3 Million Pageviews on www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay

Hi Friends, 

3 Million Pageviews

8.5 Years of Blogging

300+ Brands and Companies

770 Posts Self-written content

The Life's Way started on 27-December-2012

1 Million achieved on 21-July-2016

2 Million achieved on 8-August-2018

3 Million achieved on 16-May-2021

2281 Total Blog posts on Lifestyle and Technology

www.thelifesway.com

It all started with a dream to take care of my free time and to get involved in some kind of creative pursuit so that I can find my mojo and also get into something which can take me places around the city as well as the world. I have been able to enjoy my life in the truest sense of The Life's Way and also thankful to all the brands, companies, PR agencies, People involved in all these creative industries to give me a chance to perform and be myself and promote their products from time to time. I am sure some of them I have failed, some of them are indifferent and some of them must be happy too. Over the years, I have met some people who were really happy to meet me in person and it used to astonish me as to what special I have done in their lives. I also got the opportunity to eat in certain restaurants where I would not have normally gone and also maybe won't be able to afford a meal or two but because of TheLife'sWay I was invited and enjoyed some vegetarian delicacies. I might have not drunk alcohol but if it was gifted to me some of my friends must be happy for that day when he drank that wine or champagne or whiskey. 

The power of social media platform I understood in my first year of participating in the Facebook contests and then migrating to the Twitter contests soon thereafter. With a strong presence in both these platforms, I was set to achieve something big when I started my blog inspired by the journey my friends took in their collaboration with the Indiblogger platform. I wanted to win some Soul by Ludacris headphones and that was the whole purpose of starting in the blogging industry but I could not win them since today. Though I got to win a lot of prizes on the Indbiblogger platform from earphones to headphones to laptops to cash to gift vouchers and build up my creative instincts as well as knowhows of blogging and in the process meet the biggest celebrities and eat at the 5-star restaurants in India. 

When I came here just before the first anniversary of TheLife'sWay, I came upon a different kind of struggle. The internet data was too expensive and I had no social media following locally as I created another Twitter handle @thelifesway to be using especially in South Africa only. I didn't know any PR companies and any brand and even when contacting those brands they were saying you only have 62 followers. Then slowly and steadily I built up my following and after more than 6 months (Nov-2013 to Apr-2014) of struggle, I got my first chance from Sony South Africa who was instrumental in putting me with Primedia to review each and every movie released in their theatres. Throughout my next many years, I continued to watch each and every movie twice a week non-stop unless it's some kind of load-shedding happening in the area. 

The second thing that happened around the same time was the Mission Samsung's Blogger Challenge Campaign for all the residents of South Africa and it was my dream to be winning one or at least be a part of the challenge. It came in newspapers and on Twitter handles and on their website - I read through the Terms and conditions as I wanted to win the same and put in a lot of effort to get to know about the challenge. It was their collaboration with Webfluential as well as SA Bloggers by Sandy. This contest really gave me a boost as it became my passion because I had missed the opportunity to become Samsung Blogger in India as I started my channel a little late and the contest was over by then where they chose certain bloggers who will get their products and will be getting invited to all their launch events. It was a really big dream for me to get involved with all the technology brands. 

I don't remember now when 1 Million and 2 Million pageviews were achieved but I will dig deeper maybe to check on the same. So after a lot of digging, I got the answer to the 2nd Million was done on 8 Aug 2018 after 5.5 years of blogging so it took me around 3 years to reach the 3 million mark. That's a lot of effort guys. The first million I was subscribed to a service where I paid the money annually to do the tweets which used to bring me a lot of traffic on the website and I used the service for 2 years. But I had to disconnect as many of the users blocked me as it was never-ending tweets about the same content again and again. The first million was achieved on 21 July 2016 as I used to tweet the daily progress of my blog those days. Such a time waste if I think about it. I think when I stopped posting that number for many years, people who used to follow me kept asking me how's your blog doing? I never understood the reason for their ask but now I am getting it as to why they used to ask me this question. 

So the fastest growth seems to be between the first and the second million pageviews as after the same, I started rejecting many brands who were just making use of my time and efforts and not giving anything in return at all. I have considerably reduced my time to be spent on my blog since the birth of my second child in January 2018 and focussed more on other social media platforms once again. My still belief is that I have got much more goodies from my social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as compared to the blog which means that I have won several contests giving me much bigger prizes as compared to the goodies gifted by PR companies and Brands at their launch events. But this post is to celebrate the overall crossing of three million page views on The Life's Way and what it means to me? 

3 Million is just a number and I hope to reach 5 Million soon in some next years and I will continue to write the new articles and blog posts. I will also focus on shooting video blogs that will go on my Youtube Channel. If you have not followed me on the channel, kindly do so as I am still far from the first 1000 subscribers and just need around 228 new subscribers to reach that landmark. This can be done in a single day by my readers around the world. Kindly follow the link and subscribe to the TheLife'sWay Youtube channel, please. Your help will be greatly appreciated in this regard. 

I would also like to mention what I have received in terms of goodies or media gift pack during all these years from all the brands I have supported on my blog posts - 

1. Samsung South Africa - 139 Posts - Samsung Galaxy Note 20 (Won), Samsung Galaxy Buds Live (Gift), Samsung Powerbank 8700mAh (Gift), Samsung Launch Event trip to Cape Town for Note4, Samsung Launch Goodies - Snacks Packs (Gift), Samsung NX300 (Community Challenge Winner) Won, Samsung 65'' Curved UHD TV (Mission Samsung Grand Finale Winner) Won, Cape Town Trip for Grand Finale Mission Samsung

2. Huawei South Africa - 136 Posts - Huawei FreeBuds3 (Gift), Huawei Watch GT2e (Gift), Huawei FreeLace (Gift), Huawei Watch GT (Sponsored), Huawei Bands (Gift), Huawei Wifi Dongle (Gift), Huawei Gift pack and accessories, Huawei Tshirt and Shorts (Gift), Huawei Hoodie (Gift)

3. Montecasino, Johannesburg, South Africa - 85 Posts - I have shared so many posts for Montecasino and most of them are for the event tickets and never got any stay at any of their hotels or properties. I was recently again invited for their movie launch event where I won Tomato Watches and also some Coca-Cola goodies which I have made YouTube videos about. 

4. Indiblogger - 83 Posts - I have participated in a lot of their contest where sometimes I won Flipkart vouchers, sometimes goodies were sent to us, some of the posts were for cash also and overall it was a joyous collaboration with this blogger network in India. I have bought a lot of stuff using those Flipkart vouchers for sure. 

5. Disney South Africa - 68 Posts - Other than their annual showcase goodies along with movie tickets from time to time the gift packs includes generally some books, notepads, Mickey Mouse Volkano Bluetooth speaker and recently in 2021 time National Geographic Astrum Bluetooth Speakers which you can watch on Youtube channel. 

6. Acer South Africa - 67 Posts - R500 gift voucher to buy stuff from Shop.acer.com (used thrice), Acer Launch goodies like Pen drive 8GB, Paper stand, Typo calculator, pens and diaries. 

I have stopped sharing for Acer South Africa as I didn't get anything worthwhile sharing all their press releases and doing product reviews though I used to get invited to their local launch events and also some products to review. 

7. Sony South Africa - 53 Posts - Sony MDR-XP450AP Extra-Bass Wired Earphones (Gift), Diary, Pen, Sony Xperia XA Ultra, Sony Xperia XZ Premium

My love for Sony products is such that I bought so many products in London along with my earlier collection of products that when I came back to India, the Indian Country Manager of the Sony Headphones division wanted to visit my home and gift me with a new product but that couldn't happen as I travelled to South Africa before he could plan a visit. Anyhow, it remains my favourite company as I have kept hold of my old portable e-Reader, old noise cancellation headphones along with various other Sony products from Cassette player to MP3 Players to Portable CD player. I will start showcasing them on my Youtube channel soon. 

8. Silverstar Casino, Johannesburg, South Africa - 48 Posts - Silverstar Casino Marketing team provided me with a lot of staycations which I won during their several events and got to stay in their Presidential Suite also twice or thrice. I have got pen drives, Champagnes, Pens, Diaries, Casino vouchers, hotel stays, free movie tickets, Picnic sets, beach mats, Cheese cutter, Coffee maker and so many fun activities to be part of in terms of their event tickets. I am not getting invited anymore to their launch events but I have had a great run with the brand and I am so grateful to them. 

9. SterKinekor South Africa - 39 Posts - Movie tickets mainly and some launch events. 

Sterkinekor was the first company if I remember correctly to invite me to a movie night and gave my first goodies bag in South Africa which was a Diary and a Pen. I still have not used any of the items and kept them safe. 

10. rAge Expo South Africa - 36 Posts - rAge Expo Tickets, rAge Expo media goodies like Lego blocks or some kind of other goodies like caps, t-shirts, carry bags from their sponsor like MSI Gaming etc. 

It's always a pleasure to receive an invite to their expo which is a mad mad time to enjoy the best of the best games, memorabilia, gadgets and other technology-related products and goodies. I have been part of most of them since I came to South Africa and over the years the thing that remains with me is MSI  Lucky Dragon Bag which is a perfect fit to carry all the groceries and vegetables from the car to the home. All my 3 bags collected over the years are now at the end of the road and I need some new ones to carry on showcasing them in my shopping trolley. 

11. ZEE South Africa - 28 Posts - No benefits at all other than 1 invite to go to Zee launch event in a Chauffer driven limousine which was an experience in itself. That's my only experience in life to sit inside a limousine. 

12. LG South Africa - 25 Posts - Macaroons, Mobile Stand, Pendrive, LG X Screen, Mobile Photography Class at Vega 

13. Lenovo South Africa - 24 Posts - Lenovo Pen drives, Diary, Pen, Customised Laptop Sleeve, Yoga mats, Tshirts full sleeves, Lenovo Wireless Mouse

14. Microsoft South Africa - 23 Posts - Pen drives, Poncho, Scarf, Brainstorm magazine, Pens, Invite to their CIO-CTO Event, Cap

15. Uber South Africa - 21 Posts - Tshirt, Discount voucher (never used), Mobile Stand

So these are the top 15 brands in terms of the number of posts done and some of them I have also marked as brands that just wanted free promotion and vanished once I asked for something in return so there are around 60+ posts belonging to those brands. So this is the current number of posts for all these brands and maybe or not there will be more for them or not depends on the respect I get in return for my time and efforts. Here I have not talked about the thousands of tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram posts for all these brands which come along with attending the event, or sharing blog posts or receiving the goodies. Overall, it's has been a great journey so far and I generally do publish the yearly posts too which you can read and enjoy too. Thanks to each and every pageviews reader to make it happen! Thank You! 

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!

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Oct 2018 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra

Hi Friends,

October 2018 saw the blog 50 posts across all streams of lifestyle and technology but as I am looking at them now, it makes no sense to post the press releases on the blog. My personal voice has lost and I am not able to find time for the posts which I am thinking in my mind but it never comes to my blog. So I have decided that 2019 will the end of press releases directly getting on my blog and I am going to complete my relationship with them by posting all of them received this year in the next few days. 

No one ever reached anywhere with all the press releases as I am not getting the respect I think I deserve from the brands. I am going to be more myself starting today onwards and doing what I love the most. 

Creating new content with a passion to bring a change in the life of those who follow my blog in 2020.

1. #rAgeExpo2018 Spreads The Love, Does The Things @rAgeExpo - https://www.thelifesway.com/2018/10/rageexpo2018-spreads-love-does-things.html - rAge Expo is an experience and 2018 is one of the greatest for me. I won the MSI Gaming Keyboard and this year I didn't get anything at all not even the MSI bag to carry stuff around. lol!

2. @HuaweiZA Disrupts the #Smartphone Industry #HuaweiMate20Pro #HigherIntelligence - https://www.thelifesway.com/2018/10/huaweiza-disrupts-smartphone-industry_26.html - I have not seen the mobile till date despite doing so many posts for the brand. I went to the launch event and only got the goodies everyone invited got. I am thinking now that the brands are taking me for granted as I am okay with their treatment for myself. But I am grateful that I have got some great goodies from the brand in all these years. 

3. @SilverstarZA Will Once Again Become a #Beach Paradise This Festive Season #LoveSilverstar - https://www.thelifesway.com/2018/10/silverstarza-will-once-again-become.html - This was the last event I was invited to at Silverstar Casino and this complete year I didn't get any invite and only press release which I told no to. Further, then I never got any invite and was taken out of the list I suppose. I think I have got so many goodies from this in the last few years from pen drives to stays at the hotel. 

4. Gauteng’s Premier Entertainment Destination @MontecasinoZA Scoops Four Awards #GottaLuvMonte - https://www.thelifesway.com/2018/10/gautengs-premier-entertainment.html - Montecasino has been my favorite destination but this year I didn't get any invites from them too. I personally also visited very little as it's too far from my home. But sometimes I have to go there for my kids who love to play games at the Gaming center there. 

5. Get Ready For #JohnKehoeFinalTour 10-11 Nov 2018 #Johannesburg #SouthAfrica @LearnMindPower - https://www.thelifesway.com/2018/10/get-ready-for-johnkehoefinaltour-10-11.html - I asked the PR to get me a copy of the book and soon it arrived at my doorsteps for this blog post but still it's there in my drawers and I have not read it. These days I have started listening to a lot of audiobooks while I travel which has really helped me learn some new things in life. 

This is the best time of the year to create new goals and plans to follow your passion. I am not able to sleep as I need to do something regarding my passion and what I want to do in my life. I need to create big goals that can motivate me towards the new journey I want to take in 2020. It's the year I will complete 40 years and the next few years will be my journey towards financial freedom and doing only what I want to do rather than expectations of people around me.

Cheers!!!
Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com or editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on your products, events, and services. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra! 

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Nov 2016 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay

Hi Friends, 

November is the time when you plan to finish all your pending tasks and I am also busy completing all the pending review posts for some of the devices I either bought or got it for review. It's also the time to meet and start new associations for the next year. As my blog www.thelifesway.com will be completing 5 Years on 27th Dec 2017, I have upped my Instagram game and also associating all the channels across all my handles and some days ago only, I switched to Business account on Instagram. I have also started seeking help from many in the industry to learn from their experiences which I was not doing earlier. This has opened my world further and I am getting a lot of ideas. 

1. @HuaweiZA Introduces the #HuaweiMate9 #Android #Phablet #aStepAhead - http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/huaweiza-introduces-huaweimate9-android.html - Huawei launches their Mate Editions range of smartphones during this time and this year Mate 10 was launched in CapeTown but I was not the chosen blogger to be flown to the launch but anyhow I watched the same live on facebook as my love for the brand. Let's see what happens as I try again and again to get sponsored a smartphone by Huawei. 

2. A #Trolls Movie Experience of Lifetime @FantaFunZA #FantaPhotoBomb - http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/a-trolls-movie-experience-of-lifetime.html - This was such a great campaign I was part of last year which gave me a lot of fun along with fun with family too. I also won the Samsung A5 Smartphone as a lucky draw prize when I attended the Trolls movie at Sterkinekor. I gifted the same to my mom as she was looking for something new and always was getting old smartphones from either my brother or myself. She was very happy to get this gift. Thanks to Fanta South Africa for the same. 

3. Come and Celebrate #Summer @SilverstarZA This Festive Season - http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/come-and-celebrate-summer-silverstarza.html 

http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/come-and-celebrate-festive-season-with.html - Silverstar Casino is the only brand which calls me to most of their without any fail and I have also done a lot for them on social media promoting all their events. Recently, I am not doing much for anyone as I am now looking to go sponsored so totally taking away all the free posts. If I am not getting the pageviews, I want to achieve, then only I will go and post press releases but it will be only my wish.

4. Halloween Just Got Real With @DStv #DStvHalloween @MNet #NightRun - http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/halloween-just-got-real-with-dstv.html - I attended this unique launch for a Night Run with the Zombies and it was amazing. The amount of detail in the setup was awesome and checkout some of the images from the night run in this post. 

5. A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Aug 2015 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay -
http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-aug-2015.html
http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-sep-2015.html

http://www.thelifesway.com/2016/11/a-memoir-this-month-last-year-oct-2015.html  - I simply love my memoir series of posts as it brings back those memories and thoughts which I was having that time of the year. I am very lazy sometimes and too busy sometimes to write these but last year November I covered for all the pending ones. It also gives me perspective and benchmarks the amount of clients I have currently and who left me and I left whom. There were many companies from whom I have not got anything in return so I have simply stopped working for them or covering them on my blog.

The next big thing that is happening in November 2017 is the launch of Anytime Anywhere Magazine Print Edition in UK and South Africa along with Online edition where I will be writing articles on Travel and Technology. In case, you want to sponsor my pages on the monthly magazine, do contact me either via aashish@anytimemagazine.co.za or thelifesway@gmail.com and I will introduce you to our Sales Team and Editor for further advertisement rates in the print editions. In case you want to sponsor my personal blog and channels, you can do that too. Follow Anytime Magazine on facebook, twitter and instagram. Looking forward to this associations!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

@SilverstarZA Welcomes the Famous #AaryaRestaurant To @TsogoSun Property #Jozi

Hi Guys,

On Tuesday, 6 June 2017, MasterChef South Africa’s inaugural winner, Deena Naidoo, opened the doors to yet another established eatery under the “Aarya” banner at the West Rand’s number one entertainment destination, Silverstar Casino.

Aarya’s menu epitomises our colourful South African nation. It brings people from diverse cultures and backgrounds together through tasty and innovative food. Speciality dishes include Durban Curry, Bunny Chow and Chef Deena’s signature dish – Butter Chicken. Chef Deena is ready to welcome guests to a one-of-a-kind culinary experience at Silverstar’s Aarya.

“Silverstar Casino prides itself in constantly improving its offering to its valued patrons. Aarya boasts a contemporary, fresh and lively feel, not forgetting extraordinary service. The menu includes an array of delightful food and drinks, and we cannot for our esteemed guests to come and experience all the culinary tricks Chef Deena has up his sleeve,” says Sanele Ntombela, Marketing Manager at Silverstar Casino.

Chef Deena named the restaurant in honour of his daughter, who was given the name for its Sanskrit meaning of noble, kind, honourable, dear, and favourable. His extensive knowledge of spices, together with the fusion of both the traditional and contemporary, results in a uniquely blended menu that delights the taste buds of his guests. For more information or to book your table at Aarya, please visit: https://www.silverstarcasino.co.za

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

ROULETTE – A Simple Question of Black Or Red? @MontecasinoZA #RouletteKnockout

Hi Guys, 

An iconic game steeped in history, Roulette is known as the queen of casino games – for good reason. It’s great fun and delivers a thrilling experience, particularly when the stakes are as high as a R500 000 Knockout first prize.

Tsogo Sun’s Roulette Knockout, which offers a total prize pool of R1 Million and a guaranteed first prize of R500 000, kicked off on 22 May at Montecasino, Gold Reef City and Silverstar. With players from not one but three casinos contributing to the winnings and 100% of the R100 buy-in going straight into prize pool, the chances are good that the winnings could be even higher than the guaranteed amounts.

“Every Tsogo Sun group and regional tournament has seen the prize money being increased because of the enormous popularity of the tournament, which can be attributed to the low buy-in of just R100, making it possible to transform a hundred rand note into thousands or even millions. This is exactly what happened to the winner of Tsogo Sun’s 2015 Roulette Knockout tournament when a student spent just R100 on the buy-in, played once and won R350 000. Every year the tournament starts out with a guaranteed prize pool and every year the prize pool increases because every cent of the R100 buy-in goes into the prize pool,” comments Tables Manager of Montecasino, Caroline Naidu.

Shedding some light on the game of black and red, Caroline explains, “Roulette doesn’t require a lot of learning to play and it offers almost as much winning chances to a first-timer as to a seasoned player. There are 11 different ways that you can wager, resulting in 161 betting spots on the wheel layout. An American roulette wheel has 37 numbers—1 to 36, a 0.

Caroline Naidu- Tables manager, Montecasino

The beauty about the Tsogo Sun Roulette tournaments are their accessibility, says Caroline. “Literally anybody can enter and win. Our latest Roulette Knockout tournament winner spent R300 and won R1 million. We’ve seen a massive increase in the popularity of Roulette since the inception of the Roulette Masters and Roulette Knockout tournaments, which prove that you can turn a small amount into millions, but there’s really no difference between a tournament and what we offer on the tables at Montecasino. Based on the maximum bets and number of positions available on the table, it’s possible to win R784 000 on a single spin. Our biggest wins in Roulette have been a player who won R5 million overnight and another who was awarded R9 million in one gambling session.”

On to the burning question – is it really all about luck or is there some strategy to playing Roulette? “As with all casino games, Roulette is game of chance. There is some strategy to playing in a tournament, where you need big numbers to get onto the leader board. But in the end, it all comes down to chance. Players choose their lucky numbers and, because of the success of the tournament and the number of people buying in, there are more spins of the wheel and more people winning.”

Having worked in the casino industry for over 18 years, Caroline has witnessed all manner of superstitious behaviour from players calling on Lady Luck to shine on them. “We see lots of mascots and lucky charms on the tables, and people who will only sit or stand in a particular position, or make sure everything on the table is facing in a certain direction. We even have people throwing salt or standing up in the middle of the game to walk around their chair before resuming play.

Does Caroline have any insider’s advice for people wanting to try their hand at Roulette? “Speak to the staff at the table. Try to find a quiet time when they can spend some one-on-one time teaching you the rules of the game. Read all the collateral available at the casino and be clear on your personal objective in playing the game. Decide how much you want to spend and at what point you want to stop. Know your limits and be prepared to lose what you’re risking. Breathe and enjoy the experience. The idea is for you to be having fun and enjoying the excitement of playing the game.”

For further information, visit www.montecasino.co.za. Be sure to join on Facebook at www.facebook.com/montecasino or follow on Twitter at @MontecasinoZA.

 

Cheers!!!

 

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

4 Years of www.TheLifesWay.com #TheLifesWay #Birthday #Blogpost

Hi Guys,

2016 have been great for my blog - reached out to new brands and some of the brands said Good bye too! Change is the only constant thing in this world and I came up with terms that sometimes your passion will take a hit for the earning of bread and butter. 

Year 2016 being the 4th year of #TheLifesWay brought 518917 pageviews in 12 months from 396 blogposts and for the first time ever it crossed One Million pageviews on the eve of my birthday 22nd July. This was a proud moment as it happened on my birthday and was the biggest gift of the season. To celebrate this occasion I bought myself a Samsung Gear S2 smart watch from Incredible Connection in it's Cyber Monday sale.

The most important thing along with this one was the moment when I won a smartphone Samsung A5 (2016) model from a movie premier show for Trolls (movie) by Fanta South Africa. I always wanted to win one but all these years I could never so this was a great feeling and I gifted the same to my mom in India. Sponsored posts wise this year didn't brought that much money/vouchers like 2015 but this year's Indiblogger PR posts helped me buy a Nikon DX 35mm lens for my Nikon DSLR camera which I always wanted to purchase.

2016 brought the biggest travel in a Cruise from Durban to Mozambique and Portugese Island in MSC Sinfonia sponsored by Flight Centre and Cruise About. It was a great time spent on the ship and I really enjoyed all the activities there. I did felt sea sick first night but took a medicine and was sorted for rest of the trip. Also, this was my first trip to Durban and really loved seeing the old local Indian populated town. The second trip was my first time to Kruger National Park which was sponsored by Protea Hotels at Paul Kruger Gate. I really loved watching the animals but eyes were too tired to keep up on the searching all day in sun and sand.

Braham Sarovar, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

I was part of most of the events at Silverstar Casino and did several posts for them and posted a lot of pictures too on my instagram page. I was lucky enough to win in one of their media events and stayed again at the Vega Presedential Suite. Also for the first time in 2016, I attended an event by Logitech and got my own #TheLifesWay printed UE Roll 2 bluetooth speakers. Huawei remained a prime sponsor in my life for inviting me to all their launch events and goodies bags they give are amazing. Year 2016, I received Hugo Boss Sunglasses for P9 launch and Huawei Band for Mate 8 Launch event. Though I still feel sad that they have not sponsored me their smartphone despite my instagram page filled with Huawei hashtags and also I have not seen the likes of P9 and other recent smartphones for review also. 

I also got Go Budds bluetooth earphones by DJ Fresh which are really amazing and a surprise package of SunStream's Portable Mobile Charger using Solar technology. This really made my car in India charge my mobile as it didn't had that 12V charger in it. Checkout this product in Builder's Warehouse starting from ZAR 250 onwards.  I was part of several new launch events and shared the same across my channels. There had been so many small small items that I received from brands which I regularly distributed to my friends and family. I am so grateful to Universe for each one of them. It's just because of my blog www.thelifesway.com I am able to get them.

In the year 2017, I surely would love to get sponsorship in terms of a smartphone, tablet and laptop as my Dell XPS L501 was bought way back in 2010-11 from London and tablet Google Nexus 7 my parents bought from San Francisco in 2012 and smartphone is HTC One M8 which was gifted by HTC South Africa (old review device) in 2015. They have helped me shape my blog and twitter handles but it's time to say Good Bye to these devices too! Are you listening Universe?

Also, this year I plan to increase my Instagram followers and post more snaps every month to the amount of 5 each day on average. I also plan to venture into Youtube this year as I am trying to make video's on my DSLR camera and started learning the same too using Youtube channel of Nikon India. I have also missed my writings on several of the series I used to publish in 2016 but will revive all of them in 2017. Also, I intend to post all the pending reviews of all the electronics items I have bought and used for some time. I also missed all the time I could devote in 2015 on my blog as professionally my role in my job now demands a lot of office work to be done at home too. So I hope to bring in more efficiency in my work to get some hours of open time for taking my blog and social media channels to next level. 

Let's see how to fulfill all these aspirations in Year 2017 but thanks once again to all the brands and PR companies for investing their time and money in me. I am eternally grateful to all the PR companies who left me in 2016 and to all of those which embraced me further. I will always work towards giving everyone fair returns on their ROI but won't work for their brands if I am not getting anything in return. 

Cheers!!! 

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products and services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

A Memorable #Movie Day with #Smurfette @SilverstarZA for @ReachforaDream Foundation Kids

Hi Guys, 

On Friday 31 March 2017, Silverstar hosted children from Reach for a Dream Foundation, for a magical day out at the movies to mark the release of Smurfs: The Lost Village. They were treated to a scrumptious lunch, a viewing of the movie, and the blue cherry on top – selfies and hugs with the beautiful yellow-haired Smurfette. The Smurfs Costume Tour made a stop at Silverstar, giving the children the opportunity of an exclusive meet and greet.

The Reach for a Dream Foundation is a non-profit organisation that fulfils the dreams of children who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. They believe in inspiring hope through the power of dreams and encourage children to use those dreams to fight their life-threatening illnesses.

“We are honoured to have partnered with Reach for a Dream and play a part in making the children’s dreams come true. It was a great day out at Silverstar for the children and they had the best time meeting the live character from the movie. We look forward to fulfilling and inspiring more dreams at Silverstar”, says Sanele Ntombela, Marketing Manager at Silverstar Casino.

The new Smurfs movie opened on 31 March 2017 at movies@Silverstar. Visit www.silverstarcasino.co.za for Smurfs: Lost Village show listings. Silverstar’ s Rewards Programme members can enjoy movie discounts of up to 80% (from 31 March 2017) and great restaurant offers at selected Silverstar outlets.

 

Cheers!!!

 

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to blog, share and influence about your products & services on all my Social Media channels #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra !

A Memoir - Year 2016 for www.TheLifesWay.com #Blog #AashishRai (1000 Post)

Hi Guys,

2016 has been the year when life changed so dramatically that it was hard to find time to do blogging as there was always some run around the mill kind of job happening all the time. There was also a change of job description which consumes most of my time leaving no energy to even switch on my personal laptop at the end of the day. But it's only in adversities like these your real passion comes out and blogging have given me everything I have since the last four years. 

The Life's Way in its fourth year of going live way back on 27th December 2012 achieved it's One Million Pageviews in 2016 on my birthday 22 July. The Life's Way achieved 518917 pageviews to take the total count to 1.26 Million pageviews with 396 blogposts shared in 2016. The Life's Way achieved many more features crossing 3200 followers on instagram.com/araijain and first 100 followers on www.facebook.com/TheLifesWay page along with twitter.com/TheLifesWay crossing 8900 followers. 

Though I didn't got sponsored by any brand for any of the products in 2016 but there was a lot of great events which gave some great goodie bags this year along with many which only gave a USB stick. The best being the Fanta Fun movie invite of Trolls which really was my top most dream come true where I won the Samsung's A5 (2016) smartphone which I am going to gift to my mom. Smartphone win has been eluded to me from so many years and this was a dream come true when finally I got a packaged one in my hands. Thanks to Fanta and their PR team for the same.

Secondly, I loved attending my first Logitech launch event of UE Roll2 and to my surprise I got one personalized at the end of the launch. It was so great to receive the launched product on the same day of the launch to keep. I am grateful to the brand and the PR company who invited me to that event. 

Thirdly, I am eternally grateful to Huawei for calling me to their smartphone launches where I have always got some nice goodies from Hugo Boss Sunglasses to Huawei Band and selfie-sticks this year. I gifted my Huawei band to my father and sunglasses to my mother when they visited South Africa for the first time this year. Though my wish is to get a Huawei Mate 9 or P9 Plus smartphone as my day to day phone but it has not happened in 2016. Fingers crossed for 2017!

I am so grateful to Tsogo Sun's Montecasino and Silverstar Casino PR teams for always making me a part of all their events. I have always received something or the other from Silverstar Casino as a gift and this year again I got one night stay in their Presidential suite. 

Thanks to Indiblogger for their IndiOne press releases launch where you get paid if chosen by the brand to post their content on your blog. I got chosen by some of the brands but it was not enough to cover the costs I spent on my blog in 2016 and no major assignments came from other brands too so making it extremely difficult year for The Life's Way.

2016 also saw my first visit on the MSC Cruises Ship from Durban to Mozambique on a 4-nights-5 days trip which was really an exciting experience of a lifetime. It was also my first trip to Durban and Balito. I travelled to Richards Bay, St. Lucia and Kruger also in some of the subsequent trips in 2016. I had so much fun showing my parents in and around Johannesburg and loved visiting some of the great places in Pretoria for the first time myself. Thanks to Flight Centre and Protea Hotels @ Paul Kruger Gate for making MSC cruise trip and Kruger trip possible respectively.

This completes my 1000th  post on www.thelifesway.com and I hope to see some 250+ posts this year and achieve 2 million pageviews by the end of 2017. But this year I want to get fully sponsored by the brand who can invest in me and in return I give them my content and a share of my day to day life. Looking forward to an awesome 2017 in The Life's Way!

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com if you want me to attend your launch events, blog and share on all my #socialmedia channels #TheLifesWay or to be a #Ambassador for your products and services!

A Memoir - This Month Last Year - Aug 2015 www.thelifesway.com #TheLifesWay

Hi Guys, 

August 2015 was the time when a lot of new companies were contacting me for the product reviews and I really loved doing so too. It was also the month when my family was back in town from India and again a lot of shopping for groceries started happening. 

1. An Amazing Slots Race @TsogoSun @SilverstarZA to be Winners! - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/08/an-amazing-slots-race-tsogosun.html - This was one of the best planned and organized event I attended in the history and later this year, the team won the prize based on the social media reach for this particular event. I really loved running and completing activity after activity to won myself two nights stay at The Presidential Suite, Silverstar Casino. Thanks for the invite to Montecasino and for the lovely goodies that came along with this event. 

2. Amenity Kits @Turkishair_SA makes travel memorable! - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/08/amenity-kits-turkishairsa-makes-travel.html - Who doesn't love unexpected goodies and when they are special which are not sold in the market, then it's collectible. I really loved getting Amenity kits from Turkish Air when they launched some new ones for their business class customers. I still use them and really loved them a lot. 

3. #Showmax Video On Demand @showmaxonline launched #SouthAfrica - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/08/showmax-video-on-demand-showmaxonline.html - Showmax launched their services in South Africa and I received a month's membership for free. I really enjoyed watching certain documentaries never heard of and unavailable on the TV networks along with some of the old movies which I could not watch earlier. 

4. Product Review - @TomTom_SA Runner Cardio GPS Running #Watch - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/08/product-review-tomtomsa-runner-cardio.html - I got this watch after I reviewed Fitbit and Sony smartwatch and this was had a focus for runners. It had all the features required by runners to help them track their progress and run in their performance zones. As I am preparing for my first marathon, I am really missing this watch. 

5. Before & After Party @SavannaCider - It's EPIC! #Jozi - http://www.thelifesway.com/2015/08/before-after-party-savannacider-its.html - Savanna Cider used to be a brand which I endorsed a lot last year and got invited to several of their events. This event's picture got published in several newspapers and I really loved to see myself on those Page 3 articles. Thanks to Savanna for the invite. 

August has been always great for me as it's my brother's birthday month and a lot of other relatives too. It's party time in August and also the planning for my daughter's birthday took a lot of time. Sometimes life gives you different unexpected twists and turns when you have to think about which one can be the right way, stick to your values during those times. Someone above is always looking at you with hope and love and Universe will make sure that you get what you deserve.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com if you want me to attend your launch events, blog and share on all my #socialmedia channels #TheLifesWay or to be a #Brand_Ambassador for your products and services!