Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
Freelancers Unite In Gauteng
Freelancentral (after my post regarding Apple) has sent me a press release about a get-together that they are hosting.From the Freelancentral press release:
When: Thursday 24 May 2007, 5.30-8.30pmWhere: Longmeadow Piano Lounge , Fourways (opposite Montecasino).What: Come and meet freelancers and clients, swap business cards, make connections. This will also be the official launch of Freelancentral Placements - a new element of our business.Cost: FREE (there is a cash bar)How to book: To get an idea of numbers, please click here to let us know to expect you, or simply come along on the day.We had 55 people at our Cape Town event in February, and if Cape Town is only a fraction of the market, we're hoping to meet loads of you on the 24th in Gauteng! Looking forward to seeing you there.
I have been down the freelancing road before and it is a tough lifestyle to lead. I really do support events such as these as I believe in networking and touching base with people in real life, face to face. Get down to the venue, send through your RSVP and hook up with other freelancers.
Identify With Your Blog
I am no expert here. I am simply a blogger who is experiencing some issues and thus feel I should seek some constructive insight. I think that I am going to continue with the thread of blogging retrospect since, ironically enough, my last post has gained me some exposure!I think that a problem that I have noticed of late is bloggers (myself included) who are not identifying with their blog. This blog started off as a photography blog, then mutated in to a news blog, then in to a random banter blog about work and is now what it is, whatever that might be.I blog a lot but sometimes I find that I am blogging because I have set a daily post precedent that I can't break. I then blog about things that are not relevant to my blog and the themes that I have chosen. This means that I am not identifying with my blog anymore. This ties in quite nicely with what I was talking about yesterday and the reasons that you blog.If you are searching for things to blog about and the search is long, tiresome and often fruitless then don't blog today. I know that all the "experts" will tell you that you should blog consistently. Screw that. If it's killing your blog stop blogging.Have you ever thought that your blogging, you actually blogging, might be destroying your blog? I have, I often think that I am my biggest problem! I am probably right and should stop blogging, but I don't. I can't. I am a prison of my blog; I have stopped identifying with my blog.I am happy with what I am blogging about for sure but I often don't have the discipline to stick to my themes and blog, or not blog.It is important, in my opinion and experience to know what you are trying to get across and to maintain a consistent approach to your theme and topics. Rants, insults and bullshit blogs will rise quickly but fall just as fast. Stick to what you know and love and I reckon you will be able to identify not only with your own blog, but with your readers and what they are looking for.Like Dave said in a comment on my last post about this topic, looking at the numbers is not always bad because their are readers behind the numbers and they are the ones that matter. Good point and good advice, but don't replace identifying with your blog and readers with identifying with numbers. There is a difference.
Competitive Blogging
Blogging has become competitive as of late. I am not sure why but I feel as though I am in an extended competition of blogging and I feel like I'm losing. I am competing against me Ama ranking in the media and marketing category, I am competing against the little ribbon in the top right of this blog, I am competing against my Afrigator ranking and my Muti presence. I am competing and as I have said, I am losing.I can't explain why I am competing and even more frustrating, I can't explain why I am losing (others, the critics, might have a few thoughts). Nonetheless I think the time has come to make some concessions.Firstly I think that one needs to realise that the blogosphere is becoming a very large place. If Bullard now has a blog then who knows how big the blogosphere is? This means that staying up in the rankings is going to become increasingly difficult. I see this everyday on Ama...if I miss just one day of blogging I drop down the rankings in a large way. WooHoo. Who cares? The truth is no one cares. So nor do I, anymore at least.Secondly I have not been blogging actively on this blog for a particularly long time. This makes it very hard to become an established blog in the market. You can argue and debate this with me all you like but the truth of the matter is that it takes time before you are established. Until such time you are a fad, a trend and cool for now, but not established. Case in point...use your imagination.Lastly blogging was never meant to be about competing for me and the fact that I am competing means that I have lost the plot somewhat. Paul is often talking about why he blogs and why others blog. I think that the simple fact of the matter is that content is king (cliché, i know, but it's true). I need to start enjoying what I am blogging about. Not writing headlines for the aggregators and focus on topics that interest me.Maybe I am talking absolute rubbish, but maybe not.
Working From Home
It's hard to work from home. There are distractions all over and reasons not to work keep popping up. Is it wrong to watch a movie when you should be working? Is it? I think it is but sometimes I just can't help myself.I overcame the early mornings (I am now awake at about 7:30am every morning) and have overcome the breakfast issues (I now eat breakfast). The next hill to climb is gym.I think the best alternative is to get offices. WiredWorks is going to need offices, soon. I think that it is important, not the most important, part of a new company, offices. The corporate identity and brand that offices offer are invaluable. In spite of being an online media company I think that real world organisations like to see some sort of professionalism in small to medium size enterprises and start up companies. Offices, in my opinion are a helpful way to create this identity.There are others ways to achieve this of course, but I think that for me right now, I need to get out of the house.[techtags: corporate identity, startups, branding, marketing, image]
Things That Make Me Laugh At The Moment
Spud - The Madness ContinuesRemeber what it's like going through puberty? Me neither. This book will help you remember and have you in fits of late night laughter!Boston Legal - Deny KraneDeny Krane is an incredible character on the Law series, Boston Legal. What a hoot. Deny is an unbridled persona who forgets and remembers selections of his actions. He is ridiculously brilliant and is supported by some hilarious antics from his partners in his law firm. Ripper.The seriousness of lifeThis applies to every facet at the moment; business meetings, the blogosphere, the Sunday Times, my own endeavours, everything is just too serious. So Serious in fact that I have to laugh at it all. Especially everything that I am doing. It gives me perspective.The SecretWatch it, Live it, Wait for it to work. And when it works, you will have no option but to laugh. Chrisof and I had a good laugh about the accuracy of The Secret yesterday.
I'll Be Walking With SA Rocks
I have just initiated a movement to Walk The Talk With SA ROCKS! Check it out and join in if you are in or will be in JHB for the weekend of July 22nd. It's for a good cause. Lets get together as a [blogging] community and do something practical in the real world!
A Gap In The Licensing Department For Developers
After my post on the licensing department early on Friday morning I have something to report: There is a gap in the market right there. Why is this system not being effectively improved? I am not fully aware of a system upgrade or improvement and I am sure there are many business bumps to overcome before being granted a government contract, but there is a definite need for the licensing department to go online. This sort of development would streamline the process. I understand that a large, large percentage of people in the country do not have access to internet, but why not set up the system and slowly integrate it nationwide?If one was to create a mechanism that would allow people to visit an internet cafe and renew their license surely there exist clear benefits? Such as increasing the need for internet cafes and creating jobs for this to happen? Thus streamlining the queuing process and spreading it out. Instead of having a massive queue at four licensing departments you spread the same number of people through 20 or 30 internet cafe's with 10 computers. The turnaround time is incredible. Instead of two people servicing the needs of 10 000 (just a random number), you would have 300 computers serving the same needs. The maths is simple.There is already a system for paying traffic fines online, lets help move the system forward faster. I am not saying that one person, one company or one group takes on the entire nation, not at all, but what if one group started the initiative here in Jo'burg? Then over time, a few years, this system was implemented throughout the country? Surely this would improve satisfaction of clients (the citizens of South Africa) and in the process earn more money for Telkom, Eskom, governmental agents as well as entrepreneurs and small business via internet usage and customer influx?[techtags: Telkom, Eskom, Internet, Licensing Department]
links for 2007-05-13
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This is quite interesting and was a recurring theme among many bloggers. Apparently freedom of speech is not as deeply cherished in the blogosphere as it is in the print media.
Is Freelancentral.co.za Selling Their Database?
Update: The answer is NO!!! Freelancentral contacted me and emphatically denied that their users details are being sold!! That is great news and makes me feel a whole lot better about service and privacy online. Apple should have made it clear to me that they found my details by browsing through the user profiles on Freelancentral.I blame Apple then for making use of the sites database irresponsibly.Freelancentral states that they strictly adhere to their terms and conditions:
We adhere strictly to our terms and conditions which state:
"Any personal information that we collect about you will be used in the following ways only:5.1. internal marketing purposes: marketing analysis, measurement of traffic to and use of the website;5.2. marketing purposes: to inform you about new services on our site, competitions and offers which we feel could be of benefit to you (to include our newsletter, which you may unsubscribe from at any time);5.3. transactional purposes: communications with you in response to your queries and requests;5.4. sale and transfer: in the event of a sale, merger, consolidation, change in control, transfer of substantial assets, reorganisation or liquidation, we may transfer, sell or assign to a party to such transaction the personal information you have provided to us;5.5. administration and data management: disclosure to third parties required to perform services for us, under confidentiality obligations;5.6. legal purposes: where we are required to disclose by law or we believe such action is necessary in order to protect or defend our interests or the interests of our customers or users of this website; and5.7. compilation of our database to produce statistics of relevance to persons wishing to advertise their products/services on private vehicles."
I am a little bit upset with Freelancentral. On Friday I recieved a call from the Apple story somewhere or another. They wanted to know if I wanted to attend a launch of somesorts, something to do with music online, GarageBand and such. I gracefully declined and then got slightly ticked off with the call and invasion of my privacy. I received the call on my cellphone and wondered how Apple had come to find my contact details.Before hanging up I decided to ask where Apple had acquired my details, the lady from Apple gladly and gleefully told me that they had received my details from Freelancentral (which I sincerely hope I heard correctly otherwise I'm in trouble!!).I am not sure what the generally accepted consensus on this issue is but I feel that is a sort of betrayal of your users trust to sell their private contact information to large organisations that have nothing to do with the service offered by the website. My details might be freely available on the site and Apple might very well have visited the site and gone through EVERY persons' profile to find these details, but I highly doubt this.Basically what I am trying to get across is this: If you are in control of a database from a website that you run or own, keep the details of your users safe and clear from anyone who is going to intrude on their time. This will piss them off no end. In fact, I am on my way to Freelancentral right now to deregister. No, wait, I have just been to the site and there is no deregister option. Silly.[techtags: Spam, Database, Freelancentral, ethics, web ethics]
Bullard Blogs And Makes Some Good Points...
Did I just say that? Yes. If you have been following "Bullardgate" then you will know that I am an avid Bullard follower and reader of Bullards and thus enjoy his rampant mouth and fairly slow reactions to himself.Yet this weeks column is good. It's really good in my opinion. It might be somewhat reactionary and why shouldn't it be? Bullard had lots to react to. I am impressed that he decided to follow a theme two weeks running (A near first in the history of his column I think).There was the same kind of regular Bullard banter that aims to spark some sort of rouse out of the blogosphere. Fool me once David, fool me once. I might be blogging about this but there is not a witch hunt or about bad breakfast this time.Vincent has also blogged about it and wont be falling for the same tricks twice (if they were tricks David??). I doubt any blogger will be. Alas we fell for this columnists attempt at a plan once already and I rue the day we did. Tsk Tsk Bullard lives amongst us now. He might even be one of the first to come out with his disdain for certain other bloggers by name.From Bullards latest column:
Apparently freedom of speech is not as deeply cherished in the blogosphere as it is in the print media.
I give it a few weeks, maybe a month before Bullard feels the wrath of freedom of speech in the blogosphere. I am not sure that a print columnist who receives criticism on a once a week column will be able to handle the non-stop onslaught that might exist here, online.He does have some good points, one of which is that some (he used the term "most") bloggers can't read, let alone write. I agree with this. I struggle to read some blogs, including Wild Frontier with it's strange approach to content. While other blogs are misread, misquoted and mislinked by bloggers. Come on people, get it right. However Bullard makes the mistake of using the term "most" and insinuating that bloggers suck, plain and simple.I must ask a few questions: What happens when the hype dies? Will the Bullog be able to keep up his readership? Does he and The Times team believe that one week of hype equals and eternity of fame and readers? What is there next step to ensure the Bullog lives? Where will it end, with blog destruction, blatantly offensive content or worse?I think that the first step for the Bullog is to see if he can match the skill of the bloggers in the blogoff... come on Davey boy show us what you got. If David accepts this will be a groundbreaking and interesting mash-up between bloggers and print columnists. It will be an extremely fun and entertaining event that will hopefully lay many grudges to rest in the name of writing, blogging and freedom of speech.
Join A Band? This Is Why I Did It
I tried really, really, really hard...
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net...but failed dismally
I Hate The Licensing Department
If I don't manage to renew my drivers license today then they should probably just take me to prison because I give up. I am very surprised that more people have not been blogging about this topic. This is my third trip to the lovely licensing department. The first two trips were absolute mares. Systems don't work, employees are apathetic (if present at all) and the queues are unfathomable. Ridiculous, the entire business is just ridiculous.Alas this one of those grown up things that one needs to come to terms with. We unfortunately do live in a third world country and this is evident in the systems that we have in place to deal with this kind of situation.So here goes, third time lucky and lets hope I'm coming home with a new drivers license!
Don't Preach...Sell
I have been in meeting after meeting this week. People pitching me ideas, concepts, website, companies, organisations and people pitching people who know people who can possible do something for me.If there is one thing that I cannot stand it's when people don't know when to stop selling. Learn this lesson quickly: Pitch me your product, tell me about what you do but then stop. Finish. End. Quit and let me think about what you are telling or selling me. Do not try to resell and rephrase and re re re re re. I got it. I'm a quick learner (or so I've been told).Another thing that has irritated me beyond belief is self proclaimed experts from abroad who have learnt how to "fix" our "problems" here in SA. Do not preach to me about the airs and graces of the United States of America (said with a pseudo-American-twang). Do not go in to a meeting with a South African entrepreneur and tell him that South Africa is 20+ years behind America technologically. That is not a good way to sell me on your product or concept.The next thing is research. In today's day and age it is possible to gather a vast amount of information about someone from the internet. Look at this blog. I have my personal details on here, I have links to things that can help you clue together my background. Go and visit my LinkedIn profile, its all there. Then come in to a meeting knowing about who I am, what my company does and where we are planning on going. Research, research, research.These are basics that I have seen in maybe two of the eight meetings I have had this week. How can people still be missing this stuff? It's simple. If you haven't thought about this before, then you are hearing it now. Think about it and you will soon realise that if you do not prepare you will not be successful. You can't invade a country without weapons, you can't sell yourself without research.