By Morenike Taire

Okay. So, one day, Ariana Huffington,decided to put her thoughts to paper or to the screen, as it were. Her blog became the Huffington Post, the multibillion dollar online newspaper which- wait for this-In 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million and made Huffington president and editor in chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. In addition, she  was in 2009, Huffington named as number 12 in Forbes’ first-ever list of the Most Influential Women In Media while moving up to number 42 in The Guardian’s Top 100 in Media List.

Moving closer home is belligerent blogger Linda Ikeji, who has courted more fame and fortune- while getting her own fair share of insults. In August of 2012, Forbes Africa dedicated itself to celebrating African women that issue. With the knowledge that women are the bedrock of the African society, Forbes profiled Africa’s 20 Most Prominent Women in the latest issue of the magazine.

In that issue an entire section was dedicated to the women in Africa who are breaking the mold to make a name for themselves in the business world. The issue featured profiles on two young Nigerian women: Chibundu Onuzo and Linda Ikeji.

Linda Ikeji

Another home-grown blog success whose site has morphed into an entertainment e-supercenter is Uche Pedro, whose popular blog known by the name  Bellanaija . in September 2012, Bellanaija was listed by the Guardian UK Fashion Blog as one of the top 10 African fashion blogs.

Define your blog

Before you begin blogging for profit whether material or otherwise, have a vision for the end as much as for the beginning. If your blog if going to morph into a newspaper, magazine, documentary or research reference point, it will be because you intended it to morph into that from the very inception. It does not happen by accident.

Be prepared

Money-making blogs are not only full time jobs, they take constant innovation, creativity and other people’s inputs to grow. Ensure that you have the time and other resources to dedicate to your blog. You also have to be up to date with the latest web technologies, cameras, trends, and so on. You must breathe your blog.

It’s a business.

Newsflash, a business is a business whether you are running it virtually or in real life. A media business is a business even though there is no tangible product you can see, and all the rules of good business practices apply including research and development, marketing and customer relations.

During the earlier periods, creating avenues for feedback will be a dealbreaker in determining which direction your blog will grow. Physically visit businesses you are going to be doing business with but also make alliances online by sharing links and joining groups that  can create avenues for profitable networking.

Do your Research

The laws governing online abuses of information are as yet not fully developed. Yet it is important to be mindful of the information you put ‘out there’, particularly where it affects other people. More important than the marketing team is the research team, which ensures that all information is current and accurate before processing and passing it on.

Involve your Public

Virtually every organization-particularly media organizations- now recognizes the need to be interactive with the public. Leave room for outsiders to input their contributions  in order to give them a sense of belonging and ownership.

Develop a thick skin

(Or would it be more accurate to say a thick screen?). Prepare for the worst. Make peace from the beginning with the fact that not everyone will be in agreement with you and some folks have not so pleasant ways of expressing their disagreement.  Realizing from the very beginning that everyone has a diverse range of opinions influenced by different circumstances and just as you have the right to express yours, they have a  right to express theirs.

It’s not just Style

Yes, most of our local blogs are about style, so there’s a tendency for there to be the misconception that it’s all about  clothes, fashion, celebrity and gossip. Well, there’s quite a lot of space in the pond for that, but they are not all going to be great  commercial successes, so unless  your blog is just created to amuse your friends it might be wise to focus on other areas of interest, or even to diversify into multiple areas.

Drop the pounds — the Monique way

She spent most of her acting career trying to promote the ‘big, black and beautiful’ mantra, looking firmly away from the fact that being big does not automatically translate into being curvy, and that it is actually the  physical equivalent of sitting on a time bomb.

In actual fact, every scientific study ever done shows being overweight makes you eligible for a good many diseases, including the terrible four: diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and cancer. Being on the smaller side also increases your chances of being successful  in your career, not tom mention making your options far more plentiful.

It was only a matter of time before Monique opened her eyes to the reality of her excess weight, even as it made her stand out in the crowded world of Hollywood and probably made her famous. Best known as the hyper, semi illiterate single mum Nikki Parker in sitcom the Parkers who had an obsession for a professor and was determined to get the very best out of life against all odds, Monique finally decided to shed the famous folds, and she insisted on doing it the clean and hard way. The result has been astounding.

Losing more than a hundred pounds (she was lugging almost 300), Monique has thrilled her fans around the world and is keen on sharing the story of her incredible journey, in the hope that other ‘big girls’ might get a hint or three.

1 Use Criticism

Overweight people tend to get more criticism than their thinner counterparts about the way they look, particularly from people who are closest to them. Sometimes, this is hurtful, depending on how you receive it.  In Monique’s case, the constructive criticism came from her own husband and continued until she decided to do something about it. While she emphasizes that she always felt in the past that she was a big and beautiful woman, she says it is her husband who caused her to step back and look at the damage she was causing to her body (due to her weight).

2 Set clear Goals

From nearly 300 pounds, Monique’s goal was to reduce her weight to between 190 and 200 pounds.  And not only did she have clear goals  of how much weight she needed to lose, she knew how she wanted to lose it, knowing that weight loss is a very technical endeavour.

Monique used an odometer to count the number of steps she took each day, and her minimum goal was 10,000 steps. Choose the form of exercise that you are comfortable with and which is approved by a professional.

3.  Reward/Share your successes

When you share your successes you become an inspiration to those who knew you when you were ‘bigger’.  It is also important to reward every little milestone you achieve in your weight loss journey. There are a million and one ways to do that without going on a food binge, even though the occasional cookie or chocolate treat would not kill anyone.

Do not backslide into the habit of gorging yourself uncontrollably with these things and do not touch unless you are absolutely sure of your discipline level. For Monique, daily tweets sharing her milestones with the public did not only enable her lighten her load but helped her be an inspiration to other women.

4. Look outside yourself

Deciding to embark on the weight loss  journey in the first place can be the difficult first step, but might never be taken by most unless something  enables the push. For Monique the push was her children and step children whom she is motivated to live for. According to her submission in a television interview, she had to stop being selfish, and eating everything!

5. Shun Shortcuts

The market is awash with a thousand and one pills and concoctions which promise to help you drop several dress sizes within an incredible period of time. There is of course the last resort option of a private nip and tuck, which no one needs to know about except you and your doctor.

These, of course, do not give the permanent results which adopting a fit lifestyle will give.  Says Monique: you don’t have to let them cut you and suck it out, you don’t have to let them staple you up, you don’t have to let them give you a pill, you don’t have to let them put a band around your organs.  “If you put the work in, baby, I promise you, it comes off.”

First Black Minister: Italy is not celebrating

While the world appears to have settled into the idea of women taking elected as well as selected leadership positions in government all over the world, Italy appears to  be trailing the rest of the world in this regard, with her first female and black Minister  Kyenge, an eye doctor and Italian citizen originally from Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC),  suffering attacks as she was named integration minister by Prime Minister Enrico Letta last Saturday, one of seven women in the new government.

Kyenge, who arrived in Italy alone at 18 years old so as to pursue her studies in medicine, has also faced race-tinged insults from Mario Borghezio, a European parliament member of the pro-devolution white supremacist Northern League, which has been allied in the past with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

It is unclear whether the hostility is inspired by her race or her gender as a stream of messages containing sexually violent images have been left on her phone. She has been known to say that when a woman takes up public office, sexist aggression sets off against her which, whether simple gossip or violent, always uses the same vocabulary of humiliation and submission.

She also rejected the term “coloured” used to describe her in many Italian press reports, saying: “I am not coloured, I am Black and I say it with pride”.