Blessing Okebe: To succeed in digital marketing, you need to know how to sell

A Facebook and Google certified Digital Marketer Blessing Okebe is a project manager and a corporate event host. She is the founder of Building Influential Brands, Facebook communities focused on helping individuals discover what they want to be known for, build influence and visibility around it and make money out of it. She is also the lead trainer at The Brand Mastery Academy where she trains industry experts, career professionals, impact drivers and business owners to build and grow a profitable Brand and position it for Influence. She is an OAP, Writer, speaker and teacher and has spoken on a number of media platforms across Nigeria. She has also been nominated for several awards to which she was awarded some. Blessing, who believes in every man’s capability to live a life they truly desire and deserve, shares her story in this interview.

What Inspired Me To Be A Brandpreneur
Brandpreneur is a combination of Branding + Entrepreneur. Just like a modern-day entrepreneur, I provide solutions to problems surrounding branding. I help people go from obscurity to visibility and influence. I choose to become one, because I am committed to helping people become the best version of themselves and being a BrandPreneur helps me achieve that.

Challenges Of Brands And Digital Marketing
How to Sell without Selling. Most businesses migrate online with the same mindset they had offline, the mindset of making sales. While this is good, businesses must understand that promoting a business online comes with a different strategy; relationship building is key.

People come to interact and build relationships online and not to buy; that is why it is called social media. Every business owner must therefore key into this to make money online. They should focus on interactions and building relationships through creating valuable, relatable and consistent content around their business and around themselves. These contents should focus around solving the problem of their target audience as regards to their brand/business. When this is done, it makes the target audience trust the business owner enough to do business with him/her and this is where they make the most sales.

Challenges Young People Face In The Process Of Carving Out A Name For Themselves
Primarily confusion, especially if they find what they can offer as value or if they are into several things and can’t find which to choose. I help them out by asking certain questions, some of which are

Which are you most passionate about? Which can you make money from? Which have you built expertise or gotten results in? Is there a ready market for it in your current environment? Which do you see yourself doing in the next 3 to 5 years?

They also have issues on the kind of content to create and how to position themselves online for opportunities and influence. I solve this through my training and coaching sessions.

Five Tips For Young People Trying To Build Their Brand Or Venture Into The Digital Marketing Space
– Define your ‘why’. Don’t start out on something because of pressure or because everyone is doing it.
– Understand that clarity is a journey. You will never have it all figured at once. The further you go, the clearer it becomes.
– Have the mind to ‘serve’ and not to make money. Doing the first guarantees the second.
– Never take relationships for granted. Build profitable relationships with people below you, within you and above you.
– Never stop investing in yourself. The market out there is a very dynamic one. If you stop growing, you get left behind.

What I Would Change If I Were To Be The President Of Nigeria
The educational curriculum; infuse more practical than theories and equip students with the right knowledge and tools they need to succeed in Nigeria. They need knowledge surrounding money, entrepreneurship and business.

Three Women Who Inspire Me And Why
Adebola Deji-Kurunmi; She is a pure definition of Firebrand and Slaying it.

Joyce Daniels; She does exactly what I will achieve in my ‘Event Hosting’ career and she does it so well.
Adaora Lumina; her creativity, thoughts and processes are not the usual, they are different.

Where I See Myself In Five Years
Travelling round the world, hosting corporate events, speaking to people and helping them go from obscurity to visibility and influence.

Being A Student And Entrepreneur And Managing It All
Definitely not easy, but I have learnt to prioritise, which comes first in a particular season and for now it is my academics. I manage my time productively for my business, work and training. Though this makes me miss out on some of the activities my mates are fortunate to engage in, I know my future self will thank me for it.

Advice To Young Women
Just start! Start anything; it doesn’t mean you always have to continue with it. Stop over thinking, most of these thoughts are just in your head and may not happen. Expose yourself to new ideas, relationships and places. Be selfless when building relationships especially with people you admire. Serve them with your skills and knowledge and don’t always think of what they can give you.

Whatever journey you embark on won’t be easy, so prepare to be disappointed, confused, discouraged etc. But no matter what happens, keep pushing. Keep tweaking until you see what works, take a break if you must but make sure you come back stronger.