Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
Bob Woolmer's death and the media
I was absolutely stunned last night at about 8pm South African time when I was alerted by news24's SMS service of the Bob Woolmer story. At that point I received a simple SMS stating that Bob had been found in his room and was being rushed to hospital. In the time it took me to turn around and ask someone on the room with me to put on Sky news I had received and email alert and someone had chatted to me about it. Then Sky was put on the TV and it was announced that he had been pronounced dead.There has been a fair amount of coverage regarding the story and I am saddened by Bob Woolmer's death. What amazed me was how in touch I felt. I had all the necessary information at my finger tips and was alerted of his death at the same time as his best friend on Sky news. In my mind this illustrates the extent to which our media has progressed.
2oceans: going, going, gone!
I must say that I am extremely contented that 2oceansvibe is out of the blog awards for 2007. He [Seth Rotherham] just announced that 2oceansvibe will be bowing itself out of the awards. What a relief, now it can actually be labeled the BLOG awards.Many people have problems with 2oceansvibe, as do I. Where are the comments Seth? Why don't you let your readers speak to you? Are there any readers (I am sure there are)? I have used the "contact us" section on the site a few times and received no feedback from Seth. I am sure he has reasons, I would love to know what they are.Seth posted earlier today about the 2007 SA Blog Awards, unfortunately I struggle to take him seriously and never read this "blog's" content (I can see Britney's shaved head and Paris's boobs anywhere) so I skimmed through it. Obviously Seth holds the awards in enough esteems to be upset when he feels things aren't going his way. He only joins in the debate near the end when big media picks up the story.Tsk, Tsk Seth, do regular bloggers not qualify to be responded to by someone of such high esteem as yourself. It takes big media to rouse your opinion? Well in my opinion bud, too little too late and too inconsequential.Oh, one last thing... I counted 48 adverts on 2oceansvibe. I think that's more ad than content on the homepage.
d2 - dear mr president - Read This
Dear Mr President (taken from the d2 blog):
It's this shared understanding that connects us as human beings, that enables us to work together towards common goals, that gives us just enough empathy to be able to realise that we care.Caring is what binds us, and it shouldn't be negotiable.
Jippii's rubbish service
I am extremely irritated on a lovely Sunday. Jippii is a cellular phone service that provides ringtones, wallpapers and other random rubbish to millions of unsuspecting clients, I am sure.I am unfortunately one of those unsuspecting clients, unbeknownst to me. This morning I received two SMS's from Jippii explaining that I can win a VW Polo. I then received another SMS from them regarding something else. I then made use of the unsubscribe option on the SMS to which I was told I would be paying R5 per SMS to use as far as I understood it (I stand to be corrected).Immediately after requesting the service be halted, I was SMS'd by Jippii again to remind me that I could win a prize and ask me to join the service.This is absolute rubbish and I feel intruded, exploited and used as a potential client. I am not and will not ever be a client to this company.I DO NOT suggest using Jippii it seems as though they are 100% purely after your money and they are taking it R5 a time per SMS.
Cellphone Postit
This is one of the funniest and ironic things that I have seen in a long time. A cellular phone with a postit on the back as a reminder. Guess the calendar service reminders weren't doing there job!! 'Stick' to what you know at the end of the day!
Wordpress plugin directory
It is something that I have been after since I started using Wordpress. Finally they have released a plugin directory. What a great resource and idea.
Blip.tv offers podcast hosting
Blip.tv has come out with an mp3 hosting service (that includes podcasts) for its users. You can now not only upload your favourite videos to the site but your own and favourite mp3's and podcasts. I think that this sort of service is coming out at a great time for many South African bloggers as there are many podcasts popping up and many new ones in the wings that I know of.Competitions like the one Mike mentioned on his blog, the getpodcasting initiative are awesome events for SA and online developments. Hosting services are incredible for many bloggers as it is firstly costly to own/run a website/blog/podcast and secondly it takes some know-how. With a hosting service this does become somewhat cheaper and simpler.My suggestion is to try the services that are available out and see if the bridge that gap that you are trying to cross.
Can you move $9 million?
I have received a desperately emotional email from a gentlemen called"Paul Mohammed" asking me to help him invest about $9 million. Holy moses this is my lucky day isn't it? Ja, sure it is. What a load of hogwash.Brief insert:
I am Paul Mohammed, first son of Deputy Minister of public Works in Liberia. I am now resident in Johannesburg, South Africa.I got your contact through South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
My fund is presently with me safe and secured. I would like you to help me for investment in lucrative areas under your care in any of the countries that you choose or here in South Africa. The amount (Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) US$9.5M USD.What is this? Who does this? Where is this spam coming from? How does it get through my spam protection on gmail? Wow it irritates me.I would love to know the funniest/strangest/most interesting spam mail you have received?
There is alot happening
There really is very much going on right now. It is early, and that marks two days of waking up really early. I have decided recently (yesterday) that I need to start waking up at about 6:30am everyday because I am at my most productive early in the morning before most have woken up. Ill be trying this theory out from Monday.I have a new site launching on Monday too which is extremely exciting. I will be releasing more info about this over the weekend so keep a lookout! Very nervous times too.I am still working various freelancing jobs that have all seemingly kicked in to high gear over the last week or two.Non-stop meetings are plaguing my day and I am meeting some amazing people along the way. This week alone I met with three bloggers face to face. Now that's something that doesn't happen every day! Prospects are looking positive if I must say.Finally SA Rocks is really making me happy. People are contributing on a consistent basis and there seems to be a great deal of excitement surrounding this little blog. It just goes to show that a little bit of positivity really can do a country a lot of good!
Sales skills to remember
I attended an interesting course today. Clive Price from the Peers Group gave a great talk today on how to alter your approach to sales.Some brief pointers:
- You can't close on sale until you've pointed out the need for your service.
- Cold Calling (CC) sucks, but it can work.
- Your goal for a CC is to GET AN APPOINTMENT
- Once in a meeting or appointment make sure you show interest in your potential client and their company. Do not focus on your product. Repeat, do not focus on your product, yet.
- Identify gaps for your product/company to take advantage of while getting to know your client.
- When gaps are identified, summarise them for your client.
- Try to make them acknowledge their shortfalls or gaps.
- This acknowledgment allows you to then suggest solutions (your product/company)
- When you have all the above achieved, begin to fill the identified gaps with products or services that you can offer.
- If all the above has gone successfully, close your deal.
Remember to use open ended questions. Stay away from yes or no, true or false or two option answers. The answer will inevitably not be the one you want to hear.For more great tips and sales assistance get over to the Peer Group website and contact Clive Price!
Away all day
I will be in a sales conference for the whole of Thursday. Freelance job one has subsidised the course for me. Hopefully I will learn some interesting things regarding marketing and sales and can pass on the knowledge. Woop woop for large corporations paying freelancers to learn interesting stuff they wouldn't normally pay for!
Old men and sexual harassment
Sexual Harassment is an issue in the work place. I have never experienced it personally and I think it is more of a female issue because some men believe they have the right to make women feel uncomfortable.The reason I speak of this subject is that a friend of mine recently experienced a situation that I believe could be classified as sexual harassment.Getting her lunch FriendA* was waiting in the queue to get a sandwich or something. A guy who works in the company in a higher position in the company than FriendA walks up to her and says the following:"You definitely aren't eating anything other than a salad, you can't put anything else in that tight little body of yours."What the hell is that? What gives that guy the right to talk ANYONE that way? Just because FriendA works in a position lower than his he feels that it's OK to treat her like meat?This sort of behaviour is not acceptable in any environment let alone the working environment and should be stamped out as soon as the bastards are found.
Facebook = fakefriends
I have recently had a discussion with various people about Facebook and the level of "fakeness" present on the site.I have a boat load of friends, many of whom I know and want to have on my list of friends. However, many of these "friends" I simply agree to befriend cause I don't want to look like a prick (which is fairly easy apparently). So I have a monster list of "fakefriends" that I really don't give rocks to know or see or hear from. In fact, I probably wont ever talk to them on facebook.I feel the need to ask why these people even bother to ask to be friends with me? Why do they feel the need to befriend someone who doesn't even really like them? I just don't get it.I have now just started leaving these requests alone and not declining or accepting them. Anyone else got any solutions?
Flickr layout change possible
Flickr has just added a little feature that allows you to change the layout of your flickr page. There are six choices to choose from. I think this is a great addition and makes the whole feel of things more mentally individual!You can do this here: http://flickr.com/account/prefs/layout
All quiet on the western front
I am struggling to blog about anything. At all. Whatsoever. So That's what I am blogging about.Here's a comic to keep you going:
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
Stupid is...
This lovely lady:
All I can say is the above picture is the exact reason that I got tired of Rhodes. This sort of thing will definitely come back to bite you in the arse (or nipple) later in life. It is on the net, it is out there and it will be for a very long time. Stupid is as stupid does. This is stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.
Beyonce and Shakira
These two sultry songstresses have released a single together. There is nothing wrong with that!!
Image courtesy of ElsevierMXit tutor assistance
MXit is now apparently able to be used a tutoring tool.The Department of Science and Technology has spent more than R4-million to explore the use of cellphones as learning aids, according to a Sunday Times article. Wikipedia is also in the play here. The site is being used as a resource to assist students via instant messaging.Students have been encouraged to make use of MXit and enter dr.math.help.me@jabber.org on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 2pm and 3pm. In these time slots students are able to ask questions via MXit and have a tutor answer their questions. An obvious concern is whether the service provides students with answers or help. There is a difference; if you are sitting in a class and ask a tutor for the answer via MXit, what is the point of being in the class really?However if you are at home, doing your homework and you are stuck, simply IM the tutor and wait for assistance regarding your question, brilliant.This sort of project is incredible as messaging via MXit costs less then 2c per message. Cheap, accessible and efficient.
Does the SA Blogging "elite" dominate Muti?
I have just read two great posts about the downfall of Digg.com. The post pretty much asks if Digg is or ever was a democracy where the best posts prevail, or whether the "Digg Mafia" bury what they don't like and give rise to an underworld of posts.This question is well posed and poised to alert the general public to the issues surrounding services like Digg and the South African equivalent, Muti.Muti is brilliant, I love using it and reading the posts. However the "stats" section on the Muti site is somewhat worrying in regard to the Death of Digg post that I read. It seems that there is an "elite" posting cream at the top of the Muti crop. These users have the most "kudus" and are submitting the most content. I am interested to know how many of these users posts have consistently reached the top spot and stayed there the longest? I have a feeling that the results would not be surprising.I would like to know how Muti is differentiating itself from the likes of Digg. Is the content different? Maybe, but more recently I have noticed many "Top 15..." posts from international sites reaching the top 20. These posts simply aim to reach the top of any rating site and they seem to be doing fairly well. Why are these posts reaching the top? Why are users not voting them down and how is Muti going to prevent a Digg scenario?If these users maintain their dominance over Muti what is the chance of an unknown blogger or contributor to Muti being heard for long enough to make any sort of impact? Many new voices that emerge have incredible things to say. Yet it seems that unless a prolific submitter discovers them and submits their post to Muti the new voice will wither away and die a slow and unrecognised Mutied death.Is Muti actively trying to engage the general blogging public? Are people aware of the service and the public and open nature of the service? If they are then maybe they simply choose not to submit for fear of looking stupid, but if they are not aware of Muti I think it is time to let the public know and make their posts and submissions count.In the very heated debate on stii's blog regarding the SA Blog awards, the "elite" bloggers were mentioned as an issue in the SA Blogosphere. I am beginning to wonder if this "elite" is dominating in more ways than we may realise.The SA Blog awards, Muti and then the world!
Six degrees of frustration
I like to cause kak on the roads. I like to make people know that they have erred. I like to be the guy that jumps in front of you if you jump a red robot. I did this yesterday; some guy jumped the robot (strike one) nice and slowly on his cellphone (strike two). So I quickly shot in to first gear and popped in front of him in the middle of the road. Instead of reclining in his chair in shame he rolled down his window, stopped talking on his cellphone and launched at me with profanities like I haven't heard since my days at Uni (strike three).Like any dignified man would, I yelled back throwing equally horrid rubbish from my mouth at this man. We yelled for about 30 seconds and satisfied I drove off.I think that it took about 2 minutes for me to hit panic stations. I immediately spoke to myself:Nic: What the F*ck did you just do?Self: You just ruined a couple of business opportunities.Nic: What the hell are you talking about?Self: Well, what if you go in to your meetings next week and this guy is sitting there?Nic: Then he gets the last laugh and I get screwed.Self: Correctamundo my man!My self had won. Have you ever wondered how many people you know in Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Africa, The World? It's a lot. In fact I think that you might be astounded that the number is a helluva lot more than you might think. I have blogged about Six Degrees of Separation before, but this is different, this is more of a fated coincidence designed to teach you a karmic slap-in-the-face-lesson. This is more worrisome in my mind.I like to cause kak on the roads (have I said that already?) and I think that one of these days the kak is going to end up on my head. Think about it and save yourself the embarrassment, simply choose not to become angry. It is a choice, make it.