📰 The Nag Metric

And it was not without its challenges. I’m from the beautiful city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. And I wish this wasn't the case, but my biggest disadvantage is definitely being a Nigerian.

There are tons of things that other makers take for granted that just don't exist here.

Popular tools and services like Stripe, PayPal, Wise, etc. don't support Nigerians.

I'm constantly put on the high-risk list for everything (even shopping!).

Our passport is one of the least powerful in the world and getting a visa is very difficult. Meetups and conferences are largely off the table, and I've never met my cofounder in person.

A stable internet connection is rare and there are multiple power cuts throughout the day. Coworking spaces are non-existent in most cities.

At first, I took a lot of the problems that come from working here for granted. These things were absolutely normal and I didn't think they needed to change. But as the business grew and we had more money to spend, I started looking for workarounds to my problems.

I initially used Paddle (which supports solo Nigerians), and Payoneer to receive payouts.

I got a power station to deal with power outages so I could have internet and lights even when the power went out

I got a 5G router and eventually a Starlink so I wouldn't lose days to bad internet.

I built an office.

Overall, there is so much I want to do but can't yet because of where I was born. These are definitely difficult to work around, but today, there are endless opportunities available to anyone who's willing to put in the work, regardless of where they come from.

Look, it's not rocket science: if you crow loudly about a thing you want people to do, they're going to do it more than if you didn't make a fuss about it. This is true for product call-to-actions, and it's true if you want your significant other to pick up their dirty socks from the floor.

At the same time, few of us want to be labeled nags. Fewer of us like to feel that we're being nagged. And I can't think of anyone who would rather do something because they felt pestered to do it, versus feeling free to make that choice.

Certainly, pointing something out to someone can be helpful, especially if they weren't aware of it. Reminders are useful too when that person wanted to do that thing but some barrier got in the way.

But nagging? Constantly popping up to tell someone your agenda over and over again when they already got your message and didn't prioritize it? That's annoying. That decreases people's trust with you over the long run and tarnishes your brand. That makes your significant other feel a flicker of irritation instead of the loving fuzzies whenever they see you.

Okay, so maybe you intuitively agree with this. The question is, how can we quantify nagginess to make the appropriate tradeoffs against some metric that is sure to go up when we nag more?

… I can relate! It can be hard to finish things — we get excited about something at the start, but when we get busy or things get hard or boring, our commitment wavers.

So how do we get better at finishing things? We have to deepen into commitment, and get support.

Before we get into the details, it’s important to note: commitment is a practice. It’s not something you either have or don’t have, or that you’ll always suck at. You have to practice, develop trust in yourself, learn what works, learn to bring in what’s needed for what you’re facing. Let yourself get better at commitment by being in the practice of commitment, regularly.

No other single metric captures so many aspects of a high-quality Web site in a single number. Some people focus on advertising CTRs, or cost-per-lead, but these numbers are inconclusive. As they say, you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. It’s easier to advertise effectively for a Web site with a great conversion rate than to effectively convert a customer who happens to have viewed an interesting ad. This is because conversion rate incorporates the total user experience, and advertising metrics alone do not.

Are there any problems with conversion rates? There are a few, but nothing that should preclude you from making this the No. 1 metric in your company. First, keep in mind that conversion rates for new customers are different than those for returning customers (which are much higher). Watch them both, as well as the blended rate. Second, remember that seasonality affects conversion. Most retailers saw conversion rates double during the Christmas season as determined shoppers went online. Lastly, keep an eye on profitability. Anyone can drive conversion by cutting price, but this customer relationship is temporary (also known as renting customers).

Any serious company on the Internet should have an absolute awareness of conversion rate. Small gains on low conversion rates can have unbelievably powerful effects on a company’s performance. What’s more, focusing on conversion rate will help improve all elements of a company’s business, including performance, convenience, customer service, advertising effectiveness and word of mouth advertising as a percentage of sales. Always be afraid of one thing: employees who fail to embrace this powerful measure.