Experimenting with images as blog background

So what do you think of this new design? Took me about 15 minutes to do (most of it spent choosing an image and then deciding where to put it)  and I think it worked very well, so I'm going to use the same principles on some client sites.

BTW, the sunset image is of my suburb, was taken by Gillon McClintock, a Kensington photographer. and used courtesy of "I Love Kensington" residents association. You can contact Gillion at www.processedlemon.co.za if you want to use his services or buy his stock photography.

My Gmail Account Was Hacked

I've always thought I was too boring for anyone to want to hack my web accounts. Turns out I was wrong - someone hacked into my gmail account and used it to send sales letters to my database. Thankfully, the people who hacked me write so badly that no one actually believed that the email could possibly come from me.

A few sent me short notes to warn me that I'd been hacked. So guys, thank you for your patience with the SPAM I inadvertently sent you, and for telling me of the problem. And my apologies to all my clients who received the badly written email.

I have now changed  my log in details, and hopefully the people who did this thing have moved along. In case you;re wondering, no I'm not angry with the hackers. That would be a waste of emotion on people who don't really matter in the great scheme of things. Sure they inconvenienced me for a day, but I doubt they'll make a single cent from the venture. As I said, people in my database didn't believe that I could produce such a badly written sales letter, and there is no mystery as to what my company sells, and it ain't what the letter was hawking :-). And I doubt if the hackers would even bother to learn from the experience even if I ranted and raved about what they did, so why waste my breath?

So. What do you think of hackers who hijack people's web acounts and use them for their own ends? Are they a worrying security threat, or are they just a nuisance factor?

P.S. I've just posted a video onthe Shukumisa web site where Justice Minister Jeff Radebe talks about corrective rape (corrective rape is when a lesbian woman is raped by a man who claims that the act will cure her of her sexual orientation). Check it out  and if you have 3 minutes and leave a comment.

Automated Link Building?

I used to follow a blogger called Caroline Middlebrook, who was a former software developer. Turns out she quit blogging and developed a software package called Imautomator, which submits your links to a number of free social bookmarking sites.  The free service allows you a daily quota of 10 links to be scheduled for submission to 15 social bookmarkting sites.

Not a bad deal, if the package is effective, because it will help increase the number of links your site has with outside web sites, which in turn, improves your Google ranking and makes it easier for users to find you.

I'm not recommending the service yet because I don't know how well it works. I'm not even sure if, by automating this task, I'm in breach of some Internet etiquette ( if the social bookmarking sites would consider my links SPAM).  But if it does work, it would save me a lot of time and effort in my online promotion efforts.

What are your pet peeves when it comes to online communication?

Someone annoyed me yesterday in her interaction with me online, and it occurred to me that we have very different expectations of online media and how we use it. So I decided to share my pet peeves and ask you to share yours.


1. Writing private messages on my Facebook wall

One of the most annoying things for me is when someone who knows me in a private capacity writes messages about my personal issues on my Facebook wall. Yes, we are family/friends /whatever our relationship may be. But I’m not in the same terms with the other people in my FB social network. So if you have something you want to ask me, or tell me, do so privately. FB has a send email feature. If you’re not sure about my email address, use it!

2. Chatting on IM even though I tell you I’m busy/in a meeting/whatever

Most days I feel ambushed when I go on FB, Skype and other social media platforms. Yes, I know the platforms are supposed to allow friends to connect instantly to chat. But consider that I am there for a reason, and like everyone else, I do have to work. Why not send me an email, which I can respond to when my time is free, rather than forcing me to brush you off? The beauty of technology is not just that you can find the person you’re looking for anytime you want. The beauty of it is also that it captures my messages, so I as a recipient can respond at my convenience.

3. Stretching other people’s boundaries (without their verbal or tacit consent)

This point is almost similar to point 1, except it relates to instances where people disseminate content or publish info /pictures of you without your consent. I’m not talking about damaging photos, like nude pictures or sexually explicit content. I’m talking about seemingly harmless content that the other party may prefer not publish.

You know that Facebook feature that asks you to suggest a profile picture for your friend if he/she is new on Facebook? I once used it, installed a very good picture of a friend of mine. It was a very classy head and shoulders picture. And I was trying to be very helpful to my friend. She completely freaked out on me, asked me to remove the picture immediately. I could literally hear her hyperventilate on the phone as we spoke.

The reason for her over-reaction? She had previously been stalked by an ex-boyfriend ( in real life) and she was still feeling insecure on getting on Facebook. In her mind, my putting her picture online was the same as putting a target sign on her forehead. I knew of the stalking, but somehow, in my helpfulness, I never even considered that she would have an issue.

So before you publish someone’s photos, or tag them on yours, ask, unless you’re 100% sure that they won’t mind. Don’t assume they won’t because the content is harmless.

So. Share. What are you pet peeves when it comes to online communication?

How Much Promotion Do You Do?

What the proportion of the time you spend writing/blogging versus the time you spend promoting your content/site? And what are some of the activities that you do to promote your blog?

And why do you promote it anyway ( or not promote it, depending on your needs).

I've realised I spend a lot of time promoting sites and my own works. Part of it is that the more readers I attract for client sites, the more people hear their messages, and the more I gain credibility as a web content writer, which leads to more work. And clients also have to justify their expenditures - it's no use having a web site if it's not being read by the target audience.

Anyhoo, talk to me. Tell me why you promote/don't promote your works and how you do it.

Crowds at Spring Fair being entertained.
 (Image courtesy of ILKA)

I'm presenting an Introduction to Blogging workshop at the St Giles Association on the 25th September. The event aims to empower small business owners and NGOs in my community to use social media to promote their businesses or cause. It's also a way to help raise money for St Giles. Basically, I donate s couple of hours, participants attend for free and are therefore empowered, but they are asked to make some kind of donation to St Giles. Eventually, it will also help build my business profile in the community. So we all win.

Spent some time over the weekend playing around with blogger. Found some new design features ( such as design template and the ability to create pages), so I was happy to bring some order to Storypot. I hope you like the way the blog now has menus at the top.

Spring Fair on Sunday in my neck of woods was great. The park was packed with local families and friends ready to have fun.  I ate way too many sweet things ( including cotton candy:-), and got to hang out with Zahn Koen Hughes,  who belongs to my book club and makes the most beautiful scatter cushions.

Facebook, A Cellphone & Some Fast Growing Puppies

Today's post is a list, because I have a variety of stuff to communicate.

1. Had a friend from out of town come over to visit for a couple of days.

2. Then we went to visit my family in Phokeng. It was all good and i loved hanging out with my mother, older brother and his family and my older nephews ( older sister's kids).

3. Lost my cellphone on the way to Phokeng ( I made a stop at a McD's and at a corner cafe in Rustenburg). Or maybe, the phone is in my car under a seat. Doesn't matter how,cos I can't find it. So I spent yesterday dealing with insurance bureaucracy. Gah!

And by some twist of fate, my current contract is about to expire and I qualify for cellphone upgrade. And Cell C says I qualify for a Blackberry. But my local store has run out. Same saga, different sucker, hey Laura? Cos I think you also document having problems getting a Blackberry out of your service provider? So I bought el cheapo phone, did SIM swap, while I sort that out (image of my temporary phone on the left.Cost=R149.00). I think the only thing this sucker CAN do is send and receive calls and SMSes:-)

4. Asked for a Facebook group which has almost 5000 members from the owner and he agreed. The owner of the group wanted to give it up due to ill-health, and I was in the right place at the right time. And the group, called Imagine a world without violence against women and girls, fits well with the Shukumisa campaign.

For now we're not rebranding the group as a Shukumisa group, but we are responsible for publishing content on it and moderating it. So yay for me, cos this gives my client a running start on its online campaign. And please feel free to join if this is the kind of cause you want to support.

5. The puppies are now old enough to eat independently, so I'm ready to give them away. Finally! They're cute, but I just want to only have my dogs here. And now that Hayley has experienced being a mother, the factory is now closed and I'm going to take her to the vet to be fixed. I didn't want to do it without ever giving her a chance to have babies.

Slow, Frustrating Internet

Internet was slow and frustrating. I had a hard time uploading images and even using Facebook and sending emails. So I spent most of the morning and later, part of the afternoon in meetings.

Felt very tired in the afternoon, ( probably due to frustration) so I spent the rest of the day reading documentation for an assignment.

i hope you had a better day.

Making The Online Thing Work

Earlier this month I set up a blog and online store for my friend Neo2. So yesterday she emailed me saying asking me to educate her on making her blog and online store financially viable.

As you can imagine, there are no magic answers. Online businesses demand just as much hard work as brick and mortar businesses, and my setting up the blog for her was the easy part.

The hard part is making sure that there is freshh content on a regular basis, that people who could potentially buy her products are informed that her business exists and is online, and that her friends and business associates help her to spread the word about her products.

" I already told my friends and the people at my church about the blog and online store," she said.

That's nice. The question is, did they hear her? Was what she was saying interesting enough for them to visit the site? I certainly didn't see comments from her friends on the site, which tells me that, even if they visited and saw her products, they were still not inspired to say or do anything. Or maybe, they would have, if the knowledge that Neo2 has a blog and online store had managed to stay in their minds. But considering the amount of info we are inundated with daily, there's also a possibility that they've already forgotten that she started a blog and online store.....

Then there's the fact that real world friends are not necessarily interested in reading one's blog. Most of mine don't actually read it, and I'm always fascinated by how suprised they get when they realise that the little blog I told them about back in 2006 is still around and being read:-)

So what were my answers to Neo2's questions?
1. What should I be doing to get sales where the blog is concerned?
Grow the number of people who visit your site daily. Tell them about how you make the jewellery. Showcase your products, offering good reasonable prices. Run promotions and competitions. Make it easy for your visitors to buy. Deliver excellent quality products so that your new customers are so happy they come back to buy more, and they tell their close friends about your products.

Just normal day to day business development? Absolutely! The rules of good business still apply.

2. I haven’t had a nibble since the Canada lady [one sales enquiry when site was launched].
Probably because you're not getting a lot of new traffic. The site needs to buzzing with new visitors everyday, and your online store needs to be buzzing with new products that totally beg the potential buyers to take them home.

3. How do I know when people are interested in buying my products?
They'll buy ( credit cad facility available), or they'll email you to ask for more information about a particular product. The trick is to make it easy for them to buy right there and then, so they don't forget and don't change their minds about buying from you.

5. Do you want more stock? [ so I can take photos, upload them on the blog and online store as part of the online catalogue]
Absolutely. New stock means new content and new products on offer.

5. How can I effectively make this online thing work?
Treat it as a business. Tell everyone you know about your products. Make it attractive for your friends and family and colleagues to tell their networks about your products. Work hard, consistently, invest in the blog and store as you would any other business. And do yourself a favour - don't count on making good returns on investment in the short-term.

8. How being online help me market my products to SA clients?
You have greater reach, because you're not limited to selling to people in your city only. And your potential customers buy by credit card, so it doesn't really matter whether they in SA or another country.

I hope many of my online readers will also find the info useful.

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

Changing Jamie By Dakota Chase

I've just finished reading Changing Jamie by Dakota Chase, and it's a sweet, coming of age/coming out story that I think many teenagers should read.

The ebook tells the story a teenaged boy who has come to the realisation that he's gay and comes out to his mother, school and falls in love with Dylan, a popular athlete at their school. Dylan does not fit in the stereotype of brainless jock, so the boy's road to finding each other and coming has no major dramas.

The story arc that interested me, and inspired me to blog about the book, is the story of Billy, Jamie's best friend who is openly gay and dates older men. It later emerges that Billy is a bugchaser - i.e. someone who knowingly and act actively tries to get infected with HIV. I'd never heard of the word bug-chaser before; even though I've been writing about HIV infection and prevention for years. I guess we never stop learning hey?

If you want to learn more about bugchasers, click here.
Buy the ebook on Amazon

P.S. If you have a teenaged child/nephew/niece/child of friend, get this ebook for him/her, even if he/she is heterosexual. It's a good book, gives lots of useful info about HIV and prevention without being preachy.

But, if you're looking for a book that gives strong insight into the worst that can happen when a gay child attempts to come out/family unwittingly finds out that their child is gay, read Hate by Martin Clement.

Hate is the story of an 11 year old boy who kissed his best friend. Five years later, he and his family are now trying to deal with the emotional devastation from that day.

Parts of the book made me cry, so keep some tissues handy. And nope, I've never met these authors and they are not paying me to say nice things about their books. They don't even know I'm writing about them:-).

Anyhoo, here are some links to online dialogues I'm currently engaged in:

READ SA - I asked authors writing in SA's other official languages to introduce themselves and their published works.
Love - stories in a time of HIV & AIDS - For those of you who watched Monna oa Motsamai, what did you think of the film?
Kwanda - Tell us about your cause. What do you want to do to help your community? What makes you choose this particular cause?
OneLove - Your partner, who you thought was with you exclusively, tells you he made someone else pregnant / your girlfriend tells you she's pregnant and that you're not the father. What would you do/say?

Fair Game

Today I learnt that when you establish an online presence and people begin to notice you, you also attract a number of critics, even personal attacks. Today, one of the readers on a page I manage went to my personal Facebook page and criticised me quite heavily for something that he thinks I didn't do. I had several options:

1. Delete his messages
2. Ignore him
3. State my case
4. Fight back

I'd like to think that I chose with wisdom by stating my case, but even now, I'm still not sure. My friend Gaynor, who also manages a Facebook group, says she deleted the critic's post when she had to deal with a similar situation. But I felt that deleting his message would be like closing the barn after the horse escaped, because who knows how many people read his post before I saw it? Also, deleting the message made me feel like a victim and for me, I didn't like the feeling.

What do you think? How would you/do you deal with personal attacks?

Update: Today, I also learnt the value of a heart-felt apology. The critic above wrote me directly to say that he is sorry, acknowledged that his behaviour was rude and uncalled for. It made me feel better about the situation, so I'm going to delete his message.

Why Broadband Threatens Mass Media

One of the challenges I face when talking to my clients about the value of online communication versus broadcasting, is the issue of reach. How many South Africans can they potentially reach online? Is having web presence good value for money, or something that they should do because gurus tell them they should, and maybe years down the line they're going to start getting the benefit?

Indra de lanerolle has written a very interesting article, looking at Why Broadband Threatens Mass Media.

Read it, and tell me what you think.

Google Setswana Coming In June

Working to the beat of OneLove music videos from Malawi. I don't understand half the stuff they're saying, as I don't speak the language, but I have to say the music rocks! I'm enjoying much more than I expected, and nope, I'm not just saying that because it's mu job to promote OneLove:-)

Read on Botswana's Sunday Standard that Google will be available for full function in Setswana language in June. Yay!

As some of you might know, I am Motswana, and it will be nice to have access Google functionality in my own language.

And if you have a minute, please vote on my poll on whether an affair can be a cry from a partner who wants to get caught so you can work on a relationship, or whether that excuse is so much hooey!


Enjoy your weekend!

On A Promotion Drive

I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks aggressively promoting the blogs and web sites that I work on for clients.

Traffic is still coming in steadily, but I know a lot of people make resolutions at the beginning of the year ( and decide to trim their non-essentials) so I think I should remind them why they liked these sites in the first place. So I'm open to guest-blogging, republishing some of the content I have on the sites and doing interviews. Contact me at damariasenne@gmail.com

Oh, and I'll chat about sex, relationships, cheating on your partner, volunteering in your community, fundraising, writing, parenting, wheat-free and dairy-free living and gardening.

Lotsa Bids

I'm buried under a mountain of bids from developers and web site designers who responded to the job advert I placed. I've decided not to start reading them until Tuesday, so I deal with the whole batch at once. Want to make the decision by Friday.

Anyhoo, the next time you need to have done by a freelancer, check out www.getacoder.com, www.getafreelancer.com and www.freelanceswitch.com. Obviously, some of the bidders give you an elevator pitch and don't really tell you what you need to know to make a well-informed decision, but a quick glance through some of the portfolios yielded some really impressive work.

Productive But Relaxed Day

The weather has been very nice the past couple of days, and I've been going with the flow - working hard in the mornings, and slowing down as the day warms and I feel tired/lazy, and then spending an hour or so in the garden in the late afternoon. It's been nice.

Looking for a programmer/designer of an online social network platform

Someone I know is looking for a programmer/designer to create an online social network platform. The network is to customised, and have some features available on Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn and even Google Wave. If you're interested or know someone who might be, email me directly for the job spec. We're also putting a job post on www.getafreelancer.com and www.getacoder.com. Advert will run for a week.

Getting Ready For Christmas

I've also published a series of articles on Alcohol and Sex on the OneLove web site. If you're interested, check out the front page for the newly published content. You can also check out my guide for responsible drinking.
And if you were inspired by Kwanda ( or the festive season) to help your community, check out the web site, where I have published some posts on how to organise yourself with friends and neighbours to create a volunteer enterprise. This series will continue into the new year.

I personally think this phase of the web site is very important, as it's no longer about us watching people on TV DO something, but actually about us finding ways to make a difference in someone else's life. As Fikile Mnguni, A TV viewer who wrote in said,"Please people, do not sit and say you do not have money to do anything, just trust God and and whatever your hands find to do with dilligence, the rest will follow!"

Anyhoo, Baby and I have been talking more than once every daythe past couple of days. Usually, I send her an SMS when I get up to say " Good morning," and then when she wakes up she either calls me or sends me an SMS. She also sends me quite a few emails throughout the day. Mostly she's been nagging me about decorating for Christmas. Finally, I grabbed Santa, put him on the door and voila, I have some Christmas cheer. The family is also coming up for Christmas, and Baby and I have a day set aside to spend together. So I am increasingly optimistic that we will find a way to stay connected. And we will have time to do more decorating.

Using iGoogle More Effectively?

I wonder why I never explored iGoogle thoroughly to see what I could do with it? I've just loaded gadgets for Facebook, Twitter and blogger. Which means that I can now work from one screen and each tab takes me to whatever plarform I want to use at that moment.

Cool - I can post on a blog, check my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and once I figure out how to add a Wordpress gadgets, do my work blog. All from one screen; with each platform being represented as a tab.

That should really help me be more efficient, as I don't have to have multiple screens on, or to continually log in or out.

Sent this post from iGoogle actually.

Fulsome Compliments or Spam?

I regularly receive the following statements on one of the blogs that I manage:

Generally I do not post on blogs, but I would like to say that this post really forced me to do so, Excellent post!

Hey, I found your blog while searching on Google your post looks very interesting for me. I will add a backlink and bookmark your site. Keep up the good work!

I read a few topics. I respect your work and added blog to favorites.

I usually don’t post on Blogs but ya forced me to, great info.. excellent! … I’ll add a backlink and bookmark your site.

Such an enjoyable read, and fantastic comments

Sounds great, doesn't it? Except it's spam, and links from these compliments take readers to get rich quick schemes, porn, sites selling stuff that really would not help my readers.

So I treat the comments as spam and delete them. But there's a part of me that wishes that the compliments were real, and not a hook intended to make me overlook the fact that these people do not read my site, and their comments are automated and intended to sell their products using my platform.

Do you also receive these kinds of comments on your blog? How do you deal with them?

2009 South African E-Commerce Awards

I've been invited to join a panel of judges of the 2009 South African E-Commerce Awards. The Awards are run by Jump.co.za, a South African online shopping search engine.

"These awards have been designed to recognise and reward those companies and organisations that have demonstrated excellence through the use of the Internet, with specific emphasis on E-Commerce. The Awards are open to South African online stores based in South Africa," says Jump.

Judges include Matthew Buckland, head of 20FourLabs.com and former GM of Mail & Guardian Online; Vincent Maher, the portfolio manager for social networking at Vodacom; Amanda Forsythe, a professional interpreter and translator and Ramon Thomas, who offers blogging workshops across South Africa. The judges votes count 51% of the votes and the other 49% will be given to the public.

To learn more about the awards, visit Jump and read some of the questions that are frequently asked about the awards.

You can also learn more about the judges here.

P.S. Today is the last day for nominations, so if you have not nominated your favourite online store, make haste to visit Jump and do so.