Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
Are your blog posts incoherent?
I'm noticing a strange trend. It's in my writing and it's becoming more noticeable in the writing of many, many bloggers that I read. What am I talking about? Incoherent blog posts.These have become the bane of my reading online. I am seeing it everywhere. People are posting short thoughts of larger principles, concepts and ideas that could be fantastic blog posts but turn out to be incoherent cyber-babble.Let me elaborate before I appear to be a stark raving lunatic.For me a post is simple (not always executed in such a manner but I always try) and consists of basic things to make it a readable blog post.Cement an idea or concept in your mind and think it through. Pitch it to your reader in the first paragraph and then present more analytical opinion, fact or information that can substantiate your initial premise.This could all happen in the space of 3 paragraphs, three sentences or three thousand words, but for crying in a bucket be sure to have an opinion, be conclusive, state things, back them up, do a tiny bit of a research and just pop in a link. You don't have to rehash things that other people might already have explained, it's the nature of the internet, hyperlink it.On top of that, we are in South Africa in case you hadn't notice, there are a fair amount of blogs that are probably going to be writing or have written about (in some manner or another) what you have written about so see what they had to say and reference them, pull their posts to shreds or applaud their logic, whatever you like, but use their writings to draw them in to your writing. This will entice debate and create a buzz around your writing or blog.Tyler Reed did it a while back when he broke a story about Amatomu launching. It got him attention and launched him on to the local scene. If you hadn't had screenshots, and opinion, a review of some sorts people would've picked up the story, done their own research and bettered the post. It can be done and has been done.A couple of examples that I've found in the last few days:Today Paul Slade blogged about social media experts carving their way in to the market and in fact, carving the market. I loved the idea of the post, it had so much potential but flaked out in to a very bland post.Paul pitched a Pros and Cons kind of post but really wasn't very decisive in the pros or cons. I would've loved to see a list, everyone loves lists. The cons were brief and could well have been expanded on to make for a really gripping post that would've done well everywhere. Same goes for the pros. My immediate suggestion would have been to get Mike to list his own pros and cons on the subject and then for Paul to develop what he thinks the pros and cons are or could be. Look I'm being picky on this article because I really think it was a good article but could've been great with a bit more care and research. I am sure there are lots of resources that Paul could have made use of and linked to.The next example really set me on this blog post: "How Muti has successfully built a self-sustainable community".This blog post had all the potential to be a sterling analysis of what Muti is, was and might become. It could have been an in-depth look at the community of Muti and how it is self-sustaining. Instead I read two examples supplied in the post one of down voting on Muti and the other was the Afrigator/Regator debacle. Neither told me anything about the Muti community or it's self-sustaining nature directly. By inference, maybe, but no statements.The first summed up:
Whether Down-Voting should be brought back or not , but surely there seems to coexist amongst the users , a sense that the overall outcome should act in the best possible interests of the community.
The second in a nutshell:
Along came Regator — which in my opinion looks pretty much similar (but not so supreme) to Afrigator. The community was outraged to an extent that seven posts were seating at the top of muti expressing their disgust towards Regator … But as to whom emerged triumphant? Im not entirely sure.
The only mention of the Afrigator/Regator issue in relation to Muti is above. "Seven posts were seating at the top of muti," and from that I must deduce how Muti has managed to establish a self-sustaining community?All that I am saying is that when you write a fantastic headline like How Muti has successfully built a self-sustainable community and have a great idea, have the insight to follow it through. Yasser had the right idea, the right concept but lacked follow through. That's all.At the end of the day what you want to avoid is people reading your article and leaving your site while mumbling: "Hmmm that could've been a great read".
Quickfire online payment options for South Africa
Thanks to twitter I have managed to amass a large scope of online payment options.Here's the list:
I can't write a more detailed description of these offerings as I haven't delved in to them yet. As soon as I have made a choice and the system has been put in place I'll blog about my choice.Thanks to Jason, Simone, Luke, Charl, Andrew and Workhomeparents for tweeting suggestions.
Win With Doritos Taco - a relative flop
Doritos has been everywhere lately, all over the radio, a few other ads here and there. Basically they have been punting their Facebook page.I eventually saw that one of my friends on FB had joined the group as well as ±1500 people.
My immediate reaction is that this is a flop of a campaign. Advertising on radio is no cheap affair but an affair it is. You face the risk of being caught out by your better half - the listeners or target market. And to me it seems as though this has happened to Doritos.
Why I think this is campaign was a flop?
Coming off the back of a great advertising campaign with their "Moment of boldness" A few years ago I can't believe that Doritos could have done so badly with this one. That campaign was a viral campaign before there were viral campaigns. To this day I know many people who still joke about their moments of boldness.At the time of writing this post there were 777 122 people from South Africa above the age of 18 on Facebook. That works out to about 0.2% of the users on FB, from SA actually bothered to become a fan of the brand. In my mind, that's a bit of a flop.
Why this could be perceived to be a successful campaign
Theoretically what we could be looking at here is quality over quantity. Involvement and activity over masses of inactive users/fans.But let's look at this for a moment before we get ahead of ourselves. The available features on the FB page of Doritos are: Notes, Photos, Video, Wall Comments, Events and Discussion Board.To analyse these in a bit more detail:Wall313 postsDiscussion Board Topic 1: 120 posts by 95 peopleTopic 2: 29 posts by 25 peopleVideos12 fan videosPhotos44 photos5 albumsEventsEvent 1 - 6 confirmed guests, 4 wall postsEvent 2 - 28 confirmed guests, 6 wall postsNotes7 notes144 commentsLooking at the above breakdowns I honestly cannot say that all the money Doritos must have spent on their mainstream ad campaigns was worth it. 44 photographs and 12 videos is really not a good response in my opinion. Especially considering that there are ±1500 people in the group and over 750 000 people in SA on FB. That means that less than 1% of the fans on the page posted a video and almost 3% of the fans posted a photograph.I'm not sure about you, but I've posted, viewed and commented on hundreds of photos on FB, that should've been the saving grace but alas, it wasn't.
What Doritos could have done differently
Expanded their "moment of boldness" campaign to an online network of viral campaigns. Blogs, videos, podcasts and "fake events" that could have boosted the reputation of the brand for the young and socially in touch.I can picture the blog and videos now; South Africans all over filming their moment of boldness, recording fake jumps, dares and ironic, satirical parodies of the "bold" factor.
Doritos could have done more with their Facebook group. Updates, invites, ads, coupons, giveaways, freebies. Sometimes it just takes a bit of gritty interaction to spread the word for a fan page, not an entire radio ad campaign. Other than giveaways the Doritos fan page gave nothing to its members. No community offering. I know a lot of people who feel an affinity to Doritos, it's their choice chip, but they were not enticed to join this group. People like Apple Students has it right on their page. They have a community, not a product.Below the line marketing would have worked better. Get bloggers involved, send them a box of crisps and ask them to eat them, rally a party around the chips, get other bloggers in on it and spread the word slowly to all their readers via the subsequent posts.Print would even have worked better than radio. More people will sit near a computer while reading a newspaper/magazine than will be listening to the radio, so why put it on the radio? You are probably driving in your car when you hear about the Doritos fan page, not sitting by a pc with internet access. Bad move.I did try to contact Doritos, the admin of the group or anyone but no one responded. I gave them a few working days. I'd love to know if they consider this campaign to be successful or if they are looking in to recovering from the flop that I see?
Zoopy alters their views per video
I always thought the views per video that Zoopy showed on each video were a bit low. Now I know that they were.How I know is quite simple, Zoopy blogged about it:
As of last night, ‘views’ on Zoopy means the number of times the media item’s page has been viewed on Zoopy, plus the number of times the media item has been viewed when embedded on the home page or on other websites. We hope that the new figure will give Zoopy users a better idea of how many times a video has been watched, or how many times a photo has been viewed.
The above basically means that the numbers will become more representative and holistic including embed views as well as pageviews on the media item page on Zoopy and on the homepage of Zoopy. This is definitely a step in the right direction and a move that couldn't have come at a better time. I was really beginning to think that Zoopy was slowing down. Now we can all see that things are picking up!
Shocking: Regator rip off Afrigator... or did they?
In typical SA blogosphere style yesterday we all (myself included) jumped to the defence of Afrigator and condemnation of Regator.com.I am pleased to say that the issue has been resolved and we all look a bit silly. I am more than happy to openly acknowledge when I make an err in my ways and this was such a moment. The post below is what I wrote yesterday and how it may seem as though Regator ripped off Afrigator, Scott - one of the Regator co-founders - ensures the Afrigator guys and myself that this entire situation is merely a coincidence.What I think we should be focussing on is how the "holy trinity" hahahahaha of the techblogs, Mashable, RRW and TechCrunch quickly picked up on Regator but only RRW picked up on Afrigator.For now, like Mike and Justin have done, I wish Regator the best of luck!And dip my head for a brief moment to show that I have learned my lesson and wont be jumping on bandwagons any longer (I hope). My closing words: Stii, you got it spot on yet again.UPDATE:
Modern-day poets
I watched an interesting movie recently that made me think about language, poetry, writing and the modern-day poet.I love language. It's part of the reason that I became a journalist initially. Language is the media that portrays a message, evokes an emotion, tells a story and more literally allows us to communicate with one another. However I have forgotten how to enjoy my obsession with language in the last four years or so. I went to varsity and language became a means to an end not the end result.What I mean by this is simple, poets make language their result. Yes the message exists but it is enhanced through the language they use, the words they choose and the sorts of construction that they decide to make use of.If you don't know anything about poetry and wondered what all the high-faluted hype was about do yourself a favour and read up about poetry a bit. Then go and read Frost, Thomas, Cummings, Blake and Eliot for a start. These are the greats of the past and the definitive poets of "our time". The reason I say "our time" is that these poets are not part of my time, my era or existence.Here are snippets of some of my favourite poet's writings:
The Road Not Takenby Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.
And another:
why must itself up every of a parkby E. E. Cummingswhy must itself up every of a parkanus stick some quote statue unquote toprove that a hero equals any jerkwho was afraid to dare to answer "no"?
Now tell me something. Who are the the poets of my era? Who wrote the great words of my time? Who told the stories that would define the present-day history?I would like to suggest that musicians today have become the poets of yesteryear.Here are some examples:
There's always somebody taller with more of a witAnd he's equipped to enthrall her and her friends think he’s fitAnd you just can't measure up though, you don't have a prayerWishing that you'd made the most of her when she was thereThey've got engaged there's no intention of a weddingHe's pinched ya bird and he'd probably kick your head inBigger boys and stolen sweetheartsOh, you’re better off without her anywayYou said you wasn't sad to see her goYeah, but I know you were thoughNow you don't know what she's up to you can only assumeIf she's not in the front of the shops then they've gone to his roomBet she's gone 'round in her school stuff, bet that’s what he likesI know you thought she were different and you thought she were niceBut she's not nice, she's pretty fucking far from niceShe’s looking at you funny rarely looking at you twice
That is a band I love, the Arctic Monkeys. The writing above, without the music, is poetry to me. It might not be an iambic pentameter. But Poetry, it is.The next example is from Greenday, one of the definitive bands of my era and I think one of the definitive poetry sources of my time.
I'm the son of rage and loveThe Jesus of SuburbiaFrom the bible of none of the aboveOn a steady diet of soda pop and RitalinNo one ever died for my sins in hellAs far as I can tellAt least the ones I got away withAnd there's nothing wrong with meThis is how I'm supposed to beIn a land of make believeThat don't believe in meGet my television fix sitting on my crucifixThe living room or my private wombWhile the moms and brads are awayTo fall in love and fall in debtTo alcohol and cigarettes and Mary JaneTo keep me insane and doing someone else's cocaineAnd there's nothing wrong with meThis is how I'm supposed to beIn a land of make believeThat don't believe in me
Above is part 1 of "Jesus of Suburbia".Next is one of my favourite songs from the last 5 years, The Foo Fighters and "Best of You":
I’ve got another confession to makeI’m your foolEveryone’s got their chains to breakHoldin’ youWere you born to resist or be abused?Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?Are you gone and onto someone new?I needed somewhere to hang my headWithout your nooseYou gave me something that I didn’t haveBut had no useI was too weak to give inToo strong to loseMy heart is under arrest againBut I break looseMy head is giving me life or deathBut I can’t chooseI swear I’ll never give inNo, I refuseIs someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?Has someone taken your faith?Its real, the pain you feelYour trust, you mustConfess
So to answer my own question, where are the poets of today, the modern-day writers that define our present-day history, they are in music, in the popular form of communication today. Poetry is no longer in the mainstream as it was back in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, today it is music and the musicians, songwriters and definitive minds might just exist in our music.For more poets of today I suggest reading:LennonDylanMarleyStevensMatthewsAppleTaylorKingNirvana (Kurt Cobain)OasisTupac ShakurChapmanWho would you consider poets of your era? Which poets do you read? What would you classify as poetry?
Did Vodacom break their mobile internet?
I just received a very interesting email.Here it is:
Hi Nic,Thought this might of interest to you. If you access the Internet via yourmobile, and you are a Vodacom subscriber, I'm sure you've run into somedifficulty especially with sites like Twitter.The Internet Society of South Africa released a statement stronglycondemning Vodacom's actions. The full statement is below.Let me know if you need some additional info. ISOC-ZA's past chairman AlanLevin is the official spokesperson for ISOC-ZA on this, and his contactdetails are below if you want to chat with him.Hope you have a great weekend!Cheers,Sentient Communications CCISOC-ZA strongly condemns Vodacom behaviourOn Wednesday, June 25, 2008 Vodacom claimed to revolutionise Interneton the cellphone. They falsely claimed that millions of Vodacomcustomers now (effectively) have the same experience of the Interneton their cellphones as they do on a PC. In reality Vodacom have brokenthe Internet for these millions of customers. This came without anywarning and ISOC-ZA is united against this sort of behaviour.Various applications that include instant messaging, banking,specialised mobile applications such as email, Youtube, Twitter, Fringand at least a dozen others, are no longer working. In technical terms,Vodacom installed a proxy service that was not sufficiently tested.As one blogger so correctly pointed out: "Vodacom is essentially using thepublic as subjects for an alpha test of their technology" (Flint.za 25 June)The technology that Vodacom is using is not standards compliant and,considering Vodacom¹s position as a dominant ISP, it should behave in a moreresponsible fashion. Furthermore, some of our members have claimed thatVodacom block many applications that it feels may threaten its business.While we have no direct evidence of this, we appeal to Vodacom to disclosewhat it blocks and intercepts on its networks.Happily, some users have worked out how to bypass the new Vodacom changesand ISOC-ZA urges all mobile Internet users to make use of this should theytoo be unhappy with Vodacom¹s actions.There are a number of bypasses freely available on the Internet, and aresimple to affect.For example: If you use a Nokia phone then the following should work:Access:ToolsSettingsConnectionAccess pointsVodacomOptionsAdvanced SettingsRemove the Proxy server addressAbout ISOCThe Internet Society is a global not-for-profit membership organisationfounded in 1991 to provide leadership in the management of Internetrelated standards, educational, and policy development issues. It haschapters in over 90 countries around the world. Through its currentinitiatives in support of education and training, Internet standardsand protocol, and public policy, ISOC has played a critical role inensuring that the Internet has developed in a stable and open manner.It is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force(IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the InternetEngineering Steering Group (IESG) and other Internet-related bodies.
I've removed names until I can do a bit more background research and chat to a few more people. But I just tried to access twitter mobile...it didn't work. This doesn't look promising for Vodacom and their mobile internet tactics.
SA news organisations on Google Trends
There has been a bit of a buzz surrounding Google Trends and their alleged intention to take on Alexa in the tracking, trends and statistics game.I've chatted to Vincent about this and he seemed underwhelmed by the entire concept.I have a different perspective. I am quote excited about the comparative search terms and vague unique visitors per month.From what I can gather, the basic premise is that you can compare what users are searching for and visiting with one website as the focus.The graph below is a comparison of four news websites in South Africa. News24.com, IOL, Mail & Guardian Online and The Times Online.
click to enlargeUsing the above graph as an example, Mail & Guardian Online is the focus of the graph and data you are able to see the graph, regions, also visited and also searched for. The key to these comparative graphs is the colours. Note the colours carefully and pay attention because they are important.Mail & Guardian Online is clearly blue and the little button says that the statistics are ranked by/according to Mail & Guardian Online.I can see that people who visited Mail and Guardian Online also visited The Times, searched for vuyo mokoena and South African newspapers.I think this is useful information.What can you do with information like this? It's habitual I think. You can know what your target audiences habits might be. I say might be because there are never any certainties. But we can know with a greater sense of surety (read confusion) than previously. This means targeting. Targeted advertising, targeted content, themes, links, relevance.To me, this is potentially more important than knowing what your users are clicking on in your own site. Why? Because things are different and evolving online, especially in the online news media market. Mail & Guardian Online have implemented a system of cross referencing and external linking. These links directly provide our potential opposition websites with links taking users out of the Mail & Guardian Online in to a different news organisations website. Now if we know which opposition our users prefer, how frequently they visit and what search terms took them in to or out of our websites and our oppositions then the chance exists that the word "opposition" is being used unnecessarily.It could be possible down the line that news is customised by the organisations, users, competitors, advertisers and anyone else in such a way that the flow of information suits each individual in a broader context.
Automated blogrolls
Thanks Stii!! Now I just need to get my head around that XFN stuff and I'm golden.
Images of the Gautrain Train
Have a look at the pictures below. I have seen pictures of the digging, burying, building and more at the Gautrain sites but I have yet to see images of the actual train that people will be using.Here they are:
Invasive online advertising
What do you think of this advert?
Visit Mail & Guardian Online now to have a look at the advert.I am in two minds. Initially I hated the concept, but then, it's not so bad really. It's effective, interesting and different. Plus it can be closed at any moment if you can find the relevant button.
Are blogrolls dead?
That is my question.I remember 3 years ago when I started blogging. I was "inundated" with requests to join blogrolls, to link up, to get in touch, to cross-populate, blah, blah, blah.Now, nothing. I don't think I've had more than ten people ask me to link to them in my blogroll or that they've linked to me in theirs.SA Rocks is another example. Go and check out the supporters list on the site.
So when was the last time you edited or added anyone to your blogroll? In fact, when was the last time you actually looked at someone's blogroll?
What's up with all the MyGenius buzz - are these paid reviews?
I am really, really surprised that Mike and Paul have blogged (and positively) about MyGenius. I joined this site a while back, signed up, put some stuff there to fill it up and dissappeared. That was that. I have not returned other than to delete my account.I am not fond of the site, don't tell me to give it another go, don't tell me what I'm missing because I know these things. Yet I still think the site is not for me.Why did Mike and subsequently Paul write about the website? Were these paid reviews? They felt as much but were not stated as such.My question is this: Why would I switch to a site that still has so much to do when I can visit many more that are already doing it?No, wait, that's not the end of this mini-rant. I know that MyGenius could open up another level of interaction, I know that there are different people on there, I know, I know. But read this sentence as I type it, I am not interested. Point. Blank. It is not appealing.
Morgan Tsvangirai quits, now what?
This is not a post written by a politically educated man. This is not a post written by a journalist who worked at 702 4 years ago when Tsvangirai's struggle was only starting to become visible to the public. This is a post written of a desperate feeling of sadness and disappointment.What now? Where does Zimbabwe go from here? Can it get any goddam worse for the poor people of a once stunning country?The people of Zimbabwe are now set to suffer for a long time. Human rights injustice is not a bad word in that country right now, it is almost par for the course. Now, it is only going to get worse. The people are going to suffer. Everyone. Not just white, not just black, everyone.It breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes thinking about how many people are suffering and how few people are willing to assist them. Fuck the politicians, the big corporates or anyone else who is benefitting from the situation in Zimbabwe, dammit all to hell there are people dying.Has society taken so many steps backward that we condone the mass killing of hundreds of thousands and the torment of so many more. Has the Western World lost so much punch that they talk about change but don't implement it. Have we all lost our fucking minds?I feel so much sympathy and so much respect for Morgan Tsvangirai. The man has tried, he has been arrested, beaten, broken and watched his family, friends and colleagues be murdered for a cause that is virtually all but lost now. I pity him for the lack of support he has from South Africa and the world. I pity the world even more for letting the good people of Zimbabwe lose.I pity society if this is what we have become.
Speak or Act - it's about change
I watched an interesting film last night. Perhaps one of the best films I've seen in fact.
I felt inspired, I felt motivated and moved to change.I wasn't inspired to change anything in particular, just to move towards change, changing things, change as an existential concept and change as a tangible and achievable goal.Then in other aspects of my everyday life I am faced with people who speak of change, you talk of change as if it is the next big thing. It's not. Change is the biggest thing. Now. And guess what? It always will be.Change is what great people aspire to and change is what great people achieve.Change the way you write, talk, live, drive to work, answer the phone, your house, car or blog design, change anything. Whatever it is, we all want change.I am not one to post rhetorical questions but let me ask, are you a person who talks about change or are you changing the world?
Unsubscribe and save your sanity
I have been on a mission, blind online rage some have called it. I have viciously been unsubscribing my e-mail newsletters. Why? I don't know. I woke up about 4 days ago and just lost it. I think being at a new job, with new challenges and so many new emails everyday, coupled with nicharalambous.com, sarocks.co.za and other projects I just couldn't cope with the email load. Literally, a load of email.So I have been going ballistic on these newsletters. Really giving it stick, left, right and center.Here are a few things I've learned:
1. I subscribed to anything about 2 years ago
Now, I don't. I can't even remember signing up to about 80% of the newsletters that I received.
2. Untick the checkboxes
When you sign up to a new service, website or network be sure to uncheck that little tickbox that says something like: "Receive neverending contact from us that will make you want to end your life."
3. Signing up for newsletters is great - if you use them
Obvious, but true. I have decided that I will be signing up to food and recipe newsletters and keeping the ones that I already have coming in. Why? Because I want to learn more about cooking and always have a resource that is searchable (Gmail search) on hand when I cook.
4. You just don't need them but you can't get rid of them
Newsletters are hard to get rid of, trust me, I've tried. The outcome of making it difficult for me to unsubscribe is simple, I wont use your service again. So if you are about to design or send out a newsletter, make sure that it's easy to unsubscribe.All in all I have reduced my new messages per day by about 25% thanks to this madman approach to e-mails and newsletters. What a pleasure.
Amatomu is taking a smoke break
Some people have noticed that Amatomu is down and has been for a few days. This is true, Vincent twittered this fact and asked that we all be patient. As a dedicated Amatomu user I must admit I am having withdrawal symptoms.The simple, short and sweet reason for this is that we have relocated Amatomu to Afrihost as our host of choice. Gian was quick to jump at the chance to host the site and saw it as a challenge. He's probably right. His team have been helpful with the move but it has taken slightly longer than expected.Some sites may be experiencing slow loading of their templates. Removing the tracking code might or might not be a quick fix for the problem but issues from our side will be resolved soon and then you'll simply have to place the code back in to your template.
Vision - small companies vs big corporates
I've decided that for my age, experience, ambition and work-related desires small companies are for me. Larger companies verging on corporates are just too vague, machine-like and dehumanising.
Big companies and why I dislike them
I have freelanced for some large newspapers, worked at large broadcasters, travelled to some big companies around the world and worked for a major publisher and to be honest, they aren't for me, not at my age and not for the things that I want to achieve.Large companies are like large and impersonal schooling environments. Each employee, just like each student, is a number amongst a million others. I hate this because I make a point of standing out and it is hard to pro actively stand out on a large corporate that has rules, rulers, regulations, hierarchies and bureaucracies.Standing out is not the issue, the issue is how pro actively you do it. Large corporates, in my experience, don't like people to stand out. They like people to put their heads down, make little noise and do their job that is in line with the company's vision. The problem is, many of the people keeping the company afloat don't know or understand the overarching company vision.This is problematic for me because I am not the type of person who is dedicated to "Do as I say not as I do." I like to do as I comprehend. So if I am able to comprehend why you want me to do something I will do it until it is the best damn thing in the world. I will work weekends, nights and holidays to ensure that the task at hand is complete. I'll do this because I can see where my little job fits in to the company and the vision that I am apart of.It often happens that in a large corporate that people don't feel a part of a team or vision, they feel as if they are being forced to be part of a goal that they will probably never see come to fruition. They are only there because the company is paying them to be there and they need the salary. This, in my opinion is never a good idea and is always an avoidable outcome.
Small, established companies and why I love them
Small companies that are well established are the closest that you will get to owning your own company and running around with that much freedom. The individual is becoming a threat to the corporate and that is a great feeling.The likes of Google and Facebook possibly taking on Microsoft in the future is a great example of this. Two people starting small companies, becoming big companies and taking on large corporates. That is inspiring and that is a main reason to get involved in a small company and feel like you can change the world, instead of wanting to take over the world.Small companies have the ability to grow a person and mould you in to the type of skilled specialist that you want to be. You have the ability to take on serious responsibility and proper tasks. You also have access to your superiors. There are no glass doors or big offices and PA's to get past and make bookings with. You simply walk in to your boss's office (don't forget to knock). This sort of access to experience and knowledge is priceless when coupled with leadership and control of your own projects.Over and above the positives there are some positive downsides to working in a small company. You have to work. If you don't there is no one else to blame. You can't simply sit at your computer, in your cubicle shifting papers or saving documents that don't exist. If you don't reach your targets or achieve the goals set for you there is no one else to blame.There is also massive potential to grow the company as you grow. You can start on your own, running "your own division" that consists of you and your e-mail and take that division to soaring heights. If you are up to the job of course. If you aren't up to the task (and this is the downside) everyone in the company will know it, and the powers that be will get rid of you. It's that simple. Succeed and flourish, fail and leave. There is often no room for a middle ground when it comes to employees at a small company. Every employee is an annual salary that if not profitable needs to be used somewhere else.
The end result
It's fairly simple to write down, but probably more difficult in practice: Start niche, small, nurturing and move on to the big fish when you can catch the small ones. Going straight in to a large corporate can make or break you early on in your career. It might just end your will to thrive and your ambitious and innovative hopes. You may end up crushed if you enter the corporate world of big business and don't cut it. So why not change the world with a small company that you fit in to and when you have the skills, desire and experience move to a large company that can break your bank by paying you the salary you think you deserve.The other option is move up through the ranks of the small company you start at and blow them away with your youthful exuberance. By the time you are ready to move up you will have the knowledge you need, the experience you wanted and the skills that everyone else thinks you should have. Then you can really begin to plot your take over of the world (all the while changing it for the better).The world has become a more entrepreneurial place, it seems like the world is smaller and anyone has become a threat to everyone, anywhere in the world. For this reason I say join a small company or start your own. You might not succeed immediately but you will learn more, faster.
Tagged, teamed and bringing my...
Jayx tagged me. Here we go:
So … you’re about to embark on a road trip to a theme party. You’re only allowed 5 CD’s, 3 essential items and are prompted to take along one outrageous/stupid item of clothing that you have to wear at the theme party to make you stand out (you must currently be in possession of this item of clothing). Do this and then TAG 5 people.
My CD collection:1. Daft Punk2. Estelle3. The Arctic Monkeys4. Nelly Furtado5. Maroon 5Essential items:1. GPS2. Cellphone3. iPod TouchItem of clothing to stand out:1. Snowboarding GogglesThanks Jayx! I was brief, but it's efficient I think!I'm not going to tag anyone, but if you want to do this, feel free and link back to me and the original post.