I am reading a new book, Superclass, that talks about the nature of the most powerful people on earth (there are about 6,000 of these individual super-powers), and how they affect history. Although I have just started the book, it is already obvious that power is most often aided by money or political position.

Unless you are a superb sportsperson.

Poland (my home country) and Germany played their first match of UEFA2008 on Monday. Poland lost 0 — 2, which is in line with tradition since they haven’t ever, apparently, beaten Germany (except in the world wars, and with a lot of help!).

What made this match interesting for me, though, was that the two goals for the German side were actually scored by a Pole. He has been living in Germany since the age of two, but he has a Polish surname (Podanski), and speaks the language.

So in theory, had his family not decided to emigrate, and if he was playing for Poland, the score of the match could have gone the other way. (Of course, I will concede that it is highly possible that the training he received while playing for Germany was superior to the training he would have received if he had stayed in Poland, and therefore he might not have been such a good player without his German background.)
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You can read the rest of this post on Thought Leader, where it originally appeared.

The greatest resource possessed by a nation is the imagination of its people

It is no secret that South Africa has high levels of unemployment, severe poverty and lack of adequate education. These shortcomings are even more evident in our rural areas. And yet, and maybe because of the extra burden of hardships that those who live outside our main hubs have to bear, they have proven themselves to be incredibly creative, passionate and dedicated to their self-honed craft.

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But that, unfortunately, is where their skills end. To be able to market themselves as a destination, or to sell their goods through retailers on the domestic or international market would take resources to which most rural crafters just do not have access. Their unfamiliarity with the business environment, and limited ability to communicate professionally with distant target markets hampers their chance of maintaining a decent living from the proceeds of their work.

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That is unfortunate. Craft has low entry requirements in terms of capital and skill, since it draws on the cultural heritage of the people. Most crafters are women. Craft is the only feasible option to introduce themselves to the economy. They support large families, both immediate and distant. They are good, sometimes even brilliant, at what they create with their hands and the raw materials at their disposals. Their goods would have place of pride in the homes of the relatively wealthy foreigners who are so into the “green sustainability” trend that has taken the world by storm. The crafters, with their skill, are fully equipped to provide the first part of the “produce - sell - sustain” equation.

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Now we have to figure out how to do the rest.

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Luckily, we do not have to start from scratch. There are strong initiatives that aim to bridge the gap. There are government sponsored programs that introduce business training, and help market the crafters to tourists. There are organizations set up by individuals who run non profit projects to uplift the disadvantaged. And markets are springing up in urban hubs that sell the wares to both South Africans and the tourists who visit our country.

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Monkeybiz Bead Project is a case in point. It sells R5 million worth of beaded crafts to the international market each year. Founded as a non-profit in 2000, the initiative now allows 450 crafters to sustain themselves and their family, doing what they do best. The reason it works is because it had a great start from the three founders who identified a collective talent in a community, and matched it to a demand in the overseas market. Now, each crafter is essentially self employed: she makes beaded crafts that are unique, and sells them to the non-profit. The goods are then distributed internationally through a well honed network, and the profits are driven back to the community, which is affected by HIV.

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On my bookshelf I have a gem of a book, Due-South which is an Eskom sponsored “Travel Guide to South African Craft Sites”. Throughout its 400-odd beautifully laid out pages, it introduces the reader to the direct sources of the most creative, original and simply beautiful craft work the country has to offer. Designed as a travel guide, the book encourages both tourists and locals to get into their car and explore the country, and support the talent.

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Here are some typical quotes from the book:

• Hlamarisa Bvuma Beads: Hlamarisa is a renowed Tsonga beader and together with her four grandchildren she works to revive the style and technique used by traditional Tsonga beaders.
• Emma Gule at Rheola’s Country Collection: Emma is a multi-talented, self-taught beader who produces beautiful items from beads and copper wire. She uses her skills in design and colour to create attractive crocheted jewellery, accessories, Christmas decorations and bags.

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So we are not ignorant to the need of helping our local crafters. But, of course, we can do more. For starters, we can work on the perception of what “African Craft” really is. It is not limited, as some might think, the displays of wooden masks and beaded doilies as exhibited in front of the Zoo. To draw attention to the fact that the products produced in South Africa are far more diverse than that, it has been suggested that they be sorted into five categories: home ware and décor; garden and outdoor; jewellery and fashion accessories; craft and folk art (usually culturally specific) and souvenirs. Suddenly, the marketing scope seems filled with many more possibilities.

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In 2001, government introduced the idea of setting up a “Craft Trading House” that would provide a one stop opportunity for buyers to view the South African craft products, and to manage the ordering and finance aspects of the trade. Although this has not yet been established, in principle it sounds like an ideal opportunity to bridge the gap between the products and the markets.

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My money, however, is on the entrepreneurial spirit of those who can act as middle men between the crafters and the markets. Nothing, it seems, is a bigger motivator than money, and I am hoping that individuals who have the right connections, good business ethics and business acumen, will be able to utilize them for the benefit of all. The biggest obstacle, after all, is that most goods that are produced in rural areas will never receive the worthy audience that they deserve. Anyone who can bridge that gap manually can be forgiven for taking a profit out of the process. Altruism is great, but we need to pump exposure, even if for a price.

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And the potential is great. Africa, as a continent, exports only 0.4% of the world’s $424.4 billion creative products! (According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), 2005). And we probably have the richest collective skill level and cultural heritage to drive the exports. As the director of Inter-region Economic Network, James Shikwati said: “The creative economy can serve as the most strategic launching pad of competitiveness because culture is unique with a given people”.

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I have, I must admit, a somewhat biased opinion on the matter. Although my day is spent bridging the gap between the offline and online world for corporates and start ups, my family, starting with my father as a founder, has owned an art focused business for over 25 years. It is therefore a natural progression for me to try and bridge the offline and online world in the craft / art market too. After all, there are plenty of potential customers who might never visit our country, but who would love to own a bit of African culture and heritage. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if there could be an e-commerce enabled website that offered the small crafter, living in the middle of a remote farm, the opportunity to sell her goods to people with whom she could never otherwise interact? There isn’t one yet, but I’m working on it ;-)

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We might not have the solutions to all the challenges faced by the craft industry in South Africa, but we should know this: It is worth our while to give it our full support, not only because it adds economic growth, creates an uplifted and cohesive community and is a natural stepping stone to further skill acquisition, but because it represents and preserves our country’s rich cultural heritage.

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This post is a chapter of the SA Blook: A Piece of Significance, an online book
written by a diverse group of writers with strong views of our country and the reality we find ourselves living in. The other chapters in the Blook are here:

Introduction
1 . The new South Africa - is it real?
2 . Is SA rich or poor?
3 . What the world thinks of South Africa and what our global opportunities are
4 . The importance of each individual’s contribution collectively
5 . SA Inc and the business of doing business in SA
6 . The beauty and grandeur that surrounds us
7 . The importance of technology in SA’s global emergence
8 . Building brand South Africa
9 . Making the most of SA’s creative talents and abilities
10 . Innovate for a better South Africa
11 . The role of the younger generation in SA, and what we need to do to support them
12 . Connecting South Africa - Communities that transcend technology
13 . We are African - the role of collaboration in South Africa’s growth

It’s been a while since I posted anything relevant to this blog, but not because I have not been blogging! I have joined the Thought Leader blog at the Mail & Guardian, and have been busy posting there.

I need to segment my thoughts into the different blogs that I (try to) maintain, but in the meantime, anything that goes onto the M&G blog, will go here too, even if only as a summary.

Here is a list of the articles I have posted there. To read them in full, visit my Whispering Out Loud blog.

Madeleine, her mom and the media

I’ve been following the Madeleine disappearance from the start, and have been deeply touched by the story of the little girl. The latest events haven’t made me feel much better. Madeleine’s parents are now named as suspects in the case. To…

What the %^&* ?

Ever not put an emoticon into a quick SMS, Twitter, IM or email? Ever gotten one that confused the punctuation out of you? The first two emoticons were proposed by Dr Fahlman.

Are you smart enough to work for Google?

Here are some interview questions asked at Google and Microsoft. Some of these are supposed to generate a specific answer, some are asked to gauge how you estimate, analyse and approach the seemingly impossible problems. Post some of your answers…

Why corporates should force Facebook usage

Many positive and negative things have been said about the banning of Facebook access at corporate workspaces. But corporates seriously need to wake up to the fact that they are doing themselves an injustice by trying to control their employees’ on…

The man who invented the internet

I spent the better part of Monday browsing LinkedIn, and have thus read my fill of people’s CVs. It is always interesting to see how people define and describe what they do, and LinkedIn offers the full spectrum from yawn-boring, to flighty. L…

What if you and a porn star share the same name?

My name is Eve Dmochowska, and trust me, there are a lot of downsides to that name. How do you pronounce that? How do you spell it? Is it Russian? (I think I am the only one who knows the answer to all three questions) But the upside is that www.eve…

No interest in VC funding

South African entrepreneurs are obviously loaded. How else can you explain the fact that the next First Tuesday, which was meant to be a “panel discussion to determine the state of VC funding in South Africa, what funders are looking for and…

What do you do?

The Dalai Lama answers: “Nothing.” Great answer. Personally, I dread this question. First, because there is no all-encompassing answer. What I do almost depends on what day of the week it is. Second, the complexity of the answer also dep…

Talking vs Facebooking: Who’s better off?

If I hosted a dinner party for my 10 closest friends, the topics of conversations would undoubtedly include the expected ones: crime, the three Ms (Mbeki, Manto, Mugabe), the dollar, need for holidays and our kids’ lives. But here is what we wo…

Have you noticed how your email box is full of messages that aren’t spam exactly, but also are not a one-to-one meaningful communication? Notifications from facebook are a good example, as are comment links for blogs I have commented on myself. As Andy Quale from Techburgh puts it: “Notifications you want. But not right now.”

Now there is a new word for them: bacn (as in bacon). Better than spam (which for those who don’t know is a yucky canned, processed pork luncheon meat).

Start setting the trend - use it in your everyday speech. As in

• “Got thirty emails this morning, and twenty of them were bacn”
• “Facebook is great, but its bacn can overwhelm your inbox”

Apparently, this term originated with Podcamp Pittsburgh.

I often get asked to listen to pitches for new web companies, mostly with the idea of offering advice, suggestions or helping someone take a project to the next level. I am always eager to participate in these sessions, because it gives me a good idea of how people perceive the opportunities that the web presents, and it also often highlights the many misconceptions that people have of marketing in this space (If only 1% of all online people pay us $5, we’ll be very successful, and will offer ourselves to Google ….., you get the idea).

So I was THRILLED to be given the opportunity to hear the concept of a new local start up that has HUGE global potential. I cannot say anything about the company itself (yet), but I can already see that if the cards are played right here, we have the next “obvious” application, that will appear on web pages all over the world, coming right out of our shores. That is great news. But it is not often that local companies can easily go global, which is why when the founders of this particular start up launch, I wish them the best of luck.

Which got me thinking – how exactly do you go global? In South Africa, which really does have a small online community, if you only slightly network, you are no more than two degrees of separation from those who can propel you forward if they believe in your product. It is more difficult to launch big, quickly and cheaply if the whole world is your intended audience.

I suppose you can attend the many overseas trade shows and seminars to spread the word, but that is hardly cheap or quick. You can open yourself to outside funding, but that might be a bit premature and a bad early move. Your best bet is to depend on the very community that you can attract (local) to be networked enough globally to spread the word. And that can happen. Or you resign yourself that your launch will need to sacrifice at least one of the three “big, cheap and quick” requirements, and you come up with a very, very good hook – which, by the way, this particular company seems to have done.

The good news is that the company is soft launching in South Africa, and soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Or subscribe to this blog, where I will of course keep you updated!

I’ve always been on the lookout for the perfect start page.  I wanted something with links to everything that I do online, plus some extras like various feeds, news, my email, etc.  I tried iGoogle, but it didn’t really work for me, so eventually I settled on the simple Google search page as my home page, and then played around with the bookmark feature inFirefox that allows me to open various websites in tabs, with one click.

Until someone (sorry, can’t remember who) suggested I try Pageflakes.  It works like  dream, loads superfast, and gives me everything I want on one page, first thing in the morning!

It is a breeze to set up, easy to customize and works for me!

One of my favourite magazines, Business 2.0 is running a fascinating story on domain moguls. I have always known that there is money to be made in domain purchase and reselling, but the article blows my mind.

So how do domains make you money? Three ways:
1. They point to a revenue generating, legitimate website
2. They point to a web page filled with Adsense ads from Google (or other ad network). Every time anyone clicks on the ad, you make money
3. You can sell them on to someone who wants them for 1. or 2. above

So how much money is made? A lot.

Kevin Ham is the guy who is profiled in the Business 2.0 article., He trained as a doctor, but quickly figured out where the real money is. He owns 300 000 domains, and makes about $70 million a year.

Him and Cameroon. Cameroon? Yep. It turns out that the country extension for domains for Cameroon is .cm, which just happens to be a common typo for those of us who want to type .com. And now, thanks to Ham, if you type almost anything dot cm, you get taken to an ad page. Kaching, as they say. He shares his profits with Cameroon.

The article outlines his whole story and method – it’s a good read.

And you will be amazed at how much some domains actually cost. I bought this one (of relevance.com) for about $9, But Ham paid $171,250 for hoteldeals.com and $350,000 for greeting.com. Nice.

Personally, I think the days of making money from ad pages is pretty numbered. The trick for these domain owners is to get the “fake” page to feature high on search engine results by fooling the search engines into thinking that the page is full of relevant info. But Google is smart, of course, and is already knocking a lot of them off the front page. As the technology and algorithms improve and suss out the fake pages, the domain owners will have to rely more and more on actual typos to get people to visit their pages.

As a follow-up to my post on South Africa’s Top Bloggers, as ranked by Technorati, I whipped out my calculator, and did some number crunching.

There are approximately 16 million blogs tracked by Technorati.

I’ve been told that there are about 30 000 active blogs in South Africa.

That means we represent about 0.002 % of all blogs.

As I pointed out in my post, we also represent only 0.00045% of the Top 100,000 ranked posts on Technorati.

That means that we should have FIVE times as many Top 100,000 blogs as we do right now.

Of course:

1. I probably have not got a full list of our Top Blogs. (Help me update it by leaving a comment below if you know of a blog that is in the 100 000 rank on Technorati)

2. The audience ie. blog readers is also skewed away from South Africa, and if the theory that there are more people who read blog than people who blog, this would also affect South Africa.

But still.

Any comments?

Eric Edelstein is hosting the next OpenCoffee in Cape Town tomorrow, at 6pm at the Extreme Hotel.
He has changed the format slightly, and there will now be a 10 minute presentation by Henk Kleynhans from Skyrove.

Eric has done a great job getting the ball rolling for OpenCoffee in Cape Town, and the meet up between investors, and web entrepreneurs has already gotten some sweet results. If you are a player in the web world, and if you are hoping to make money of it (even if only one day!), or are looking to meet fellow colleagues in the space, go on over and sign up.

Eric has also set up a Facebook group for OpenCoffee, if you are interested. There are over 250 members, so you are bound to be in good company!

For those of you in Jo’burg who are interested in attending our next OpenCoffee, please sign up here.

Once every two months or so, I look at my inbox, see which emails in my inbox I have not opened, and unsubscribe from these newsletters. And every time I do this, I am amazed at the dance I have to go through to complete the process.

Take Barnesandnoble.com

1. They send me a newsletter, for which I probably signed up at some point.

2. They tell me that to unsubscribe, I must click “here”, log in , and change my prefernces.

3. I am already worried, because I know I do not know my password to enable me to log in. So I have to request it. It comes.

4. I log in, go to my preferences, and have to log in AGAIN with my email address. I do that.

5. IAM TOLD AN EMAIL WILL BE SENT TO ME WITH A LINK TO MANAGE MY PREFERENCES!!!!!

6. I wait.

7. And wait.

8. And wait some more.

9. No email. No unsubscribe completed. I KNOW it wasn’t that difficult to subscribe to the bloody thing.

10. Never buying a book from them again!

By the way, did you know (as I have now been told) that Barnes and Noble offers

FREE product Alerts and Newsletters

Wow. Free? Really? Free info that will allow me to buy books from you? Wow? Free? You’re the BEST!