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:

How To Make Money With A Blog

July 31, 2009 by 8 Comments

I once wrote elsewhere, “What is a blog? A web log, which is usually shortened as blog, is a type of website in which entries are made much as in a journal or diary and displayed in chronological order. But that’s just the technical mumbo-jumbo. A blog can be anything you want it to be. Your diary, your magazine, your newspaper, your photo album, whatever.”

Three years later, the definition of a blog hasn’t changed much. Enough with definitions, though – I’m sure many people don’t know (or don’t care) what a blog is. The more important question is, how do you make money from a blog? There are lots of ways to do it, and I shall talk about a few today.

Traffic
Before you even think of earning from your blog, you have to think of how you will attract visitors to your blog. If no one ever reads/views your blog, then you can be certain that you will not make even a single shilling from it. Got it? Good. On the internet, traffic is key.

Please have a look at this: How to build a successful website.

So, how do you make the chapaa?
I shall assume that you have somehow managed to build a successful blog, and that a reasonable number of people visit it everyday. Also, I shall assume that your blog is filled with content (words, videos, pictures, etc) that people find interesting or useful.

Here’s how you make money from such a blog:

Advertising – The obvious way to earn from a blog is by selling advertising space. Look at it this way, you have a good number of readers who visit you everyday – advertisers will be interested in pay to reach those visitors.

There are two ways to earn from advertising:
1. Self served Ads – basically, ou approach a company and tell them that they can advertise on your blog. If they agree, well, you get paid.

2. Advertisement networks – if you don’t want to go through the trouble of approach companies directly to advertise with you, you can join an advertising network where they approach the companies themselves and all you do is display the adverts and earn. This is a very popular way of making money online and thousands of websites (including blogs) survive and thrive on this model. Normally, you are paid a few cents (US $) when someone clicks on an advert. If you have many visitors then you can earn millions.

RSS Advertising – all blogs have an RSS feature. (What is RSS?). The idea is basically the same as above – place adverts in your RSS feed. Feedburner is a popular RSS advertising service.

Sponsorship – You know how Project Fame is sponsored by Tusker? The same thing could happen on your blog and is already happening at a lot of other blogs.

Consulting and Speaking – So you’ve built a really successful blog and it is widely read. This means people will start viewing you as an authority in the topic in which you write about. For example, if you write extensively on relationship advice, you may one day get the opportunity to be a paid get speaker at some event somewhere. Another example: even though Like Chapaa is young, we’re getting offers to act as consultants guiding new internet business owners. The returns are gooood.

Merchandising – In my own opinion, this one is tricky to pull off but it is possible. Suppose that you built such a wildly successful and popular blog named “Example Blog”. Maybe some people would buy and proudly wear Tshirts and other merchandise bearing your blog’s name and logo. Cafepress is powering an increasing number of bloggers to earn in this way.

Digital Assets – Increasing numbers of bloggers have been developing other digital assets to support and add revenue streams to their blogs. By this I mean that I’m increasingly seeing e-books, e-courses and e-seminars being run by bloggers.

Affiliate Programs – basically, this is using your blog to sell other people’s goods and services for a commission. It is one of the most popular ways of earning on any website (not just blogs). Where do you find these goods and services that you can sell at a commission? try: Clickbank, or CJ.

Blog Network Opportunities – Blog Networks are groups of blogs which work together to attract visitors and earn incomes. Blog networks these days are high profile and popular. Joinging such a network could be lucrative. It may not be easy, though. Why should you join a blog network?

Business Blog Opportunities – many companies (internationally, not sure about Kenya) are now starting blogs. (Because blogs are too important to ignore). Some companies use their existing staff to write their blogs. But an increasing number are hiring specialist bloggers to run their blogs for them.

Writing Opportunities – When you have a popular blog, people notice you. They know how good you are at writing on the subject matter of your blog. It is therefore not uncommon for bloggers to get jobs or freelance gigs at magazines and newspapers. (For example: I’ve been approached several times to have things I write on Like Chapaa printed elsewhere).

Flipping Blogs – Build a big beautiful blog and sell it for huge profits. This actually happened with NBB.

Donations – put out the tip jar and ask your readers to support you. It’s a simple concept 😛 Kottke.org is the only example I could find of a blog doing this well.

I realise that just mentioning the above is not good enough. I shall therefore follow up with case studies of each or most of the above methods being successfully used. Stay tuned! Subscribe to my RSS feed (free) or sign up for free email updates so that you don’t miss a thing!

Filed Under: Blogging, Make Money Tagged With: , ,

How To Make Money From Domain Name Parking

July 24, 2009 by 4 Comments

So we’ve learned quite a bit about domain names and domaining in general. You’ve done your research, picked a good domain name and perhaps even registered it. What now? How do you make money from it? There are two main ways you can make money with domain names. One of these is domain name parking and it is what I am talking about today.

Simply put, domain name parking is pointing your domain name to a page, typically containing advertisements. In other words, instead of building a normal website, you “park” your domain. Parking can be used for any of the following: serve as a ‘holder’ while you builds your site (like jayanoris.com), allow people a means to contact you, assess the number of people who visit a website and, finally, earn free money.

How do you earn money by parking your domain? Think of it this way: the ‘parked’ page that your domain is pointing to could contain advertisements. When people click on these adverts, you could earn money. Got it? There are two ways to do this:

1. Domain Name Parking Services
These are people who you partner with to place the adverts on your parked domains. Their adverts are usually contextual, meaning they are configured to math what the visitor to your site is looking for. For example, if someone got to your website by searching for “soccer” on Google, the parking service will display advertisements related to soccer in hopes that this will interest the visitor to click. Cool, eh? Here are some good domain name parking services:

Sedo – Sedo is the most popular domain parking service on the net right now. It is a very professional service with a lot of features available absolutely free. A good thing about Sedo is that it is also one of the largest domain name marketplaces and so you get exposure to people who may want to buy your domain.

Parked.com – Parked.com is solely a parking service, which allows them to focus more on the earning aspect of parked domains. Their payments are higher than those of Sedo.

2. Creating Landing Pages
Instead of sharing the revenue with a domain name parking service, why not create your own parked page? That’s exactly what a landing page is – it is where visitors “land” when they visit your website.

The purpose of a landing page is to make the visitor click on an advertisement or other offer and so the best landing pages are those in which users do not have to scroll at all – everything is displayed the moment the page loads. Also, if you load your page with so many advertisements and pop-ups, pop-unders, and God knows what else it all turns to spam and the visitor will very likely just quit the page. However, if you integrate your ads into the page subtly and classy then you are more likely to get leads and ad clicks. You should also make an attempt to give your landing page a somewhat professional appearance.

To make money from a landing page, you need to have offers or advertisements. Where do you get them?

Google Adsense – Google Adsense is the most popular contextual advertising service today. And for good reason – Adsense has a good targeting feature that gives your visitors ads that are extremely relevant to your domain. Since they’re backed by Google, you can rely on Adsense?s reputation and never have to worry about them not paying out at the end of the month.

Commission Junction – Commission Junction (CJ) specializes in offering products or lead offers to publishers rather than contextual ads. This means you advertise actual products and services of your choosing rather than automatically generated adverts. CJ typically have better pay outs than Adsense.

Other advertising networks you can use.

Hire Us
At Like Chapaa, we create a lot of landing pages for our own sites and clients – we know the business! If you’re stuck on how to go about creating your landing page, why not hire us? We’ll create a professional page and optimize it to make sure you maximise your earnings. We charge Kshs 1,000/- per landing page.

Contact US.

This article is part one of a series of articles that will fully explore making money online from domain names. The other articles in this series are:

1. Introduction
2. Domain Extensions
3. Researching Keywords
4. Domain Name Registration
5. Domain Name Parking
6. Selling Your Domain

Be sure not to miss the final article by subscribing to Like Chapaa (free) or signing up to receive free updates by email.

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With: ,

Candy.com

July 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

This past June (last month), www.candy.com was sold for a cool USD 3,000,000/-. That is around 240,000,000 Kenyan shillings. Sweet eh? Guess what he bought it for…

The seller is an individual domainer named Rick bought it in the 90s probably for a few hundred US dollars. Then he sells it from 3M. Sijui if you can get such margins anywhere but on the internet! Rick is a domain name speculator…he buys them cheap and sells them very high. (He is the same guy who sold www.ireport.com to CNN for USD 750,000/-)

The question is, can you make money this way in Kenya? Just think about it, some day .co.ke domain names will be very valuable. The good thing is that you can still get very interesting domain names in the .co.ke range of domains. I wanted to buy www.drink.co.ke and sell it to Coca Cola, but it seems someone beat me to it. I’ll keep on looking though (got a few I’m holding on to till they become valuable enough).

Can you (yes, you) make money this way? Why not? Learn how.

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With: ,

How To Actually Start A Business

July 22, 2009 by 2 Comments

If you have read a lot about starting a business, you’ve probably seen over and over that it’s not so difficult. It just takes determination, hard work and patience. This is all true. For most people the problem usually comes in actually starting. You know like when you really want to do or say something but you just don’t know how to start? I put together a couple of steps to help starters get past that starting point.

Decide what you want to do – This should be fairly simple. You must have had some idea in order to want to start a business. Something that you are good at and you actually enjoy doing. It can be writing, marketing, advertising, selling, chocolate bunnies, pretty much anything sells these days. Most people have the idea in their heads, how they are going to make millions, start their own ‘apprentice’ show or something like that. You basically need a plan, not many go as far as Scofield by getting it tattooed all over their body but you get the point, decide what you want to do and have a plan.

Do the research – Check out the field you want to join and even better know the ‘who is who’ in it. Who is likely to be your mentor, who is going to be competition, who can help you out, who to look up to, who to aim to beat. All of these different people will come in handy at different points later on. Through this research you also get more insight and maybe new ideas on how to operate that you had not thought of or maybe even discover things that are not already offered that you can bring in.

Get a website – A website is becoming increasingly crucial in running any kind of business today. It is very important to have good stuff on your site, stuff that people will want to know, don’t just copy and paste from some other sites or pick up other people’s articles. I’ve seen many people complain about the state of Kenyan websites and how they are not up to standard, and seen even more people ripped off by cons selling clone sites. To save you any misfortune I recommend Nickel Pro for your website design, management, hosting and all your web needs.

Get clients– This is the part that needs a lot of hard work and patience. You have everything set, your website running, all that is left is getting clients. You need to let people know that you are out there, what you have to offer and why they should get it from you and not your competitors. There are many ways to do this. You can start a blog of your own, leave comments on other peoples blogs, get into forums, chat rooms, write articles, send emails, do everything. Even the old school African way, tell your family, friends and neighbors and tell them to spread the word.
A big mistake most people make in this part is doing this blindly. Before you start advertising yourself, decide who you want as clients, a target group. After narrowing it down to a specific people advertising is easier and if you do it right most of it will pay back.

Keep clients – Now you have a running business and a bunch of clients yay! It’s not yet time to relax though. In fact, it’s sometimes harder keeping your clients happy than it is just getting them. They came to you because they think you can do the job right. All you have to do is prove to them that you are better than everyone else and make sure they don’t regret picking you. How you treat your clients is very important. Update your website with information they need to know, reply to their comments on your site, answer their emails in time, give them high quality products, timely deliveries and do everything you can to make sure they are comfortable.

Launches – Yes launches, not lunches. One reason why a lot of on line businesses do not succeed is lack of stimulation. If you offer the same thing, over and over, after a while it gets to be kinda boring. To keep your business alive you need to have a launch maybe once every two or three months. Depending on what your business is.
What is a launch? It involves bringing in something new, a fresh idea to your business. For example we had Host a Charity a while back and Biashara30 right now, which is starting soon by the way so sign up if you haven’t yet. These new and different things that you bring in give your business a little spice. Launches also give your clients something to look forward to, makes your duty interesting too since you have to find something new every so often plus it offers an opportunity for you to get new clients due to the new additions to your business can be services or products.

So stop thinking about how you are going to do it and postponing, the sooner you start that business the sooner you start becoming rich 🙂

Filed Under: Make Money, Small Business Tagged With: , ,

Domain Name Registration

July 22, 2009 by 1 Comment

Alright, we’ve had an introduction to domaining and domain names, domain extensions and how to get good quality domain names. What are we trying to do? We’re learning how to make money from buying and selling (at a profit) domain names. If you aren’t yet aware, selling domain names can earn you thousands (of US dollars) per sale. At what cost? A typical domain names costs 800 bob.

Today, we shall go through the process of buying a domain name. This is called domain registration. Now, I’ll be honest: I have no idea of how registration works from the technical point of view. Honestly, though, you may never need to know how the back end works.

Simply put, you buy domain names from Domain Registrars. They are licensed to sell domain names by ICANN. Once you buy a domain with a registrar, they put it into the registry and mark it as owned by you – so that no one else can register it later. Domain registration fees are paid when you register a domain and are charged annually. Once you buy a domain, it is yours in every way and you can manage it as you like.

Factors To Consider When Buying Domain Names
Registration Cost – Domain costs can range from $10 to $2,000 depending on the extension so it pays to shop around and get the best deal. However, as with everywhere else,you get what you pay for. You may buy a domain at $1.99 and get pue hell. It’s a fine balance of cost and quality that you cant to be looking for.

Domain Management – As I’ve said above, don’t get caught up looking for cheap domain names and forget that a good registrar should offer more than just registration services. Having the ability to manage your domains well is critical and a good registrar should have, at the very least, the following:

  • Ability to set DNS (domain name server)
  • Ability to modify your domain address
  • Ability to setup a URL redirect
  • Private Whois option available
  • Ability to manage multiple domains from a single account
  • Automatic renewal or renewal notification long before the annual registration fee is due

Customer Service – Sometimes you need help in one way or another, especially when you are new to domaining. It would help if your registrar is responsive and helpful. A good way to tell if the registrar has good customer service is to email them before ordering and judge the speed and quality of their responses.

Where Can You Buy Domain Names
Web Host Kenya Ltd – Many people look for good, reliable Kenyan domain registrars (to get those .co.ke domains) with little luck. Web Host Kenya is a diamond in the dust! A bit pricey for international domains, though.

Name.com – I have used this service for a while now and I have absolutely no complaints. They offer everything that you need as well as some extras (like Google Apps for domains integration).

Namecheap – They have a fantastic reputation and a huge amount of satisfied customers. They make transferring domains a breeze which is important to consider since domainers are constantly buying and selling new domains.

GoDaddy – GoDaddy is a popular registrar. They also have a good domain management system and fantastic customer support.

Other recommended places that you can buy domain names:
Dotster.com
Network Solutions

How To Save Money When Registering Domains
A little-known way of saving money during domain name registration is using coupons. When buying a domain name, there is usually a place where they ask for a coupon code – if you put one in, you get a discount!

Here’s a few places you can get coupons:
DNCoupons
Happy Coupons
Coupon Cache
Daily eDeals

Don’t Have A Credit Card?
If you don’t have a credit card or debit card, your domaining career is going to be difficult to start as almost all the above registrars accept payment only online. We can help, though (and cheap too). Basically, we have a credit card so if you do not have one, we can register the domain name of your choice for you after you pay us in cash, cheque or by MPESA.

Our charges:
International domain names – $10 (Kshs 800) per year
Local domain names – Kshs 4,000/- per year

Contact us.

This article is part one of a series of articles that will fully explore making money online from domain names. The other articles in this series are:

1. Introduction
2. Domain Extensions
3. Researching Keywords
4. Domain Name Registration
5. Domain Name Parking
6. Selling Your Domain

Be sure not to miss any of these articles by subscribing to Like Chapaa (free) or signing up to receive free updates by email.

Filed Under: Make Money, Tips Hacking and Reviews Tagged With:

Can Your Mom Also Work From Home?

July 18, 2009 by 1 Comment

More and more moms are now starting their own home-based businesses and we say – good for them!

As the Internet unifies the world, as geographical boundaries disappear,
online money making ideas for work at home moms or WAHMs are on the rise. If you are an educated, talented, experienced professional mother, with at least basic knowledge of using the computer, the Internet is your playground! As more and more women in Kenya open up to the idea of being financially independent, becoming a mother may dampen their plans, albeit temporarily. Staying at home to take care of your child can be a tough decision and one that could have had damaging effects on your career. But now all you mothers can start your own business from the comfort of your home. After all, there are plenty of money making choices for work at home moms online now-a-days.

Online Money making ideas for WAHMs
Freelance Writing – A fantastic way to sell your skills and experience when you want, how you want, and without too much stress. Yes, whether you are good at storytelling, writing informative, research-based content, or simply have a way with word, you can sell your writing skills to people who require them. You can demand your price, choose your delivery period and start earning money. A great place to start is GetAFreelancer, Guru or Elance.

Selling Something? – Do you make crafty things like kiondos, carvings and suchlike? Or do you know where you can get them cheap? Why not sell them online? There’s nothing to lose, you don’t need to be a computer whiz to set up shop. Try etsy .

Graphic Design – Every business require well crafted graphics for promoting and representing their product/service from time to time. Not even businesses, kawa people need posters hata! If you are a skilled hand with graphic designing then this is your best online money making idea. A great
place to start is GetAFreelancer, Guru or Elance.

Virtual Assistant – You used to be a secretary, or receptionist, or personal assistant? Or can you do everyday office administration duties (like filing, reading and responding to emails, etc). How about data entry? You can do it online by becoming a virtual assistant. Have a look
at this site virtualassistants.

Teaching – Are you really good at something? Anything..like singing, dancing, designing, etc, this is the best time to fulfill this dream and then use it to make money online! Yes, if you sing like a nightingale why not start your own singing classes? How about teaching dance to kids and other moms in your neighborhood? Simply send out flyers and advertise in the local media to get started. Better yet, get a website at Nickel Pro and offer online classes – just make a video of yourself teaching and re-use it (read re-sell it) hundreds of times.

It’s important for you to understand that you may make mistakes initially. Don’t get disheartened by these mistakes. However, once you have decided what you want to do, make sure that you organize your life and time accordingly so that you are able to reduce stress and have a more productiveday. After all, planning, organizing, and managing are the 3 cornerstones to any good business and you already know this because you are a smart, intelligent and experience professional woman.

Filed Under: Blogging, Make Money, Small Business Tagged With: , , ,