Monetizing Your Knowledge

The class of SUI GENERIS, from the department of Management and Accounting, Obafemi Awolowo University organised a one-day webinar titled Monetizing Your Knowledge. The webinar was anchored by Senator Babafemi Ojudu, the special adviser to the president on political matters and it was a remarkable moment. 

Arkorewrites brings you the full lecture delivered at the seminar. 

Babafemi Ojudu:

I am here with you. Good evening to everyone.

Thank you everyone. I have been asked to talk to you on Monetizing Your Knowledge.

It is a very important subject at this period when it does appear every young men and women will have to fend for themselves as the government could no longer fend for everyone.

In the past you come out of school and you expect to be hired right away, you are provided accommodation, a car and a good life. There is so much competition now that anyone who want to survive will have to leverage on his/her knowledge.

And as they say knowledge is power.

I have however seen so many people in our society with a lot of knowledge but they do not know how to leverage on it to empower themselves.

They keep carrying around the knowledge and lament that there is no opportunity.

Knowledge provides you with opportunity and what you need to add to your knowledge to position you to make money with it is - passion.

If you have knowledge and it is not driven by passion, the knowledge will just weigh you down and you get frustrated because you will be waiting for someone to provide you direction on what to do with the knowledge.

When this does not come, you get frustrated and suffer depression.

But when you realize you have knowledge and that you can translate that knowledge to opportunity your problem is solved.

Let me tell you a personal experience as a student of Obafemi Awolowo University in the early 1980s.

I spent a lot of money buying newspapers and magazines. I was also one of the free readers association. We gathered every morning around the vendor to read all the papers. I gathered so much information about politics and our national affairs. The knowledge was overwhelming. How do I turn this to money?

I started writing opinion pieces for newspapers such as The Guardian and Punch of those days as well as Daily Times. Before you know it the papers started paying for my contributions.

It was N25 then a piece but that was huge money for a student. I put less pressure on my parents, I started assisting my friends from my incomes and also sending some money to my siblings.

Many were like me then but they didnt know how to monetize their knowledge. I knew early at that period that I could make money with my passion and my knowledge.

With my experience, the day my NYSC ended was the day I was hired by The Guardian. I never had to write applications and go through the interview process. They have seen my capabilities through my writings.

By the time I became a professional journalist, I went further seeking other ways I could monetize my knowledge. I got in touch with foreign publications and I started freelancing for them. This opened my eyes to possibilities outside our shores.

Again, I started compiling local stories here and forward them for publications abroad. This earned me some good money in those days.

Now look at that and see the key indices

First, you need to have passion. Your passion drives your knowledge. You will want to acquire knowledge in something or an area you have passion for. After acquiring the knowledge, you now ask yourself, “What do I do with all this knowledge?” It is incumbent on you to know your environment and then determine what section of my environment will find a use for this knowledge and will be ready to pay for it.

The moment you are able to do that you are on your way to fulfilling yourself.

There is no knowledge that is lost or that is not of use or that no one is in need of. It is for you to find and segregate those who will be in need of the knowledge that you have and possess.

What then follows is, how do I get this across and get people to pay for it?

At our time it was tough. I used to travel all the way to Lagos from Ife to deliver my articles to the newspaper houses. That was at the cost of time and resources. If it were now it is just by pressing a button on my phone.

So, unlike our time the opportunities are greater now and there is the ease of delivery of your knowledge. The challenge is for you to challenge yourself and take the opportunity of your environment and create a niche.

Your knowledge I must say should not be limited to what you are taught in the class.

Now let me give you another personal experience.

Raising my children, they were taught to cook. When they were being taught they never knew that this knowledge could be of use one day.

Now, my last daughter got to Canada for schooling and found out that her fellow Nigerian students retain their taste for Nigerian cuisine but they do not know how to go about it. She requested her mum to send the ingredients and started cooking for her school mates.

I went visiting one time and her refrigerator was filled with food. What are you doing with all this packed fried and jolof rice I asked her. She said they are for sale. Her fellow students come in, request for it, she brings out, micro wave and sell to them,

That is knowledge monetized. Knowledge of cooking, knowledge of knowing the need of her school mates. You need to have both to be able to succeed.

I do hope I am making sense?

During this pandemic, two teenagers in California, a 14 and 15 year old came up with a business plan to help the aged buy groceries. They built an App to support this and within a month, they were doing business with 200,000 dollars and they started growing exponentially and were featured on CNN.

I wanted to raise snails. I started the business gradually on my compound. One day, I got home and found that all the snails were dead. They were attacked by ants. I went on the internet searching for solution. I couldnt get one. I would have paid anything for that service if it had been available on the internet. When I finally got someone who seem to have the expertise, I called his number severally he didnt pick it. He lost converting his knowledge into making money.

I find it difficult understanding why people will go to school, pay so much money to acquire knowledge and they will not be able to convert that knowledge to money

Has any of you thought of this? There are so many small scale businesses who are not in a position to employ accountants to manage their finances. I believe a smart student or graduate of account could come up with providing services for such businesses for little sums they can afford.

We have the population. Where you have population, service will be required. It is for you to know what kind of service is required in your community that your knowledge positioned you to provide.

So you as students have to start thinking of that. Don’t wait till you are out of school. Who says that you can only become an entrepreneur when you are a graduate? You can be an entrepreneur as a student or be a potential entrepreneur.

Even now as accounting students you can come up with an e-manual for the management of small businesses and offer this at affordable sum for them. You can organize seminars, conferences, coaching. You can join efforts with ICT folks and design applications and software for them to run their businesses

You can design a blog where people who need your expertise can engage you and seek your advice.

There are so many possibilities for a person of knowledge.

Do you know how many people graduate out of higher institutions every year in Nigeria? How many of them can the public and private sector employ? We have to create opportunities for ourselves. The guys who created Facebook, Google, and Apple are young men. Do you know how many people in the world today are living on their innovations?

It is time we begin to look at innovating in different areas for our survival rather wait to be spoon fed by government.

I tell my children to begin to look into their inner self and search what they want to do for themselves when they leave school. The opportunities in paid employment is very limited now. We must eat, we must move around, we must communicate, human beings need entertainment as we need medication. Ask yourself, in all this spectrum what innovation can I bring?

The media is for you to explore. You can reach your audience faster than ever before and cheaply too. You need to take advantage of this to monetize your knowledge

Isn’t this also another opportunity for other people? Helping people of ideas and knowledge to realize themselves.

That is what is known as venture capitalist in the western world. You have knowledge and I have money and I am betting my money on your knowledge. If we succeed we both benefit hugely.

I will await your questions

Question and Answers

Mustapha Ridwan MRO:

I have been wanting to ask someone of greater heights like you for long.

Its about unemployment and all. Everyone is willing to develop his or her skill and build his future business. The question now is, what if these resources to build on are not available. What if I am an orphan with no one to assist me? And the government is not in all position to assist me.

What do I do?

Babafemi Ojudu:

I think we should think less about the problems and more about the opportunities. There will always be problems. Problems are there to be solved. Give yourself to it, tell yourself you are going to succeed and you will.

Glory Ipadeola:

Thank you sir for these eye-opening examples. I want to ask sir, as regards writing articles for newspapers.                                                    I am actually a freelance writer. I run blogs and do a lot of research writing. One problem I encounter is that I am not having so many people to see this. I have not seen opportunities to write for newspapers and the likes, where my works can reach more people. My question is, what can I do and how can I reach more people sir?

Babafemi Ojudu:

Again, it is about what are you writing about. Is it about what people need or just ranting against people in power and lamenting Nigeria’s problem? If you write about what will interest people, what will improve their lives, their businesses, you will get readership.

Rachael Ayomitide Ilori:

Sir my questions are:

How can we discern the opportunities around us and after discerning what is the next step? Because there are opportunities opening that someone can't just rush into it without having the full knowledge sir.

Babafemi Ojudu:

Open your eyes. Be conscious about your environment. Know what is needed. What is missing and how you can provide it

Jay Jay:

My own question is this sir, if there's a situation where you have so much potential in you and of course you believe in yourself. But generally, the major backbone everyone needs the most is family. If they really do not believe in your potential and you're on your own. What do you do as a student?

Babafemi Ojudu:

You venture out on your own. Instances abound where people had no support and by dint of hard work and determination to succeed, they make it hugely. Start out by assuming that help may not come.

Nicole:

Thank you sir.

I have a question.

In a situation where I want to hold seminars and invite other people to talk about business related issues, but I'm in an environment where people only attend those things because of the entertainment and not to gain knowledge, how do I make people understand that its not about entertainment but for people to learn?

Babafemi Ojudu:

Again, this is where creativity comes in. You really have to think hard of what will interest them. You can also collaborate with people who are well respected in the society. Leverage on their reputation. Gradually people will be begin to see value in what you are offering.

Thank you so much for the opportunity. It’s been my pleasure and I wish all of you success in your endeavours.

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