How To Make A Successful Blog

Starting his new life in the ‘big city,’ Chris O’ Doherty felt there was something missing. What could this ‘something’ be? He didn’t have a blog (obviously) and realised that in order for his life to be complete he, like the multitudes of other young adults, had to get his thoughts out there on an internationally accessed platform and get people to listen. But where would he start?

Luckily for Chris and all you aspiring blog prodigies, I found out from the who’s who of the blogging world just how to start your blog and get it noticed. I hope you’re taking notes…

Why should I even start a blog?

Blogging today comes with multi-purposes.

“It really depends on what you’re trying to achieve with your blog: Do you want to make money? Do you want to talk to people? Do you want to re-post stuff that you find cool?” asks popular blogger and TV presenter, Natalie Roos. “I started my blog as a way to document my stories. I never had any intentions of getting sponsorship deals or having avid readers. Really, I just wanted a place to talk.”

Web expert and designer, Kyle Redelinghuys adds, “A blog could be described or used as an ‘open diary’. It allows the author to express his or herself on any topic. Having a blog is a good exercise in free speech.”

With so many options, how do I know which platform to choose?

Again, this is determined by what the aim of your blog is. For longer, more detailed blogs, Both Natalie and Kyle recommend Wordpress and Natalie also adds Blogger into the mix, “They are free, and are super easy to use. You can post long stories and pictures.”

If you’re looking for quick and easy blogging, Tumblr is your best bet, “Tumblr would be second choice. [It] has more of a short and sweet feel,” says Kyle.

“I’d suggest Tumblr… when you’re mainly re-posting stuff and posting a picture-a-day,” adds Natalie.

I’ve signed up, now how do I get the ball rolling?

Look is everything, “Get some help with the design.” Says Natalie

And that’s where our web expert comes in, “There are loads of free themes available for download for Wordpress and Tumblr, as well as the other popular blogger platforms. Web design is going towards a more image-centric focus, think big images, big text. Typography has exploded since the capabilities of HTML and CSS have now catered for the use of any font online, which is a huge bonus. Go for simple, clean, neutral colours – gradients and greys are really popular.”

After you’ve sorted out your design, Natalie urges you to, “Write about what you know. And post the links on your Facebook and Twitter profiles. That’s how you gain readers.”

Are there any dos and don’ts ?

“I think “do” try and give every post your own voice. You’re not a newspaper journo. You don’t have to write for everyone’s taste. Blogs are niche. You’ll eventually have a readership that likes your voice, even if they don’t like what you might be saying.” Says Natalie.

Kyle adds that you should, “Try to blog consistently… This has got as much to do with readers checking your blog as it does with Google ranking your site. Grammar is a big deal, tagging your posts is important [and] making sure your site looks good.”

As far as the ‘don’ts’:

“Don’t steal content. The internet is a big place...but it can be a very small place. It’s okay to re-post content, but always give credit to your source.” Says Natalie.

Kyle simply adds, “Don’t do drugs.”

Now how do I actually get people to read it?

Use your other social platforms, “Make it available to the people who already like what you say: your Twitter and Facebook subscribers. They’ll share what you have to say.” Says Natalie.

Kyle gets more technical, “keep keywords in the title. Repeat those keywords three to five times throughout the article, and then another five to ten phrases closely related to those keywords, without using the [actual] keywords. Google changed their search algorithm and that’s why if you load your article with too many of the same keywords you get marked down.”

This will enhance your search results and make your blog easier to find on the ever-growing Web.

Now that I’m on track, I just need to know how to maintain my new hobby

“Share as much as you can and keep in line with SEO and design trends and see what happens. Nothing on the internet is guaranteed.” Says Kyle.

Natalie adds, “Treat it like a job. Post often and choose a general theme for your blog: fashion, lifestyle, food, funny random [stuff] that happens to you. Keep doing it. It pays off.”

Popular blogs to check out for inspiration:

http://www.natalieroos.blogspot.com/

http://www.bangersandnash.com

http://www.2oceansvibe.com

http://www.10and5.com

A Dream To Write

These words like roses
have edged towards me,
Beautifully seducing,
word
by
word.






I can’t remember when it was –
The time I
Fell
In love –
Like an itching I can only dream to scratch.




From childish lashes, to experienced lids,
my eyes have always hungered for what he possesses:
a Poet within these longing hands,
Poetry to spill from within this sighing mouth.




Every attempt at creation:
Another
unrequited love;
That so quick,
Takes my words
And spits them
Back.




Lifting the too-light pen
and weighing my words down with the heavy beats,
beats of this rejection-filled heart,
I write.
I write and write and write and –




Love.




The day I became a Poet:
or remembered more fondly:
The day Poetry loved
Me
Back.

Rhodes To Change

 A short story

***

It’s that time of day when the sky has been electrified into steams of pinkish-orange and everything that comes into contact with its rays, is immediately brought to life. I like coming to Rhodes Memorial for a couple of reasons: Against the architecture, the size of my smaller-than-average self gets lost. Nothing is more gripping than the feeling of being close to non-existence. The other reason appears just after sunset, when the city is revived by specks of swaying lights. There’s that moment just before sunset when the city seems to have fallen asleep and then it awakens into a dance across the horizon, urged on by the seducing lights. There’s no choreography but still they move in perfect synchrony. 

Being so high up in the mountains makes it hard for sound to find you. I can only hear the sound of trees and wind as they get caught up in some fight between sky and earth and I find myself following the whirlwind of leaves as they juggle towards the edge. This time they’re met by a female figure and play with her hair before they finally descend. My attention lingers on her rigid frame that at the same time, loosens up as she lifts both arms out in a crucifying form. 

“Don’t! Don’t jump!” I find myself screaming before I’ve even had a chance to process what’s going on. She shoots her head at me with a face abused by tears.

“Leave me alone. Please.” She squeezes out between sobs. 

“I don’t think I’d be able to walk away, knowing there’s a girl standing on the edge of a mountain with one foot already dangling over,” I stutter in an attempt to find something more reassuring to say, “and I think I was here first anyway.” I hold my breath and climb up onto the edge where she’s standing. 

“What the hell are you doing? Get back down!” But instead of listening to what she says, I look straight ahead and sigh at the beautiful view, while trying to ignore the fact that I am standing on the edge of a mountain.

“Thanks for joining me, I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it,” I say as I motion for her to join me in sitting down with my feet dangling above the dark drop. Something in her face softens and she obliges. I keep to my aloof character and search for something constructive to say. “So – “

“What are you doing?” she asks and before I think of some witty comeback I look at her face. It’s partially lit by the moon and by a golden spot light that overlooks the area. The combination of the two light sources on her face makes her look like she’s super human. But that could just be her strikingly big eyes that look deep enough to be holding the ocean, or that the ocean may have even spilled from them. I sat there for what seemed like a life time, staring,  but my silence didn’t bother her, it was almost as if she was taking refuge in my sympathetic gaze, that, or she could tell that I was more intrigued in what she had to say rather than anything I could ever think to speak. 

“Michelle,” she says without moving her eyes from mine. “My name is Michelle.” Now that her voice had calmed, I noticed the most perfect softness in it, like the voice of a child being reprimanded by a parent. It felt alien to have kept eye contact like this for as long as we had and I felt my head pull forward.

“You can call me Jess.” 

She echoes my name back with a smile, “Jess.”

“You know, according to ancient beliefs, if someone is standing on the edge of a cliff, something might be upsetting them.” I wonder if humour is the right way to handle this, but settle with it anyway, “but that’s just according to ancient beliefs.”

“God, I’m going to sound so pathetic to you.” Pathetic doesn’t even cross my mind. “It feels weird to even be saying this out loud! I think – no, I know – that I’m gay. I also know that there is no way in hell that my parents will accept it.” I try keeping my face mutual but it’s hard when I’m surprised and confused at the same time. I’ve seen lesbians before and they don’t look anything like her. I take another look at her: she’s tiny, not in a child-like way though, more petit. Her hair falls down her back the way the clouds sometimes linger down the mountain, in a colour that reminds me of freshly baked brownies. Having long hair alone, goes against the stereotype of lesbians that I’m used to seeing.

“That’s hardly worth jumping off a mountain. I know people who are just dying to be lesbian. Consider yourself lucky,” I find myself saying anything to encourage a smile, a smile strangely intriguing. I am successful and I linger on it longer than necessary.

“So is that your thing? Being the funny one?”

“No, I only use my humour on suicidal teens and aging superheroes.” 

She laughs, “I wasn’t actually going to do it. I was thinking about it but knowing me, I wouldn’t even get suicide right.” How can such a strikingly beautiful girl have such a low self esteem? “What about you?”

“Oh no, I always thought my way out would be with a bottle of pills instead.”

“No, I mean what is your story? Who is Jess?”

“I never really know how to answer that. I guess, my story is still being written. I moved here to discover that all out for myself and I’m still waiting for answers. I think one of the reasons I left Johannesburg was to rid myself of all labels and just start my age of independence with a clean slate. I also heard Cape Town often has girls threatening to jump off the edge and I couldn’t just stand by and let it happen.”

“Do you ever take anything seriously?”

“Well my mom always used to tell me, “The only thing you should ever take seriously, is cheese” and I follow that advice wholeheartedly. There’s just so much more to cheese than meets the eye.” She gives me a comforting laugh and my eyes start to mirror the smile in her eyes. “Life is only going in one direction and I think that leaves us with too little time to be serious.”

“I wish I could have your attitude. I think the only thing my mother taught me was to be a cynic. I’ve spent my whole life looking for all the bad in the world. Maybe I should spend more time with you.” I can’t decide whether the tone in that last part is reassuring or seducing. 

“Au contraire, you might regret having said that. I can’t turn this off, this divine sense of humour I’ve been blessed with. You have to be sure it’s what you want because there’s no turning back.” The smile I now received was more for herself than for me, like an acceptance of what I had said and almost a promise to herself.

I couldn’t tell you how much time had gone past. We sat there, side by side, just watching the dancing lights and found a comforter in the silence. Every so often I would catch myself smiling. The wind has picked up and I edge closer to her for shelter. “What are you going to do about your parents?”

“I honestly. Don’t. know.” There’s such a stillness in her, “I’m afraid they’re going to stop loving me. That sounds so naïve doesn’t it? “Stop loving me.” But for me to think that it’s a possibility must mean something? It doesn’t feel unconditional like they way it should.”

I don’t know what to say back. Some part of me wants to tell her that she’s too beautiful not to be loved, but then I’ll sound naïve. The best I can come up with is, “tell them anyway. No good has come from sitting around thinking of the worst. Tell them and also tell them how you feel. They should be proud to have such a beautiful daughter who’s brave enough to accept who she is.” She doesn’t say anything but I can see the corners of her mouth turn up. “A smile?”

“You think I’m beautiful…”

My chest starts to warm up. although I can’t see it, I’m sure I’ve gone red from my neck  all the way through to my cheeks. There’s a pull towards her that I can’t explain. I’ve never thought of girl in this way and I’m sure I won’t think of any others this way either. My body is in shock and my feet have gone numb. I raise my hand to her face and I pull her hair out the way of her eyes. Even if I tried to stop myself, I don’t think I could. I lower my face to hers and I let the feeling of her breath brush my lips. For the longest time we’re frozen there, swallowing everything that has happened. I want to open my eyes, just to look at her again but she intercepts my decision by bringing her lips to mine.

Her lips aren’t what I’m used to, they’re fuller and softer. For a second I’m stunned, what am I doing? But before I can answer, I start kissing her back. The hand holding me up suddenly has warm fingers wrapping around it and she pulls away to whisper, “Let’s get off this ledge.”

Home

I’m coming home,

To a full belly and late night laughs.

A place where I am untouchable,

There’s nothing better than a mother’s love.

A full belly and late night laughs:

A time worthy of dreams.

There’s nothing better than a mother’s love,

A place where I am lost and found again.

A time worthy of dreams,

A warrior returning to a hero’s welcome,

A place where I am lost and found again –

The voices that carry me away.

A warrior returning to a hero’s welcome,

I soak up their light,

The voices that carry me away –

I can’t stay but I linger a while longer.

I soak up their light –

A place where I am untouchable –

I can’t stay but I linger a while longer,

I’m coming home.

"A-Mao-Zing!"

After shaking hands with Daniel and Jarryd, we sit down on the couches in their Woodstock studio and before I can start with the questions, Daniel jumps up and disappears around the corner, only to quickly return with a feather duster. With an extra-large Coke can in his one hand, he dusts the table using the other, “it’s so sandy in here,” he adds as both of them laugh.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” says Daniel.

Daniel Ting Chong and Jarryd Kin are the Cape Town DJ/VJ duo called, Mao. After their debut gig for Brick City at Fiction, a showcase for new talent, they have received “a massive response,” says Jarryd and have gone on to performing at The Assembly for one of their weekly See You Next Wednesday parties, which has been their favourite gig so far.

These “Chinese guys with white-boy names,” are creating a stir in the music world. They’re showing people that they can take what they do seriously without losing their natural quirky personalities. 

“Who are these kids?” is a question they’ve been faced with but they prefer to let their music do the answering for them. “We’ve moved up quite quickly,” says Dan but Jarryd modestly adds that “It’s about who you know,” that has given them the extra boost. They also take credit for being one of the few audio-visual duos on the scene and this is backed up with an energetic stage presence and a set that has a theme and consists of Dutch house, Electro, Dub Step and Drum & Bass. “There’s a lot more attached to it. There’s depth.”

Both Daniel and Jarryd have creative backgrounds and work as designers and illustrators by day. Jarryd, who is originally from Johannesburg, moved to Cape Town and that’s when they set their idea in motion, “we were always kind of joking about it and when I moved down, Dan was like, “okay let’s just do this!””

They admit that it hasn’t always been smooth sailing but when a problem arises, they handle it as best as they can and with a sense of humour. Dan recalls, “We played a show in Joburg and the visual connection didn’t work, so instead Jarryd danced on stage with his laptop held in front of him for like an hour.” Jarryd adds, between laughter, that it still earned them, “some groupie loving.”

They’ve recently bought themselves the Traktor Kontrol S4, a high-tech piece of equipment, which they admit is both for them and their audience. “It’s cool putting a lot of hours into our set and then seeing the hard work materialise,” says Jarryd.

As for the future of Moa, they’ve set their sights on getting booked to play Oppikoppi, a music festival held in Limpopo, and perhaps one day playing for one of Cape Town’s big outdoor festivals such as, Earth Dance or even Synergy.

Press Release - An Extremely, Extreme Right Wing Party

A new rightwing party is happy to finally integrate their views into the nation. On Friday the 12^th, A Nation Against Gay Equality came forward with groundbreaking ideals and conservative opinions in regards to their beliefs concerning the homosexual lifestyle.

Party leader Fred E. Mercury shares his excitement in finally taking back what was unlawfully stolen and predominantly a heterosexual privilege. 

“I’m sure I speak for all of us in saying that the façade adopted by homosexuals as being harmless will not fool us any longer,” He says, “We will expose them for what they are.”

“I’m tired of overfed politicians having no back bone when it comes to cutting out the rot of this nation,” Mercury explains as well as promises to rule with an iron fist, “I do enjoy a good fisting.”

The ANAGE are prepared to cleans the nation with objectives including women keeping their hair at a presentable length, no shorter than below the shoulders and the banning of men wearing pink clothing items, “real men don’t wear pink.” Adds Mercury.  No longer shall the rainbow be affiliated with any same-sex connotations. Preferably the use of the rainbow in any fact or fictitious context will be banned wholly and no longer can the term “gay” be affiliated with a sense of happiness and delight.

The need for homosexuals shall be exterminated by instructing everyone to start planning their own weddings and decorating their homes themself. “We really have to be stern with this, these gays are relentless, take away their creativity and we’ll take away their driving force,” says Mercury.

“The thought of gays adopting parentless and abandoned children or having a monogamous relationship proves their malicious intentions and I hope that you will all join me in saying, ‘enough is enough!’”

Kim-Possible

“Jenique?” she calls out. Her glowing presence is hard to miss. “Hi, Kim?” I ask but she wastes no time before hugging me and making herself comfortable. There’s a huge smile on her face, one that lasts throughout most of the interview. Although she’s very small in stature, after looking into her eyes, you know that she’s meant to captivate people, which she does with her pearl-like hazel coloured eyes that create the kind of depth only experienced in 3D movie theatres.

“[Art] is a huge part of my life, a huge part of everything I do: my friends, my career and my mindset, the way I think, the way I walk, the way I look at the world is all artistic. I don’t see numbers and systems; I see the beauty and the meaning.”

Kim Rest is in her second year in Acting for Camera and when you meet her, you can tell she’s in the business of entertaining. From a young age she knew exactly what she wanted to do, “In primary school I was chosen for the school play. I only had one line and when I said that line on stage, I knew I had to do this, I had to act” and she has stayed true to that ever since, being a part of a state theatre show that performed in Grahamstown and Pretoria and doing stunt work for a London based series called Strike Back 2. She was in a teen series called House Six and has done voiceovers for SL magazine as well as for student animations. Other appearances she’s made include a Vuka advertisement, Super Nova on Super Sport, the FHM Top 100 and the TV Plus Magazine.

Kim gets her inspiration from watching other performances, “When I watch a really good performance I think to myself, “I have to be like that, I have to be better." As well as from herself, “I need to push myself because no one else is going to.” But when she’s not entertaining people she engages herself through yoga as well as writing in journals which she has found to help her acting. 

She has big plans for her future including moving to London to chase her dreams but for now you can catch her next performance at the Theatre on the District, for a play called Thirteen Objects which will be showing from the 29^th to the 31^st of July.

 “It’s not just passion, I’m obsessed. I got really fascinated by the whole psychology of acting, creating characters using your own emotions… and as soon as I feel those emotions, those real, core emotions I know, this is what I’m living for.”