20 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO HAVE A WEBSITE

In the world we are today, there are still many people wondering whether their business needs a Website. And other people do say, we do not have a business, but a charity organisation. No matter the kind organisation set-up you have, here are some reasons why you need a website.

(1) Promote Your Products 

A website helps you to showcase your products for everyone to see. You can explain the benefits, compare it with other products, or even show testimonials of your happy customers that already bought the product from you.

(2) Promote Your Services

Most times it is hard to showcase services in a store or office.That is why you need a website to do this. The web allows you to introduce the service, the proffessionals providing the service, and how several services can complement each other

(3) Promote your organisation

It is true, these days, that people buy from people. People support organisation or causes that they believe in. A website is a great tool to promote an organisation and build trust, that is, If you do it right... A well-developed website can convey trust and credibility, making people to buy from you, or support your cause.






(4) Promote Yourself

Whether you are a professional looking for a job, or an expert in your specialized field e.g. artist, musician, actor or actress, trainer, instrumentalist, blogger, author, preacher, inspirational and motivational speaker, politician, advertiser or marketer etc: you can show that to the world by having a comprehensive website. The use of an associated email address also increases perceived professionalism: and letter from someone at me-the-expert.com will certainly open more doors than an email from a hotmail account.

(5) Promote Your Ideas

Political campaigns are now all over the web. As a politician seeking for a new post in government, or you wish to be re-elected into your office. A website can be a powerful tool to promote your ideas, and build a following of like-minded people. Or you can just write online journals ("blogs") to ventilate some of your thoughts and concerns.

(6) Promote Your Events 

For example, you have an important event, or you want to promote your business with seminars, workshops, exhibition or trade show. You will easily increase awareness when you create a website for the event. Show dates, programs, prices and driving directions to the venue, all these features and more will be greatly appreciated by your target audience.






(7) Selling Your Events

You may want to take your event a step further by considering selling (or preordering) tickets for your events on a website. Shorter line-ups, less expenses.....I think that sounds like a good idea to me.

(8) Build A Community

You want to be a perceived as a leader? Want people talking about you, or provide a platform for people to share ideas and ideologies? A website forum or bulletin board can be of a great help in building an online community. It may even be the cement that keeps an offline community together, due to its empowering character and availability 24/7.

(9) Improve Branding 

Branding is a way to differentiate your product service or company from its competition, and create loyalty. You can outclass your competitors by the content of your website, its style and tools such as newsletters and other things that will make the visitors feel good about you. It will be more worrisome however, if you do not do this, a competitor may snatch not only your prospect sales, but also their loyalty away from you with their website! Its either you Eat, or be eaten!

(10) Solicit Feedback from Customers 

A contact form on your website can provide you with a lot of valuable information from customers, prospects and other interested people. You may even get them to take an online poll, especially if you say they can win a prize as a reward. And if the stakes are high enough, the free word-of-mouth promotion will start automatically.

(11) Reach a National Market

Political campaigns are just one example where websites are being used to service a National audience. Offering a National specific version of your product; this allows you to offer information about specific tax and delivery charges, or appeal to National pride.

(12) Educate

Online Education can be very effective, more and more people are taking courses over the internet. If you provide workshops or complete courses, you may consider offering them online too. (e.g. http://www.dageniusconcept.org.ng/web_training.htm)

(13) Start A Movement

A website is a most effective way to promote your viewpoints, ideas, a cause, recruit volunteers, build a community (by adding an online forum), make press releases available and so much more.

(14) Spread Ideas or Ideology

If you do not want to start a movement, a website allows you to share your views and ideas with like-minded people all over the world. It also allows you to easily explain things by means of adding audio, video or animation to your website. It can be like haviing your own radio or TV station.

(15) Update Information Quickly

Catalogs have been in existence for a very long time now, and they still prove to be successful. Newspapers and Magazines are still popular ways to find out what is going on in the world. They have one major disadvantage, though; you cannot update them very quickly. A website, however, allows you to make the changes almost instantly.

(16) PR Tool

A website can be a great PR tool. You can post Press Releases on it, or articles, or a complete Press kit - with pictures, sound files, bios and more! You can also start a forum or blog (like the one you are reading), an interactive type of online diary which can be a great PR tool.







(17) Find Employees

A highly effective way to use a website is to use it as a recruitment tool. You can obviously use it to post job vacancies, but you may also consider placing a more general invitation to send resumes. This way you may already know the right person for the job before a vacancy occurs.

(18) Facilitate Knowledge Building

Are you an author, or a coach, counselor, teacher, inspirational and motivational speaker who sells electronic materials or teleconferences? You can use a website to sell seminars or e-books for people to learn from. You can create password-protected modules so people can learn online. You can build forums where people can exchange questions and answers. A website is an ideal tool to facilitate the exchange of knowledge.

(19) Play With The Big Guys

Nowadays, many small companies successfully take on the big Guys. Website can be relatively inexpensive (compared to running a brick-and-mortar store) and with proper usability and search engine optimization, your website can be as good as your larger competitors or even better.






(20) People Expect It

By having a website you tell the world that you are a viable business. Not having one makes you suspicious in the eyes of many prospects. Though it is silly, but it is true; a website will enhance perceived professionalism.

In Conclusion, I am sure that at least one of the 20 reasons will apply to your situation. One last bit of advice am going to give you is that: If you DO decide to have a website built; make sure that the designer has the right skills and knowledge to make your website as effective as possible. He/She must have a good knowledge of marketing and business advice, usability consulting and search engine optimization. Your website should not only look great, it should be easy to find and easy to use.

Do you have questions? You wish to have a Website for your business, company, school, organisation etc. or you wish to learn how to design website?. Contact us now and or call us on 08096590380, let us take of your web needs. 

Visit our website: http://www.dageniusconcept.org.ng/web_design.htm

TOP MOST POPULAR AFRICAN DRUMS.......>>SEE THEIR NAMES

The great thing about African Percussion is that it dates right back to the 13th century. They are used in African tribes, especially callings and communications between them. It has always been something I am very interested in, especially the fast rhythmic playing that almost talks to you. These drums have spoken a language in the Western Africa culture and moves on the celebrate events and religious festivities in the modern world. I want to know more about the drums that are used to create the music and how they provide such sound and resonance in their culture.





Djembe

I have always known the Djembe to be the most common known drum in the African family. It is a traditional rope tuned drum that originates from West Africa. The body is commonly hardwood with an untreated goatskin head. They range in sizes from 12” – 15” and produce a loud sound being played by your hands. The volume of the drum varies depending on how tight the skin tension is. There are 3 basic methods used when playing the Djembe, bass (low), tone (medium) and slap (high). They are played by varying the position and technique to create complex rhythms.

Interesting Facts:

Djembe is traditionally played by men and even today it is rarely played by woman.

Djembe was traditionally used to communicate between tribes over long distances.

A master Djembe player is called a “djembefola.”

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DOUM DOUM

The Doum Doum is a double ended bass drum that originates from Guinea. It has unshaven calf skin head on both sides held together with rope on metal hoops called a voltage. The body is a round solid Iroca wood and comes in the common sizes of 13″ x 20.5″ and 16″ x 23″. They are traditionally played by 3 people and accompanied by the Djembe to make a polyrhythm. It is known as the ‘big drum’ within the ensembles. It is rested horizontally on a trestle and played using a wooden stick on the right and usually along with a bell attached onto the drum.

Interesting Facts:

A Doum Doum player is known as a “Dumdumfola”.

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TALKING DRUM

The Talking Drum is one of the most common known communicators between African tribes. It has an hourglass shaped body that it tuned using strings from one skin to the other. They are used to ‘talk’ by varying the tension on the drum heads. The middle of the drum is placed under you arm, which you can squeeze to make the tone higher and release to bring the tone lower, playing with a curved stick on one side and the hand and fingers on the other. It was interesting to see that you can change the notes through out playing and capture the rhythm of the human speech without words. They tend to translate single words into phrases to send the message through a drum beat.

TALKING DRUMMER

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SLIT DRUM

The Slit Drum is a hollow box shaped drum that has one or more slits on the top of it. They are thought to be the first drum that was created and are known to send messages through long distance communications as the sound can travel further. They are a resonating chamber because none of the sides except the slit are open. The slit (also known as the tongue) is hit using a mallet to project the pitch on the drum.


Interesting Facts:

Despite its name as a ‘split drum’ it is classed as an Idiophone which is an instrument that creates sound by vibrating without a membrane.

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CONGA

The Conga is said to be named after the Congo region in Africa. It has a tall barrel like shape made from a hallow tree trunk. I have always know it to be used in Latin/Salsa/Reggae music which is where it has become the most popular over the years. Originally this drum was tuned using the traditional animal skin and the weave rope tuning technique. They are now a rounder shape and have tuning lugs and tension rods so that they can be pitched to suit all of the different styles of music they are played in. There are five techniques to playing the conga: open tone, muffled or mute tone, bass tone and touch tone. They have a mid-low tone used to create a carnival rhythm with one or more congas.



Interesting Facts:

Quinto, Conga & Tumbadora or Tumba are the three sizes.
The Quinto is the high pitched, small head solo and melody conga.
The Conga is the mid-range, medium head conga.
The Tumbadora is the low pitches, large head conga.

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KPALONGO DRUMS

The Kpanlogo Drum is the key drum associated with kpanlogo music and originated from Ghana, West Africa. They are most commonly played in an ensemble with six or more drums along with Djembe’s and Doum Doum’s. It is a narrow barrel shaped drum with the drum skin held on by large pegs around the top. In order to get your desired tuning you need to tap the pegs in and out of the drum, tightening the skin until you get the pitch you are after. As well as its stunning image, I also love the sound of the drum as it is played lightly giving a beautiful mid range tone.

Interesting Facts:

It has been said that when you hear the kpanlogo drumming in the distance you think you’re in the jungle.

A small glimpse at these drums just shows how they have developed into modern drumming today.

The way they are used in the African culture is fascinating, making me want to try all these drums out myself!

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BATA DRUMS

Famous African drums used by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. The bata drums essentially are made up of a combination of three or five drums, all of different sizes. These can be played either with a stick or with one's hand. The two ends of the drums are not of the same size with one end having a large head and the other end having a smaller head with the neck tapering down. The Yoruba people consider the deity Ana to be residing within these drums. The bata drums are also an integral part of Cuban culture. Though the bata drums are African in origin they were introduced to the Cuban people by the African slaves who brought these drums to Cuba as part of their religious practices. Since then these drums have been part of Cuban music, including the Cuban jazz and timba.

BATA DRUMMERS

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BOUGARABOU

Another African drum is the bougarabou. With its origin in Western Africa, this drum is still predominantly found in this part of Africa. Traditionally a single drum played with one hand or a stick, recent times have seen players using different sizes of bougarabou drums for increased percussion effect. The bougarabou drum is made of cow hide and is shaped like an hourglass. The bougarabou player also wears jangling bracelets to add another layer of percussion effect to their music.

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ASHIKO DRUMS

Ashiko drums of Africa are largely used in the western world .The Ashiko drums are large in size with a cone-like shape and are covered with cow hide like the bougarabou drums. These drums are played by hand by keeping them in a upright position or by placing them on the side with the players straddling them.

FORMER SUPER EAGLES COACH, STEPHEN KESHI DIED IN BENIN

Former Super Eagles Coach and Nigerian football icon Stephen Okechukwu Keshi died suddenly in the early hours of Wednesday 8 June, in Benin City, Edo state.

NaijaLoaded confirmed his death from a member of his family as well as one of his close associates.

The former international football player and coach had lost his wife of 33 years, Kate, last year after a prolonged battle with cancer.

“He was not ill at all, never showed any signs of illness, but we suspect he never got over the death of his wife,” a friend said.

He is survived by four children and his mother.

Keshi is the only Nigerian coach to have won the Africa Cup of Nations, achieved a rare feat in 2013 by becoming only the second person to win the trophy both as a player and a coach.

The only other person to have achieved the feat is Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary.

Keshi, a product of St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, started his playing career at a very young age at ACB Football Club, and later played for New Nigeria Bank, Stade d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg, and a host of other clubs.

He represented Nigeria from 1982, at age 20, till 1994, most of the time captaining the Super Eagles and scoring vital goals from his position as a central defender.

He also coached Togo and Nigeria at the World Cup, as well as Mali.

Keshi, nicknamed the “Big Boss” for his leadership skills, is the fifth member of the all-conquering 1994 team to die, following Uche Okafor, Thompson Oliha, Rashidi Yekini and Wilfred Agbonavbare.

LATE STEPHEN OKECHUKWU KESHI

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi was a Nigerian football defender. He was also a football manager of the Nigeria national team.

Born: January 23, 1962, Azare

Died: June 8, 2016

Height: 1.85 m

Playing position: Defender

Teams coached: Togo national football team (Head coach, 2011–2011),more

Awards: CAF Coach of the Year, CAF Legend award (Source: Wikipedia)

May God grant Nigerians and all members of his family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Rest in Peace.....Keshi!

***REVEALED***TOP 10 TIPS FOR A BETTER SINGING AND PERFORMANCE

FOR SINGERS AND MUSICIANS

Proffered by: Mark Bosnian

There is a lot of prep and work to nailing a performance but there are some simple things you can do. Thanks to award winning singer/songwriter and veteran voice teacher Mark Bosnian, we have 10 tips for a better performance that can take you to the next level.

1. Know Your Song – have the words memorized and have 2 or 3 emotions that you want to evoke when you sing. Trying to sing with emotion is hard when you don’t know which emotion(s) to use. “Knowing your motivation” will help you connect to the audience.
2. Use Dynamics – nothing says boring like a song that sounds the same from beginning to end. You have to change up the volume, the intensity, the tone and all other vocal elements to keep people engaged. Accent key words in each line by make them different—louder/softer, brighter/darker vowel color, staccato/legato, etc.
3. Sing To Your Audience, Not At Them – split the audience into quadrants and sing to each quadrant for a few seconds. Even if you’re not making eye contact with every single person it will look and feel as if you’re singing to each audience member. Your voice goes where your eyes go—don’t close your eyes a lot or look over people’s heads. Look us in the eye for a few seconds and you’ll win our hearts.
4. Make Friends With Your Belly – learn how to use Bosnian Belly Breathing™ and “sing from the diaphragm”. It is difficult to create a flow when you sing or speak if we can see your shoulders lifting up and down and hear you sucking in air. Knowing how Nature intends for us to breathe and make sound will make a huge impact on your control and confidence.
5. Be an Intentional Singer Not a Hopeful One – by learning to choose numbers on a scale of 1 to 10 you’ll be able to give your body specific directions about volume, tone, etc. You can move from saying to yourself, “I hope this comes out sounding good”, to “I need a 6 power to sing the high note the way I want”.
6. Turn Off Your Vocal Defense Mechanism – you have a mechanism in your subconscious that tries to protect you from embarrassing yourself when you perform. By learning what triggers it, you can stop it from sabotaging your performance.
7. Make It Your Own – borrow from the best singers but don’t imitate. Take elements of what great singers do and combine them in your singing—you’ll create your own recognizable style.
8. Tell The Story of Your Song – almost all singers obsess about being in tune or forgetting the words. If you put your intention on telling the story of the song instead of trying to “sound good”, the audience won’t pay attention to the imperfections.
9. If You Don’t Show It, They Won’t Know It –if you don’t react to a mistake no one will notice it. Practice making a mistake and continuing as if nothing happened and this will become second nature.
10. Make A Move, Make a Connection – shift your weight from foot to foot, take a step forward or to the side, change the position of your hands or your body—movement is the key to looking confident on stage.

FEEL FREE TO DROP YOUR COMMENTS.....

THE TALKING DRUM....AFRICA'S BEST DRUM

This page is meant to teach you some things you need to know about the Talking drum, how to play it while teaching yourself, how to take care of your talking drum, misconceptions of people about the talking drum etc.

However, the articles on this page are restricted to some places in the world or parts of some countries in Africa. Most of the articles on these pages are going to be more-focussed on South-Western part of Nigeria. If you need more explanation on any of the articles, contact me on 08096590380 or click here to send me an email.

Note:- Every article that you may come across on this page is gotten from professional talking drummers, so if any particular article or articles is against your belief or culture, do not be emotional about it,....just close the page!

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TALKING DRUM IN NIGERIA

Talking drum has been in existence as early as the human beings existed. Though it was not given much attention. Then, It was just part of the Arts & Crafts of our forefathers. Before the advent of modern Nigeria the Yoruba land was one of the most prosperous and advanced ethnic group in sub - saharan Africa. It is often assumed from oral tradition that the cradle of civilisation is at Ile Ife which is one of the most important cities in the history of yoruba land. One important socio - cultural activity that has remained since the existence of yoruba land apart from languages is the use of talking drums (ilu gangan).





It was first realized, introduced and named “Talking Drum” by Roger T. Clarke in the half 18th Century. Then, the talking drum was being used as a tool to worship “gods” or “idols” by our forefathers; some villages then, used talking drum to send messages of love or war to the neighbouring villages closer to them. But later, this mentality changed as it was being used for other means like Ceremony, to praise someone, to send messages and other things.

According to the History, not all men are allowed to play the talking drum especially if he is not circumcised, because the talking drum is being regarded as sacred drums






Nowadays, all these things have changed, as we now make use of talking drum anywhere and anybody can play it. Though, some religious groups still don’t make use of it nowadays because of some reasons or superstitious belief that makes it an abomination to them.

Many countries in the world have different names they call the talking drum according to their languages.





These are some of the countries with the names:
Country            Names
Korea               Janggu
Ghana              Odondo/Dondo
Senegal            Tama
Mali                 Tamanin
Gambia            Serě
UK/America     Hourglass-shaped talking drum









In Nigeria, Talking drum is mostly used by the Yorubas and the Hausas, these are the names they call it here
Yoruba - Gangan/Dundun
Hausa - Kalangu/Dan Karbi


In Yorubaland, we have series of drums with names according to their shapes and sounds. They are: - Iya Ilu, Apala, Omele, Bata, Omele-Bata, Sakara, Afaro, Benbe, Akuba, Kord, Omele-kord e.t.c

TOP 20 QUOTES OF MUHAMMAD ALI THAT INSPIRE THE WORLD

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer. Early in his career, Ali was known for being an inspiring, controversial and polarizing figure both inside and outside the boxing ring. Ali began training at age 12.(source: Wikipedia)

Born: January 17, 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Died: June 3, 2016, Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Spouse: Yolonda Williams (m. 1986-2016), Veronica Porsche Ali (m. 1977–1986), Belinda Boyd (m. 1967–1977), Sonji Roi (m. 1964–1966)

Children: Laila Ali, Rasheda Ali, Hana Ali, Asaad Amin, Maryum Ali, Jamillah Ali, Khaliah Ali, Muhammad Ali Jr., Miya Ali

Siblings: Rahman Ali

Three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was a renowned boxer not just for his supreme boxing skills, but for his catchy sayings. 

To honor the legendary fighter, who died Friday at age 74 in a Phoenix hospital, here are some of his most famous quotes that inspires me...and the world.

QUOTES

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can't hit what the eyes can't see"

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life."

"Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

"It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction. Things begin to happen."

"To be a great Champion, You must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - A Desire, A Dream, A Vision. They have to have the skill, and the Will. But the Will must be stronger than the Skill"

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

"Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even."

"A man who has no imagination has no wings."

"I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own."

"Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong."

“Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you're going to be right.”

"Don’t count the days; make the days count."

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."

"If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't Big enough"

"I know where I'm going and I know the Truth. I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."

"What you are thinking about...you are becoming"

"Inside of a Ring or Out, Ain't Nothing wrong with Going Down, It's Staying Down that's Wrong"

"It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges....I believe in myself.."

LATE MUHAMMAD ALI

TRIBUTES OFFERED BY ATHLETES, ARTISTS AND CELEBRITIES

Athletes, civil rights activists, artists and celebrities offer tributes on Twitter, Instagram for Muhammad Ali

"A part of me slipped away," George Foreman said on Twitter, calling the legendary fellow boxer by his "the Greatest" nickname.

"God came for his champion. So long great one," - Mike Tyson

"RIP to The Greatest Muhammad Ali, you have given something to boxing that will never be forgotten," - Floyd Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino former world champion professional boxer, said the boxing world would benefit from Ali's legacy.

"We lost a giant today, "Boxing benefited from Muhammad Ali's talents but not nearly as much as mankind benefitted from his humanity." - Pacquiao

A giant among men, Ali displayed a greatness in talent, courage & conviction, that most of us will EVER be able to truly comprehend. #RIPAli - Lennox Lewis

Muhammad Ali was not just a boxing legend, but a civil rights champion and a towering figure of our time - Mayor of London

RIP Muhammad Ali. You were an exemplary sportsperson & source of inspiration who demonstrated the power of human spirit & determination. - Narendra Modi

What is going on??!! We are losing all of our National Treasures. Our Pillars of Humanity. He was the Greatest! - Madonna

My heart is deeply saddened yet both appreciative and relieved that the greatest is now resting in the greatest place. - Roy Jones Jr.

I had the honor of knowing #Muhammad Ali. He was simply The greatest inspiration to the whole world. Sad sad day. - David Hasselhoff

As boys, we huddled around the radio as Muhammad Ali floored Sonny Liston. In 1975, he walked into, and blessed, our lives... - Jermaine Jackson

REST IN PEACE #ALI

SOME TRUTH YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RISKS

1.  Risks lies in the heart of Decision, Willpower and Determination.

2.  Risks are worth taking when:- (i) There are unanswered questions (ii) There are problems that need urgent solutions (iii) Chances of Success and Failure are fifty-fifty.



3.  Most times, risks can be intriguing and also worrisome at the same time.




4.  Risks give birth to modern development and inventions. It is not new. Life itself is a risk.




5.  Risks aren’t worth worrying about, they can be shrugged off.



6.  Expertise-proffered solutions or preventive measures against risk can pose more danger to lives than the risk itself.








7.  If you focus on the risk involved in something, then it’s not going to be done. So when they ask you “why” for something, then ask them “why not?”.



8.  Deaths are associated with risks. But it isn’t very helpful to approach the subject of risk by focusing on how we might die; it’s far wiser to consider how we should live and what risks we will live with.



9.  Just like the popular saying “Take the risk and get richer”. So if you can not take risks, you may get poorer and underdeveloped.



10.  It’s either in two ways. Risks makes you grow or you grow up at risks i.e. Risks can be posed to you or you can be posed to risks at any stage of your life.



11.  Risks can’t be eliminated but it can be minimized.



12.  Not all risks are bad; even a life without risk would be dull and unpromising.




13.  Taking the risks sometimes might be perilous but one amazing truth is that, only by taking risks can get the best of you.



14.  Whether you encounter, avoid or embrace it. Risk is meant to change your life forever, even though sometimes it may not be the best choice or decision for you to make.










15.  Risks accommodate new ideas and new solutions, without considering the alternatives and contingencies



16.  Risks are associated with self-made decisions and actions aimed at achieving specific purpose, though, the uncalculated risks may lead to more doom.



Do you have questions? You wish to have a Website for your business, company, school, organisation etc. or you wish to learn how to design website?. Contact us now and or call us on 08096590380, let us take of your web needs.