A New Volkswagen

A Car for the People

Africa needs a vehicle for the people. When Dr Ferdinand Porsche created the original Volkswagen in the 1030's it was in response to a need to get Germany mobile. The car for the people had to be rugged, reliable, easy to maintain, and above all affordable. Although the second world war in Europe put an end to Hitlers dreams of a car for the people, the legendary VW Beetle went on to become an icon of motoring Seventy five years later, the world needs a new Volkswagen. The most pressing need is for transport in developing nations. Lack of mobility is one of the factors holding back development of many of these nations. Modern vehicles are outstanding examples of automotive engineering, yet in a developing nation context they are grossly lacking in many areas.

  

No Hope for PC Sales People

How do YOU service your customers? When asked to quote to supply from a fixed minimum specification do you quote for items that may be in your current stock? Do you offer goods that nearly but not quite come up to the specified level of quality and performance? Do you offer other items based on your assumption the items requested are 'too expensive' so downgrade the clients specifications hoping a lower price will fool the customer into making a purchase? Do you take more than 24 hours to output the quotation?

If you answered yes or maybe to any of these questions, I suggest you close your business.

Hell I'm Good!

Solved Panda - the Internets Biggest Issue Lately

This Post is Total Self Aggrandisement anyway you look at it 

Google hit the online world last month with a new way of considering content to offer searchers - the Panda 2.5 algorithm.

Image from bestmemes.com (Modified)

Let's just say there weren't all that many sites unaffected. My web blog (GraphiclineWeb) went from top of the results to 0 overnight, along with just about every site not carrying Google's AdWords and Pay Per Click ads (Well they are now mainly an advertising business after all). Bloody hell, sites that copied my articles word for word were getting page one placement - they all had Google Ads....

It's been a rough month not seeing Google as a referrer in blog stats. Lots of looking at the more technical aspects of blog. Checking content 'quality', hair pulling, teeth gnashing. Researching 'the Panda', writing about Panda. I ended up getting more referrals from Stumble Upon than search engines - 72 in one day... I've never had more than 1 or 2 a week from them.

Tired and Weary

Let Me Go Home!

Lord I'm Tired and I'm Weary, and I Want to Come Home.

Someone tell me what the hell I am doing here. Yeah, easy answer; trying to make a living. What For! This isn't living, it's just biding time. Enough!

Everything of any value is elsewhere. The love of my life and best friend is in Cape Town, My soul is split between Cape St Francis and Sodwana Bay. My friends are on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal and in Cape St Francis. My home towns are Winkelspruit and Port Elizabeth.

And yet here I am, 14 hours a day and more building too successful websites as part of a long term business plan. Living from hand to mouth while doing so, keeping the existing customers happy, not even looking for new clients as they will keep me here, instead trying to hand existing ones over to others for any work not 'online'. And I ask myself WHY? And I cannot find a true answer if I ignore the practical factors. 

Dropout to Succeed

Varsity Dropout a key to Success?

Among the worlds most successful people, a significantly large number are dropouts. Leaders in the fields of business, innovation, even the sciences, dropped out of the formal education sector and went on to become highly successful. Among these highly successful personages are: Steve Jobs (Apple, Pixar), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Richard Branson (Virgin), Matt Mullenweg (Automattic - WordPress.com), Albert Einstein. The list is extensive. 

Related: zhaolewisliu.wordpress.com, smallbusiness.aol.com

Thinking Out of The Box

An ability to think outside of normal parameters is considered an essential requirement for innovative and successful entrepreneurship.

Formal education teaches the 'accepted norms'. Had Albert Einstein been indoctrinated with the accepted scientific limitations of his peers, would he have gone on to become possibly the greatest theoretical physicist of the 20th century, or would his natural ability have been stifled by accepted  concepts that his ideas were 'impossible'

Quote of the Decade

My Quote of the Decade

A comment made on LinkedIn Drupal Group discussion replying to the following question"

"I'd like to learn Drupal. What is the best resource?"

Andrew McClure • Bloody mindedness is a helpful resource. A liking for banging one's heads against a brick wall. Just sheer persistence. The destination is worth it. 

Great minds think... Andrew!!!

 

Fair Remuneration and Productivity

What is Fair Remuneration?

It is definitely not minimum wage. No doubt everyone has their own idea of fair remuneration for work performed. Ardent capitalists, boards of directors and shareholders will consider the lowest possible wage they can get away with paying their workers to be too much! Their only interest is how much they put in their own pockets - I wonder what these individuals consider a fair minimum wage to be for the little real PRODUCTIVE work they do? Nowhere near that of the average employee's requirement is certain.