Simbo Olorunfemi, journalist, publisher, poet, television producer and brand management specialist at the August 2016 Journalists for Christ fellowship spoke on Media Entrepreneurship and Know-How.
Here is a list of 30 things journalists need to do to become successful entrepreneurs.
1. By all means, seek knowledge
2. Explore training opportunities
3. Know the rules so that you can break them
4. Develop other skills at the workplace – Graphics, Marketing, etc.
5. Network with those in other departments
6. Put the skills you have to other uses – Blog, Ghostwriting, Freelancing, etc.
7. Brand yourself (differentiation) – who are you? who do people say you are? who do you want to be? How do you want to be seen?
8. How are you using social media?
9. Use social media to engage and build a following for the sake of opportunities
10. It is never too late to start – Colonel Sanders (Founder of KFC)
11. Read – Journalists don’t read newspapers
12. Art – pure and applied form, Find a means to apply your gift
13. Improve your knowledge of money matters
14. Watch TV, like newspapers, with an eye for opportunities
15. Monitor social media for trends and opportunities
16. Network with the right people like your life depends on it.
17. In positioning yourself, ensure that you are an original
18. Time is money, use it well. Journalists have a bit of control over time, even with the odd hours of work, it is an asset that the wise one can exploit
19. Be curious, explore, pay attention to your environment
20. Think
21. Be a person of integrity
22. Have respect for credit. Payback what you borrow
23. Be a part of the Cooperative club
24. Save, spend less than you earn
25. Save extra income that comes
26. Ensure you are not a victim of Parkinson’s law that as income rises, so does expense rise in equal or greater proportion
27. Embrace technology
28. Be altruistic. Be selfless
29. Be innovative
30. Always be prepared (Olajumoke the Bread seller
Mike Demola Atobaba
Thanks & regards.