Growing your network

Keeping track of all your friends and business contacts can become quite an impossible task!

Luckily the web provides us with tools to make this process a bit easier. I've started using LinkedIn to keep track of my network. It's pretty cool, and allows you to see which contacts your contacts have. If you need to get in touch with one of those 2nd tier contacts, you can ask one of your direct contacts to provide you with an introduction.

Google has also spotted the potential of this kind of system, and acquired Orkut. Orkut is more targeted at growing and maintaining a network of friends, as opposed to business contacts. To get an orkut account, you need to be introduced by a current member (boy Google knows how to market!). I did a blog search, and begged Darnell Clayton, author of the Hidden Nook, to give me an invite.

Thanks a lot Darnell, your generosity is greatly appreciated! I can also really recommend his blog, and will add it to my bookmarks on the right.

I want to spread the love...and grow my network. So if there's anyone who wants to join my linkedIn or Orkut network, feel free to drop me a line.

Life is beautiful

It's been almost a month! What kept me busy:

1. In one of my previous posts I rave on about how cool "Wild Cams" are. Well this very wildcam at Pete's Pond drained all my bandwidth last month. It took me over my 3Gig cap (that's how it works in SA), which made my international browsing impossible.
2. We celebrated our first wedding annerversary! My wife, Lienke, is truly amazing. Our first year has been fantastic and we are really blessed.
3. Business is booming. I've got so much work that I can barely breathe. South Africa is really starting to attract some foreign investment, resulting in all-round expansion and development.

Bonsai Trees rock. I've planted a whole range of Acacia seeds about a month ago. They're about 15 cm tall now, so I'm starting to repot them. Our garden is quite small, and already well established. This has encouraged me to opt for the Bonsai route. I didn't know the first thing about Bonsais, but after a bit of research I've come to appreciate it's beauty.

What I find particularly fascinating is the way the Japanese hand down their Bonsais through generations. Imagine being given a 500 year old tree by your dad, guarded and cared for by previous generations. It's more than just a tree - it almost becomes a part of each of it's caretakers.

The photo at the top was taken at Blouberg Strand near Cape Town...by me! Summer is in the air, and I can say with confidence: La Vita e Bella!