Facebook Friends

So yesterday my personal Facebook profile signed up the 400th "friend." What does it mean to me?

Not all of the friends listed there are personal friends: some are colleagues I met through study and work throughout the years, some are neighbours, or friends I met online, or friends I grew up with or met at varsity, or fellow writers. Some are family members (my brothers, sisters and our inlaws, kids and cousins) and a few are fans who just like my work and wanted to track my writing activities.

I use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with people in my life, with this blog providing a bit more detail. I chat with some people often; for others Facebook may very well be a tool for us to keep in touch without having a desire to see each other in person.

Weeks and months may go by without our communicating at all, and then there are people who worry if they don't see online activity from me. What it boils down to is that, Facebook has become a good way for people who care about me to keep track of my activities.

No, I don't say much that is personal on FB. But I stream some of the articles I publish on various sites on FB ( on my profile and professional pages), so even if you don't know how I feel that day, you can see I published 3 articles on the sites and hosted online conversations, so I must be OK.

I'm also finding that the database of these friends actually has some business benefits. Yesterday I posted an announcement on my FB profile that I was looking for news stories for the BizTech Africa site, and within the hour I had emails from about 8 PR managers, a phone call from a comms manager of a large multinational tech company and an invitation to tour a tech business site in July. Oh, and there were two new press releases in my inbox too. It's hard to beat that kind of response, and Facebook made it possible, because I didn't have to track these business associates [ some of them changed agencies), and I didn't have to give long explanations why I'm getting in touch with them after so long ( for some it's years). The general response is, great to see you're doing well, let's do business:-)

Anyhoo, I hope that this information is useful for you, if you're trying to decide whether to join Facebook or not, or if you're still trying to work out how you can use the service for your benefit without irritations like Farmville etc.

I'd also like to hear from you how social media, and specifically Facebook and Twitter, are working out for you - both in a personal capacity and in a professional capacity.

P.S. The focus of this post is only on my personal/individual profile, not on the Fabebook pages and groups that I run either for myself, or for my clients., which generally have more members, but the connections are not personal and I don't personally know the majority of the people signing on them. These people are usually attracted by the subject matter, and in general, they may not even know my name.

P.P.S Arthur Goldstuck, of World Wide Worx, has released the annual research reports The Mobile Internet in SA 2010.

The report for the first time defines the Mobile Internet, based on a framework agreed to with the Mobile Marketing Association, and also for the first time provides a size for key segments of that market.

Visit World Wide Worx

Guest Post: Invitation To Craft Market In Kensington, Johannesburg

This guest post is written by my friend Gaynor Paynter.

After much planning and a lot of hard work the first Rhodes Park Artists, Crafters and Farmers Market will be taking place in Rhodes Park, Kensington, Johannesburg on 30 May 2010, starting at 09:00am and ending at 14:00. The market forms part of the I Love Kensington Association’s strategy to bring residents back into the park and take back our public spaces that have in recent years been taken control of by criminal elements.

The market aims to showcase the incredible talents of our local residents while giving residents a place to go and enjoy relaxing and quality filled experience on a Sunday morning. The market upholds the general quality and aesthetic excellence that surrounds Kensington and in keeping with this all items will be hand made, hand crafted or hand grown. It will be a fun experience for the whole community in our own park so come along and join us! The market will take place once a month.

Should you wish to find out more about the market or obtain a stall for future markets please feel free to visit the I Love Kensington website and Facebook Pages or contact Zahn Hughes 082 561 2426 (zahnhughes@live.co.za or Gaynor Payter on gaynorpay@gmail.com

Parking is available through the Ocean Street entrance to the park.

See here for more

http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Love-Kensington-Association-ILKA/105349936175507?v=app_2344061033&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=101699589877873&index=1

Looking For News Articles, Stories, Proposals for Regular Columns

I'm putting together questions for an author interview I'm doing, and for a web seminar where I get to be interviewed ( Thanks Lorna for asking. Am honoured). I'm also sourcing content for a web site called BizTech Africa, which launches on 1 June.

The site focuses on the information technology business in Africa. News, features, columns from senior executives etc, is very welcome.

If you run a technology business in Africa, or have PR clients who do, or work for a multinational with presence across Africa, email me at news@biztechafrica.com

If You Build It, & Don't Tell People About It, It Will Become A White Elephant

So now that my friend Neo2's blog and Etsy store are up and running, it struck me that they could become a white elephant if she doesn't promote them. It's well and good to set up a web site or blog or online store, and develop content and upload the merchandise.



But after that, it's all about marketing and promotion, because to paraphrase an old saying, if you build it, and don't tell people about it, it will become a white elephant.

Which means I also need to step up my client promotion efforts too:-).

BTW, now that I know I can set up an online store quite easily, I'll be quite happy to do it for other small business owners too. For a fee, of course. So email me if you have merchandise you sell and want to take things online, and I'll forward your details to the guy I work with so you can discuss the work, how much it costs and contracts.

OneLove, Lolankiki

Today it's one of those blog list days. I'm feeling lazy re blogging, so please bear with me. Anyhoo, today I:

1. Wrote and published 4 blog posts on the OneLove web site. Yay me! Finally, the words are coming back to me.

2. Set up a basic blog for my friend Neo Motshumi, who's a designer. The blog needs a lot of work, but at least there's a starting point now. Have already made arrangements to link it to an online store run by a friend, and by Etsy. Check out the web site, called Kikinlola.

3. Drafted interview questions for a profile article I'm doing soon.

4. Began research for a feature article for an organisational newsletter.

It was a good day's work.

Following The Muse

I've just figured out that I'm happier, and work better, when I follow where the muse leads me, rather than trying to be reasonable about projects I do. Doing my duty and being reasonable actually gets me into trouble, because then I end up working on projects I don't enjoy, underperforming and just being unhappy. But when I follow the muse, the work process is easier and the work is inspired.

It's a frightening realisation, because being reasonable pays bills, and following the muse means going down a path into the dark unknown - and you can either find something wonderful at the end of the path, or find emptiness. And it's almost guaranteed when walking down dark alleyways that you'll trip over some object you didn't see, maybe stumble or fall or even skin your knees.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is because I was chatting to someone who interests me, decided to do an interview, queried an editor and got the whole assignment approved within 24 hours. The querying and approval part actually took less than an hour:-)

Huh! I should stop thinking so hard and get to work; update web sites and write newsletter copy.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Making Friends

So I recently found out that a gay fiction writer whose work I enjoy is actually South African. It was a very pleasant surprise, especially when I emailed her and she wrote back and we started chatting etc.

It got me thinking about gay fiction publishing in SA-do we actually read it; do we hide that we do, what we know of it, are we prejudiced against it and the people who write it, do we recognise that there are various genres within gay fiction?(Detective stories, fantasy, romance etc?) Or do we have it in our heads that it's all smut?

I'm curious. Talk to me: tell me your thoughts about gay fiction in general and in SA in particular.

Anyhoo, Baby went back to school this week, since she broke her leg. She's better able to move with her crutches, so back to school she went. Except, it doesn't sound like her school is actually geared towards the disabled ( even temporary ones). What a time to find out!

As for me, writing was OK today. I'm working on copy for the next edition of an organisational newsletter. And on OneLove, we're still talking about whether two people who previously had an affair when one of the partners was married can actually stop and become platonic friends (N.B ex remains married to the partner they cheated on).

My feeling is, why complicate life by attempting it? I'm not saying that this person could not be a good friend. But why would hold onto an ex and call him a friend, when you can have other friends with less potential to damage other people?

Usually in these situations, the spouse who was being cheated on needs to know that the affair is over and the other partner is no longer close to their partner and poses no risk to their healing and re-building trust.

What do you think?

Our Readers Remember Us Even When They Don't Visit

A reader I communicated with over ten months ago recently emailed me to give an update on her life and the challenges that she faces, and it was heartening to realise that the people that we impact through our blogging don't forget us.

Sometimes we don't hear from them for a long time; but it does not lessen the positive change we can make in their lives. Thank you, Hummingbird, for reminding me of this.

Spent a quiet weekend mostly at home, with some local friends popping in and out. I needed to regroup after the socialising of the past week or two, and it was nice to sleep in and have no major plans whatsoever.

While ghosting around my home, I realised that I've neglected my garden quite a bit lately. Thankfully, nature is quite resilient and some of the seeds from previous crops have germinated ad started to sprout.

So it looks like my garden will continue to grow through my temporary neglect. I also managed to pick a few herbs and chilli to give to some friends. Pity I can't eat chilli because of my ulcer. The bushes are very happy and yielding quite a lot. Thank you, Priscilla, for the seedlings!



Work is chugging along, but a lot of new assignments are still up in the air. And even though a number of people have spoken about sending more work my way, I'll feel better when it's all signed and dusted.

I do have some exciting news coming up regarding Kwanda Klothing. The short story is that an online store is in development and you will soon be able to buy some items, including T-shirts, online. This will happen in time to be able to sell during the World Cup season. Yay!

Chat later!

The Third Annual Writer's Worth Day

Check out Lori Widmer's blog as she talks about the Third Annual Writer's Worth Day. Lori says, "Writers Worth Day, [is] the one day a year we writers collaborate on increasing our expectations and our business savvy!"

It is the day we "reinforce our belief in our jobs as our businesses. Let's establish good business practices that include setting rates, setting work boundaries, and setting a standard of professionalism that echoes through to our client projects and communications," she says.

Read Lori's full post.

So what does this day mean for me?

For the most part, Writer's Worth Day presents me with an oportunity to thank the clients who have kept me busy, and have paid me well for the work. People who recognise that I offer unique skills and talent, appreciate them and value me as a professional.

The day also presents me with an opportunity to remind new writers that they do offer a valuable service and should not let themselves be trampled underfoot. And I speak from a well of experience when I say this: the respectful clients notwithstanding, yes, I've worked the sweatshops, got paid very little, allowed my rates to be negotiated into non-existence, edited copy so many times the final version didn't resemble the initial brief in any shape or form....And yes, there are many days when I still battle with being assertive.

But overall, I've found that if you learn from your mistakes [and the mistakes of other professionals] and take small steps to change your writing career, you will eventually get ahead.

Anyhoo, good luck to everyone visiting this blog. And I hope 2010 bring you better work conditions!

We Must Match Our Online Activism With Action, Says Farzana Rasool

The digital era is an activist's dream, but just reaching the audience isn't always enough, says Farzana Rasool's article, Chewing on cyber activism, published on ITWeb.

Farzana says:

You're hungry. You prepare a meal and take a large bite. You chew... and chew... and chew. You're still hungry. And that won't change until you start swallowing, right?

You can chew for hours and you'll be no closer to satisfying that hunger, unless you take that last step and swallow. This is the simple lesson that needs to be applied to digital activism.

We can do all the online screaming we want about abused children, sick Africans, war-torn Palestinians and hungry Somalis, but it won't make a difference until that final step is taken – until we swallow. Not even typing in caps will help us be heard in a way that matters.

We can sign e-petitions and join Facebook groups, but just clicking on a “join” button doesn't fill the belly of any child. These efforts must be taken forward to policymakers, world leaders and/or the press in order for signed names to make a difference. That's the swallow.

A very good kick in the butt for us to match our words with action, don't you think? I like it!

Read the full article.

Spending Time With Old & New Friends

I'm very tired. No, I haven't been working hard over the weekend; just did a lot of socialising. On Saturday I volunteered to plant flowers on the pavement at a busy intersection in my suburb( as mentioned in a previous post.)

I dragged my friend Neo2, who was visiting me for a couple of days, to the event and she took the pictures.









Oftner, a restaurant based at the corner of Queen and Langermann,where we were planting flowers, offered to donate R5 from volunteers breakfast bill to the "I love Kensington" campaign, so of course that's where we ate. And we did manage to make a new friend, who lives near my house. We're planning to go hiking together time and weather and life permitting.

















The food was good, the prices very reasonable, so I'm happy to go back, maybe when I want to work outside the house, or to take friends. I wished I could eat their bakery goods - they looked so delicious. Unfortunately, I'm still on the no-wheat health plan:-(

View the rest of my planting album on Facebook.

Watch the event video.




Neo2 and I spent the rest of the day with Neo1, who we've also been friends with her since our teens. Neo2 made lots of beads while we chatted in my kitchen.















She designs fashion accessories, and is going to look into placing her stuff with vendors in Johannesburg.

She's also going to take a stall at a market that some people from the "I Love Kensington" campaign are planning to host on the 30 May.

Being a blogger of course, I couldn't help but make Neo1 try the finished products and took pictures using my cellphone.


I'm also going to help her set up a small web site/blog in return for an endless supply of accessories and sewing services. I've already given her some material to get started on my stuff:-).

Anyhoo, my basic plan is to use Neo2's web site/blog as my marketing tool to small business owners so I can get some practice developing profitable transactional web sites.

I also worked with Neo1 to develop a framework for her online business. I am looking forward to the challenge - it will be the first time I develop a site for a biz owner who actually plans to make money out of it through advertising, services and consulting, not as a marketing tool or as a social development tool.

Check out the Facebook album of some of the pics I took.

The beads are for sale, so email Neo2 at lolankiki@gmail.com if you like her stuff and want to order something. Prices range from R65 - R85, excluding postage.

Sunday we had tea with Suni, an old friend of Neo2 from high school. The two of them actually reconnected through this blog and the tea was their first meeting in years. Suni was working in the US, Googled Neo2, came across my blog, contacted me ( luckily I still remembered mention of her) so I forwarded cellphone numbers and email addresses.

On Tuesday I had tea Tamara, she who blogs at Doodles of a journo. It was so nice to finally put a face to a name and I really enjoyed her company.

And Tamara, on our discussion re Facebook, check out how my friend Ilva Pieterse is using her Facebook business page to showcase her writing work. Also check out Freelance Writing Jobs.

The site publishes a lot of useful info for new freelancers ( both part-time and fulltime within a wide range of experience). They also have a job board, though most of the work on offer is either for American audiences only, or pays below your scale.

And don't y'all forget that the next installment in the "Love-stories in a time of HIV & AIDS" series broadcasts on SABC1 tonight at 20h30. Today's short film is called "Big House Small House" and it's about a woman whose husband tells her he has to take a second wife due to cultural demands. The wife decides to investigate and finds out much more than she wanted to know...

Does Turning A Book Into A Movie Encourage More Young People To Read?

"Imagine that in the book you are reading there is a battle scene," says a member of READ SA in our discussion on whether turning books into movies encourage young people to read.

"In your head there are twenty thousand Zulu warriors in all their finery; oxhide shields and assegais. There are a thousand Welshmen with red jackets and white hats. In your head they are all there, but in the film there are fifty hungry township kids in dirty feathers and twenty white men with the wrong hats and jackets that don't fit. The book is better every time."

What do you think? Join our discussion on Facebook or leave a comment here.

Planting Flowers On The Pavement

Tomorrow some of the residents in my suburb are going to meet up to plant up and beautify a space at a busy intersection.

We're donating seedlings, compost, labour etc for the initiative [see the pic of the seedlings I'm donating on the left.] It's also a good excuse for residents to meet and get to know each other.

I'm also havin a couple of old friends come over to brainstorm some work ideas, and then we'll hang out. We've all known each other since high school /university, so it's always good to meet up. Comforting too, to have lunch with people who knew me when I was still a teenager.

One of the friends is enroute from the North West province to KZN, and if I'm lucky, I can sweet talk her to stay over a night or two.

As for work, check out this 15-minute documentary which outlines the OneLove campaign in Zambia. Things are really going well that side.

OneLove Kwasila Documentary from Media365 on Vimeo.

Chugging Along

Baby was released from hospital late yesterday. She's in good spirits, even if she can't move much ( she has crutches).

Been a social butterfly lately, having coffee/dinner with friends I neglected for a long time. I'm enjoying it, and good for me. Feeds the soul.

Work is chugging along, but remains uninspired.

Will announce the development of two new sites in the near future. One capitalises on my previous experience as a telecommunications journalist ( yup, looks like I'm going to go back to doing a bit of journalism in the near future) and the other site is on a fun, fluffy subject I didn't even know interested me.

Anyoo, don't miss Love- Stories in a time of HIV & AIDS on SABC1 tonight at 20h30. And if you have a minute, please join my discussion on Facebook, where I talk about women's choices when it comes to monogamous and polygamous relationships.

Baby Broke A Leg. Literally.

She's in hospital, and will be released tomorrow. She's in good spirits and loves the fact that she's the first female in 4 generations in my family to break anything.

As to how it happened: she was fell off a bicycle when her cousin, who was roller-blading behind her fell.

So, even though Baby no longer lives with me, most of my mind this past weekend was taken up with her injury, the surgery and the fact that she hates being in a hospital. Lots of rain too, so I didn't go out much.