Bitcoin Promotion and Adoption in my locality

[hZti]

It's a good idea to accept Bitcoin at your barba shop, people will start having Interest and start holding , I love the way people are carrying it as a responsibility upon themselves to make awesomeness about Bitcoin is a way forward, and the most interesting part is accepting Bitcoin in your Barber shop is a good idea for people that have no knowledge about Bitcoin, people have heard but don't know how Bitcoin works, this  will be an eye opener for people that have no knowledge about Bitcoin people have heard but don't know, definitely people will start asking questions.

This is true, since people will maybe not pay in bitcoin but they will see that more and more possibilities exist, so they will become more interested. For me it was the same thing, I fist read about bitcoin at a local shop and then informed myself.

[Die_empty]

For accepting bitcoin as a means of payment, I promised to patronizing him and also introduce him to more customers ready and willing to pay with bitcoin for services rendered  within my locality. He was very happy for my kind gesture of me introducing him to new customers ready and willing to pay in bitcoin which means a plus to his business. It was nice and also fun on-boarding him into the bitcoin movement. I believe he too can reach out to his fellows as I told him to do so because it would aid in the faster and rapid adoption and promotion of bitcoin in other locality where they belong. This course we must achieve until bitcoin adoption gets to the various locality as this is the grassroots goal on target.

Edit.....

I will keep updating this tread as I continue to carry on with the Bitcoin Promotion and Adoption  campaign in various locality.

Thank you for spreading the the news of the possibilities and opportunities that bitcoin offers. If you keep up this orientation and publicity exercise, in few months many businesses might adopt bitcoin as a form of payment. It would also be good to build a community of bitcoin users in your locality so that P2P transactions might become effective and efficient. This would help these users to limit the use of these unreliable centralized exchange companies. I want to encourage you to continue this good work because this selfless service is a worthy one because you are introducing people to better alternative payment channel, freedom and privacy.

[Mpamaegbu]

Never the less, I taught him how to set up a bitcoin wallet, the easiest to be precise so he could easily understand and do it himself, copy and send his wallet address to his customers for payment.

I hope the wallet you introduced to him is a simple but secured one. Electrum will be a safe one here as it's an open source and not complicated to use. The reason I said that is because you've to make sure his funds are intact for him, otherwise if he loses his funds his type will never believe anything Bitcoin ever again. In fact, he will spread FUD about Bitcoin to anyone who wants in.

As an aside, I want to see big shops and businesses start using Bitcoin in Nigeria so I don't have to convert to fiat when I want to buy electronics or do any other heavy spending.

[redsun114]

Never the less, I taught him how to set up a bitcoin wallet, the easiest to be precise so he could easily understand and do it himself, copy and send his wallet address to his customers for payment.

I hope the wallet you introduced to him is a simple but secured one. Electrum will be a safe one here as it's an open source and not complicated to use. The reason I said that is because you've to make sure his funds are intact for him, otherwise if he loses his funds his type will never believe anything Bitcoin ever again. In fact, he will spread FUD about Bitcoin to anyone who wants in.

As an aside, I want to see big shops and businesses start using Bitcoin in Nigeria so I don't have to convert to fiat when I want to buy electronics or do any other heavy spending.

The OP looks knowledgeable so don't worry because I am sure that he knows what's best for him and for the people that he was teaching. There are many wallets which are also open source and are easy to use other than electrum but electrum is still the most recommended one by the experts. Lately there was a reminder in our forum made by theymos and electrum is also the wallet that he recommend and the other one is bluewallet.

Never heard or use that one but I will try to when I have time. If ever someone loses their fund, they shouldn't blame bitcoin first and spread fud without knowing if it was their own fault or not but btc itself isn't a scam.

[Asiska02]

Great course OP, I must recommend your efforts very well. You’ve truly done your own quota in contributing to bitcoin adoption globally. Starting from your community was the finest thing you could have done; grassroots development is always sturdy and difficult to break in the long run. Just make sure he understands the most critical stuff for now, such as the private and public keys you taught him first.

Telling the barber guy how to share the knowledge with others so that they can benefit from it was also a good idea. Knowledge is meant to be shared rather than kept to oneself. Since he stated that he is not current in the digital world, take the teaching carefully and steadily and avoid bombarding him with most things that may confuse him further. The little you’ve thought him now will go a long way for him, and make sure he finds time and learn more by himself.

[CryptSafe]

Recommendation: Google some photos of "Bitcoin accepted here" and "we accept Bitcoin". You know, those with the Bitcoin logo. It's simply just more appealing.

Something like this:

This is a nice idea and recommendation. I have taken cognizance of it and would implement it in the next phase of my campaign for Bitcoin Promotion and Adoption in my locality. I think it would be very catch and attractive as you have said because as more people or customers sees it, they would definitely want to know what it is all about and then their interest arouse making them be eager to hear and learn how the system works. There and then they would be taught how Bitcoin functions as a digital  currency. This recommendation of yours looks very ok.

[CryptSafe]

I like this one OP accepting Bitcoin is one of the ways to encourage people to an actually see Crypto-currency as usable and not just an investment property. You can also motivate others to start this process too.

But it's not just going to end by you accepting Bitcoin alone, I believe you know some of your patronizers you can start by telling them about Bitcoin. You can mostly based on what challenges they face right now in Crypto-currency.

You are right. I actually did after reaching out to him and teaching him, I also encouraged him to also reach out to other fellow colleagues of his too and also as many customers that asks him about it in his shop, he should teach them as I have done to him so they could understand. You know, their shops are mostly filled with youths most times which will definitely attract their attention to the new development in his shop leading them to asking him questions about it.

[Lanatsa]

Never the less, I taught him how to set up a bitcoin wallet, the easiest to be precise so he could easily understand and do it himself, copy and send his wallet address to his customers for payment.

I hope the wallet you introduced to him is a simple but secured one. Electrum will be a safe one here as it's an open source and not complicated to use. The reason I said that is because you've to make sure his funds are intact for him, otherwise if he loses his funds his type will never believe anything Bitcoin ever again. In fact, he will spread FUD about Bitcoin to anyone who wants in.

As an aside, I want to see big shops and businesses start using Bitcoin in Nigeria so I don't have to convert to fiat when I want to buy electronics or do any other heavy spending.

This is one of the wrong things that had been introduced on which suggesting wallets which are custodial or simply you dont possess its keys which it do really removes out the true essence of decentralization.

Anything that is related to promotion or spreading up awareness and knowledge neither on a single person or a group of person or establishments then it is always been considered as a good thing.
We are all hoping that recognition and adoption of Bitcoin or overall cryptocurrency into our place is something that we do wish for but for some they arent really that caring or mindful
because they wont really be tending to use up their coins directly but rather accumulating it as much as they could because they do know its potential.

[CryptSafe]

Hey there,

What you are doing is great, especially in such a localized environment. It really speaks to the power of how global the network is, while reaching even the tiniest corner's of our own societal eco-spheres. I highly recommend that with any sort of mass adoption effort, you preach the importance of privacy, self-custody, and password/private key hygiene.

And since you are doing it in a local environment, exposing it to people with little or no moderate technical background, try and keep everyone's experience as simple as possible. For example, if you want to show bitcoin to 40 different people in your town that come through your store, teach them all the same structured thing. This increases the chance they see each other outside of your scope of effect, and will still be able to communicate, troubleshoot, and p2p transact with comfort. ie. make them all use one wallet, simple not complicated...Electrum for example.

Good luck!

I try my possible best to making sure they all understand what bitcoin is all about. If you check, my tutorial scheme was just easy and with just the basic and fundamental knowledge about bitcoin and how it operates which i think was necessary. I made sure I taught them all the necessary steps involved so they could have the idea on how to function alone in system without any issues emanating when I am not with them. The wallet in question was a simple on in which they could understand at their level because introducing them into anything bigger than their knowledge might likely get them confused so as a beginner, i got them used to the one their capacity can carry but as time goes on after they must have done much research as I have told them, they would get to know more about the hardware wallets and get used to them but for the now, its a beginner thing so I think starting with a flexible wallet at their level would be.

[Hypnosis00]

I like this one OP accepting Bitcoin is one of the ways to encourage people to an actually see Crypto-currency as usable and not just an investment property. You can also motivate others to start this process too.

But it's not just going to end by you accepting Bitcoin alone, I believe you know some of your patronizers you can start by telling them about Bitcoin. You can mostly based on what challenges they face right now in Crypto-currency.

You are right. I actually did after reaching out to him and teaching him, I also encouraged him to also reach out to other fellow colleagues of his too and also as many customers that asks him about it in his shop, he should teach them as I have done to him so they could understand. You know, their shops are mostly filled with youths most times which will definitely attract their attention to the new development in his shop leading them to asking him questions about it.

I was really amazed at the hard work you've made in promoting Bitcoin in your community. Apparently, it needs someone or a group of people to help spread and educate them about Bitcoin. Because I've noticed that many people heard about Bitcoin as a currency but never have an idea how to do it due to a lack of education. Even for me, if I'm running a business I shouldn't care about accepting Bitcoin because I don't know about it. 
What I see is that people needs proper Bitcoin education first and adoption will then to follow faster.

[Yatsan]

I like this one OP accepting Bitcoin is one of the ways to encourage people to an actually see Crypto-currency as usable and not just an investment property. You can also motivate others to start this process too.

But it's not just going to end by you accepting Bitcoin alone, I believe you know some of your patronizers you can start by telling them about Bitcoin. You can mostly based on what challenges they face right now in Crypto-currency.

You are right. I actually did after reaching out to him and teaching him, I also encouraged him to also reach out to other fellow colleagues of his too and also as many customers that asks him about it in his shop, he should teach them as I have done to him so they could understand. You know, their shops are mostly filled with youths most times which will definitely attract their attention to the new development in his shop leading them to asking him questions about it.

I was really amazed at the hard work you've made in promoting Bitcoin in your community. Apparently, it needs someone or a group of people to help spread and educate them about Bitcoin. Because I've noticed that many people heard about Bitcoin as a currency but never have an idea how to do it due to a lack of education. Even for me, if I'm running a business I shouldn't care about accepting Bitcoin because I don't know about it. 
What I see is that people needs proper Bitcoin education first and adoption will then to follow faster.

Actually many people are aware of what Bitcoin is but were left with misinformation such as easy money, risky investment, fraud and such without even checking what it really is. For us in this industry, it is oroginally an alternative currency to be used on daily transactions but since its market price is volatile, people took advantage of it and saw its potential of becoming a profitable asset. Problem here is that, "non-crypto " people only sees it being profitable but not with the high risk involved from doing so. They are often having high expectations and when instability occurs, they are throwing scam acusations and such. Sharing its true nature might help to those aspiring crypto users in the future.

[SOKO-DEKE]

By making people aware of Bitcoin's existence and emphasizing its significance to the barber, you've done a tremendous job, Op. It's wonderful to see people use Bitcoin and accept it as a form of payment at so many different establishments. Op With this fantastic effort, I believe you will not stop there with only barbaring salloon man. The community will benefit if other members get the same chance as this barber man.

It will be more attractive if the barbering salloon man can enlarge the notification banner of acceptance of Bitcoin as other form of payment in the shop.

[Davidvictorson]

It gives me joy to see small businesses accepting bitcoin as a payment option, especially in this current market. In fact, I think it takes a lot of courage to do so. I understand that it is a good way to promote bitcoin, but I would like to ask the OP, considering the price instability and since I didn't read anything about a cold wallet, will he convert the bitcoin received to a stable coin or will he leave it in bitcoin? I would love you to do a follow up on this and let us know how the business person is faring with it- how receptive are his customers to the new payment option.

[adzino]

In line with the global adoption and promotion of bitcoin for which  I am a member of this community, fulfilling one of the course for which this community have long being on the move. I decided to take the bitcoin adoption and promotion movement to my locality. My major targets are vendors, traders, skilled and unskilled labors in my locality and my neighborhood. To start with, I met this barber in my locality, he is good at his work and gives nice haircut. I took my time to talk with him about bitcoin and how it works.  At the first stance, he was reluctant and said he does not really have digital knowledge and it would be a kind of difficult for him to go through it but I assured him he would like it when I start putting him through the whole process and he gave in. I started by giving him hint on technological innovation towards digital currency with Bitcoin as topic and subject of discussion. He picked interest in the discussion and started asking me questions about bitcoin and how it works for which I responded to him accurately. It was an interesting and interactive session as I made him understand the whole system and how it works.

In other for the communication, learning and teaching process to scale through, I had to come up with a learning scheme for an easier understanding and they are as follows;

1. What is Bitcoin?
2. When and why Bitcoin was founded.
3. Founder of Bitcoin.
4. Importance and benefits of holding bitcoin.
5. How to trade bitcoin. ( listed some  notable exchange where he can trade bitcoin)
6. What is blockchain and how it works.

-snip-

It's a good thing you are spreading the word about bitcoin around and encouraging businesses and merchants to accept bitcoin. Good to see you helped someone to setup his wallet and allow his shop to accept cryptocurrencies, but I hope that you let him know about the risks involved in holding/accepting cryptocurrencies in a business. I also hope you didn't give him any false hope by saying that bitcoin will make him rich real quick and stuffs. His barbershop seems to be a simple shop, so he shouldn't be holding everything he receives in bitcoin. Better for him to hold half in crypto currencies and rest be converted to fiat currency.

Besides those "learning scheme" that you listed, teach them about safety and how to backup their wallets.

[Natalim]

It gives me joy to see small businesses accepting bitcoin as a payment option, especially in this current market. In fact, I think it takes a lot of courage to do so. I understand that it is a good way to promote bitcoin, but I would like to ask the OP, considering the price instability and since I didn't read anything about a cold wallet, will he convert the bitcoin received to a stable coin or will he leave it in bitcoin? I would love you to do a follow up on this and let us know how the business person is faring with it- how receptive are his customers to the new payment option.

But it is also a question if there is someone who pays Bitcoin for him. Because the truth is that even if we spread information that we are accepting Bitcoin but if the people around you don't know about Bitcoin that seems useless. Several stores are already accepting Bitcoin now and it was a trend already, especially in the place where Bitcoin is legal and many users but to our place, I'm not sure how many people are using Bitcoin as currency as it is likely just solely an investment.

[Artem Sereda]

The thing is...

You can introduce someone to Bitcoin and you can even inspire them to accept it as a payment option in their shop or business, but if there are not people using it as a currency.... those businesses will stop accepting it as a payment option.

Bitcoin's volatility encourage people to rather use Bitcoin as a Commodity or an investment ...so people are hesitant to use it as a "Currency" ...because they anticipate huge profits on the horizon. 

Therefore, it is advisable to introduce such payment in areas where people potentially know about cryptocurrency. Of course, we are not talking about tomato traders in the market, but this will work well in the IT field.

[Ahli38]

good initiative and exemplary. Small movements can sometimes bring about big changes.

do not underestimate a job that looks simple because sometimes simple things can be more useful and easier to accept. no need to teach directly on a large scale. however on a small scale like the OP did it is great.

I also started from myself and then to family and friends.

but unfortunately in my country bitcoin cannot be used as a means of payment because it is still illegal and I think it is the same in many countries besides El Salvador. (although I have used it in several transactions with several shops and friends.)

maybe if one day in my country (Indonesia) bitcoin and crypto have been legalized as alternative legal means of payment. then there will be an explosion of shopkeepers and businesses in my country who will accept bitcoin and crypto as a means of payment.

why do i say it like that? because I have realized that in Indonesia most people who actively use the internet are familiar with bitcoin.
while internet users in Indonesia are very large, millions of people have used it. Even remote areas are not left behind in today's internet use.

even in the past or rather in the past few years before bitcoin became famous. I read that in Indonesia at that time many accepted bitcoin as a means of payment.
like in 2014-2018 to be precise in the area of ​​Bali, Indonesia. there are already many restaurants and hotels that accept payment by bitcoin. (Restoran dan Hotel di Bali Sekarang Menerima Bitcoin).

even the number of shops that accept bitcoin payments in the area is quite a lot, around 44 more shops. but in 2018 the government banned these shops from accepting bitcoin as a means of payment. because the state has not ratified it. (mulai cafe hingga agen perjalanan di bali terima bitcoin &
bi bereskan 44 toko di bali yang pakai bitcoin . so the surprising fact is that many Indonesians have been ready with bitcoin even since 2014. but for now we obey the laws of countries that have not legalized it.

[alexandr1115]

It gives me joy to see small businesses accepting bitcoin as a payment option, especially in this current market. In fact, I think it takes a lot of courage to do so. I understand that it is a good way to promote bitcoin, but I would like to ask the OP, considering the price instability and since I didn't read anything about a cold wallet, will he convert the bitcoin received to a stable coin or will he leave it in bitcoin? I would love you to do a follow up on this and let us know how the business person is faring with it- how receptive are his customers to the new payment option.

In fact, it is not very convenient to accept payments in Bitcoins due to the problem of large commissions and this is still the main reason. But in general, there is some kind of system made for paying with bitcoins, but for some reason very few people use this system. This system has very low commissions when transferring bitcoins, almost zero commissions. In this system, the problem of large commissions has been solved, it would seem that everything is there to be used to pay for bitcoin, but for some reason no one uses it. This is a paradox!!! I forgot what this system is called, but the paradox itself is that no one uses it. It seems to me much more rational to use the Matic token as payment. It's great for microtransactions and commissions are small! Yes, now many brands are switching to MATIC, even Mercedes is integrating this token.

[Rockstarguy]

I would like to ask the OP, considering the price instability and since I didn't read anything about a cold wallet, will he convert the bitcoin received to a stable coin or will he leave it in bitcoin? I would love you to do a follow up on this and let us know how the business person is faring with it- how receptive are his customers to the new payment option.

That's the same question I have in mind , maybe the barber has a way in which he operates with bitcoin sent to him as payment , this can even be a method of accumulating bitcoin. It is a good promotion and adoption,  bitcoin acceptance for business is not only for big businesses but also good for small businesses, he is doing the right thing for accepting bitcoin as payment. Op has done a great work by introducing bitcoin to a barber.

[n0ne]

Throughout this year we could see a big number of our Bitcointalk members involved into spreading the word about bitcoin. Much needed thing for the increasing real-time usage. Word of mouth is more effective than something that is being advertised or promoted through some other means.

There is increase of bitcoin users over time. This will surely make more customers use bitcoin payment for the services received in the coming days. For the users who have added cryptocurrency acceptance it is time to have patience, because immediately we won't be receiving much of users paying with bitcoin.