The world’s first Automated Teller Machine (ATM) clocked 50 years on Tuesday June 27, 2017
According to the Metro, the world’s first ATM was unveiled by Barclays at its Enfield branch in North London on June 27 1967.

As a tribute to the golden anniversary, Barclays transformed the ATM at its Enfield branch into gold, added a commemorative plaque and placed a red carpet in front for its users.

The original ATM was the brainchild of Scottish inventor Shepherd-Barron, this was commissioned by Barclays to create six cash dispensers for people, the ATM manchine was installed at Enfield. English actor Reg Varney, who starred in the British TV comedy show “On The Buses”, was the first person to withdraw cash from the new machine.

Now there are an estimated three million cash machines across the globe with close to 70,000 cash machines in the United Kingdom alone which dispensed about 175 billion pounds in 2016.


http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/06/world-first-atm-clocks-50.html

Most mistakes behind the collapse of small and medium enterprises are branding errors – or the result of business owners not understanding the importance of it. Many people think of “brands” as being large, important identities everybody knows about like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Harley Davidson. But building a credible identity for a small business is just as vital, and one of the first steps along the path to success.

Branding need not be a headache or anybody’s worst nightmare but it’s essential to make sure you have a little knowledge about brand before you start your business. Ensuring that you have the basics down will allow you to steer clear of avoidable errors and take a significant amount of stress out of running a small business or start-up. Addition, if you do it right, you’ll likely find you enjoy it! And the value of a good brand is quite simply, beyond measure.

Across the board, there are five common branding mistakes committed by small businesses. All can be avoided with a little thought and planning.


Bad business Name
We’ve all driven past them: those businesses called “Bob’s lawnmowers” or “The very best nuts and avocados”. With the possible exception of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, few of these achieve fame and fortune. And the latter is fictitious.

Branding can’t be generic. It can’t be hackneyed. It can’t be repetitive, or something we’ve all seen before. Your business is your baby, so give its identity the same care you would give to naming a child. Recognize that naming your business is a strategic process and requires thought. The name must reflect your purpose, identity and promise.


Penny Pinching
Many small businesses try to scrimp and save wherever possible, and the first place they do this is in the office. Bad idea. You may be glad to save on your overheads, but in the long run it could turn out to be an expensive branding mistake. If I walk into your offices as a prospective client and you offer me a broken chair to sit on, what am I going to think?

But this doesn’t only apply to your customers. Treat your staff well, too. If your staff are sitting in uncomfortable chairs or don’t have proper tools or are dying of heat because you don’t have an air conditioner (or at least a fan) they’re going to be grumpy. You need your staff to be brand ambassadors and to be proud of working for you. How you treat your staff will turn into how your staff treat your customers. Make sure you create a courteous, respectful brand from the inside out.


Too good to be true
One of the most common mistakes made by new business owners is taking bad advice. It may stand to reason that if you’re not a marketing expert, you should outsource marketing, and this certainly does make sense if you need a little help. However, you should put effort to know enough that you can distinguish between good and bad advice. Otherwise you may end up worse off than you were before. A consultant who doesn’t have your best interests at heart – or who simply isn’t an expert – can easily sink your business with a hearty dose of poor advice. And you would have paid them to do it. Empower yourself.


Complicating Your Brand
Ever heard of the award-winning “clown pants” design? Nope, me either. That’s because many of the most iconic and memorable brands understand the importance of keeping it simple. This doesn’t mean you should make your brand identity completely generic – it’s a fine line to tread between keeping it simple and making it forgettable. But as a rule, be bold, make a statement, but keep it clear. And in order to keep it clear, you should stay away from unnecessary bells and whistles. Keep your choice of colors, words and icons to a minimum. And once you have a clear, simple brand, ensure that you enforce it consistently throughout your company.

Remember – you can rebrand at some stage, or launch a new product with its own distinct brand. But beware of walking before you run, as rebranding is a challenging exercise. So, ...............!....


http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/5-branding-mistakes-nigerians-should.html

Social media is a bold new frontier for groups huge or small. At the same time as some agencies are doing high-quality stuff and growing connections with their target audience, a few aren't doing so well.

Even as the most pointed out social media disasters are via big brands, this doesn't suggest small organizations do no longer err on social media too, reflect on consideration on it, there are over 16 million Nigerians on Facebook and Instagram as of April 2017 has seven hundred million each day lively customers international.

This huge quantity of customers on social media means is that your small business has an expanded variety of potential clients, but, this massive range of humans have such various backgrounds, beliefs, experiences and cultures that you need to be cautious now not to alienate your clients.

While it's far not possible to delight everybody, there are a few errors your small commercial enterprise can and should avoid, here are 6 of such mistakes.

1. Insensitivity

Inasmuch as social media encourages manufacturers to be informal and greater risque than traditional communication, you still want to be careful no longer to return off as rude or insensitive. In case you are being funny, pass for self-deprecation in preference to snarky replies or as they're better acknowledged, ‘clapbacks’. While clapbacks gets you retweets, stocks and LOLs, you may come off as impolite and insensitive.

2. No Attention

You do no longer need to be on each social media platform. Locate the one that works first-rate for your brand or that your capacity customers use and focus on that. Being everywhere can be a little too overwhelming in your target clients.

3. Inconsistency

Creating a brand is a protracted con, equal for developing a social media following. Social media customers can be fickle, so keeping your commercial enterprise off social media for a long time is a big mistake. Be constant about posting. Do not post in sporadic bursts.

4. Bad Grammar

Proofread all of your posts. No textual content talk, you are not speaking to your friend. Horrific grammar reflects off your brand, your customers will assume in case you can't write proper sentences then you may offer true services or products. Use spellcheck and use a second pair of eyes to observe posts earlier than publishing.

5. Silence

Social media is set interplay. Communicate with people, speak with brands. If there are questions about your brand, respond speedy and do no longer be condescending on your response.

6. Hashtag Abuse


Even as using a trending hashtag on your posts gets extra human beings to look your publish, if the hashtag is unrelated for your write up or your business then do now not do it. Watch what traits and spot if it reflects your ..........

http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/social-media-mistakes-nigerian-business.html

Finding the RSS feed address of a blogger blog, or a blog hosted on blogger with a custom domain is one question I keep getting from the blogger blogging platform lovers and this got me into making this little guide. Though RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication, getting the RSS feed address of a blogger blog doesn’t seem as simple to many.

There are situations where you might need to submit your blog’s feed to a directory and discover you do not know how to get the correct URL that points to your feed. where

Below is a list of various addresses that point to the several feeds that are made available to the blogger (blogspot) hosted blogs by Google.

Full Site Feed
Atom 1.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
RSS 2.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Comments-only Feed
Atom 1.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default
RSS 2.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=rss

Label-specific Site Feed
Atom 1.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default/-/labelname
RSS 2.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=rss/-/labelname

Individual Post Comment Feed
Atom 1.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/postId/comments/default
RSS 2.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/postId/comments/default?alt=rss

That is how you can find the URI addresses of the RSS feed sections on your blogger blog. Have in mind that you have to replace “blogname” with your subdomain if you don’t have a custom domain, or replace “blogname.blogspot.com” with your custom domain, for instance “Proudlyblog.com” to get your feed’s address.
This should work perfectly as long as you are hosted on blogger.


You can CLICK HERE To Know more about it.

http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/how-to-locate-rss-feed-url-of-blogger.html

It’s too easy to make highly-priced mistakes with business investments, particularly while you aren't armed with the right information and understanding to guide you.

Here are the 5 steeply-priced errors people make with business investments.

1. Making Investment With Cash They Need Soon

Stay away from those forms of investments which are simply primarily based on hypothesis and market timing. If you are setting money aside for a goal, the money shouldn’t be considered or used for surprising and unplanned investments, especially those which might be likely to maintain your cash on lockdown for an extended period of time. You may easily turn out to be regretting it when vital and time-touchy charges come up.


2. Not Doing Their Homework

Before investing in any business, it's far extremely vital to do your homework and research to recognise the ‘bits and bobs of the underlying business enterprise '. It is important to recognize how the business grows, makes income and basically, the rubrics of the commercial enterprise. Earlier than engaging in any enterprise investment, you should always consider Peter Lynch’s investment quote, which states sincerely that you need to ‘Invest In What You Know ’.


3. Neglecting Legal Counsel

Neglecting legal recommend on business investments is a surprisingly volatile, and it is able to bring about adverse outcomes. A variety of first-time traders agree with that lawyers are just out to get their money, and while that might be partially actual, the legal counsel from these legal professionals are also very precious and vital in protecting your interests and sources in any business investment, specially if things all of sudden move incorrect. as an instance, consider the case of a clothier that unknowingly signed a settlement that gave her handbag agency the trademark to her name. While traders subsequently got here in, her enterprise name belonged to them, and she or he changed into pained by means of the fact that she could now not use her personal employer name. She wished she had gotten a attorney to present her proper prison recommend. Therefore, it is very important to get the right legal professional who knows your commercial enterprise dreams and might shield your hobbies nicely.


4. Being Emotional With Investments

Mixing emotions with business or cash can be very costly you want to stay as centered, logical and rational as possible. Don’t be an investor that invests without tangible statistics or evidence, and don’t be an investor that invests primarily based on a hope or desire that matters will pull thru or get higher. Assume nicely and be logical and rational approximately investments. The 2 most critical emotions you must defend against in making business investments is Worry and Fake wish. According to AoL Finance, simple symptoms of an emotional investor include: holding on to a failing stock questioning it will come back at some point; selling a stock at the primary sign of a loss; and being glued to the monetary information cycle.


5. Procrastinating Investments

Try to avoid not investing early enough due to the fact all it genuinely results in is losing precise opportunities to grow your cash. prevent with the excuses that make you postpone investments, and just do it.


http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/Mistakes-people-Make-In-Business-Investment.html?m=1

Bulk SMS technology is one of the modern means of communication. Unlike the common Short Message Services (SMS) offered by the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network providers in Nigeria, you can use bulk Short Message Services (SMS) to reach out to multiple recipients at a time with a customized sender name (identity).

For instance, if you are an owner of Unique Salon and want to send Christmas goodwill message to your one thousand customers, you can do that with just a click of the mouse, not until you send them manually, one after the other as it is done with our common Short Message Services (SMS) provided by the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) network providers. You can also use your business name (UniqueSalon) as the sender identity, thereby giving your business another level of standard.

TYPE OF MESSAGES YOU CAN USE BULK SMS TECHNOLOGY TO SEND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND / OR CLIENTS:

· Happy birthday,
· Thank You for Patronizing Us,
· Happy Christmas,
· Happy Easter,
· Barka da Salah,
· Happy New Month,
· Happy New Week,
· Happy New Year, etc.


BENEFITS OF BULK SMS TECHNOLOGY TO YOUR BUSINESS

o Use it for notifications: You can use the bulk SMS technology to send notifications to your customers and clients, especially when you just got new arrival or when you want to run a promo, especially during the festive periods.

o It can advertise your business for you: The bulk SMS technology has the capability of advertising your products and services for you. When you send an appreciation message to a customer, he or she will get impressed and may like to show the message to his or her friends, relatives, colleagues and others around him. He will always refer people close to him to always buy from you on the fact that you are so good, caring and have a good customer relation.


o It gives your customers and / or clients a sense of belonging. Humanly speaking, every human being needs care. When you reach out to your customers and clients by sending them goodwill messages during festive period, birthday wishes during their birthdays, happy marriage anniversary, happy new month, happy new week, thank you for patronizing us, etc., they will never forget you. In fact, they will always come to buy from you and will also refer others to buy from you.

o It retains your customers and / or clients for you: If you apply all the aforementioned methods, there is no doubt; your customers will be retained. For example, if they go to other shops to buy and peradventure they are not given good treatment, they will remember you and swear not to go back to that shop again but go to yours when they want to shop.

Thank you for reading. I want to believe you have found this write up interesting. Why not drop us your comment. You can also contribute your ideas on other things you think the bulk SMS technology can bring to one’s business.

If you are a business owner in Nigeria and may want to use bulk SMS to boost your business, I can refer you to one of the best bulkSMSportals we have in Nigeria. I have been using them for years and have found them reliable. Go to www.peakbulksms.com to create an account and you can buy immediately and start sending appreciation messages to your customers.


http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/usefulness-of-bulk-sms-service-to.html

Do your research and seek the best opportunities you can invest on. It will be your stepping stone to success!

Aside from that, you should also have the right mindset when it comes to making your money grow.

Prosperity is within reach! Here are seven ways on how you can make a lot of money.

1. Know that you want to earn a lot of MONEY

The first step to being wealthy is changing your mindset. You need to believe that you can achieve whatever you desire. It will be your driving force to making your first million.

Start off by writing down your goals on a daily basis. It will help you stay focused and will aid you in keeping track of your progress.

2. Don’t think negatively — believe you can achieve!

The worst thing you can do is believe that you are poor.

You are not.

Get rid of this mindset and believe you are rich. Always remember you that will be able to succeed in anything. Stay away from wallowing in pity and don’t think lowly of yourself. If you do that, you will stay in your current situation for a very long time. Say goodbye to the poverty mindset and believe that you will be able to earn a lot of money!

3. Think that it is your RESPONSIBILITY to become wealthy

It is not always just about the money. You also have a responsibility to become wealthy.

If you have a lot of businesses and income streams, you are most probably contributing to society by providing jobs to a lot of people. Set high standards for yourself and always remember that your money-making business is not just for you. It is for your family, employers, and other stakeholders as well.

4. Spend time with the right people

Another great way to become wealthy is by surrounding yourself with individuals who are also after the same thing. Wealth will not be an issue if all of your peers are driven to earn millions!

Spending time with the wealthy and affluent will have a significant effect on your mindset. Aside from that, it will also enable you to learn a lot. You will have a glimpse of their work ethic and how they manage to grow their millions. If given the right opportunity, you might also find a mentor within your social circle!

A lot of people say that birds of the same feather flock together, So, make sure to spend time with the right crowd!

5. Allocate your time wisely

Time is gold. It is something you can never take back or replace. Rich people know that time is more expensive than money. If you want to become wealthy, you should always remember that there is no such thing as an overnight success. Rich people don’t just simply get lucky — they have worked hard to achieve their goals and aspirations!

Make sure that you spend your time wisely. Allocate time for your tasks and don’t procrastinate. Spend time on things that can allow you to earn money and don’t give hours doing something wasteful. Be prudent regarding your activities. It will help you achieve your goals and make a lot of money.

6. Grow your money instead of spending it all

Are you earning a lot of money from one business? Don’t spend all of it on useless things. Instead, make your money grow. Use it to buy properties or other things that can give you monthly income.

7. Have a lot of income sources

A way to become wealthy is by coming up with different ways to earn. A person will not become productive by just having one income stream. You can opt to have a few businesses in various industries. However, always remember to study each type of business before you start investing in anything.

These things above are the secrets to becoming rich and wealthy. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication, but is attainable!

Take note of the points above and work towards earning a lot of money today!

If you need more secret check this blog http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/07/7-money-making-and-wealth-secrets-you.html

Boundaries are a set of rules we create to let people know how we would like to be treated. They also determine how other people's actions and words affect us and how our own behaviour and words can affect others.

Being crystal clear about how you want to be treated is so important when entering into any new relationship. Setting up the understanding of what you prefer gives the other person the opportunity to figure out if they can meet your expectations, or not.

Once the relationship is established your desire for closeness should be met with closeness. If your new partner only ever wants to hook up on a Friday night after they've already been out, but having an actual conversation with them is like pulling teeth, then it's probably a good sign that they don't want the same thing as you.

If this is happening, and you find yourself making excuses for them, then you need to be honest with yourself and ask why you're putting up with that sort of behaviour.

Being flexible is important. Allowing room for mistakes is okay, but when their pattern of behaviour feels like you have to constantly adjust something within yourself, then it's time to make a decision about what you really want.

Whether you or I would have given him a second chance is not important, because boundaries are unique to each person. What my friend knew was that she was also talking to more than one person, and it could have been an honest oversight. By the second time, she felt it was a sign he wasn't putting in much effort, and that definitely didn't bode well for a long and happy future together.

Here are three boundary-setting guidelines:

Mildly annoying behaviours vs. deal breakers
Like it or not, people aren't perfect. There's going to be behaviours that annoy you from time to time. That's totally normal. But there are behaviours that you'll want to (and should) draw a line at. Having a good understanding of what the difference is for you can help you decide when to be flexible, and when to call it a day.

When the tables are turned
How do you react when someone says 'no' to you? How do you go with someone else's boundary? Can you handle hearing a 'no' without trying to push your own agenda or sulk? To be clear, I'm talking about the everyday 'nos' as opposed to outright rejection. Both people need to able to hear 'no' without taking it personally, and adapt accordingly. If for whatever reason you can't accept their boundary, then it's probably time to call it a day.

Getting your own needs met
Do you find it difficult to tell people what you need or want from them or the situation? Sometimes it is just easier to keep quiet and go along with things, but if you can't or won't set boundaries, people will start to treat you like a doormat. People ultimately respect and admire those who can set clear boundaries and express them with confidence from the outset.

Ultimately, when we understand what it is that we like, or don't like, we can communicate that in a way that's respectful to ourselves, and others. Whether or not the other person chooses to accept our boundary is entirely out of our control.

http://www.proudlyblog.com/2017/09/how-to-set-boundaries-in-new.html

Would you like to venture into agriculture but don’t know how?
 

Have you tried to start a farming business but haven’t been able to make a headway based on different reasons such as expensive labour, expensive farm equipment, weather and other factors?


Not only can you start a farm business in minutes, with JEHUS farms , Nigeria’s first organised plantain plantation which is focused on empowering busy Nigerians by owning a farm while avoiding the stress that comes with farming, some of which are:

– Lack of agric expertise

– Expensive and scarce labour

– Selling your farm produce at harvest and so on.

Contact/Inbox/Whatsapp Tobi on 08100118481


Let's get you started.