Hi there,
My sincere apologies.
On Tuesday evening we worked with our hosting partner to switch Biznewz from its original .biz address to the recently acquired .com. This is a complicated process. During the transfer, a few nasty coding gremlins worked their way into the system.
As a result, we had to hang up the “closed for maintenance” sign most of Wednesday. All was back to normal by the evening and we’re steaming ahead once more. But in media the one thing you NEVER do is become unavailable. We committed this cardinal sin. Be sure we’ll work hard at never letting it happen again.
For all kinds of reasons we needed to switch to the dot com domain name, including being the final part of Phase One of the site. So our switchover was a red letter day. One we intend celebrating this weekend by cheering the Springboks to a famous Tri-Nations victory over our old rivals from New Zealand.
Acquiring Biznewz.com was quite a process. You may recall from a previous letter that the initial purchase went off the rails. After funds had been deducted from the Aurelius account, the intermediary discovered the person selling didn’t actually own the address. We kept looking. Second time lucky via a Russian website and the lengthy but safe escrow.com process. Such is the online business.
October has also been a good month on another front. Firstly, Biznewz welcomed its very first advertiser. You’ll see Gradidge Mahura Investments emblazoned on the home page. Craig Gradidge has followed my progress for some years and had the foresight (we think so anyway) to show his support in a more concrete manner. The more advertisers we attract, the more we can invest in improving the content. Hopefully Gradidge Mahura is the first of many.
On the broadcasting front, from Tuesday I was joined on the set at CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch by erstwhile Moneyweb colleague Gugulethu Mfuphi. My former co-anchor Lindsay Williams has moved onto the evening line-up, opening up the seat next to mine. It’s a joy to work with Gugu again. CNBC showed great foresight in securing her a few weeks ago.
As the co-anchors now sit next to each other, we are doing the Power Lunch interviews together. It has improved the flow of the show. This wasn’t practical in the past because of the slight time delay with Lindsay’s Cape Town studio. It introduced a new dynamic to the programme. And ensures no more goofing off while my colleague is busy with a guest (that’s supposed to be a joke!).
There are two reasons for sharing all this.
One is because you’ll be seeing a lot more of Gugu in the Biznewz.com transcripts – and when you click through to the videos. Enjoy. She is one of the rising stars in SA media. I have no doubt she’ll be on a bigger stage one day.
Number two is having done this kind of work for a while, by now I should know broadcasting’s wheat from its chaff. And CNBC Africa’s Power Lunch is pure wheat. A really good show. So make a date to join us on DSTV channel 410 from noon to 1pm daily. Or record it. No excuses. PVRs are so simple even over 40s can work them!
Until next week.
Best
Alec
Past week’s best read articles:
The Don’s promise of shareholder riches comes to sorry end; shares worth no more than 20c
SA’s top two schools extend lead in annual ranking of the best MBA course
CEOs who don’t take social media very seriously are an endangered species – top SA futurist
Don’t miss out, catch up now:Â
The Top Ten stories on Biznewz this week
Value investing: the Buffett Way – a guide for newbies and Omaha pilgrims alikeÂ
Why client satisfaction is not enough – it’s got bugger all to do with loyalty or real value
The ingrained Law of Reciprocation – a Solomonite dilemma for our modern age
TMG’s Bonamour has made all the right moves so far, but now the real decisions start
Leadership lessons from Pope Francis – two dozen ideas from the leader of 1.2bn
And for more great online reading, here’s the top five on Gill Moodie’s Grubstreet:
The following are the five best read articles on Grubstreet.co.za during the week of September 30 to October 4, 2013:
New energy at Times Media but also an intriguing contradiction [TMG annual results 2012/13]
Covering the extraordinary Joost van der Westhuizen… and how readers punish you if you are unfair to him
Stereotype that older journos struggle to adapt to “digital first” not true [State of the Newsroom 2013]
Beeld splash-arama: “Zuma knew about Guptagate!” SA daily front pages
Listen up, tweeps: ordinary legal rules do apply to social media [media law]
In case you missed them last week:
After BDFM, another round of retrenchments at Sake24
Getaway’s Cameron Ewart-Smith: Surprise and inspire (and something you would never, ever Google)
Grubstreet’s top five tips for breaking into the news biz
You can also follow Grubstreet on Twitter.
