5 things new sports betting companies are doing wrong and how to make amends.

I promise you if there’s one thing I know for sure it’s that speaking your truth is the only way to win, let alone feel comfortable with yourself and what you put online or the effort you put at your work.

If I could just get one person or a director at one of these sport betting companies to understand that, then this rant will be worth it. The reason I’ve built an audience and the reason I’ve stayed relevant through my content and brand is that people can see through the bullshit. After 8 years of consistent output in this gaming industry from my start in school, first I created a community online for people to discuss, then after some time, supported the community with predictions and then went on to sell at that time what I considered a best selling lotto ebook to them, I kept the attention throughout my employment period at bet9ja and my community was a vital part of why we had a great launch and success at betking. The reason I was able to do this is that I’ve been able to build a level of trust with my community around my pillars of gratitude, kindness, hustle, and results. Whether you think I’m a snake oil salesman or one of the better gaming professional of this generation, you can’t deny the fact that I’ve put in the reps. I’ve documented some of the journeys and shown you my reality. It’s why I do what I do.

That's what I expected every gaming company should do, instead of spending their 1-year marketing budget in just 3 months because they really want to show everyone they have arrived instead of facing reality, that this is a new market and it's not the same like any market they have been before. And ask themselves this question 'what do we need to do to do it right? ' No matter how much you spend, the market is the market.

1. Trust: This industry is built on trust, no matter what you think. Do you have millions of dollars to burn? this market, this industry not to even talk about the money sucking marketing companies we have in this country, they will finish everything in few months if you don't get off your high horse and do the right thing, ask how its done then do it exactly, forget what you know or what you've been taught. The first mistake most of these companies, I'm not talking only about the white folks , even Nigerians who came from abroad to invest in the gaming industry. They don't trust the locals.

You need to trust people you want their money somehow, remember these people are going to invest their money in shops with 2 to 5 million Naira. so trusting them with some virtual credits ahead won't kill your company. You just need to find the right mechanism to guide the credit facility.

2. Employee: The second mistake is, hiring staffs based on how fluent they are in English, education background or the other industry the employee is coming from. it's bullshit and that's why a lot of companies don't survive the first year. you bring a CEO from the banking industry, I agree, betting companies deal with finance but not in a banking way of operation. The guy starts to implement what they do the in the bank, collaterals, loan system of credit blah blah blah, then lose the trust of the few guys that are willing to give you attention. same goes for the lower employees, hire experienced employees from existing betting companies..Give them offers they won't reject don't be stingy! I don't know what you are thinking but doing the right thing is always the right thing.

The reason I push so hard on this is that I think it’s an enormous unlock for every new company struggling to get a fair share of the market.

3. Marketing strategy: one most important aspect of the business is marketing, yes i agreed but So many of the new companies are playing to a fake narrative instead of putting in the actual work that’s needed to pull it off. they are wishing instead of executing. Then what happens is when they begin lying to themselves, and they know it, which then changes their behavior in the way they interact with agents and customers. They start to feel insecure because a lot of money is going into irrelevant advertisement on billboards, radio, and dstv. they forget where the attention of everyone is now, which is social media.

The reason why when we I co-founded betking we were able to triple down was because 95% of companies reading this are playing the same game. I promise you, slow and steady wins the race. You’re only competing with yourself.

Put your money into the social branding of your company, the reason why I drive with both hands now on the road is that instead of drivers looking at the road they are busy checking their mobile phones. what do you think they are checking? facebook, snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. it's not your billboard that you spent millions of naira and you cant retarget the people that saw or even know how many people saw it or took actions. this takes me to my next point branding.

4. Branding and company profile: What does your company stand for ? what is new? 1960bet was the first to start retail, nairabet say he is the king of online, bet9ja disrupted the industry 6 years ago and became the undefeated champion, betking came and said they are the kingmaker and sees everyone as a king, their agent is a kingmaker and their super agent is a super kingmaker.

What does your company stand for ? you need to define it and wrap it around all your branding on all social media channels, you can decide to have your marketing team dedicate time to create content personalized for each social media. content creatives should be both videos and images. put some marketing cash into it and see the success you get. the thing is, its measurable, you can target based on age, income or employment. Now that the ad prices are still extremely underpriced.

5. Going after the competition: I extremely believe that if we have 5 companies, as big as bet9ja the industry will still be open to new companies. I stand to be corrected, but I believe at least 40 million people are legible to place a bet in Nigeria today. please understand how this is very important if you are sports betting owner or CEO and reading this, that you don't need to look at going after other companies especially the established one with billions of naira to compete. But if you have the money, by all means, flaunt it.

I wish you all the best! To be honest with you, I just want more companies to succeed! that's my interest Not more.