Who would of thought that in the month of March 2011, I would be in Jeddah, Saudi, then NYC and then two weeks later in Lagos, Nigeria talking about branding. The world is getting smaller by the minute.
Yep, I’m going to Africa.
I’ve been invited by Brand Journalist’s Association of Nigeria. This is a group of writers who cover branding and marketing communications matters. They will be honoring the governor of Imo State as “the Most Branding Compliant Governor”. This is the based on his re-branding of his State to make him more investor-friendly and Professor Dora Akunyili, a highly respected government and business leader as the “Most Distinguished Brand Ambassador”.
It’s very exciting and a bit freaky too.
Not the adventure part, I love that. Not the travel, I’ve mastered that, but the prep for my program. I usually start working on my content at least 30 days out. This event is in one week and I’m addressing a country that I’m not very familiar with. And my brain has been deep in writing a book with a big deadline staring at me daily. YIKES!
So what do you do next?
1) You first thank Google, my massive pipeline for new business. The client is the government of Imo State. They found me because of my high ranking. Read more on how I earned the #1 spot.
2) Then you become a thirsty sponge and you soak up as much as you can as quick as you can. You ask questions, Google a bunch and use social media to further your insight.
3) And finally, you take a deep breathe and remind yourself how lucky you are to be an entrepreneur in America. And that the principles of branding are in fact universal and being a quick study is a great skill to process.
I’m traveling with a Andrew a film specialist from Litewavemedia. They are the company that shot my videos. I negotiated my contract so I could bring a professional colleague, document my journey and not travel alone.
So next week I will be video blogging to you from Lagos!
For more on traveling, view:
Making history in Saudi and 5 lessons from the experience.
Less stress. More life. Tighter travel brand.