Being With Jane

by Hans

My friends had had her and still liked to talk about how exciting their experience with her was. I had to have my turn. Sate my curiousity about what it would feel like. I had dealt and had her all to myself now. We were alone now and all the conditions were right: dark room, Jhene Aiko playing in the background, she in that tight fitting white dress I had seen her in a couple of times  and even food stocked away for the hunger cravings that came after, that was how meticulously I’d planned for our time together.

There she was, waiting for me to make the first move. She smelled nice I realised. I lifted her tenderly, still ambivalent about what was about to happen, wondering if I’d do it right the first time, set her body on fire for me. She felt like putty in my hand. I bent and gave her a kiss. It felt wrong and I felt nothing. I braved a deeper kiss this time and allowed her deeper into my mouth, I was about to make a mental note to reprimand my friends for their exaggeration when she responded with a ferocity that had my brain stop for a few seconds. I forgot what I wanted to tell my friends. We had found some chemistry. From here onwards,  it was give and take. Back and forth we went till I realised I was literally losing control of myself albeit the heightening pleasure. I had to stop for now it was all too much at once. I hated losing control and I definitely wasn’t in control right now. Her smell was so intoxicating and all consuming. I’d never felt anything like this before. This giddiness, pleasure and fear. It was too much. So I put down the blunt.

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'Spreading the Good Word'​, a business lesson from Wall Street

by Ezinne Enyinnaya

Originally published on LinkedIn 

16 January 2019

In the early 20th century, Merrill (co-founder of Merrill Lynch) turned the investment world on its head with the concept of selling stocks and bonds to middle-class retail customers. With Merrill as the advocate, securities became a consumer product that held as important a place in America’s commercial culture as automobiles and insurance policies.

During that same period, when a Forbes survey identified the nation’s fifty outstanding business leaders, most of them ran large manufacturing concerns, like General Motors. Only Charles E. Merrill, a sixty-two-year-old college dropout, made his living on Wall Street.

Taking a deeper look into how Charles Merrill was able to achieve this, the international bestseller ‘’Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time’’ highlights the fact that the firm’s strategy was first to educate and second to attract people to the store.  In an uncommon practice for a brokerage house, Merrill created awareness through pamphlets and platforms like the New York Times with articles such as ‘’what everybody ought to know about the stock and bond business’’, giving information on definition of ‘stocks’, ‘bear’ and ‘bull’ markets as well as how to do business with a broker.

A paraphrased excerpt from the book reads:

‘’… These efforts earned Charles Merrill and his company acclaim as the company was said to have brought more respect to the business of marketing securities than any other person. Merrill criticized his peers in the securities industry for having little interest in ‘spreading the good word’. That year, his 106 offices with about 3,300 employees went on to service 104,800 accounts…’’

Charles Merrill’s ‘democratization of stock ownership’ was one of the events that shaped the evolution of Wall Street in the 1940s. It is interesting how a passionate stockbroker believed that if he educated his customers, they would be more willing to invest in securities. This gave rise to a movement of ‘’spreading the good word’’ to potential customers, which in turn multiplied his customer base.

In today’s business world, there is the opportunity to develop the market for many products/services if adequate information is communicated to potential customers about the solution being created. This is why today, blogging is a desired skill because it offers the opportunity to enlighten customers, position a product/service and shape a whole industry. Wall Street’s market development strategy of ‘’educating first’’ and then ‘’attracting customers’’ has been proven to be effective and fortunately, can be easily adopted in most industries.

When faced with a market development problem, answering questions like ‘’How much understanding does my potential customer have about the solutions I offer?’’ can help make the difference between success and failure.

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A Fresh Start

by Stepney Glory-Emeh

First day out of a possible 365, as I lay down on my bed and hear the rumblings of fire crackers and exploding of rockets with the fizzling of the beautiful sparkles they create, I feel a sense of renewal hovering in the air. A new dawn is upon us.

Hurray! We all made it through the past year, through the good and the bad, through smiles and frowns, through laughter and tears; we made it and we are here! Phones start ringing, messages are being sent, pleasantries are being exchanged and our loved ones are being reminded of how much we care for them.

With every new year, with that sense of renewal hovering in the air,  come the new year's resolutions, aspirations, goals and commitments. While we bask in and enjoy the well deserved euphoria, it is important to note down a few things.

1. The first day of every year although a brand new year is literally just another day and no matter how much we wish and hope, things will not automatically change just because it is a new year, the work and strategy have to be put in place for things to actually change.

2. A mental picture has to be taken of the previous year and in this picture you should highlight your successes and failures; note in particular your failures. Pinpoint your highest and best achievement and also your lowest and most disappointing moment. Try and put into perspective, the events that surrounded both moments, what things brought about your successes that were solely dependent on you? Those things have to be reinforced. What things brought about your failures that were dependent on you? Those things have to be discarded. Surely there would have been moments that were independent of whatever you did or did not do and for those moments we can only pray for better luck this year

3. For the new year, write down all your resolutions and goals, if possible give them time limits. While doing this know that you may not achieve all of them and that is perfectly okay, the most important thing is to get a blue print of what you want your year to look like. Take every day as it comes - the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, strive to improve yourself daily and learn from every experience.

4. Learn to do things you have not done before. It might be learning a new language or how to play an instrument, getting more involved in the politics, trying out new meals, travelling. For things you already do, strive to do more. Are you a reader? Read more... Are you a writer? Write more... Do you give alms to the less privileged? Give more... Are you a lover? Love more!

It's a new year man!!! I am stocked, I feel everyone around me glowing with positive energy for the year and I'll like to say that no matter how the year eventually goes, one phrase shall remain solidly on my lips... WE MOVE!

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