Archive for October, 2009

« Older Entries

Google Alerts – A Free Research Assistant

October 28th, 2009

What if you could keep track on news/information on whatever you are interested in? What if you could receive updates whenever new information regardng your subject of choice was mentioned anywhere on the internet? Would you like that? Well, then you will love Google Alerts.

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. This means that whenever any website mentions your topic of interest, you get a Google Alert. For instance, if you want to keep track of news/information on Safaricom, simply type “safaricom” as your search term on the Google Alerts home page and you will receive information on all new Google search results that mention Safaricom.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

  • Monitoring a developing news story
  • Online reputation management
  • Keeping current on a competitor or industry
  • Getting the latest on a celebrity or event
  • Keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

Google Alerts will automatically and reliably deliver your updates. It’s like having a research assistant!

2 comments »

Posted in Tips Hacking and Reviews

Tags:

The Strawberry Store

October 27th, 2009

A whole lot of people dismiss Kenyan online business as being ahead of their time. Some people even go as far as claiming online entrepreneurs in Kenya as being misguided, or even plain silly. The usual explanation is that Kenya is still very new and untested as far as the internet goes…etc etc. But who will do the ‘testing’ if no one dares to try? The good news is that more and more Kenyan online businesses are being launched. When are you launching yours?

Today, we’re going to take a look at the Strawberry Store, a Kenyan online business that specialises in importing and selling home, office and institutional furnishings and accessories. One of the co-founders, Naomi Konditi-Kivuvani, has been interviewed over at Tujuane – click here to go and read the interview which talks about the Strawberry store at length.

What I found interesting was that the store exists purely online. There is no physical showroom or shop. While I have doubts on how well this approach works in Kenya, it is a commendable and brave move. For one thing, the expenses of the store are very much reduced and the only overheads are those of hosting and maintaing the website – which are usually very minimal.

When you buy items from the Strawberry store, you either collect them at their pick-up center near Adam’s Arcade, or you can have them delivered to you starting at Kshs 200/-. Again, this is a commendable approach. However, I’d think that several strategically located pick-up centers would work better.

So, how does the Strawberry store get it’s clients? Naomi mentions that they rely on email marketing and facebook advertising. Both of these are powerful ways of getting people to notice you, especially here in Kenya. However, I wonder how well the facebook campaign is doing. To me, facebook – at least in Kenya – wouldn’t be a suitable advertising medium for most products/services. Why? Well, the majority of people who use facebook in Kenya are teenagers and other youth. Unless you’re selling something that this group can afford and would want to buy, getting their attention is not worth much.

One thing that I would wholeheartedly recommend for the Strawberry straw is a blog. The absence of a blog was something that struck me within a few minutes of browsing the site. As far as internet marketing goes, a blog is almost always something like your mothership.

All in all, I love the work that Naomi and her team are doing. I recommend that you check out the site (and make a purchase).

Parting shot:

“Running a web-store may look easy, but it’s really harder than running an ordinary physical store. This is because there’s nobody just ‘passing by’ to come into the store, you have to make people be aware of the store using creative methods. ” – Naomi Konditi-Kivuvani.

Photo by Muffet.

5 comments »

Posted in Small Business, Tips Hacking and Reviews

Tags:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad Part 1

October 27th, 2009

Rich Dad, Poor Dad was my first business book. I read it over a week or so in High School and, to date, I still remember very well it’s core teachings.

One of them is this: always think in terms of assets and liabilities. Assets are things that put money in your pocket while liabilities are things that take money out of your pockets (like a car). If you want to get rich, all you have to do is accumulate assets and minimize on your liabilities.

Interesting, eh? Watch the video.

YouTube Preview Image

No comments »

Posted in Miscellaneous

Tags:

The KCB Mobile Wallet

October 24th, 2009

Just the other day, I was thinking to myself: do I really have to go to the bank? I really dislike going to the bank, especially inefficient banks like mine. And that’s, really, been everyone’s complaint against KCB over the years: it is very inefficient. Or it was.

In a surprisingly innovative move, KCB recently announced that they will be launching the “mobile wallet” next year. While Zain’s ZAP is posing a commendable challenge to MPESA, I think the mobile wallet is what will really challenge MPESA. It looks to be a game-changing service for at least the following reasons:

  • KCB is a large bank, by all means. This means it has considerable leverage and, possibly, experience to make this product a smashing success.
  • The mobile wallet will not only work for KCB account holders, it will work for anyone who has a mobile phone in Kenya. Thus, the potential reach is quite large.
  • KCB are going to build an interface to the already popular MPESA for the mobile wallet. This is a notable case of cooperation that may well fasttracks the rise of the mobile wallet’s popularity.

I am very much looking forward to the mobile wallet. One impact of MPESA has been making ‘banking’ services available to all and sundry. I am excited to think of how many more people can be reached by the mobile wallet. Good job, KCB.

No comments »

Posted in Tips Hacking and Reviews

Tags:

The Worst Thing About Doing Business In Kenya

October 21st, 2009

As you all may know, the Like Chapaa team is also involved with Nickel Pro where we do a whole bunch of stuff ranging from simple web design to online marketing. Like chapaa and Nickel Pro are only a few months old but in that time we’ve managed to take them from just ideas in our minds to reality.

For me, this has been my first brave plunge into the choppy waters of doing business in Kenya. It’s been a wild, but very fun, ride and I have learnt a whole lot. Trust me, the best way to learn about business is to actually do business. (And it’s not hard to start one.) I unreservedly advise all of you, dear readers, to go out there and start your own businesses and see for yourself.

Of course doing business is no bed of roses. It’s always up and down and it really tests one’s resolve. One thing that I absolutely detest about doing business in Kenya is the fact that almost everyone doesn’t want to pay you. You meet a nice gentleman-type and you do some good work for him but then when t comes to paying, he just doesn’t want to. He gives all sorts of excuses and does everything to delay you. Yet, he has already gotten what he promised to pay for. Why is this?

Why do we have to chase after our hard earned money so much? Aaaargh!

No comments »

Posted in Small Business

Tags:

Do The Work…

October 15th, 2009

You’ve probably heard this a million times but I’m going to say it yet again. Many, many people do not succeed because they don’t take action. You may have a beautiful, solid plan and all the tools you need but if you don’t do anything with them, you will fail.

Procrastination has the power to kill any business.

You cannot sit idle and expect to make money, at least when you’re starting out. You must put in the time, or you have to spend money to get others to do the work for you. There is no other way.

Are you sitting on your behind? Are you just waiting for success or are you making it happen with hard work? Are you properly focused and are you prepared for success?

You have to keep taking action. If you’re not working hard to get that profit, it surely won’t come. Your success depends on you; the buck stops at you. You cannot procrastinate, you cannot sit idle.

Let’s get to work…tujijenge tukijenga Kenya.

Photo by Rennet Stowe.

4 comments »

Posted in Small Business

Tags:

You Need To Know About Online Reputation Management

October 13th, 2009

Guess what? Everyone’s a critic these days. Of course this has always been true but, these days, every one of these critics can probably go online and write their thoughts on facebook, twitter or even their own blog. Why should you care?

Suppose you own a nice little restaurant and one day, I have lunch there. I don’t like the food and/or service and so immediately after (or even during) lunch I write on my facebook “I hate Restaurant X, the food smells”. Suddenly all of my facebook friends know that you serve smelly food at your place. They’ll maybe tell their friends who will then tell their friends, and the whole thing could grow into quite a movement against your restaurant. And you probably don’t even sell smelly food.

Before the internet, it was very difficult for a single person to spread news to large groups of people but now one can do it in five minutes. As the internet grows in importance in our lives here in Kenya, business owners should be wary of the dangers that it brings. It could take just one blog post or status update to cost you hundreds of potential customers. This is why online reputation management is important.

Online reputation management is the deliberate act of making sure that what people find when they look for you or your business online is favorable to you. Wikipedia defines it as, “the practice of consistent research and analysis of one’s personal or professional, business or industry reputation as represented by the content across all types of online media.”

When you Google your name or that of your business. Do you like what you find on the first page of results? When you Google my name, the first page of Google displays articles that I’ve written, and links to other places that I hang out online. This is by no means an accident, I consistently try to influence what others find when they look for me. What about you, or your business?

Many companies in Kenya may get a big surprise at what people are saying about them online. For example, at Like Chapaa we’ve talked about quite a number of Kenyan companies but only a handful have even noticed that we talked about them. What else are they missing?

5 comments »

Posted in Internet Culture

Tags:

How To Be Successful

October 12th, 2009

About two months ago, we started a little project to try and work with some of our readers and try help them earn their very first Shilling online. Of course this program is Biashara 30. Well, B30 is now coming to a close and I want to take this opportunity to share the biggest lesson that I learn over the duration fo B30.

First, let me digress. B30 was fairly successful. We only let in 10 people and, unfortunately, some of the people we let in did not find time to participate in B30. The rest were very active, and the B30 training website bears witness to this. By far, the star of B30 was Maria Maina. She came to B30 being a big newbie on the internet but as I write she is launching an ebook shop whose first offering is an ebook that was written by Maria herself. In addition, she is a raging success at online freelancing.

How did she do it? In her own words, “Don’t flake out and everything you do will achieve some success.”

I agree with Maina. If you want to do something, and succeed at it then you have to do it, and do it well. You have to put in the energy, focus and do the work. There is no shortcut, really.

Going back to B30, Maria stood out from the rest – she actually really did everything that we talked about, and flooded our inboxes with questions. What about the rest of the B30 participants? No one put as much effort as Maria……likewise, no one is enjoying the success that Maria is enjoying.

If you want to do something, and succeed at doing it then you simply must work at it. Find time and work at it; and work at it again, and again until you accomplish your goals.

N/B: If you’re looking to get into the next B30 then be warned….everything that you achieve is absolutely up to you and to the amount of time and effort that you put into the project.

4 comments »

Posted in Blogging

Tags:

Nokia’s Ovi Mail In Kenya

October 11th, 2009

So, recently, Nokia has been very hard at work telling us about the new Ovi mail service they’re introducing in Kenya. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? You can have access to email on your phone as long as you own a Nokia. You don’t need a Blackberry anymore.

I think it is a move that is long overdue. Mobile phone manufacturers have a unique opportunity to influence the way we use our phones. Just imagine this: Nokia could have an MPESA-type service that works the world over, couldn’t they? I wonder why they took so long to try and “own” their phones and what we do with them. But I digress.

Back to Ovi. While it is a super move and I am very much interested to see where it is going to end up, I think the advertisements are a bit dishonest.

One in particular says, “you can get upto 1,000 emails free of charge.” First off, this means that Nokia is going to charge us to use Ovi mail at some point. Can this really work? Probably. I would never pay to use Ovi mail, though. Because I can get email cheaper elsewhere. You can too – just download Gmail for mobile and you’re good to go. Or if you are comfortable working with POP and other email settings, almost all Nokia (and other) phones allow you to set up POP and IMAP access to email from your phone.

Secondly, “1,000 free emails” is just downright untruthful. You will still have to pay your mobile phone network operator for the data you use. For Safaricom this is Kshs 8/- per Megabyte while it is Kshs 3/- for YU – don’t know about the rest.

I love that Nokia is introducing Ovi Mail. I’d prefer some honesty though.

That said, Nokia’s Ovi is so much more than just email. I encourage yo to try it out!

Edit 12/10/09: I have confirmed that the first 5MB worth of emails using the Ovi Mail service is absolutely free. No network charges. Good deal made by Nokia.

7 comments »

Posted in Tips Hacking and Reviews

Tags:

‘White People Stole My Car’

October 7th, 2009
Who really stole your car?

Who really stole your car?

‘White people stole my car’ became one of the most searched topics in Google over the past few days. If you are thinking it’s the new hot rock band, you are wrong. So what made this phrase so popular? The result generated by Google on the search was ‘Did you mean: Black people stole my car.’

I know, I know, right now you are probably like ‘whaaaaaat???’ Well, if you spent sometime on Google more than a week ago trying to figure out why this phrase became one of the most searched phrases, you probably came across a lot of unsatisfactory results and got a whole lot of bugs and viruses while at it. I have tried the search severally but haven’t been lucky enough to get the said results either because Google has already fixed it, or it simply never happened. There isn’t really anything out there that fully explains this.

Some say it was just another Internet scheme, some say it really did happen. Either way it has been all over the Internet and generated comments from readers all over the world expressing their disapproval, shaming Google and demanding a public apology. While others have just taken it with a light touch and laughed it off. Weather it was a mistake by Google or some schemer’s plot, it sure has caught a lot of attention.

Here are some comments I came across:

Kevin: Try to Google black people shoot up school or black man chops up his wife and see what the results are smh. LOL
Jay: How is it racist? The search engine generates results based on popularity. More websites have the content “black people stole my car” than “white people stole my car”. Statistics are the truth….not racism.
Flagburner: All black people are criminals, some just hide it better than others.
Brandon: After nosing around a bit, I discovered that devilish lil’ spammers made this oh-too-popular phrase appear on Google Trends and from there, folks were led to Web sites filled with spam and viruses.
Joe: How about this: WET(White Entertainment Television)
now how would that go over? Will blacks be upset? Will you watch?
Mandy: Honestly? Come up to where I live and you’ll see all the blackies acting like we owe them something…
From Canada: Racism is alive and real… Blacks are suffering internationally, even in Africa.. slavery has been replaced by debt and prison systems…It’s worse than the Martin Luther King days, because it’s hidden…I am a successful black, but why did I have to work 3 times harder and be 10 times more aware???
Anon: relax everyone. It’s hilarious! I laughed so hard when I read that… and black people DID probably steal your car. Ha ha ha funny though!
Brik: So you are saying that white folks ain’t thieves? That’s just Bull!!
Jolenr: Ok this is racist but really funny. Like if I Googled “black people can’t dance” and it said “did you mean “white people can’t dance?” we need not to take ourselves so serious and laugh!
Heidi: a joke is something that all or most people can laugh @…even as a white woman this makes me upset. I think to just say “oh its a joke” should not make it okay.

There is also a whole website whitepeoplestolemycar dedicated to helping all our brothers out there find their stolen cars.
So to laugh or frown upon it is up to you.

9 comments »

Posted in Blogging

Tags: