Archives for May 2010

21 Ways To Make Money Online

May 10, 2010 by 7 Comments

This post is a quick answer to all those among you, dear readers, who write in asking, “how do I make money online?”

We provide an ebook below that gives a brief description of 21 legitimate ways to make money online. I know that most of you have probably heard about all these methods but I hope that this article inspires you to do something with your knowledge.

What is the purpose of acquiring knowledge? Knowledge is only useful if one can use it to his/her advantage. It is important to read widely to get as much knowledge as possible. It is more important to do something with the knowledge that you gain. Set your goals high, make a plan and just do it. Don’t think or otherwise procrastinate, just do it. You’ll be surprised at what you can achieve.

What if you fail? So what? Everyone fails. Do you know of any smart or successful people that you admire? What you do not know is how many times they have failed in the past. If you have never failed at something before, it probably means that you have never really tried to do anything before. Besides, once you get successful no one will even remember your past mistakes and failures.

So, grab the ebook and get started. Do something, don’t just sit there!

Download: [download id=”31″]

The ebook is somewhat dated (old) and does not go into much detail. Please leave a comment below if you require any more information – I’ll be happy to help with any explanations or advice.

Filed Under: Make Money, Small Business Tagged With:

If You Can’t Sell Something, Double the Price?

May 7, 2010 by 3 Comments

Here’s an interesting idea: if you are having problems selling a good product, don’t slash your prices, double them. People are more likely to respond to the perceived high value than a decrease value of the product.

I was just reading a great book, Influence – the Power of Persuasion. It is a great book with some good insights into the psychology of persuasions. I love books that explain human behavior, especially when it’s counter to what most people would expect.

Double The Price To Clear the Inventory

There was a story in the book that the author recounted about a friend who owned a jewellery store. The author had some turquoise pieces that she could not get rid of no matter what she did. She eventually got so frustrated with having the jewelery taking up space that she left a note for one of her employees before she left for vacation, asking her to sell everything for 1/2 price. Unfortunately, the employee misread the note and thought that the owner wanted to double the prices of the jewelery. But a strange thing happened – when the owner returned, all the inventory was gone.

The jewelery stored catered to tourists on vacation who didn’t know much about turquoise. They saw a high price on the jewelery and jumped to the conclusion that it must be high quality. They based their decision on the quality of the product by the price of it.

This is not an uncommon occurrence – it’s a shortcut that we humans take. Instead of learning all about turquoise jewelery – what is a normal price, what determines good quality, etc., people trust that an expensive price equals high value.

This Does Not Always Work

This doesn’t mean that you can go out and double the price of anything that you sell. For example, if you sell website hosting service and you tried to double your prices, you would lose a lot more revenue than you would gain. There are a few conditions that have to be in place for this to work:

  1. Your product is not a well-known commodity. If you sell bread or milk or TVs, you won’t be able to increase your prices. Your product is almost identical to your competitors and your customers will know enough about the prices to realize that your prices are too expensive.
  2. Your product is of good quality. Remember, the key is that consumers expect high quality for high prices. If you sell an obviously shoddy product (e.g. – obviously fake or bad turquoise), you will end up with an angry customer base. You might be able to make a few sales but this is not a business model that will last.

There are other benefits to doubling your price: You have less customers to deal with, which means less headaches and less overhead to deal with.

The real benefit, though, is that you can differentiate your product. The very fact that people will pay high prices, means that they stop seeing it as an everyday commodity – bingo! If you can differentiate it, you set the price level.

Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With:

Nice-guy Politics

May 6, 2010 by 4 Comments

One of the services I provide at 3CB is project management, which mainly involves logistics. For one client in particular, I handle correspondence, i.e. making phone calls and emails to get delegates to the venue in one piece, preferably with their wardrobe intact. It’s a tedious, essential, but unglamorous task.

This particular client has a very firm corporate image. It’s a no-nonsense environment where everyone takes themselves quite seriously. Protocol is followed in debilitating detail. As a result, any communication with customers is stoic, almost cold.

Enter me, with my warm, uber-friendly approach to strangers. Results were mixed at best, and disastrous at worst. My client’s associates began to ask for me by name, and my personality interfered with my client’s detached approach.

Because I was seen as more malleable, I ended up being sought on my own time for this client’s business, which was ineffective for all involved. On the plus side, people I had interacted with on behalf of my client remembered my name and persona. It’s quite possible that the relationships formed could lead to business tangents unrelated to this client. However, the primary client remains dissatisfied with my system, because that’s not who they are.

As a consultant and a businessperson, I’ve had to weigh the pros and cons of cases like this. Being myself may work well with some clients, and it certainly makes my job more enjoyable. But, cliché or not, the customer is still king, and it may mean compromising my attitude, dress code, or ethos to keep them happy. After all, they’re paying for my services, so they should get what they want.

There is a line to be drawn of course. If the client requires you to bend over so far that you end up on your back, you may need to pass up the money and work for someone else. But when you want to be paid, it’s not you that matters, it’s your client. Running your own business has very many perks, but it doesn’t necessarily make you the boss.

One way to overcome this is to pick your specialty carefully. You can’t always choose your clients, but you can choose your field. If you’re into computers and you want to start your own business, you should pick a niche that suits your nature. If you enjoy nitpicking details, you are better suited to programming, where every extra comma changes a swathe of site specs. If you’re a creative, graphic design is better, since it lets you use your imagination. The tinker-types would probably work well in hardware, so they can take things apart and stick them back together. Extroverts may prefer networking, so they can deal with flesh-type people as they explain how the systems work, and so they can be invited to the product launch.

As a writer and editor, I play with words, and I mostly work alone. My nature lets me deal individually with clients, so I sometimes do administration. Other writers prefer to outsource a marketter, publicist, or resident sanguine to deal with the more social aspects of their business. You could hire a personable assistant to act as your ‘social interphase’ so that you can hide in the basement and write. This assistant can be the ‘face’ of your business while you stay rich, anonymous, and less susceptible to kidnapping. Plus, you’re creating employment, which is always a good thing.

You may think you’re too shy, too quiet, or too nice to be in business, but with a little out-of-box thinking and some smart recruiting, you could surprise yourself. Try it, you just might like it.

Crystal Ading’ is a professional author, editor, rock lover and mother. Her work is available through www.threeceebee.com.

Filed Under: Small Business, Tips Hacking and Reviews Tagged With: ,

An Opportunity to Learn

May 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard of the League of Young Professionals? Well, it doesn’t matter. What is important is that the LYP has a nice event coming up. I thought I’d let you know about it.

There’s going to be a LYP meeting this Thursday evening (6th May, 2010) at Marble Arch Hotel from 5.45pm to 7.45pm. (Its on Lagos Road, near the Nairobi Fire station). Here’s a map to the place: Location of Marble Arch Hotel.

After a brief discussion of internal LYP matters (the formation of an investment club!), there will be a discussion with some entrepreneurs on challenges and opportunities one can expect as one engages in investing activities.

Thereafter, there shall be the main presentation by Jimnah Mbaru – an internationally renowned investment banker, and CEO and Chairman of Dyer and Blair Investment Bank who will be talking about Investments.

I think it is a perfect opportunity for you, dear readers, to socialise, network and learn more. I shall be attending. See you there?

The meeting is free to attend, but please carry Kshs 250/- to cater for some light refreshments.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With:

Are We Missing Something?

May 3, 2010 by 6 Comments

I have a story for you: a few years ago, one of my best friends quit his job. He used to work at one of the best performing companies in the Nairobi stock exchange. He quit so that he could set up his own advertising agency.

Guess what? His parents and his whole family, really, were up in arms over his decision. They could not believe why anyone would leave such a high paying job. His uncles even took time visiting him to ‘advise’ him to go back to his old job. To this day, one of his uncles always calls him with contacts of managers at large companies – he asks my friend to send his CV to the managers so that he can ‘make something out of his life’.

What you probably won’t believe is that my friend’s business is doing quite well. He has about twelve employees now, and has been profitable since his first month. Yet his family still refers to his work as ‘jua kali nonsense’. He should go get a ‘real’ job like everyone else, they say.

Really?

Recently in Thika, I heard of a bizarre incident. My friend’s dad was interviewing job applicants. The quality of the applicants was impressive – almost everyone had an impressive CV full of various qualifications and accomplishments. Some of the applicants were university graduates with degrees and everyone seemed like they really wanted the job. Surprisingly, as it turns out, the job in question was that of digging trenches. Can you believe it?

On one hand we have impressively qualified people looking for a job, any job. On the other hand we have the brave few who have enough courage to try and start their own businesses. Who would you rather be?

Let’s face it, we do not have an entrepreneurial culture in this country. How can people who try and start their own businesses be looked down upon by their families and societies while what they are doing is precisely what is needed to address our high unemployment rates? We need more people starting businesses yet these people’s mothers and fathers won’t let them. They’d much rather have their loved one’s join the over saturated job hunting market.

We need change! We need people like you and me to start businesses today. We need society to stop stopping us. We need to embrace the entrepreneurial culture in this country!

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: ,