Good times surely lie ahead in the online industry in South Africa. The latest statistics released today by World Wide Worx show that 4.5 million South African’s are now online. “The increase comes on the eve of the biggest shakeup in South African Internet access we’ve seen since the dawn of the commercial Internet in 1994,” says Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx. “It is only the beginning of a dramatic turnaround, and is occurring despite numerous obstacles in the way of growth.”

More and more people are getting online due to the falling prices on connectivity and prices are set to come further down in mid-2009 when the first new major under sea cable comes into operation. With the ever changes in technology, there are new ways for one to get connected to the Internet and connecting via the ‘old fashioned’ way of dial up is going to be a story of the past soon with the advent of broadband and 3G technology.

Right now I am connected to the Internet via a 3G card whilst at a coffee shop. Who would have thought this would be possible a few years ago?

The more people coming online the better for the online industry in South Africa. Access to the internet is becoming a near essential in the world we live in today.

We have recently just launched www.plssolutionsit.com for an IT Consultancy firm based in London called PLS Solutions Ltd. Rand Mediacom was tasked with developing a new logo for the consultancy and then putting together a simple yet effective website to showcase the services the consultancy offers. A clean and simple but bright feel, contrasting the green and the grey, was adopted in the design concepulisation of the website in line with what the client wanted.

There are many advertising agencies that offer various jobs to people related to hosting or even adsl, in devising new marketing activities.

After having launched OurKop.com , the blog has been highly successful and gathering a lot of traffic on a daily basis. After the launch of Our Kop, I have had several people approach me and ask me, “Would it not be better to have a blog for Manchester United rather than Liverpool?” And I have a simple answer to this question which is what I would like to share with you today:

It makes a lot of sense to have a blog for Manchester United as they are one of the most supported teams in the world, maybe even the most supported. I may not have the exact statistics but I know they have a larger fan base than Liverpool across the world. Therefore, having a blog for Manchester United fans from across the world to visit and comment on would be a good idea. You would get a lot of traffic to the blog just due to the fact that there are more supporters across the world and granted too that Manchester United have been a more successful team on the field than Liverpool over the last couple of years. There is no denying the fact that a Manchester United blog would get in a lot of traffic. And based on the Rand Mediacom model: Traffic = Money. Read the rest of this entry »

We are pleased to announce the launch of RandMediacom.net . In the past 12 months, Rand Mediacom has been able to launch six very successful blogs, namely; TheRandToday.com, InTheNews.co.za, OurKop.com, GensBlog.co.za, RonsCrib.net and the current blog you are reading, Our Blog. We decided to develop one website where visitors to our various blogs can visit and see all the latest posts from all six blogs in one place and thus today we now have RandMediacom.net .

Rand Mediacom will continue to develop new and exciting features for the current blogs and look at adding more blogs to the network over the next 12 months.

Please feel free to visit www.RandMediacom.net to view Our Blog Network.

It has been observed that while 642-845 and 350-018 professionals are more inclined towards blogging or writing preparatory material for 70-647, other certifications like 640-816 and 650-393 prepare one for the technical part of it.

Before writing this post I did a quick Google search for the term ‘online real-estate’. I was not too surprised with what the results returned. It was mostly websites about companies that advertise properties online and hope to sell or rent them out through the use of a website. The property industry has benefited a great deal with the advancements in technology. At the click of a button, someone can find a home to rent through the internet or someone can advertise their home to sell via a website without going through an estate agent.

Today I will not be talking about property websites but rather what online real-estate is in the view of Rand Mediacom. Many people today have made fortunes through investing in property. You just have to look at the likes of Donald Trump and how they have become wealthy through investing in property. Very few people have gone wrong by investing in proper. But one of the biggest barriers to entry in the property world is capital. Having enough money to purchase a property is limiting to many thus not many people are able to make the investment. But the barriers to entry in the online real-estate world are not as difficult. Read the rest of this entry »

I always get asked, “How can I make money online?” I smile back at the person who asks me this question and the first thing that I tell them is that it is not easy but it is not impossible. When people not familiar with the Internet World think about how Microsoft is a multi-billion dollar company and they hear about the whole Silicon Valley craze, they think that anyone and everyone who is into the Internet business is making money and they want to also jump onto the band wagon. I kid you not; this is not a fun band wagon to be on. It is very bumpy and a lot of people easily fall off. Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks another special day for Rand Mediacom. After months of design and development, Rand Mediacom is pleased to launch a new blog in Our Network called Our Kop.

OurKop.com is a blog dedicated to fans of Liverpool Football Club. There are millions of fans across the world and with the digital age today, Rand Mediacom has decided to try bringing as many of the millions of fans together in one place and thus the creation of Our Kop.

You may ask, “Why the name Our Kop?” Liverpool fans are symbolised by the famous Kop at Anfield. Not every Liverpool fan can have the privilege of standing in the Kop at Anfield so we have decided to create our own online Kop and thus the name Our Kop was chosen.

OurKop.com will be posting new articles every day and keeping fans up to date with the latest news about the most successful team in England, reported by the fans. Our Kop comprising of a team of passionate Liverpool fans from across the world. If you want to find out about the latest transfer gossip, the latest injury news, who has done what at Anfield or the latest results, Our Kop is the best place to be.

The Rand Mediacom network continues to grow and now comprises of 5 leading blogs: The Rand Today, In The News, Rons Crib, Gens Blog and now Our Kop with many more exciting blogs lined up for launch in the near future.

Not all 642-552 and 646-588 applicants are suited for 70-294 and tests like 70-642 and 642-642 series help in determining that.

With the current crisis in South Africa being caused by the xenophobia attacks, many websites and blog are focussing on this topic. Rand Mediacom’s own InTheNews.co.za blog has been posting regularly about these attacks and last week, a BBC reporter wrote an article about how bloggers across the world are calling upon the end to the xenophobia attacks in South Africa. In this article InTheNews.co.za was featured.

The featuring was a ‘feather in the cap’ of Rand Mediacom. Being featured and linked on such a major website and news corporation such as the BBC is something to be very proud of and we at Rand Mediacom have taken great confidence in this and will continue to publish high quality blogs in our network.

You can have a look at the BBC article by following this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7413565.stm

The phenomenon of blogging has taken over the internet today. Millions of people across the world are blogging daily with thousands of new blogs coming online every day. Many people have found blogging to be fun. In the past, most people would write in their diary or journal every night and lock away their thoughts for no one else to see. Now in the digital world, those same thoughts that were previously captured in a diary can now be put online through a blog.
Looking at the diary model; what is written in a diary is usually very personal and you do not want people to read about it, thus the reason people kept their diaries in secret locations. Now with a blog you can create a blog and write all your thoughts on the blog for millions across the world to read and leave their comments and you can still retain anonymity with no one really knowing who you are. Read the rest of this entry »

I have come across many businesses in South Africa today who ask me, “why should my business advertise online?” It is no secret that businesses in South Africa had not realised the full potential of online advertising yet and the returns and rewards that this medium of advertising offers.

In the more developed countries, online advertising has become a multi billion dollar industry with many large corporations spending large percentages of their marketing budgets on online advertising. The main hindrance businesses in South Africa currently have with online advertising is that there are not enough people in South Africa who are online to advertise to. Not every household in South Africa has a computer let alone an internet connection. A large percentage of the South African population is still not online. Getting connected to the internet is still very expensive in South Africa. I would not be surprised if the cost of internet connectivity in South Africa is amongst the most expensive in the world. Read the rest of this entry »