
24months.

Not because your stuff isn’t good but because people in this part
of the world believe in ‘one-off’ program unlike in the west.
However, if you know what you are doing, you can get a
corporate client whose minimum value for 12months is
12million naira, and you can even lock them in a 3years
contract.

So, once you know that the value of the client is 12M for
12months, you can spend 1 to 2 million in advertising cost to
acquire the customer and you need only 10 of them to have a
solid 9figures/year business.

Business is simple. It’s about knowing your numbers and

growing those numbers.

See, I LOVE building mega businesses.

So, I’m quitting so I can spend more time in the ‘trenches’ and
help more companies in my ad agency. I enjoy DOING than
‘talking’ marketing.

Truth is, I’m tired of too many people ‘talking’ and not
‘doing’. Some don’t even know what they’re talking about.

I’m the kind of a mechanic who will wear his shirt and go under
the car and find out the fault of the car (& fix it) instead of
talking theories.

That is what I do best. It is what I enjoy the most. It is my life.

Oops, this post is getting too long and I’m even yet to say
anything. I’ll have to do a followup.

CRAZY!

So, do you think I’m doing the right thing?

11

Why is it so hard to build a successful business online these

days?

No, it’s not hard but a lot of people are breaking the ‘golden
rule’.

The truth is, with the right help, you can build a solid 7figures
business per month in less than 12months but most people like
to break the rule, that’s the problem.

Life is governed by principles, and if you break those principles,

you’ll suffer the pain associated with that decision.

A lot of you here need to take your life more seriously and you
should be more methodological in your decision.

Most people are just roaming about on social media.

Today, someone shares a story of how creating a Chabot grew
his business, the next thing, everyone is chasing chatbot.

Then another man talks about how podcasting is the next big
thing, then, everyone begins to run after it.

Tomorrow, it is book writing and everyone (including the ones

with zero experiences and no success) becomes an author.

Next tomorrow, it is Facebook ads and everyone begins to chase

it and after that, it is mini importation.

Absolute madness!

You can never succeed gallivanting like that. It’s not possible.
Stop roaming up and down.

Get an idea, sit down, be focused, you’ll eventually hit your goal.

You MUSTN’T follow every ‘thought leader’, unfollow them if

you have to.

Infact, unfollow me if you have to.

Just take your life more seriously, please.

Most people who dish out advice here are struggling to even
build their own business themselves, they’re not even as
successful as you think, and the worst part, they don’t even take
their own advice.

Pick one or two persons you love and follow them religiously,
block out the others.

I’ll share my story tomorrow.

I’m your #1 fan!

12

35 million naira in sales..Here's How it was done.

How is it going with you today?

So many people replied my message yesterday and they were

itching to read today’s own. Let me not waste time.

Would you like to take your business to 35 million naira or even

more, maybe 100 million naira?

So, two years ago, Nnamdi became one of our clients. When we
met for the first time, he told me how things were tough for him.

He painted the picture of a client he worked with that paid him

far less than what he usually charges but the client begged and
because he needed the money, he accepted.
So, after accepting the job, the client didn’t allow him to
rest. He regretted ever accepting that job, finally, he had to
refund the man.

It is true that people who pay the less worry you the most.

Nnamdi tried hard to get ‘good clients’ but they were not
forthcoming. He was lucky to get people who paid him a few
naira but they were not enough to keep body and soul together.

So, everynight, he would stay awake thinking and sometimes

even in tears ‘where will my next clients come from?’

He listened to all the gurus, bought all material he could afford

but right before his eyes, his business was dying.

He was indebted to many people and the 2016 recession was

telling heavily on him and his business.

The worst part was that he wasn’t sure how to get out of the
mess. He made just a little above 300,000 naira in the whole of
2016.

Johnson, life can be very cruel sometimes especially if you don’t

have the right formula.

Nnamdi had so many worries, fears, doubts, pains,

disappointment, heartbreaks in his business.
He was getting the wrong clients, people that couldn’t even pay
him high fees and he couldn’t grow fast.

Truth is, if you want to grow your business fast, you need
money. If your clients are broke people, your business will be
broke.

Listen, it is not the quantity of clients you get, it is the quality

that matters.

So, how did he take that dying business to 35 million naira

business in about 21 months, employed 9 workers, bought a
company car and moved to their new office?

He made one BIG but simple shift. Watch out for it

tomorrow Also, I’ll be making a HUGE announcement
tomorrow. don’t miss it.

Got any question, reply me.

I’m your #1 fan,

Johnson