The Great Escapes (The Friend Zone)

Some guys have been mercilessly locked up in the friend zone and yes...they are doing life. However, some guys are fortunate to have great escapes. Here are examples of the type of guys who end up in the friend zone but not forever.

• You both realised you liked each other at the wrong time and place

It is unfortunate when you realise your head over heels in like with someone...who already has someone. Sometimes the woman of interest is already in a relationship that she can't easily break away from; after all, it’s a big gamble for her to leave Mr ‘doing all the right things’ for potential Mr Right. So you both just remain friends, then finally all your voodoo and rituals pay off because her relationship snaps and so you fit yourself right in through the crack. Well, hopefully not literally! This is a true example of patience is a virtue and letting something you love go…sometimes it really does come back.

• You've stepped up your gaaame!

This one is for the late bloomers or the 'used to tell they friends I was ugly and wouldn't touch me, then I showed up in that dubbed out buggy, and then they got fussy and they don't remember that' guys - yeah them! They started making money and stepped up their swag to 100. They cleared the acne, the braces fixed up the crooked teeth, gave Harry Potter his glasses back and developed a cool talent along the way. Now they’ve successfully transitioned from ugly geek to panty dropper!

You really think Drake was getting chicks looking like this? When he was just Aubrey? I'm pretty sure he was being placed behind the friend zone bars left, right & centre. If the Take Care album is anything to go by, I’m pretty sure that Drake was the nice guy who finished last. But now with the fame, talent, millions to his name, he is a desirable man to many...I doubt those same women would dismiss him now for being ‘too nice’.

•She's reached mid-life crisis...your both still single so why not?!

You’ve got it quite bad; out of all the friend zone great escapes, well your escape just isn't great at all because you’re not even second best at this stage, not even. You’ve been in the friend zone for a good while and had to watch all those different guys come in & out of her life before she finally gave you a second look. It sucks really. But hey, the bright side is, the woman you truly love is all yours now and her bad experiences with men in the past means you'll be greatly appreciated.

Dorothy Dandridge

Can we take a min to appreciate Dorothy Dandridge please? Why is it that many people don't know about her but know who Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn are? Sigh.. My #wcw for this week

The Beyoncé Branding

Here are 7 branding lessons we can all learn from Beyoncé.

1. A simple yet effective logo and colour theme. The power of Beyoncé's logo also conveys a message of letting the product speak for itself. Quality products don't need a fancy, over-designed presentation which will only serve as noise between the product and the audience. Whenever I see these two colours together I immediately associate it with Beyoncé's latest album; this should be the case with your branding.

2. Use the branding everywhere! Don't only preserve it for the website and the product, place it all over merchandise, videos and at events. Beyoncé had fans all over the world wearing tops with notable lyrics from her latest album, with her logo font and colour theme. A fun and subtle way to promote her album. Think outside the box and be different. Think 'what else can you brand?' that will not only market your product/s but will be liked and used by your fans.

3. Tell people the story behind the brand. After Beyoncé released the album, she began releasing short vids explaining the process of putting the album together and the story behind each song, conveying to the audience that it is a personal album. Storytelling makes the brand become relatable and enables engagement on a emotional level.

4. People respond to visuals. Beyoncé is aware of the power of visuals; not only did she do a music video for each song on the album, she also announced the surprise album with a short video clip via image sharing network Instagram. A similar clip which served as a mock up movie trailer was released to promote her On The Run tour with Jay Z. She is also very active on Tumblr and Youtube, other visual social media networks. Her Tumblr account is incorporated into her main website making it very image driven, further showcasing Beyoncé's love for communication through visuals.

5. Regularly update social media sites, even if its little. Beyoncé demonstrated the power of social media as a marketing tool when she announced her surprise album and the news went viral later resulting in over 1 million in first week album sales. Putting aside the fact that Beyoncé is a megastar with over 12m followers, she has been very active on her social media sites whether it be to make special announcements, regular behind the scenes clips of her Mrs Carter world tour or to post random photos of cupcakes. Either way, keep your social media sites active and don't only use it when you want to promote. The key is to be 'social' and to somewhat humanise your brand which Beyoncé does well with regular posts of her life; it also allows her to control the conversations we have of her brand.

6. Do something for people and get them involved. Beyoncé engages with her fans by encouraging them to take part; whether it be for her charitable campaign #BeyGood or in conversation such as her 'What is pretty?' campaign.

7. Consistency. Piece all your promo together and make sure it is all connected. The last thing you want to do is confuse your audience. Beyoncé's branding is very calculative; everything that is put out into the public is well thought out and connects well to form the bigger picture of her brand.

Give Him A Chance!

Thought I'd repost this article I wrote a while ago...hehe.

Since the title is pretty self-explanatory, I’ll get straight to it. Here are five 'types' of guys that I think women (i.e. women twenty five and over and still single…*looks around* ...oh me!) need to show more love to.

1. Let's face it, the short guys tend to get overlooked (yes pun intended). Most women automatically dismiss a guy whose forehead is considerably lower than hers. The tall woman/short man combo doesn't work for everyone especially if it means sacrificing the baddest heels! Luckily for me, I’m only like 5’2 so I rarely even meet a guy whose shoulders are lower than mine but still, I know even short women often prefer the taller guys. This means tall girls want tall guys and short girls want tall guys, hmmm…basic economics tells me that there just isn’t enough supply to meet demand! So how about we give the vertically challenged, I mean short guys a chance. You may also find that they tend to be more driven and/or have great personalities; maybe traits they were forced to develop in order to compete with their taller counterparts? Maybe. Basically, just because they fall short in height, doesn't mean they fall short in everything else *wink wink*.

2. I remember I always used to say I'd never hook up with a guy I met in a club, then realised it was silly to say I'd never hook up with a guy I met in a club because in order for me to meet him in a club...well my arse would have to be boogying in the club too! Truth is I know I’m not half bad so it would be ignorant to think he isn’t a decent guy just because he’s in the club too; he could be there celebrating his friend’s birthday, doesn’t mean he’s a regular there. I know the club doesn't quite make the ideal scene to meet your ideal man, but to be fair, whether a guy approaches you on the streets, in a supermarket, in a library, art gallery, at a wedding or that Sunday night soca rave you sneak to...let's face it, the reasons will be the same – he was attracted to your appearance. You really think he is approaching you for your mind or a personality he doesn’t know yet? Girl, sitcho arse down!

3. What if you have no respect for his profession? Hmm…by all means, a woman wants a 'successful' man. Now everyone has their own measures of success but I think most women can agree that the man slouching on the sofa relying on jobseekers allowance doesn't quite measure up. There are unfortunately, some professions that people just have no respect for; for example, a friend was telling me about a guy she was once dating but just couldn't take him seriously because of what he did for a living which was playing online polka - she just couldn't respect that! Generally, women want a man with 1. 'a' job 2. a 'good decent' job and 3. preferably a REAL job! Obviously age is a factor when it comes to a guy's profession because him working as a shop floor assistant in a toy store was cute in college but him still working as a shop floor assistant in a toy store now aged 35 is not so cute and most importantly makes you question his drive and ambition (or lack of). So why give the man with the disrespected profession a chance? Well because you don't know the man he’ll become; just because you don’t like where he is now, doesn’t mean you won’t love the man he turns out to be in the future. Find out what he’s about first, he could well be a hard working man with a plan and goals, and maybe this job is just a means to an end for now.

4. I know I said baby daddy’s were one of my biggest turn offs because the thought of him sharing something as precious as a child with another woman kinda sucks…well nothing’s changed, it still sucks! However, if he’s doing everything right, are you really going to let someone who is your perfect match slip away just because he happens to already have a child? Look, it would be much more alarming if he had a child that he wasn’t claiming! Besides, a man with a child may have a certain level maturity that one without has not acquired. If he doesn’t come with the baby mama drama then I say give him a shot and if things go well prep yourself up for some step-monster, I mean step-mother duties.


5. Last but by all means not least, let’s hear out the mature younger dude. Notice I said ‘mature’. I actually know of some guys who got married by the age of 21with NO child involved, they were just ready to settle down early (and no they didn’t have a gun to their heads, I already asked that question). Don’t automatically write him off as irresponsible and immature just because he’s younger. I mean, obviously there is a paedophilia territory that you just don’t cross, just don’t! Overall, older women/younger men relationships can work out...was going to use Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher as an example but can't now, but hey with a MASSIVE age gap of 23 years, I'm impressed that they even maintained a marriage for 6 years. I'll have to settle with the Careys as an example -----and after marriage and two babies in the carriage, they still appear to be going strong. So yeah, don’t go cradle snatching all at once now ladies!

Ugh. Are you for real?!

Ok so, remember that guy or girl from your past who you just couldn't get enough of? The attraction was there, the banter was there, and you both just got on ridiculously well. However, despite having all the ingredients to form a solid relationship, for some unknown reason to you s/he just didn't want to be with you on a serious level. You ended up in this strange realm where you're not quite in the friend zone but also not cutting it to the girlfriend/boyfriend status. So one day it finally hits home that this make-believe relationship you have with them in your head has got to stop because its not real. Usually by this point you have already put a lot of emotional investment into this 'friend-lationship' and so the realisation of being rejected kinda hurts. In fact, it really hurts but we're just going to play it cool and not show it; deep down inside though the bitterness is reaaal. I mean, all we can think about is 'how dare you not want to be with ME?! I'm perfect for you; who else is going to love you from your receding hairline down to the corns on your feet?! You really think you can do better than ME??'. There's this great anticipation to see the 'better you' he or she gets into a relationship with since they annoyingly think they can do better. Boi, this new person better be the ish. Then the day comes when you finally see the 'better you'. Wait a min. You didn't want to get with me but you got with this crispy rice cake...

Are you for real?! Ugh.

No Regrets

We met for a reason,
either you’re a blessing
or a lesson.

#FrankOcean

Why I stan for Beyoncé

Girls love Beyoncé. Well I sure do! Her show in London was awesome. After fully regaining my voice, I can proudly say that I've reached stan status. Let me commence with my Beyoncé appreciation:

She's not just another manufactured pop star who looks good but lacks talent (ahem, no names). I like it when pretty girls don't have the 'pretty girl syndrome' where they just depend solely on their good looks to get them by. Beyoncé is not one to hold herself back in the name of vanity; have you seen how hard she performs? She turns from beauty into a beast on stage...literally! She looks like she's about to give someone the biggest smack down of their life!

They call her Queen Bey because she's at the top of her game and yes she's 'snatching wigs'! Though its fair to say her music isn't on the same playing field as an MJ record, no one cares because she just slays every single stage she steps foot on! I mean, my sister who used to stan hard for Rihanna has never bought an album before (not even Rihanna's), yet was able to reach for her purse to make that purchase on Beyoncé's album and was up 7am waiting to get her Mrs Carter Show ticket...Beyoncé did that! 

From Queen Bey to King Bey. She is her own boss with a great team behind her and oh yeah, shit loads of money! It is said that she made $200 million from her Mrs Carter show which ended last month - bawse! In a world where there are women who use men as financial plans, I rate Beyoncé for holding it down on her own. She has also cleverly managed to take full control of her personal brand and how she wants us to perceive her. Her work ethic is crazy and despite all her success, she still has so much drive and hunger for more. This woman just won't sit her booty shaking self down!

Speaking of sitting down, when she decided to embark on a massive world tour...had Blu Ivy's umbilical cord even been cut yet?! To top that, she was secretly recording songs along with shooting music videos then BANG! out of nowhere she drops a surprise album on us...*takes a minute of silence*. Then what? She tours again that's what. She made having a baby look so easy; she gave birth then got back to business...and she meant business. This woman truly is a beast.

She's one half of a 'power couple'. Just in case her talent, accomplishments and wealth wasn't something to be envious of, she marries a man who matches her success status. Though its debatable whether or not they are actually happy in love together, she's married with child and that's what women are told to aspire for right?? Well she's got that checked off.

Her work-life balance is...unfair! As much as she works hard (doing something she loves), she also gets to live her life and quite frankly, has enough money not to work! Can we also take a quick moment to discuss the fact that she doesn't appear to have many friends? All her candid photos that surface on the net are of her with her team or family. When do you see her snapped with celeb 'friends' or caught given shout outs to celeb 'besties'? She's not on a popularity hype and I like that.

Above all, the reason why I stan hard for Beyonce is because she actually seems like a nice person, and if she's not then this further shows how well she's orchestrating her image. Bow down!

Do what you love, and do it often.

I wonder how many people in this world live their lives for other people. Doing and not doing certain things in order to be accepted by their peers. Going to college, studying subjects they don't want to study, for their parents. Working hard for the government, doing 9-5s they hate, in exchange for 'security'. Following religions they were born into, but don't fully understand. Walking down the aisle with daunting wedding bills due to social pressures to be married with kids by a certain age bracket. Some people don't even marry their true loves due to their parents' unjust disapproval. In our dying hours, will we look back and be pleased with an unfulfilled life?