Mike Stopforth

Google’s Product Plethora

Ever clicked on the ‘more’ link just above and to the right of Google’s search box?

It’s got to be the Web’s best kept secret. Behind the discreet little hyperlink lies Google’s veritable goldmine of products, services and offerings. Some of them you’ll be familiar with – Adsense, Gmail and Google Earth [...]

The Little Things

This is a photo of the ’smoking section’ in the Keg, Johannesburg International Airport. I think it’s a stroke of genius. In most restaurants, tucked away in some corner, smoking sections often resemble neglected herpetological exhibits. I’m not a smoker, but as a result of this I often feel sorry for our [...]

Bel Purto

My family and I recently spent some time at a beachfront resort in Umhloti (Umdloti – there seem to be two official spellings), on the Kwazulu-Natal North Coast. We enjoyed being there out of season, and despite some dodgy weather, had a great time.
On our last evening there we decided to go out for [...]

Demystifying Blogs and Blogging

I’ve just been interviewed via email for a major local magazine publication. These were the questions, and my answers. Thought you may enjoy them.
What is a blog?
Blogs (short for web logs) are websites that are published by ordinary people – people like you and I who DON�T have Computer Science degrees or vast [...]

The Moleskine Evangelists

Perhaps you own one. I don�t. I barely write anymore � most of my thoughts get hammered out on a keyboard or spoken directly into a digital recorder. But I�m intrigued. Not by the odd Moleskine-bearer strolling nonchalantly around Melville or Rosebank (I usually dismiss them as artsy-types), but rather by the [...]

Learn to Speak Teen

I really enjoyed reading an article recently forwarded to me by Aiden called ‘Entertain. Inspire. Empower. How to speak a teen’s language, even if you’re not one.’ He found it at ChangeThis.com – a fascinating site that “is creating a new kind of media. A form of media that uses existing [...]

Once in a Lifetime…

On The 4th of May, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
That won’t ever happen again in our lifetime. In fact it will be approximately 400 generations before it happens again.
Nifty.
May the 4th be with you!!!!!

Building A Brand

I attended the inaugural National Speakers Association of South Africa annual convention this past weekend.

It was well worth the investment, and even if watching a multitude of talented, professional overseas and local speakers didn’t result in any life-changing aha-moment (I don’t respond well to motivational talks), there was much self-learning to be done.

The most valuable lesson I’ll take from the weekend is not to underestimate the importance of building your personal brand. This is a difficult one for me, as I feel I need to strike a balance between building a personal brand, not being an egotistical prat and retaining some of what makes me, me.

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