The Tekedia Playbook – Why Blog is Top, School and Fund are Subdomains [video]

I get this question a lot: why do you have the blog (tekedia.com) as the top domain with the school (Tekedia Institute) as a subdomain school.tekedia.com and the fund (Tekedia Capital) as another subdomain (capital.tekedia.com).

My response: in the internet age, you win by controlling and influencing demand, not just by providing supply. In other words, what our school and our fund offer are available everywhere as the Internet has scaled abundance. So, with supply being unbounded and unconstrained, what matters right now is how to hold demand (the users).

Having a course online is not enough; you need to get people to pay attention. What that means is that a professor of management in UNILAG can open a website and have the best course on management – and still fail, especially if that professor has no user base. Why? Not many people will know about that website since there are many options.

But an NYSC graduate of management with many users can launch a management training and thrive provided he offers marginal value. Why? He has demand and can convert a small percentage of those users to pay for his course.

Recall – I have noted that only companies which can win demand will thrive in the internet world. And how do we win that future? We have to elevate the blog so that when people come to read it, we can convert many for the school and the fund. That is why the blog is not a subdomain. Our thesis is that if we can get 300k links monthly, even if we convert 5% of that, we will have a great result. Google sends us 40k links monthly. Taken all together, there is no way we cannot close  2,000 sales in a month! The tekedia.com is the CNN, radio, TV and newspaper. 

Yes, the blog has no Google Ads as everything is designed to promote the School and the Fund. That is our strategy and it is working. 

If you want to win in the 21st century digital economy, you must control or influence demand, not supply. In the industrial age economy, power went to gatekeepers of supply. Today, the empire builders are those that control demand. This is possible because digital supply is unbounded and unconstrained, making it largely not a factor. Digital utilities like Google, Facebook, and Twitter which control demand become the new gatekeepers.

All Together

Indeed, in this age, having users may be more catalytic than actually having the courses. A professor in FUTO can have the best course on management and fail because he has no users. But an NYSC member with users can deliver a sub-par program and still thrive. Why? If you control demand, you have a chance to win. So, Tekedia.com brings the users and we try to convert many of those users for the school and the fund. What is your digital strategy?

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment 1: Prof, you do alot of good things you have no idea the extent of impact you are making. I have learnt alot from you. It was on your tutelage that I learnt of the “aggregation” business model which I expondedn during my MBA. I have just watched your video on the importance of control demand in this dispensation. Another very valuable and easy to understand teaching. This is an appreciation post on behalf of the multitude of young people you keep impacting daily. Thanks for your consistency and for using your platform for the common good.

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