Cabanga Magazine

The Internet is only one of many platforms on which an enterprise can publicise itself. At present Websites are competing for advertising attention with Print and Television advertising content. Let us seek answers for the following questions: How much advertising material are web consumers exposed to? This helps an enterprise formulate effective marketing strategies, which involve their website. DSTV, ZTV, Billboards, Clothing Publications (Labels), Movies, Food Courts, Specific Magazines, Newspapers, just to name a few. Do webverts ™ (Website Adverts) work? It is not a matter of just advertising, but an effectiveness measurement has to be put into place. Relevance, convenience, quantity, structure, of adverts should be considered. What is so different about Webvertising ™? Marketing gurus classify Advertising methods according to emotions nowadays – Fear and Love being the two extremes. We see this on Television and in Print media. Marketers often make consumers feel as though left o...

Database Driven Most of them are database driven, making it difficult for each entry to be found by search engines like google.com. Most use Cold Fusion, a technology not easily accessible by Google scripts. Google uses Perl. The difference is that Perl dumps information on every query (Client Driven), yet Cold Fusion keeps everything on the server on which the query is being requested (Server Driven). What has influence these web publications • Mindsets o People only read from newspaper classifieds only. o Who would want to invest in a vibrant website? o It’s Zimbabwe anywhere! • Lack of understanding of marketing in cyberspace. • More of a presence issue, for corporate image issue. The Technologies Used Most of the websites were developed by WebDev and Design@7. WedDev is strong on Wed Development (the Database side), hence their sites have that orientation. Design@7 is strong with Graphics, hence their sites have that orientation. Some other sites were developed by small companies, ...

In these times of challenging economic conditions, businesses are being forced to find alternative means of communicating with stakeholders, especially customers. On the other hand, the subjects of Internet and websites are no longer painful ones as they were a few years ago. The distance between the consumer and the company is now being made shorter through websites, as more businesses in Zimbabwe are launching their businesses, products, and services on the “.CO.ZW” cyber landscape. Reaching customers, knowing their concerns over products or services provided, and ensuring return business is are the core concerns of any company, and all Business Communication is channeled into various media in order to achieve this. Without struggling for recognition or dominance, the Internet has become the fastest growing and most effective delivery channel for all Business Communication in the World, and Zimbabwe has not been an exception. Marketing, Product Delivery, and Public Relations are the ...

After publishing the book in August 2006, I have closely looked at the progress of the book, to see if it is a success in itself. To date, through the book, I have trained more than ten companies and individuals, ranging from Internet Cafes, Internet Service Providers, Web Developers, Students, Marketers, Churches, Pastors, and Entrepreneurs, who have bought a copy of the eBook. The book has sold approximately 25 copies, of which a Website, Training, and Web Consultancy have been born out of "each" Copy. I am currently working as a Consultant with Innov8 - The Motivation Company, where amongst other goals, one of them is to assist the company add on to the ".CO.ZW" sphere, two more websites and blogs, in the ".COM" sphere. Innov8 will be launching www.innov8motivation.com and www.innov8bookshop.com, in October 2007, which are transaction enabled, giving people the ability to buy books and pay for workshop online, using the eTranzact platform. One of the ot...

THE Interception of Communications Act, signed into law by President Robert Mugabe last week, is unconstitutional and can be successfully challenged in the courts, legal experts said yesterday. The government will find it difficult to adequately monitor communications, particularly e-mails and other internet communications, they said. The law authorises the government to set up an interception centre to eavesdrop on telephone conversations, open mail, and intercept e-mails and faxes. But legal experts told The Standard yesterday the law was an unwarranted infringement on people's rights. David Coltart, secretary for legal affairs in the pro-Senate faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the law was unconstitutional and will have serious repercussions on people's rights and freedom of expression. "There is no independent review of any interception of a person's communication," said Coltart. "It (the law) is an unjustifiable invasion of a pers...

Zimbabwean Internet service providers (ISPs) are struggling to install costly equipment to monitor the flow of information in the southern African country, according to online activist Web site Kubatana. President Robert Mugabe formally signed the Interception of Communications Act earlier this month. It enables the government to intercept phone calls, e-mails and faxes with the intention of protecting national security. The law stipulates ISPs are under mandatory obligation to pay for and install the monitoring equipment. “The law now stipulates that licensed Internet access providers and their ISPs must install the lawful interception equipment at their own cost,” says Shadreck Nkala, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Internet Service Provider Association (ZISPA). The Act further states an ISP that fails to provide assistance in terms of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years. Nkala says there is a need for di...

“Thou shalt name this week ‘Gain’”, the Merchant spoke out across the room, as his investor walked in. “Why, if I may ask?” responded the farmer, walking towards the merchant, with a bag of gold in his hands. “For thus shall you be, get, and give.” “Speak on”, exclaimed the excited farmer as he sat to hear the merchant’s report about his investments. The merchant pulled out a scroll from his desk and begun to narrate his dealings with the farmer’s gold over the past week, how they grew, and gave a insight of the coming week, as it was the week of celebrations in the city, where bringing more business to the farmer and other investors with the merchant. “You are gain, because your investment speaks continuously as it instructs, communes, and co-operates with goods and services to which it multiplies. Your voice is heard and that which has been touched takes heed of the instruction. Growth begins, even from small dealings, and resulting in multitudes of trade. You speak through your gol...

Lack of imagination has caused the loss, failure, and following of many businesses, communities, nations, and even individuals. Imagination is the beginning of all profit, as there can never be profit without the translation of thought, stemming from imagination. It is the process in which the mind and the heart are in unison, creating a desired haven for the person in question. Imagination is the source of all revolutionary change in the world, as innovators created and implemented there thoughts. Imagination is the first, if not only, place, that you are crowned king without having royal blood or fighting for. Your imagination is your Kingdom. The Zulu Kingdom was forged in the mind of a thirteen year old boy, a bustard, and reject called Chaka Zulu. The Kingdom of Israel was conceived through the imagination of a shepherd called David, yet still stands in the hearts of more than two billion people on earth. The journey to greatness begins with imagination. As you begin to imagine, y...

Wealth comes, and never goes, for wealth is more than just the riches brought by opportunity and the wind. Wealth is the time you put into work and business as you strive to multiply relationships and gold. You create new relationship as your gold labours for you, seizing the opportunities that are brought by the wind, and as you heed the voice of the Opportunist. Your gold accumulates over time, causing increase to your possessions, creating even more relationships in the form of laborers, stewards, enterprises, and friends. It is true, “money answers all things”. This happens as your wealth begins to solve problems around you – in your house, in your city, within your boundaries. Your gold extends your boundaries, as you stretch and move to the right and to the left. In each direction, your wealth speaks resolution of ancient or recent problems that have been a menace to the people thereof. “The rich man’s wealth is his city”, for it keeps him secure and is a foundation for the nat...

A man with a kingdom has power. A man with a kingdom has glory. All men desire power and glory. The kingdom of man is about power and gory manifest through riches and possessions. The wealth of a kingdom is the usage and continual multiplication of a man’s riches and possessions. The wealth of a man is his kingdom. The riches of a man are the tools to build that kingdom. Therefore, if you are to build anything, then build a kingdom. Building a kingdom begins with the desire to be great and having a domain – place of glory, and power. The desire to dominate is in every man. The power to dominate is, however, only in those that complete the construction of their kingdoms. The construction of your kingdom begins with the choice you make each day about the usage of your earnings. There are those that consume their earnings, and yet a few that make their earnings work for them, not matter how little they may be. Your kingdom will grow as you continuously and faithfully invest your money in ...

Dream today, see it happen tomorrow. To every man is appointed a portion of the day to lay and give way to an uncontrollable series of events, packaged in what has been termed by the Maker, and adopted by all, called DREAMING. Dreaming is that series of events where one becomes what his subconscious mind had been recording each minute of the day. Dreaming is also that moment when an individual envisions himself having attained certain things or position in his life. When he has reached a haven, where he comfortably dwells in that moment, gazing a satisfying environment, one filled with gladness and peace. This dreaming, none can steal from the mind of man. Dreaming is what everyone can do. There are those who have invested their time to dream of things and places that have never been heard of before, “what eye has not seen, nor what ear has heard, even what the heart of man has never conceived”. Having done so, they work at their dreams, converting them into a reality. These dreams ha...

A Kingdom that can never be moved can be likened unto a mountain overseeing a lake. The rains, snow, and turmoil, can pound it time and again, yet it remains standing strong. It is a place that can never be shaken. A place; establish and rooted within the foundations of the deep. The foundations of such a Kingdom were engrafted in the core of the earth, making it a sure residence above the earth. The earth has shaped many landscapes and moved mountains from place to place. The earth has formed seas, rivers, and lakes, even springs. The earth, with the assistance of the sun and moon, has created deserts, forests, jungles, and snow. Winds rage to and fro on the earth, bringing change as they work hand in hand to shape the future. The earth is ever changing. Yet there is a place that endures all. There is a place that cannot be removed, even by the harshest of weather. Winds can blow, seas can rage, and the earth can shake, yet there is a place that can never be removed. This place is w...

Lo, there is a day beyond tomorrow that the eye envisions. Beyond tomorrow is a time of prosperity, a time of peace, a tranquil time, filled with goodness, and much gain. Yesterday will surely pass away, just as today will fade. Beyond tomorrow is a place where everyone desires to see. It is a place whose destination mankind finds hope in. it is a place that man labours tirelessly to arrive, moving through harsh times, turbulence, discomfort, lack, and unrest, just to see what is beyond tomorrow. It is a place where hope finds a meaning. Man goes through the day, week, month and year as though bound by hope of seeing what is beyond tomorrow. Nothing can replace that hope of seeing beyond tomorrow. It is man’s destined residence. Man is bound by destiny. Man’s destiny is beyond tomorrow. Beyond tomorrow reside all things envisioned in man’s perception, hope unfeigned; a place like no other. Beyond tomorrow, the eye has not seen. Beyond tomorrow, the ear has not heard. Beyond tomorrow, t...

Written by David A. Wise, 306 Pages Reviewed by Oscar Manduku, for Innov8 Bookshop, Zimbabwe The Google Story starts with extremely bold financial results, for a small start up. Founded in 1998, Google.com became the world's fastest growing Corporation to ever grace the earth, even before going public in August 2004. This book is not about Technology or America, but about how innovation, locked up in every individual, can be turned into a Money Machine within the shortest time frame, without changing one's personality. It is a book about how focus, vision, determination, and endurance can change the way people conduct business the world over. Google was not started by the US Government as we “Techies” thought. It was started by two humble students, who chose to take on the world, by creating what everyone needs information access for all. The money behind the business is not as important as the vision behind the founders, who consider themselves to be in the infant stage of th...

Featured Companies Zimbabwean News Websites, Newspapers, and Media Zimbabwe Internet during ZANU and Mugabe If you search on Google.com using the words “Mugabe” or “Robert Mugabe” or “ZANU”, you will get not less than 2,500,000 web pages as results. There is a lot said about these three phrases by .CO.ZW, .CO.ZA and .COM websites, as the nation goes through transformation into an economic powerhouse. Day after day, emails, web links, pictures, slideshows, jokes, forums, chats, instant messages, electronic magazines, Newsletters, Newspaper Articles, photos, graphics, and other files are moved from on email box to another, from one continent to another, and from one website to another. Stories are created, cartoons are drawn and posted. Some true, some fabricated. There is a hive of “all” opinions on the subject matter. Zimbabwe Urikuendepi: Where are you going? Without being political, my focus would be on the motives, the business, and the going concern of the News, Debates, Books, Pub...

The Internet is only one of many platforms on which an enterprise can publicise itself. At present Websites are competing for advertising attention with Print and Television advertising content. Let us seek answers for the following questions: How much advertising material are web consumers exposed to? This helps an enterprise formulate effective marketing strategies, which involve their website. DSTV, ZTV, Billboards, Clothing Publications (Labels), Movies, Food Courts, Specific Magazines, Newspapers, just to name a few. Do webverts ™ (Website Adverts) work? It is not a matter of just advertising, but an effectiveness measurement has to be put into place. Relevance, convenience, quantity, structure, of adverts should be considered. What is so different about Webvertising ™? Marketing gurus classify Advertising methods according to emotions nowadays – Fear and Love being the two extremes. We see this on Television and in Print media. Marketers often make consumers feel as though left o...

Zimbabwe does not have sufficient numbers of the following facilities, capable of securing consumer confidence: Online Transaction Processing Systems. By this I refer to a simple software application that allows web consumers to purchase goods or services over the Internet, without the use of bank notes. These are more transaction oriented than credit rating oriented. I know of one such innovation, through the Zimbabwe Association of Inventors. One of our members developed an electronic wallet, which is currently going under scrutiny with our Reserve Bank. This product is not a duplication of western technology, but a literal new innovation. When it passes the test, it will transform eCommerce in Zimbabwe. Online Credit Rating. We are one of the few Literate countries which have not been affected or bulldozed by Visa or Master Card, in our credit rating systems. I believe that this is a good thing because it enables the birthing of our own credit rating processing Systems. The good new...

Featured Companies FoodWorld, OK, DST, eTranzact, PayPal and CABS Online Zimbabwe eCommerce in 2007 This year has brought in some improvement on the .CO.ZW cyberspace, as a few companies are now offering Online Transactions from their websites. Food World and OK, the chain supermarkets, both have online shopping facilities. eTranzact, PayPal, and CABS Online are strong on the Backbone of Zimbabwean Online Transaction Processing Systems. Despite being over politicized, eCommerce has taken off on a good note this year, because the most popular banks now have eBanking facilities, and the Zimbabwean Consumer now has external funds stored in banks outside our borders. Food to the Zimbabwean eWorld – www.foodworldzim.com Food World Chain Supermarkets has two mirrored websites that it uses for eCommerce purposes. They have a local .CO.ZW website and the above .COM website. The .COM website is the one that is connected to PayPal.com, one of the leading Online Payment Systems in the World, whic...

The following are some of the many marketing misconceptions that I would like to address in this book: Websites are Marketing Expenses. This is false, because a website is an investment. We live in the days of the Google Economy, where you even earn US$ for just reserving a portion of your website for Google AdSense, and in the days of Advertising Synergies. Not many people use the Internet. This is false, because Zimbabwean urban consumers are very technology oriented. There are more literate consumers in urban centers now, who have equal access to Internet – through Internet Cafes. The Computer Population is Zimbabwe is growing, especially the Laptops, whose owners want Internet access as soon as they buy them. Websites are for Internet presence only, because we cannot implement eCommerce in Zimbabwe. This is false, because websites are for consumers not your company, hence can be used for more than just your business card. eCommerce in Zimbabwe is transforming, with a few hiccups th...

INTRODUCTION Since the commercial inception of many Information and Communication Technologies and various business methods in Zimbabwe, consumers have been hoping for an ever increasing Quality of Service (QoS) in Information Services. This has not been the case; due to a contribution of various factors influencing the direction of growth of this industry. There are basically seven types of Information Service Points, which this paper seeks to address the audience, to shed light upon the dealings thereof. These are Websites, Directories, CDROMs, Periodics, Mobile Phones, Kiosks, and Cafes. Closely examining these will help define this industry, and point out a way forward – that’s the aim of this paper. DEFINITION Information Services can be defined as any repetitive business concept of publishing data, in any relevant format, to inform an audience, whilst achieving profitability. Please realize that in the 21st century, there are many industries which are springing up because of the ...