Archives for August 2009

That word again…

August 15, 2009 by 2 Comments

Overheard at a bank (the dreadful KCB):

Customer: Could you give me a KCB pen?
KCB employee: I don’t have pens sir.
Customer: But you work here, could you get me one?
KCB employee: I’m sorry that isn’t in my job description..

What the hell is going on here? Not in your job description? Please. it’s called customer care, honey. See, it doesn’t matter what is in your job description – when dealing with a customer your job description is to make him/her happy! Sheesh. If I was the employee’s superior I’d seriously consider firing her. On the spot.

Customer care people, customer care.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With:

The Best Job Advice You Will Ever get

August 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Charlie Hoehn has written a thought-provoking ebook on how to get your dream job: something you do because you love doing it but also get paid to do so. it’s an interesting read and may change what you think about jobs. Find it below:

Recession-Proof Graduate

View more documents from choehn.
Filed Under: Tips Hacking and Reviews Tagged With:

Here is a Method That is Helping Job-Seekers to Get Jobs

August 14, 2009 by 2 Comments

When looking for work online or elsewhere, it is sometimes very difficult to demonstrate what you can do to potential employers. You don’t really have anything tangible to sell and convincing clients to pay can be hard – they may even resort to asking you to do the work and then “if” it is good they will pay you. How can you change this? Use a portfolio. A portfolio is key in making potential employers feel secure and confident about you.

The use of portfolios is actually an old practice – for years artists, designers, journalists, teachers etc have used portfolios while job hunting. Only recently has this practice caught on with every other job hunter.

What is a portfolio? “It is a job-hunting tool that you develop that gives employers a complete picture of who you are – your experience, your education, your accomplishments, your skill sets – and what you have the potential to become – much more than just a cover letter and CV/resume can provide. You can use your career portfolio in job interviews to showcase a point, to illustrate the depth of your skills and experience, to show off previous work and accomplishments, or to use as a tool to get a second interview.” – QuintCareers

Basically, a portfolio goes beyond a CV/Resume in giving out information about you to potential employers. Here are some things that are usually included in a good portfolio.

All you need to know about using portfolios.

When looking for jobs online, it is crucial to have an online portfolio – someone where you can point potential clients to to showcase your stuff. Think about it. Your potential client is probably on the other side of the world and knows nothing about you or your skill set. You need to introduce him to you and then show off your great qualities. A portfolio does just that! The people over at Nickel Pro have been working online a long time – they know what works and what doesn’t. And they have an offer where they set up portfolios on the cheap.

Filed Under: Make Money, Online Jobs Tagged With:

Web Squared – web 2.0 all grown up

August 13, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Web 2.0 has been all the rage for a number of years now. Coined by O’Reilly media almost six years ago, web 2.0 is a philosophy describing what works optimally on the internet. The key principle of web 2.0 is collective intelligence: the fact that on the internet, you cannot ignore the users and have to respect them as equals when creating websites. web 2.0 thinking is what largely led to a death of all those ugly yellow pop-ups, pop-unders and other attention grabbers. Web 2.0 sites are easy on the eyes and designed to be very usable.

Well, guess what? Web 2.0 evolved into web squared. Basically, web squared is the rise of REAL. What do I mean?

  1. Sites like twitter, friendfeed and even facebook, to some extent, introduce a real time aspect to the internet. ou don’t have to wait until it is available on Google – you can get news on twitter as it happens. The real-time internet is here, or almost here.
  2. The internet of things. Nowadays, all sorts of devices are connected to and interact with the internet. From RFID tags to take wine cellars online to security lights that work off the internet to internet fridges – you name it, it is connected to the internet. You no longer interact with just people on the internet – there are ‘things’ too. The real world meets the internet.

What does this mean for you and I? There is a shift towards real time, and the internet of things. If you are a developer, entrepreneur, inventor, marketer, etc, you should be paying attention.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: ,

Freelancing – The Art of Making Money Online By Using Your Skills

August 12, 2009 by 5 Comments

If thoughts of freelancing have already been making rounds in your head for some time now, it’s time to give it a definite shot! One of the biggest advantages of freelancing is that it can be done from any part of the world as long as you have Internet access. From Kenya to India, and from Philippines to Mexico, as companies cut back on their expenses and staff numbers, they are increasingly seeking help from outside-freelancers. So, if you have expertise and experience, then it’s time to make the most of it by starting to sell them.

If you are now ready to read more…Congratulations! Let’s get started.

So, what are you planning to sell? That’s the first question you need to answer. What skill(s) can you sell you earn money? Whether you are good at marketing, advertising, web design, programming, ghostwriting, candle making, interior decoration, photography, child care, pet care, etc, etc…start planning your freelance business now.

If your skill matches the demand in the market, you should be off to an easy start. However, if you have a unique skill, you may have to struggle a bit at the start to create a demand. Once the demand is generated, you should be able to maintain dominance and expand your freelance business with patience and focus.

Ok, you have the skills. Now what about the set up? Much like most start-up businesses, you’ll need to get some basic things together. Some of the most important tools for freelancing include:

  1. Computer/Laptop – We live in a technology driven world. Not being able to use a computer is frowned upon from Kenya to China. So, get a decent computer to maintain records, correspond with your clients, and do research related to your niche.
  2. Internet connection – This for sure is one of the most important things to have. For Kenyans wanting to start freelancing, a hi-speed Internet connection is indispensable. It’s the BEST way to look for work, research for it, and deliver it. Even if you have a field business, you would require a reliable Internet connection to communicate with your clients.
  3. Website or blog – A website address is like an office address in the virtual world. Nowadays, having your own website is as important as having a business card or a telephone. There is simply no reason why a freelancer should not have a website. Can you do e-commerce if you are not online? No. Can potential customers who hear about you check you out later on the internet if you do not have a website? No again. Can current customers find out what your new offerings are if you lack a website? Not easily.
  4. Telephone/Mobile Phone – Get a new telephone number for your freelance business. This will ensure that your personal calls and business calls are segregated. Also if you don’t already have a mobile phone, this would be a good time to buy one so that you can stay connected with your clients even on the move.
  5. Printer – Being able to print emails, financial records, information etc easily, can be extremely helpful to you as freelancer. So invest in a good printer with decent print quality. The AIOs (All-in-Ones – Printer, scanner, and copier) can really help you run your freelance business efficiently.

Finally, you’ll need to learn how to get an online job! That’s it, you’re ready to start!

I cannot stress enough on the importance of a website, however simple, as you set forth freelancing. And is a website hard to get? No. You can get one very suitable for freelancing at just 100 Kenyan shillings. Go for it!

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With:

Jobs za Monday. Get yours now!

August 10, 2009 by 1 Comment

More Freelance Jobs

Write about Kenyan music – KenTunes, the premier Kenyan only music downloads store, is seeking to recruit a blogger for our online newsletter. We are seeking an experienced writer/blogger with great writing skills, an outgoing personality, sound judgment, professional demeanor and a good understanding of the Kenyan music industry.

Skilled travel writer required – 300 words per day.

Funny/informative writers needed – Bloggers Needed! Content Creation for New Site. We are a web start-up, focused on user-generated content, with elements of social networking and a whole lot of cutting-edge technology. Now that we are an open, public, site we need to have a daily roster of compelling content so we can market our new site and show people the true breadth of what it can do.

Freelance illustrator for flash games – Hi there.I’m the owner of www.poshdressup.com and I’m looking for a graphic designer to help me create dressup games and girl games in general.

Blogger needed – Jobacle.com, a popular career advice blog and podcast, seeks fresh bloggers who can work autonomously. We’re all for collaboration, but we need a self-starter who can be assigned a project or just as easily come up with their own and then write!

Looking for OLPC writers – If you have regular Internet access, fancy yourself a writer, or at least a blogger, and are familiar with the OLPC project, its history, promise, and the passionate emotion it brings out in people, please email a writing sample on an OLPC topic of your choice. Bonus points for a text file with content HTML coded in the OLPC News format for immediate publication via MovableType.

Web development and design – Nurses World Publications (NWP) is seeking professional end-to-end services for the design, engineering and development of an enterprise level, blended-model website utilizing the full complement of Web 2.0 technology. This new website is an outgrowth of Nurses World Magazine, a four-color glossy publication in circulation throughout California from 2003 to 2008.

Write about your perfect day – I am writing a book. It is a book with stories of about 50 peoples “Perfect Day”. Please submit a story with as much detail as possible about what your “Perfect Day” would look like. If it includes yachts and boats, then by all means write it. If you perfect day is your wedding day, then write it. Tell me what it looks like, smells like, and tastes like. Really let me feel the energy of what that day means to you. You could use your imagination or tell me about a day that already happened in your life. You do not have to be a writer, so tell all of your friends and family to submit their “Perfect Day” also. You just have to be passionate about what you are writing!

Freelance designers – I’m looking to hire WordPress designers who can deliver quality WordPress designs for Personal Blogs with standard SMO (Social Media Optimization) features, twitter widget, flickr widget and threaded comments.

Professional writers – We are looking for individuals / writers (non-commercial services) that have strong creative thinking and writing skills. The individual will be responsible for writing on any given topics that we give them or they will be required to research various topics on any given subject. Most of the sites we work with / own are sites in the finance market we are looking for someone with strong insurance related background experience or at least someone that can catch on very fast. If you are an excellent writer and strong creative thinker then this should not be a problem for you what so ever.

Freelance logo designer – I have just a budget of $50 for a logo design for an online forum. If you do well on this first one I’ll be more than happy to give you a second and third one as well. I’m looking for a logo designer who has an eye for what looks good in a logo.

Freelance writers – Looking for articles of 250 to 500 words in length on subjects related to how homeowners can save money, cut costs and reduce expenses around the house, in their day to day expenses (e.g. shopping, banking, paying for residential services, car related, etc.) The target audience is the suburban homeonwer/apartment dweller. Articles must have money-saving theme and be helpful, informative and current. A list of topic areas is available upon request.

Finally, Some Hot Freelance Jobs


Need help?
How to get an online job.
How to avoid online scams.

This post is a weekly feature – we post a list of online, work-from-anywhere, jobs every single week. Be sure not to miss the next list of jobs. Subscribe to Like Chapaa today, or sign up to receive free email updates.

Filed Under: Online Jobs Tagged With: , , ,

Case Study: Alice & Kev (Make Money Blogging)

August 4, 2009 by 2 Comments


About a month ago, I wrote about an interesting blog: Alice and Kev. Alice and Kev is a blog about life in the fictional world of “The Sims 3” game. Basically, the writer (Robin Burkinshaw) is playing The Sims 3 and then writing about his gaming experience. Pretty simple, right? Well, Robin is a master storyteller and his blog has become wildly successful. So much so that that each “installment” of Alex and Kev has more than 100 comments (this is rare for even the most successful blogs) and it enjoys a very very passionate readership.

Note that this particular blog started out low key as a personal project of Robin’s but because it was just too damn good, it exploded onto the scene and is now very popular. That’s how you build a successful blog: you offer something that is just too damn good; something that is remarkable.

As I’ve always said (to anyone who cares to listen 😛 ), once your website or blog has a dedicated group of people that actively visit/read it, then you can make money with that site/blog. Alice & Kev has a huge number of people who actively and passionately follow it. Therefore, of course, the blog’s owner is making money off it.

How does Alice & Kev make money?
The writer of this blog never intended it to be a commercial money maker and so has not really tried to make as much money off it as he can.

Since the blog is about The Sims 3, Robin has set up a system in which he earns a commission if anyone buys The Sims 3 game after reading Alice & Kev. He’s done this through Amazon’s affiliate program – you help Amazon make sales and they give you a cut of what the buyer pays – this is called affiliate marketing and it is how Alice & Kev makes money.

With his thousands of readers, I’m sure Robin has made some good money. Can you do something similar and earn money too?

Filed Under: Blogging, Case Study Tagged With: