They haven’t forgotten to follow a few simple rules though and by first collecting your email address and asking if u’d like to subscribe to their newsletters, they’re definitely taking their own advice and using this great resource to build their own database.

I’ve got great respect for the Quirk way of doing things and for many of the guys who form part of their sterling team. they’re a truly community focused Agency always around, chipping in and showing their faces when anything online goes down.

Download the entire eMarketing textbook for free, or per chapter and learn holistic and integrated eMarketing tactics from the team at Quirk.

The table of Contents Include:

• Email Marketing
• Online Advertising
• Affiliate Marketing
• Search Engine Marketing
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Pay Per Click Advertising
• Social Media Marketing
• Viral Marketing
• Online Reputation Management
• WebPR
• Web Development
• Online Copywriting
• Web Analytics and Conversion Optimisation
• Glossary of Terms

See more about What VeloCITI is?

We started off at 9 waking up to cups of coffee and a round of congratulating each other for making it onto the program. It was great seeing the familiar faces from the bridging course 2 weeks ago and re-connecting. I feel this year will unlock some really special relationships and it seems it already has.

We were introduced to Judit from PeerPower, our facilitator and mentor for the day who was later joined by Mignon(PeerPower). I think I can speak for all when I say we were rearing to go and eager to find out what the topic of focus for the day would be.

Introducing ourselves

First off we completed a quick introductions/interview exercise in which we each interviewed one of our VeloCITI peers and had to introduce them to the team. We then focused on setting some guidelines going forward in terms of rules of engagement and how we as a group think we would need to work together to produce the best results within the team over the next 7 – 8 months.

We agreed that in order to participate fully we would need to:

• Get to know each other
• Listen
• Question
• Share our experiences & challenges
• Help each other (peer mentoring)
• Honour the diversity of the group
• Focus on our commonalities
• Not be judgemental
• Be open, interactive and curious
• be constructive in our criticism
• sometimes agree to disagree
• be aware
• not be oversensitive and tip toe around each other
• allow ourselves to be challenged

Some of the expectations we had as a group for the program:

• Gaining Valuable business knowledge
• Gaining soft skills
• building business relationships
• Experience Intelligent business growth
• gain a 3rd eye view – hear others’ perspectives on our biz
• Make friends
• Grow personally

Finding our Core values

Next we were given an exercise which interrogated us on our values and what we deem to be important as individuals. As Mignon and Judit pointed out, business exists within the context of the rest of our lives and not the other way around, so our businesses need to align well with our values or we would be bound to experience conflict.

The questionnaire asked questions like:

• What do you value most
• What do we want our lives to look & feel like
• How do you want people to see you

This was coupled with a speech we were asked to write for our own funeral. These exercises were designed to expose those things which make us who we are and are dearest to us, our Core Values. The importance of knowing ones Values in business cannot be overstated. For me specifically it has driven the majority of the decisions I have made over the last few years with relation to my work and relationships I have formed.

Aligning your businesses values with your personal values makes for a sustainable relationship. A misalignment would ultimately result in conflicted directions between ones personal and business objectives.

For the 15 participants, values were varied and ranged from freedom, independence, balanced lifestyle, collaboration, religion, ethics, the need to make money or to be of benefit to others. We identified CORE VALUES which did not change or at least rarely changed, and aspirational values, which are negotiable and could change depending on the need. The core values are those which will cause us to walk away from something like a business deal, a partnership, a relationship etc.

The Bigger Picture – Defining your PURPOSE

Next we split into groups and discussed what we understood by the word purpose. There were a few angles which came out of the group and we explored the difference in meaning between reason, aim and Purpose, but ultimately we agreed that Purpose was a much more profound concept which related to our reason for existence. Purpose is the motive or driving force and our Purpose is informed by our Values.

The next exercise had quite an effect on me and got us all thinking really deeply about what we do and why we do it. We were asked to define in one sentence what our businesses do.

I said my business unlocks and communicates the real value which companies & organisations offer their markets.

We then had to reply to to this with another question, Why does that matter. and repeating the same question another 4 or 5 times until we reached a point where we uncovered the Purpose behind all of this which was informing our behaviour. My answers became increasing deep and reached quite a profound point reaching deep into the core of why I do what I do.

At this point in the session it was clear that quite a few participants were already focusing on the deeper meaning and purpose behind what their businesses were doing.

Some research which Mignon shared with us from a book called Built to Last by Jim Collins, Author of Good to Great, showed us that companies which were driven by more than just profitability and had purpose informing their actions were thousands of percentage points more successful than their profit only focused counterparts.

Also see – Make Meaning in Your Company – Guy Kawasaki

If you don’t know what VeloCITI is all about, it’s the business incubation program sponsored by local government and run by CITI (Cape Information Technology Initiative). It aims to take start-up technology based companies and grow them with the hope of increasing employment and growing the local economy.

A well known graduate of the programme, Rafiq Phillips was recently seen on Carte Blanche discussing web 2.0. Rafiq made a name for himself with his start-up venture, i-drive and is still out there creating buzz and achieving great things. Other companies like Red Button, one of the winning companies from the 2007 program are making it big with their wireless hotspots.

One of the other winning companies, Silulo Ulutho Technologies received a special award for the difference they are making by providing IT resources and training in Khayelitsha.

Luvuyo Rani, MD of Silulo Ulutho Technologies. Luvuyo started his own business three years ago in Khayelitsha, selling new and refurbished computers to schools and educators in the area, and eventually established an Internet café, training centre and office in a new Khayelitsha mall.

Rani has created employment for eith staff at Silulo Ulutho and currently has 50 fulltime students on his computer training courses. He has featured recently in local news articles and radio stations, and is accredited by the City of Cape Town’s business voucher program to offer mentoring to smaller, emerging businesses.

http://it-online.co.za/content/view/162515/129/

Having been accepted to be part of a program of this nature is a great honour and it shows me that though things may be looking bad on many fronts, alot of good work is being done and Government is playing a role in development.

The Team responsible for taking these young IT companies through their paces comprises of the Project Manager, CITI(Tamzin Martin), The Lecturers/Mentors Cape Venture Partners(Tony Mallum & David Murray), Peer Power’s(Mignon), all Speer headed by CITI’s Executive Director, Viola Manuel.

As those who attended to 2 day bridging course will tell you, we will be interacting and learning from a great team with invaluable knowledge and experience under their belts. They are an inspiring group and have already made a huge impact on all who will be attending the course.

The first 2 days gave us an overview of what lies ahead in the next 8 months. We were taken on a summarized journey through the areas of business strategy, USP’s, Sales & Marketing, Hiring & Firing, Finance and investment and a whole range of other crucial areas of our businesses which will need to be streamlined and kicked into gear in the year ahead.

At the end of the year a few of the top performing companies will stand in line to win some great prizes to further boost their businesses. Those on the course will be given training, mentorship, business resources and virtual offices at the Bandwidth Barn.

All of this is being made possible by funding provided by DTI(The Department of Trade & Industry). One up for the government! They have chosen a wide mix of companies from all different sectors of society and racial groups which I’m sure will create a dynamic environment for the 15 companies throughout the next 8 months.

I’ll be posting about the program going forward and sharing my experiences with you all. As you can see in my previous posting, the program as already influenced my idea of what I need to do going forward.

�It’s an education project, not a laptop project.�

� Nicholas Negroponte

Our goal: To provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves.
The project’s origins go back more than four decades to the early days of computing, when most machines were still the size of small dinosaurs, and almost no one dreamed they would ever be suitable for children. But pioneering thinkers like Seymour Papert disagreed sharply, and over time led the long march from radical theory to reality proving the immense power of the personal computer as a learning tool for children.

The project is open to involvement on all levels if you are someone who has skills or knowledge which can be of benefit. They have comprehensive wiki which keeps us up-to-date on developments as they take place. As someone who is very interested in e-learning and using new technologies to benefit those who are in need, this project ranks up there in the top ten for me. I hope to be working on projects of similar nature in not too distant future. I’ve signed up to volunteer my services with “The One Laptop” project.

Pay them a visit and find out more, or, if you’re up to the task offer some assistance toward brightening the future of the next generation.

He saw the bulls grazing once, and he approached the black and the yellow ones, and he said, “You know that white one over there” He kind of looks like the people around here. He’s different from us. Why don’t you let me eat him?”

The two bulls said, “Yeah, go ahead. Get rid of him.” So, the lion went and ate the white one.

Then, the next day, the lion came to the yellow bull, and he said, “Haven’t you noticed that you and I look the same? We have the same color. We’re really cousins! And this black one over here-he’s different from you. So, why don’t you let me eat him?” The yellow one said, “Yeah, you’re right. Go ahead.”

So, the lion went and ate him. Then, on the third day, the lion came for the yellow bull and said, “I’m going to eat you.” The yellow one replied, “I was eaten the day you ate the white one.”

- sourced from http://www.jannah.org