I was intrigued, not only by the actual DVD, but by the way this DVD was marketed, almost solely by word of mouth. I had at least 5-10 people ask me whether I’ve seen ‘the Secret’. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it. Interesting stuff. Now there is some follow up material with an affiliate program, so check out some new lessons from the teachers of the Secret…

I’ve got an acquaintance who does corporate gifts and clothing. Just thought I’d give her a shameless plug and post her one pager site here. If you want good service and delivery on time, Berni’s your girl. Check out www.szpromotions.co.za. Just mention to her that Dirk referred you… Oh and be sure to check their video as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Tom London’s broadcast on 567 Cape Talk with Dave Bullard last night. Allthough they didn’t really discuss the whole blogging saga, Dave did mention that he’s got two brilliant IT guys that help him make easy work of his blogging experience. Asking him through a comment on his blog whether he’s warmed to blogging he mentioned that he has mellowed towards blogging, but he “feels a bit old doing this” and that people of this age usually play bowls as recreation, ha-ha.

I’m glad Dave started blogging, he might just help us teach people of all age groups that blogging is fun, but also that it could well put a positive spin on a company’s corporate image if maintained right (if you have some brilliant IT guys that is). By the way Dave, I know of people much older than you that blogs, so you’ve got some time to go before exchanging your keyboard for bowls.

This is proof that insight, will give you end sight in what blogging can do for you.

We have been featured on the Skills Portal (www.skillsportal.co.za). They have some interesting information about skills development and BEE in South Africa on their website.

The influx of new social media platforms have created some confusion among my non internet savvy friends and business contacts. I have been preaching social media for a while now to them, trying to get them to understand the concepts and the power of ‘Word of Mouth’, but from what I could gather, it fell on deaf ears. Until recently…

While chatting to some business acquaintances this morning I almost fell on my back from both astonishment and laughter. There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. A good friend asks me (one who I haven’t reached in my quest of education) yesterday.

Hey bru, do you know ‘myface’?

And while trying to keep a straight face (yes, ‘my face’), I politely corrected him and explained the difference between MySpace and Facebook.

Not to be outdone, this morning at a business breakfast I attend, a middle aged lady (bless her soul) told us she wants to start ‘logging’ and asked how she should go about it.

I mentioned a saw might come in handy for ‘logging’, but if she wants a blog, I can help her out.

Awareness

Yes, word is spreading about social media portals. Be it in an unconventional way, but it shows you the power of the personal referral. Big corporates would scramble now, if they knew the possibilities. Like logging though, it’s not for everyone…

Is the news media ready for web 2.0? In a perfect Web 2.0 world we should be able to get word from the proverbial horse’s mouth. It’s a grand concept, that we can have the latests news as it happens from the people that were involved, but there are also some issues with content aggregated like this.

There is a large group of users among the general public that argues some thing must be true (or factually correct) since they read it on the Internet. I’ve had long debates with people saying something like ‘They said this, and they said that.” It’s something that’s been happening long before the Internet, but with the ease of publishing to the Net, it’s a great cloud out there (as my lecturer first explained it to me) and for the leeks among us sometimes low, foggy clouds.

Who are they?

Are they experts? Are they the advertising media (conceptually glorifying their portfolio of brands). Have they got an E-Book (does that automatically qualify then as an expert)? The point I’m trying to make is that I’m not sure whether the news media is ready to go Web 2.0 with regards to user generated content. I do however think that there could be some synergy around the concept. The problem is how valid the information is. With a proper moderation process, who knows?

In the end, usable content will prevail. If readers find it interesting and captive, they will reward it with good review. If it’s a controversial topic, the advantages of interactivity online will help people to voice their opinion and in the end, users can make their own conclusions. There I think lays the advantage. Should it be governed? Probably, if a news channel wants to claim it as ‘official news or content’. Or if they label it as off-beat news (like Ananova likes to do), it could well be a great drawing card for readers.

It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future and how content on the web will be rated as fact or fiction.

I say tomatoe, you say tomatoe

Is real butter good for us? Is ritalin a good solution for ADHD / ADD? The opinions keep on changing. Research is a fickle thing. Like law, it sometimes comes down to interpretation or personal taste. I guess sometimes you have to take things with a pinch of salt?

Please feel free to comment with your opinion on this!

Had some positive response on the interview with Scenius, a great tech culture blog started by the famous book publishing house. To quote them directly:  “Scenius stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius.” – Brian Eno. Read the full interview here.

Whilst writing my car off recently I had an epiphany. How cool would it be to have a website that acts like a car crash site? People slow down, rubber necking, they look once, twice and a third time. Curious culture, it’s something called ‘the viral element’ on the internet and something that when gotten right can generate amazing traffic to your website. Link bait? Yes, I would assume link bait would fall under that category, but it’s to be used with caution. Want your website to go viral? You know who to contact…

Go out and buy the latest issue (July) of Intelligence Magazine (here in South Africa), I’ve been quoted on various SEO matters there. It’s great that we’re having this educational excersize at the moment! BTW, we got a mention in the BizCommunity newsletter/website. Make sure you’re subscribed!