Rob Hope - Freedom as success

In this episode, I catch up with Rob Hope, a Cape Town-based multi-talented digital maker who goes by many labels from designer to developer to a casual surfer. With an aim is to fill his day with things which inspire him, Rob opts to take on things which challenge or offer enjoyment (like surfing).

In this episode, I catch up with Rob Hope, a Cape Town-based multi-talented digital maker who goes by many labels from designer to developer to casual surfer. With an aim to fill his day with things that inspire him, Rob’s main goal is to have a life in which he has the freedom to only take on things which challenge or offer enjoyment (like surfing). 

Complacency in content comfort

In his career, Rob found that when he was most comfortable in his career, he forgot to challenge himself. It’s “a very dangerous place to be”, as it leads to too much security in business or life; a “safe zone”. To beat the dangers of comfort, he started a Youtube show, one the hardest thing he has done in his life. 

With a deadline set (to avoid procrastinating the launch), his weekly Youtube episodes have been the most difficult, but monumentally rewarding things he has undertaken.

“Most things where I’ve dived in where things are difficult were the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.”

Plans are irrelevant but planning is imperative

When it comes to bigger picture thinking versus finer details, it’s crucial to strike the balance of both. If you focus on the macro only, you run the risk of not fine-tuning and releasing a product or service which doesn’t have the quality to be fully marketable. But at the same time, if you only focus on the small details, you can spend far too much time and energy trying to perfect something which might not be used in the way intended.

“It has to be both. My biggest problem is overthinking. Everything changes so radically when you get going and spending that time debating things that probably don’t matter is just a waste of energy. But you can’t know what your product is going to be doing years down the line. So you’ve got to get it out there as light as possible because everything changes as soon as it’s in public.”

Starting a side hustle or taking on a project isn’t actually risky business

Despite what society says, taking the difficult initial step to start a side hustle or take on a new project isn’t actually as risky as it seems. Entrepreneurs, side-hustlers, and makers aren’t that risky by nature. They’re calculated, strategic and make considered decisions. 

There’s possibly more risk-taking (whether it’s of time, energy or finance) than the average person, but they’re not random risks. All possibilities are calculated and cautious with careful thought involved.

A good entrepreneur considers the future ramifications of green-lighting a project or business.

A “Project Graveyard”: A record of failure but also lessons learnt

Rob has a list of projects which never succeeded archived in his ‘Project Graveyard’. He uses this list of failed projects to serve two main purposes:

1. To reflect on the journey of past passion projects and to remember things that have been done, even if they didn’t work out; and

2. To remind others that very few things are quick wins and that success comes from the lessons that failed projects teach.

The failures act as stepping stones to success. The motivation is designing a lifestyle by eliminating things which you don’t like doing and the Project Graveyard represents cutting out what you don’t like and allowing time for things you do like doing. It’s a symbol of every single lesson that aids to future decisions (and successes) you make later down the line.

“Stay humble and focus long-term. It’s about doing daily work consistently over time. For me, this is a lot of failures of projects I thought I might still be working on years down the line. I don’t really believe in the word luck. I get to work on things I enjoy now, and so I don’t see these as ‘failures’ because they helped me get where I am today - a place where I get to do what I want.”

Do you know what success looks like to you? Rob hope does. He goes to great lengths to ensure he has as much freedom every day as possible to work on only th...

Walking the talk: Your actions dictate your intent

If someone wants success, there needs to be a drive to hit that success. Not only are there few quick wins in business, but there are even fewer opportunities of luck to allow a person to thrive without effort. For example, if someone wants to build a billion-dollar business but spends the majority of their time messing around; their intent and their actions don’t really align and that billion-dollar dream is never going to be realised.

However, it’s also extremely important (and healthy) to hit the reset button to refocus and re-energise inspiration.

“But at the same time, it’s important to step away from you do as well. There’s massive value in doing something entirely different to reset from work. Being a maker, and being creative comes from being inspired, and that often comes from being away from the work.”

Different intrigue results in diversity, which leads to a full life

When starting things - whether passion projects, side hustles or businesses - there seems to be a misconception that everything in life has to be associated with it. But the layers of diversity in interests, like hobbies that are completely random and have no direct link to the business you might be building, is imperative in rounding out knowledge. Unique interests lead to interesting people. Not only are different interests crucial in taking a step back to refocus, but they are also important in building a fuller life.

“If we all consume the exact same content, the output would be the same. What makes me unique is probably just a mesh of absolutely everything I’ve done. It’s the bird-watching. It’s travelling. And that’s how you create a rich life.”

If you want to get in touch with Rob or find out more about his journey of success through failure, check out his website or find him on Twitter. 

The NicSocks Website Redesign

Starting NicSocks was an attempt at lean fashion ecommerce creation. With the help of the amazing skills over at Obox we launched a quick and effective site seen here:

For the launch of the brand this site was perfect, fun and effective. As sales increased, our customer base grew and the brand itself grew legs we realised that the time had come for a reworking of the website.

Obox has just launched an incredible new theme called FlatPack which fit the needs of the new NicSocks site perfectly. We wanted to give the site an edge and bring it inline with our customers and fans. David Perel took the lead and guided me in all things ecommerce and effective design.

With the amazing photography from Gregor Rohrig that you can see dotted throughout the website and the newsletter we felt that the site was ready to take on it's new and edgy look.

Selling socks is about more than just the selling of socks. I wanted to portray an experience to men browsing the site and show visitors (men and women) what being a NicSocks man means. I really feel like we've achieved this in the new design and hopefully this aesthetic will continue throughout the sock designs and into the Sockaholics Club!

I love discovering trends and genres tha...

I love discovering trends and genres that I have previously been completely blind and ignorant to. The most recent discovery that I have made, now don't laugh, is SteamPunk.Yes, Steam put right there next to the word Punk, which gives us Steampunk. For those of you who aren't aware of what Steampunk is here is a short definition:

Steampunk is a sub-genre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.

Here are some images to help your imagination get started on the idea of Steampunk:

Welcome to 009

Just a short post to say that I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. That's not possible, they haven't really believed that since, um, sometime ago I think, like a few centuries or so.I have a new theme, it's clean and simple, no ads. I'll still be making some changes. I figured that I don't get enough reads right now to worry about editing a live theme so you might just have to deal with that for a few days.This year is going to be pretty intense. Let's get it on. 009, shaken and stirred.

Nudjit nominated for a logo award

Justin just alerted me (Thanks to Google Alerts) that Nudjit.com - our gadget review blog - has been nominated for a logo award at LogoDesignLove.The process is simple. If you dig our logo (and we hope you do) you simply comment on THIS POST nominating Nudjit as your logo of choice.The list of blogs we are competing with is fairly esteemed, the likes of Gizmodo, Boing Boing, GigaOM and OHGizmo! are all present and accounted for.We would absolutely love your support so head over to the LogoDesignLove blog and leave your comment in support of Nudjit!Thanks to the LogoDesignLove bloggers for recognising Nudjit so early in the game for us.

New tattoo - help me create it

So I have been thinking about this for a while now. Not the actual getting of the tattoo, that's been decided, it's going to happen. What I've been thinking about is how much of this whole event to publicise on my blog.It's tricky you see. I want input and as many brilliant minds and artists to help me out. I have started on the design and have a clear idea of what I want, where it will go and what to include. But it's never enough.But at the same time, putting a tattoo design on the Internet is tricky. I am not saying that the design is going to be so wonderful that it will be downloaded and copies. But I am saying that there is a chance that happens.So my question is this; If I post it will you help?Basically, if I post the developments of the tattoo and design on here will you give me input and do you think that there is any risk of my design being hijacked? Or am I just being paranoid?I want your help to ink me, permanently. Collaborative online tattoo design. What do you think?If you are a tattoo designer, know a tattoo designer or think you can help me design my newest tattoo then leave a comment on this post and I will contact you!

A new theme

Apparently with mumps comes time to redesign your blog! So as of this evening you will see a new look and feel for nicharalambous.com.Something smoother, cleaner, more generic and simple. Colour is sporadic and I have chosen to move things back to a very basic feel.Did a bit of customisation here and there, tweaked the style.css and the images that build the theme. And what do you know, I have a new theme. I think I'll be tweaking it more and more as things progress. But I like what it has turned in to and hope that it has become easier to read, understand and subscribe.Let me know what you think.Oh, one of the main reasons for the redesign is that I realised that I have only been working with Wordpress since January of this year. It's really incredible what one can learn in eight months. I have done a boat load of template designs, redesigns and tweaks since I put the old nicharalambous.com theme. So I thought it necessary to work on my own blog since my skills are somewhat improved from the last time I did this!!Hope you enjoy the theme, I do.

David Airey's blog is a must read

I know that many bloggers aren't in to the whole optimization concept. Whether it be optimizing writing, appearance, communication or any other aspect of a blog. But David Airey has a blog that have not been able to get off for the last week or two.He talks about a variety of topics in a succint and simple way that makes sense to me and clearly to others as well. I think the blog will (might) appeal to the Quirks, Cherry's and Jo's of the SA blogosphere as well as any blogger who is in the process of a redesign or generally looking to spruce up their template and approach to blogging.Some featured articles that I found that have definitely helped me at SA Rocks and soon on this blog too:5 important design aspects of any website or blog6 tips to improve your blog articlesTop 5 essential WordPress PluginsAre these good or bad business cards?Some points I particularly like from articles that I have read on his blog: Link your blog posts to and from your blog posts. This will help to keep the reader on your site for as long as possible.Clean things up. Get rid of anything unnecessary in your sidebar.Choose a colour scheme.I am sure that many in the SA blogosphere will glance over the blog and palm it off as useless gimicky rubbish. I don't think so however.If this sort of thing interests you then do yourself a favour and visit his blog. Just like most how to sites suggest, David has contacted me and thanked me for my comments. Nice touch and one that I think many of us overlook. Person to person is always best. Always.

Things to remember when redesigning your blog

I have recently done an overhaul on SA Rocks with the help of Vince.Some very specific things came out of the redesign. I know that the following thoughts/tips/ideas wont be shared by everyone but this is what I learnt and think should be remembered:1. Content is king (Cliche, i know)... always.2. Design sometimes gets in the way of content.3. Colours are not always good. Muting the colours could help your readers.4. Sometime all a reader wants is a black background, a white page and some text.5. Sidebars need to be cleaned out, much like a closet. Be ruthless, delete all the services, bars, tools, widgets and extras that are cluttering your sidebar. Sometimes your blogroll might even be the issue.6. Slick design is good, but don't think your readers are stupid. They know what is hot and what blows. If you are missing the point, call in for assistance.7. Outside assistance might be hard to come by but is worth finding. A second perspective on your blog should always be welcome and is often needed.8. Don't screw with your CSS too much. SIMPLE IS BETTER.9. K2 is not so shit hot, make sure to choose your template/theme carefully. Ensure that you can work with the CSS and the basic theme setup.I think that is it. I tried to get to 10, but fell short. Alas, what can one do!?I hope this helps and I hope that everyone has some thoughts on the SA Rocks template.