Hi Friends,
1 Dream to make The Life's Way a brand to reckon with!
8th Blog Anniversary on 27th December 2020
2.86 Million Pageviews Achieved on 2222 Blog Posts
Reached Local Guides Level 9 Top Contributor in Johannesburg, South Africa
26 Million Photo Views Achieved on Google Maps with 10550 Photos
186k Views on 201 Reviews Posted for Google Maps #LetsGuide #LocalGuides
Posted 75 Videos on The Life's Way - Youtube Channel
235 minutes of new content
6192 likes on the videos
159,785 minutes watch time by viewers
315,249 views in 2020
Crossed 700+ Subscribers and gained 576 subscribers in 2020
#TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra
Thanks to everyone who contributed and collaborated in the growth of The Life's Way!
2020 has been an internal and external struggle between myself and the brands who were not providing me with any value in terms of any invites, review units or media or press drops or sponsored gadgets from time to time. Internal struggle in terms of heartbreaks I did of the executives working for the various PR companies who have been in constant touch with me for multiple years but didn't realize that I could say No. External struggle in terms of some of the brands taking my name off their lists of press releases and other invites whatsoever or anything happenings around their products.
Meanwhile, I took out all the thousands of posts done for many brands in the mid of 2020 but then at the end of 2020, I thought that I have done all the hard work to put them on my blog so why take them down. It's bringing me some traffic and if the brand notices this then it will be a favour from my end to them considering my heart is bigger than them. Thought this kind of emotional atyachaar is not valued in the business world but I am an emotional fool.
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| The biggest moment of my life was getting to meet Technical Guruji at Delhi Airport in Jan 2020 |
Let's start on the achievements and gratefulness for the gadgets and products received during 2020 even when it was lockdown for most of the part in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sometimes in life, you just have to ask the universe or the person in charge of something you desire and wants to have in your life. My first such experience came through when I asked the Huawei PR company for FreeBuds 3 and out of the blue they told me that we can give you one to blog about and keep also. I just picked up the same before the lockdown started in Johannesburg from their office. Many thanks and the same has been my partner in crime since the whole year or so.
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| Huawei FreeBuds3 in Red |
Similarly, I have been eyeing a great audio product from 1More called Stylish earbuds but they told me that a new one is coming on the market soon and you can review that one. I waited for some time and when the lockdown opened for the courier to start delivering - I received this awesome device called 1More ColorBuds which also my wife and I am using on a daily basis. She is using it more for her morning and evening walks and yoga exercises and I am only using it to attend to some office calls on MS Teams.
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| 1More ColorBuds |
This year I joined the Huawei Developers Program and received some goodies from them from time to time by participating in their contests and attending their development sessions throughout the year. From t-shirts to pen drives to mugs to some of their most sought after products, you can win them all. I won some of the audio speakers I always wanted to have and also one of the Huawei Band 4e for my daughter just before her birthday.
I upgraded myself from Samsung Note 8 (Bought from Amazon India in 2018) to Note 20 this year and it was a great feeling. I still feel that the camera on the Note 8 is better as compared to the Note 20 but thanks to Samsung for always creating new devices. This year I got invited to their online launch event after a gap of at least 3 years and got to eat some of the great snacks and drinks and check out the various products on display at their office.
I also started using the Canon EOS M50 camera for shooting my youtube content and felt so great to become one of the vloggers in the world who trust their M50 to the core. Most of the videos on my Youtube channel as well as my daughter's Keisha Youtube channel are shot using the M50 camera. If you have not followed me on the channel, please hit the Subscribe button.
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| The photo was taken using Vivo Mobile X50 Pro |
vivo Mobile send me their X50 Pro Smartphone for review and also one of their new Neo TWS earphones which are still not used by me and will be unboxed in 2021 on my youtube channel. I totally loved the smartphone and wanted to hold onto the same but the budgets were not there to sponsor me the same. My wife wants to own the phone which I will gift her after buying it from India as the price difference is really huge and it's almost half the price there.
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| 26th Jan 2020 was the day when we met again after a long gap of many years since our MBA together! |
After a gap of many years, Montecasino sponsored my 40th birthday dinner at one of my favourite restaurants named Thava Indian Restaurant and I had a quiet lovely delicious dinner with my family during the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. I also got the chance to join various other dinner and lunch events by Dine Jozi Style - Edward and enjoy some of the great evenings in the great company of like-minded people.
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| My best friend since June 1997 first day of Engineering College |
I also got to do some of the sponsored posts for Mattel which Keisha did on her Youtube channel and if you like her videos and wants to send her products to review do send me an email and we can feature your products and toys.
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| My first time to Golden Temple in Amritsar in Jan 2020 |
We also visited India in Jan 2020 and had an awesome trip in Dubai (Feb 2020) on our return where we got to see the famous sightseeing points in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. I really enjoyed it but we didn't shop as 4 days is too little to go on a shopping spree in Dubai if you are a first time visitor. My brother too flew in from California and he hired a Land Cruiser Prado which made roaming around in Dubai much easier.
At the end of the year, for the first time in the life of The Life's Way - I received the Christmas Gifts from Samsung in terms of Galaxy Buds Live and from Huawei too in terms of Huawei Watch GT2e which are going to my daily devices in 2021. I still have to unbox them and start enjoying which I am planning to do it on the 8th anniversary day of my blog i.e. 27th December 2020. Before this, I only received a Christmas gift from Montecasino once long ago maybe in 2015 which were some gingerbread snacks and a soft toy.
Thanks to all of the readers, brands and PR companies for trusting me with your products and services. I hope I have been able to do justice to them. I look forward to a great 2021 for my blog and youtube channel and will focus on getting the niche which is Lifestyle and Technology. Have a great festive season and a Merry Christmas and wishing you all a great Happy New Year 2021!
Cheers!!!
Support me if you like reading this blog post by buying me a cup of tea or coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheLifesWay Contact at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate and promote your services and products. Subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel for giveaways, product reviews and mystery unboxings. #TheLifesWay #9YearsofTheLifesWay. Namaste!
