A couple of months ago, I volunteered to teach a module on marketing fundamentals to a class of underprivileged kids. They were in Form 5 (17 years old), and are part of the CyberCare program, supported by Accenture, because they are either orphans, came from single-parent homes or families where the household income is lesser than RM2,500 (90 STEEM).
The session was hard for me, because while I was used to consulting and training adults, I've not done for teens before. Sure, once in a while I give a motivational talk at universities, but hardly ever did the participants' age go below 18.
I had to dumb-down a lot of the contents, which was good because it forced me to refined it further. I have ported some of the contents over to the adult classes, and noticed the effectiveness and response to improve.
At the end of the session, they asked if I was OK to volunteer for a longer, more comprehensive program early 2018. At that time, I wasn't sure if it was the high I get from the session, or just a inner calling, that I just said Yeah, sure!
Little did I know by longer, they meant 9 days. By more comprehensive, they meant digital marketing skills.
You see, Accenture's and CyberCare's vision is to help the kids be sustainable, and obtain bankable skills. Not all of them could afford university, and usually with a SPM (O-Level) certificate, job opportunities are limited. So they thought by giving the kids entrepreneurial skills, they have a better chance of survival, and perhaps, even a chance to triumph in society.
The truth is, building businesses for the past 15 years, I can tell you one thing about entrepreneurship: it ain't easy. When I look at the underpriviledge teens, I knew they will be having a tougher times compared to their peers. Not having a certificate will cut down a lot of employment options, and even if they do get employed, rising through the ranks will be the next big hurdle. They'll probably spend their life putting in the same effort as others, only to see that others get better positions in life just because of a certificate. Over time, it can be disappointing.
I know, because I'm a dropout too.
So as I was planning the digital marketing contents for 9 days program, somewhere between paid ads and landing pages, I asked myself,
"Who am I kidding?"
I had to be realistic. There are entrepreneurs who are currently struggling to make ends meet, digital marketers who can't demand a satisfactory pay, and freelancers who are living one short paycheck to another. They have better experience, better expertise, better network, and they weren't doing that well either. How can the kids compete?
Here lies the problem. Digital marketing, though touted as the skill for the current generation, still generates income at the rate of the previous generation. The world is changing faster than our income generation abilities.
Speed… Exponential growth… Relying on existing and limited resources…
And that was when it hit me. Steemit is the answer.
And I can give you 3 damn good reasons too.
- The teens already know how to write and create content. They wrote essays in school. Sure, they may not be the best writers, but when it comes to Steemit, the barrier to entry is low. They are already posting photos on social media, and we have Steepshot.
- The teens, for once, will be incentivised for their contents. Unlike in school where they write to score better, at Steemit, they will write to earn. It may not be a lot at the start, but it will only get better.
- The teens will be earning the next generation of currencies. Digital earning, analog spending. Steem is currently trading at USD6.50, and looking at past trends, it's gonna go up. The kids will be trained to observe, spend, trade and earn in digital currencies, something the rest of their peers would be clueless about.
So with a new vision, and a bold plan, I told the organisers that I wanted to make a big shift, 3 days before the start of the program. I mean, the teens have got individual laptops on loan, and they have ready internet. All they need now is some guidance, and before you know it, they will be earning Steem by the end of the week!
Since I was pretty much volunteering without any pay (they only cover my Uber fees for the 70km daily trip and a meal), I guess they have to be ok with it. :)
And I have a goal too, a goal I have yet to tell anyone - not the organisers, not the sponsors, not the kids. By the end of 60 days, each of them will have achieve an accumulated income of RM1500 (55 STEEM). It will probably be the greatest sum of money they have ever earned in their lives, and how nice that they started with cryptocurrencies.
I will be documenting their progress, and also the contents I covered daily. It will be as Steemit Posts. Look out for the tag youthep, and if you want to support them, you can give them a nice upvote. That's like a pat on the back of them, and like George Adams once said,
'Encouragement is like oxygen to the soul.'
Thank you in advance for your oxygen.
And if you are keen to have this program implemented in your community, let @bitrocker2020 and I know. We're beta-testing with this group of teens, refining the contents along the way, and would love to have you onboard as part of the team too.
Wish me luck!
Wait, why's Mav posting on Steemit nowadays?
Well, unlike other blogging and social media platform, Steemit is the only platform that allows me to earn cryptocurrency when I engage with it. Yup, one Steem is about USD7, and you, too, can earn Steem Dollars every time you:
- Create content (articles, blog posts, podcasts, videos, photos)
- Upvote (like) other people contents
- Comment on other people's posts
- Have discussions, share opinions etc!
Yup, basically it's the very same thing you're doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc all along!
The only difference? For once you can earn a nice income on the side!
Sign up for a free Steemit account, and you can thank me by coming back and upvoting this article. And guess what, you will earn Steem too for doing that! #awesome
I personally admire your drive to create good in your community @maverickfoo. I was thinking about also being even more active in my community in order to introduce people to Steemit and help change their lives for the better.
If many of us become "Steemit Jesus'" in our respective communities, we will see Steemit growth as a community truly become exponential.
One thing that each one of us can do is print contact cards to give out to people with a little short line about Steemit and the link to www.steemit.com and steem.io to learn more about it and to create account.
We can also organize Steem crash courses for highschool/college/university students as well as underprivileged youth like you are doing. Also, parishes and non-profits/charities should also be introduced to Steem and given a little walkthrough on the basics.
All this can be done all while doing a little FB/Twitter/Google TARGETED ads campaigns (which I find to be very effective if done right).
All in all, we should all be gearing ourselves to a great 2018 for Steemit if we all contribute just a little. Cheers!
Hi @ebargains! Thanks for the nice comment and great ideas. Yes, we are implementing some of it, and I just love the application of Steemit and it's impact on the community.
Why, just last month, we raised quite a huge sum for a few homes just in time for Christmas, without a single "real" money. It's documented here.
Now, we realised that if we can teach the kids how to be active on Steemit and become content creators/curators, they and their homes will truly become self-sustainable.
By then, the word charity? Ain't gonna exist no more. :)
Bro, I am talking with a friend on the possibility to teach refugee youths to write on Steemit tonight and glad you actually posted this. Love to see how it gonna work out to be!
Thanks. Planning to do a daily update on the contents I covered and the progress. Thanks for the support!
An awesome initiative indeed. Digital marketing + steemit right now is the next generation bankable skill.
Not sure after seeing Steemit will they be keen on Digital Marketing, haha.
Haha. Very true. Digital marketing itself is a real hustle when the money doesn't come in as instantly
Probably becoming a me-too industry when anyone can claim they are a digital marketer. Market fundamentals have to be stronger than ever!
Crypto savvy kids will have a serious heads up over their generation. that's because the notion that the blockchain (and other decentrelized concensus mechanisms) are more then digital currencies hasn't sinked in with the general public yet.
A leading edge in did! And hopefully they will be the generation that inspire the rest to do the same.
Dude, that's really amazing of you.
If steemit could potentially change lives, why not equip those who need it the most?
Good job, man!
Thanks! I think it will change lives, and who better than those that are young, curious and hungry?
Good work my friend.
Thanks chief!
Brother @maverickfoo this is really touching. All the best!!! Would love to find out how much their lives are going to be changed after they commit to your regime !!
Thanks Bro. They will only be as driven as the intrinsic motivations. We can only show them the way. They still have to walk it.
Of course it's a nice path to walk when you're literally picking up coins along the way. Mario anyone?
Gotta headbutt them blockchains to get those coins
Kudos on a great initiative!
For coming out with this initiative itself you deserved an Upvote @maverickfoo. Way to go!
Thanks!
Support 100%!
Thanks @natalielo!
Bro @maverickfoo as usual has a good kind heart. Kudos to you..
Your shirt caught my attention too.. haha
Haha, old shirt. That's the previous me. Now is just plain old black tees.
Amazing initiative!
Thanks!
Looking forward to your postings on their progress!
Yeap. Giving me the motivation to blog about their progress daily. Of course it's nice to earn some SBD too. :)
This is lovely. I wish we could have such a program here in Nigeria. Kids need to start understanding that the old system of getting a job after college no longer works. They also need to see that there are legal ways with which you can make money on the internet.
There's nothing you can compare to doing what you love (that's writing for me) and getting paid for it.
I applaud your efforts and I pray you achieve your target with the kids. I will copy from your playbook and see if I can do the same here in Nigeria. Peace.
Hi @warpedpoetic. Why not you start such bootcamps in your city? I'll be documenting the contents I teach over the next 11 days, and we will be making the resources available for you to download too. Stay tuned!
Day One's progress report here.
I can do that but not immediately. I will need to get approval from parents and schools for it to work. When I have been able to achieve that, I will let you know. Here, folks are a bit suspicious of strangers with strange offers. What I am thinking is, meet up with teachers who are patrons of literary clubs and engaging the students through that medium. What do you think?
That's a great idea! Leverage in their influence and connection to boost your profile.
I agree that trust needs time to build, but what you suggested will help speed up the process. A few suggestions I can think of that you can consider:
Good luck!
@mavericfoo I saw steepshots in your presentation and I want to know more about because I also love posting pictures on other social media. Thanks for the wonderful training you have been giving to this teenagers.. Am looking for reading more of your posts to get enlightened in order to be helping my colleagues in community cos am still struggling to let them know about steemit community here.
Thanks, @willaceahbie. Just introduced Steepshot to the kids today and they love it. Now their mobile phone time can actually make them money.
You can read up Day One's Progress Report here.
Thanks 😊
Fantastic Job..well done..👏👏
Permission to resteem. Thanks.
Much appreciated, @chanelcalestus. No permission needed to spread the Steemit love. :)
Awesome! This is exactly what I have been thinking of... This is also one of the reason of Team Malaysia Junior!
Let me and @bitrocker2020 beta-test the content, because we are also doing another bootcamp for women end of this month. The event details are here.
Come join us if you can. Would be great if you can share your experience to the group of ladies too.
I will apply for leave and once approved I will let you and @bitrocker2020 know... Salute!!!
Awesome!
You are doing Awesome work. MashaAllah. I am feeling so inspired by you. Upvoted and started following you.
excellent vlog , friend
@originalworks
perfect step.................stay blessed
Resteemed by @resteembot! Good Luck!
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Sir salute you Sir 👍👍👍👍👍
i,m vote
A couple of months ago, I volunteered to teach a module on marketing fundamentals to a class of underprivileged kids. They were in Form 5 (17 years old), and are part of the CyberCare program, supported by Accenture, because they are either orphans, came from single-parent homes or families where the household income is lesser than RM2,500 (90 STEEM).
who says steemit is not gonna rise there father up we go lol
You got a 1.63% upvote from @postpromoter courtesy of @maverickfoo! Want to promote your posts too? Check out the Steem Bot Tracker website for more info. If you would like to support development of @postpromoter and the bot tracker please vote for @yabapmatt for witness!
You got a 14.31% upvote from @allaz courtesy of @maverickfoo!
Thank you @maverickfoo for making a transfer to me for an upvote of 2.74% on this post! Half of your bid goes to @budgets which funds growth projects for Steem like our top 25 posts on Steem! The other half helps holders of Steem power earn about 60% APR on a delegation to me! For help, will you please visit https://jerrybanfield.com/contact/ because I check my discord server daily? To learn more about Steem, will you please use http://steem.guide/ because this URL forwards to my most recently updated complete Steem tutorial?
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This post has received a 8.78 % upvote from @aksdwi thanks to: @maverickfoo.
This post has received a 31.37 % upvote, thanks to: @maverickfoo.
Cantiklah Mav. Always love the work and initiatives you do. I support you!