Today I was given the opportunity to be interviewed on Stellenbosch’s number one radio station – mfm 92.6, by Ruenda.

The interview took place during the lunch show and was essentially a short piece on making a success through blogging. I was asked a few questions such as:

1. Why did I start blogging?
2. What were my expectations?
3. What blogs do I read?
4. Any advice to people?

It was a very relaxed show and I hope that the listeners learnt something or at least got a few links through the process that they can then later read.

Thanks mfm and Ruenda for having me on the show :)

When last did you study something? If you’re in the working world, you’ll probably sit there for a moment and wonder, that long ago?! I don’t blame you, studying normally takes up far too much time and any professional short course you might find won’t be accredited or it will cost you a fortune. That’s where GetSmarter comes in, GetSmarter is a specialist online training firm that works together with top universities and industry experts to present professional short courses throughout South Africa, a company who I’ve dealt with on several occasions and one which I’d vouch for. They’ve trained over 4000 people over the past 4 years across their portfolio of 11 courses and have 875 people signed up for the second half of 2010.

I guess you’re curious about the courses now aren’t you? Well, you all know about the wine course (iMod readers seemed to enjoy this one a lot, I kept getting enquiries about it!), I’ve blogged about this one before, oh and of course, the Internet super user course! These are just 2 of the 11 courses, most of which are presented n conjunction with the University of Cape Town, the other courses include topics such as project administration, Internet and the law, internet marketing, financial management, labour law, business writing and legal documents, guest house management and creative writing. That’s a powerful collection of courses!

The course that strikes me the most is their University of Cape Town Start and Manage a Small Business course. I’d like to think of myself as an entrepreneur – I might work a full time job, but I certainly do have other little things on the side that keep me busy.  I love the rush I get when I start something new, it’s a feeling I can’t explain – some of my ideas work and some don’t, of course, but what I can tell you is that I have no real training or anything and if I did, I bet I could tip the scale to favour me more! Anyway, let me not go off topic, the point I was making here was merely that if I could do a course like UCT Start and Manage a Small Business, I bet I could run some of my ideas far better than I do now! More and more people are starting little businesses on the side, life’s getting really expensive and the requirement to supplement a salary, in my opinion, could soon be a requirement – it’s a scary thought (There are 49 million people in South Africa!) The UCT Start and Manage a Small Business course will provide you with the following:

• Learn how to start and run a small business in South Africa
• Guides you through each stage of business establishment and management, from the conceptualisation of a new business idea, to the sale of your first product or service and the sustainable growth of your enterprise.
• Highly practical 9-week part-time course presented online
• Students receive a University of Cape Town certificate in Starting and Managing a Small Business

The course is 9 modules long and should only take approximately7 hours of your week.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the course or how much it costs or even when it starts, you have three options:

1. Give Abby a shout on 021 685 4775
2. If you’re shy, email her on abby@getsmarter.co.za
3. Visit the course details on the website

I’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in doing it, if several of you jump on, I’ll join you! :D

The most amazing thing happened to me this weekend. Two things, actually.

The first awesomeness

I was leafing through a bunch of week-old papers when I stumbled upon a brochure for the Makro birthday sale. Makro was selling Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 for R1699-R800 off the normal R2499 price!

Now, I’m not sure if you’re using the beta version of Office 2010 at present (download a trial here), but it’s awesome. Particularly if before that you were working on Office 2003 or the fabulously useful Open Office (free office suite with programs similar to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and more). Office 2010 is lovely to look at and super user-friendly.

The second awesomeness

My closest Makro is some distance away but there’s a Game down at the Pavilion in Westville. Game’s claim to fame is: if you find a product that we sell at a price cheaper than ours, we’ll match the price and give you 10% off on the difference. Off to the Pavilion I went!

Once in Game, I was approached by a very helpful and initiative-using assistant called Wade who took one look at the printout in my hand and the shelf of software I was standing next to and knew exactly what I was there for. He promptly arranged my (now) R1620 Office dvd. I saved R880 on a great product and was given fantastic customer service.

Hat tip to Wade (ask for him if you’re shopping electronics at Game Pavilion) and thanks to Game for honouring their promise!

Do you have any excellent customer service stories?

Viewer discretion advised..

In this day and age, every cent counts, so when it comes to ways of supplementing your income, you shouldn’t taking them lightly. Make some money by branding your car:

BrandYourCar.com is a new initiative by Primedia, one of the biggest media groups in South Africa. The idea behind it is simple – you submit your details and they show them to potential advertisers. If the advertisers accept, they’ll pay you monthly, up to R2000*, to put that advertisers brand on your car.

Here’s the sort of thing that advertisers would want:

There really isn’t much more to it, I’ve read the entire website, which includes details on how the wrapping process works and how payment works, so if you’re interested in some extra monthly income and don’t mind having a brand on your car, then this one’s probably worth exploring. I must just say, it’s a new initiative, so I wouldn’t expect an immediate response, but getting in early will certainly help!

* Depending on various factors e.g. car type, extent of branding, campaign period etc.

Gorillaz Tiles only has three levels, but it’s surprising how difficult it can be to get to the end of the third one. What elevates Gorillaz Tiles games above other tile games is that the graphics are put together with care. The colour pattern is subdued, so even though the screen is full of tiny symbols it doesn’t strain your eyes to look over them carefully. Pop the two layers of matching tiles. If a set of tiles you pop causes a second or third set of tiles to pop as well, then you receive half a bomb.

You’ll need to save up as many bombs as you can to pop the remaining tiles at the end of every level.

The Gauteng Gambling board has spent months, if not years, fighting against online gambling in South Africa, and they’ve finally won – gambling in South Africa using the means of digital technology is no longer allowed.

The law goes as far as saying that anyone person caught could be fined up to R10mil and/or face 10 years in jail. The law is also going after gambling services that allow South Africans to gamble online.

It’s going to be interesting to see what casinos such as Piggs Peak, African Palace and Silver sands do, this law will pose a huge drop in earnings to these casions!

If you have any further information around this matter, please feel free to pop me a comment!

UPDATE:

After some interesting conversations, casino’s could probably switch to paying out via PayPal or other such services and not collect users details, thus still allowing South Africans to participate. It’s obviously crossing a line and all, but it’s a way for them to work around it and they might stand a chance in getting away with this. It does mean the person playing is operating in an illegal manner, so you’re not allowed to play from South Africa.

Another thing that came to mind is whether sooner or later, all affiliate marketing and ways that you can earn money online will soon be banned or looked at and reshaped. I recall reading an article online, which spoke of a state in America where online marketers pay a yearly levy of around $300 to be able to do affiliate marketing. I wonder if this will ever happen in South Africa?

Firstly, my apologies for my recent absence on these pages. I assure you that I have a perfectly valid excuse.

Secondly, I have no recent events to report on, as both I and my undercover agents have all been in deep hibernation lately.  However, there is one event coming up that is absorbing all of my attention.  Sadly, it is one that most readers of iMod will be unable to attend, as it is in England.  I’m talking about Reading Festival (pronounced ‘Redding’ – it’s not about books).

For those who have never heard of it, Reading festival is one of the largest and longest-running music festivals in the world.  It has been held nearly every year since 1961, and it has played host to acts like The Ramones and Nirvana. It has always been a playground for progressive and mainstream rock bands, and this year promises to be no exception.  The crowd is estimated to be around 80,000 people this year.  To put it in perspective, most of the larger festivals in SA barely get up to 10,000 people.

I won’t attempt to list the entire line-up here, because it is truly massive.  But allow me to name-drop for a moment.  The acts I’ll be able to see this year include Guns ‘n Roses, Blink 182 (that’s right), Cypress Hill, Thrice, Billy Talent, NoFX, Pendulum, Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio, RX Bandits, Limp Bizkit (if anybody still cares), Lostprophets, and dozens of others.  The full line-up can be seen here for your drooling pleasure.

There are a number of smaller acts that, if you’re enough of a hipster, you will have heard of.  I’m particularly excited to see Alkaline Trio and RX Bandits again, as they’re two of my favourite bands, as well as Against Me! (because of their song Baby, I’m an Anarchist – an anthem of my disgruntled youth).

I will forgive you if you do not share my excitement, because you can’t be there.  But I’m less concerned about that than you would imagine. It will be epic.  I intend to soak myself in cheap beer from the inside out, sunburn myself from the outside in and watch more legendary bands than I ever imagined I would see in my life.

I will be reporting on the event briefly here, but if you are interested you can look out for my full feature on Reading Festival 2010 which will appear in an upcoming edition of the excellent online magazine Vixxen.

Wish me luck.