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.

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You Are Not In High School Anymore!

August 2, 2009 by 2 Comments

I had the privilege of having an interesting conversation with someone I look up to very much. We talked about a lot of things but one thing caught my attention, she told me she always advises university students that, upon graduation, they should get jobs at small companies – where they get to work directly for the CEO and actually get to make mistakes, learn, and do something and not just share opinions (which will be discarded anyway).

It reminded me of my own time at university. University is not high school. You can do anything at university: start a business, organise a movement, live in a hole, whatever – you have the ability to choose. But most people refuse to choose. They take the easiest classes and do the absolute minimum to make sure they pass their classes. These are the people who spend a lot of their time in the library, reading their textbooks. You can do whatever you want to do, but most people do only what they think they must.

You have a job now and you have more freedom that you think you do (aren’t you reading this on ‘company’ time?) but most people do nothing with that free time other than try to be good enough to keep their jobs. What if you did something worth doing; something remarkable; something that you enjoy?

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Safaricom

July 21, 2009 by Leave a Comment

There’s no doubt that Safaricom is one of the very best companies in Kenya. I’m proud that such an innovative and, simply amazing company is Kenyan! God bless all that is good in Safaricom.

Sometimes they make me wonder, though. Actually, they make me wonder a lot. Their customer care is not the worst but it is worse than most. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the term “Sufferingcom” – there’s even a Facebook group! Not to mention that many of my friends and family have “sworn” that they will vuka to another mobile phone service the minute we get mobile number portability in Kenya. (Mobile number portability allows you to move to Orange, for example, but keep your Safaricom number.) What if you could move to Zain, YU, or Orange and keep your Safaricom number, would you vuka too?

I recently won a prize (imagine that) in the ongoing Safaricom “Activate your drive” competition/promotion. I have never won any prize ever before so I was thrilled! Alas, I no longer am thrilled. Collecting the prize has turned out to be harder than I thought it should be. If I won it, why not just give it to me? It’s gone as far as someone from “marketing” being shockingly rude about this. Considering that the “Activate your drive” promotion is supposed to be marketing Safaricom, I find how Safaricom have handled me quite shocking. I suppose sometimes you get too big to care about the little guy.

Marketing is not just the adverts and other promotional gimmicks. It is how ‘customer care’ answer the phone; it is the way you speak to customers; it is the quality of your products or services; it is being honest and genuine. Marketing isn’t what you do when you want to make a sale. It is an ongoing process that starts even before you create your products.

Safaricom, you disappoint me.

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You’ll Let This Opportunity Go?

July 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Starting on the 27th of July 2009, Wambere and I will launch the Biashara30 learning program where we will work with 10 people and teach them what we know about making money online. The program will be 100% free and will end in a project where the group (or everyone individually) launches a structured internet business.

Are you going to sit there and let this opportunity just pass you by? Why?

Apply today!

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Are You Limiting Your Potential?

July 15, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Most people who launch a website with the intent of making money from it usually follow the following set of steps:

  1. Launch the site
  2. Provide value to the user
  3. Put adverts on the site (especially Adsense)
  4. Make money

This strategy works for hundreds of sites out there. However, it is not the only strategy out there and it is not the easiest or most profitable either.

There are two ways of making money from a website: you can make money from your site or because of your site. Earning from advertising is only one of the many ways to make money from your site. The other ways are probably too many to count but here are some ideas: subscription fees, affiliate marketing, selling goods and services etc.

How can you make money because of your website? Well, I’ll give you an example: Like Chapaa is barely two months old now and it is currently not making me any money directly (nor was it ever meant to) but, believe it or not, I have had people inquiring whether I offer consultancy services…

Do not limit what you do with your website. Especially not to just advertisements. There are so many other things you can do with a website. As we’ve seen, you could earn money in a variety of ways and you can also do any one, or all, of the following:

  • Enhance your network
  • Build and grow a community
  • Establish your expertise and authority
  • Meet new friends
  • Experiemnt
  • Do something that matters
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Introducing Biashara30

July 12, 2009 by Leave a Comment

In yesterday’s tongue-in-cheek post on jobs, Wambere hinted at our upcoming Biashara30 program. She said, “If you need help, you can join ‘Biashara30′ a 30 day program where we teach you everything we know about starting your own business and take you step by step until you start making money.”

Guess what? Biashara30 is finally here! Would you like to learn how to make money online? Would you like step-by-step practical guidance as you set up your internet business? That’s what we aim to do with Biashara30.

Biashara30 is a premium club meant for people interested in making money online. People who join Biashara30 will learn everything we know about making money online and, to complete the program, will be required to set up an internet business either as a group project or alone. A very important part of Biashara30 is ensuring that everyone who participates earns online before the end of the program. At every step, Wambere and I will be on hand to guide and advise the members of Biashara30.

Do you want to sign up for Biashara30?
At this time, signing up and registration is 100% free – we won’t ask you for a single cent!

However, there is a catch! There is a cap to the number of people that we will let into Biashara30. We’re thinking we’ll take only 10 people – but this figure could change if the applications to join us are interesting enough. We want to work only with smart, motivated, interesting and committed people. This is so as to ensure that the program is successful.

Also, note that almost all of the Biashara30 program will be done online.

Our aim in launching is to differentiate Like Chapaa – see, it was never meant to be just another website and, in line with our stated objectives, we also hope to teach and inspire our fellow Kenyans to get ahead in life by learning about making money online.

Still want to sign up? Go here.

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Not the usual job requirements…

July 11, 2009 by 4 Comments

Anyone who’s been out looking for a job knows how hard it is. You not only need the education and papers to prove that you are qualified, but also the ‘qualities’. Usually employers look for communication skills, honesty, ability to work in a team, motivation, flexibility and such. I don’t deny that most of us do have these qualities, but you all can’t deny that when it comes to an interview for a job that you really want, you take it to a whole other level. You emphasize the best in you, try to prove to the employer why you are better than everyone else. Why you are the best guy for the job.

Sometimes the not so good or not so usual qualities that we don’t pride ourselves in can come in handy. I put together a couple that I think serve as an advantage in acquiring a job. I’m all for self employment by the way (thanks to a lot of influence and some experience) so these are stuff that you don’t really need to be actually employed.

Celeb. This includes you if you were Mr Campus, it doesn’t matter how many years ago, if you were in one of those BlueBand commercials when you were like 5 years old or more generally if you know A LOT of people. To most being a celeb is not a ‘not so good’ quality. It’s here because it’s usually never in the list of qualities that your new employer wants or needs to know about you. So how can you put this to use? There are so many new businesses coming up. All this business starters need clients. So where do you come in? You know a lot of people. So find these new business starters and make deals with them. Bring them clients for a certain percentage. ( The more people you know, the more you’ll earn). You don’t need to go to school for this, just good communication skills and be smart, you’ll pull it off.

Mdaku. If you like knowing ‘stuff’. Especially stuff about other people that don’t concern or affect you in any way. You just like knowing. I’ve met someone like this. Not just the normal ‘talk a lot people’, this one was hard core. She’d get this serious glow in her eyes when she got info about someone else that has absolutely nothing to do with her. Note I didn’t say if you like passing along the news since this will most likely get you fired in this case. So anyway, who knew this could ever be good? There are a lot of ‘busy’ people around. With growing technology and maintaining status these very ‘busy’ people don’t have enough time to check their email and reply to all of them, update their status on facebook, myspace, twitter, Badoo, Bebo, Flicker, hi5, Orkut, mig33… I’m sure you get the point. I’ve seen many people and small businesses willing to pay to have someone do these simple tasks. Again this comes with the connections. The more people you know, the better.

Shopperholic. There are people who do not have the time to go shopping and believe it or not, there are others who just don’t like it. Shocking? I know. I can think of three groups to categorize these non-shoppers. First, celebrities. Those who cause chaos when they show up to buy milk at the supermarket. Second, the busy. Those who fly to Mombasa for that morning meeting, have to be back in Nairobi at lunch time for the appointment in the afternoon, the conference after that, then more work and just don’t make it to get to the shop. Third, the aged, sometimes the sick come in here too. Usually these have family or friends take care of them but not always so they hire sometimes. This is where you come in. I know mboga shopping is not as exciting as shoe shopping, but hey, you are shopping and being paid for it, so it’s a really good deal! This jobs are mostly for getting groceries and to run small errands. Again the more people you know, the more connections you have, the better you chances.

Mwanalugha. If you are really good in languages, or a language, you fall in this group.
In a mixed community like we live in now, language is quickly transforming. With sheng’, Swahili and English, most children born in urban areas never get to learn their ‘mother-tongue’. These languages are part of our culture and I think it’s important to pass them on to the next generations. I’ve seen people pay quite well to have these languages taught to them and mostly their children. If you don’t think you are that great in teaching, there is another option. Translation. Most people I’ve seen do this are based in tourist frequented areas such as Mombasa.

To succeed in any of the above, you need clients. You need to know how to sell yourself. There is a whole lot of information on this site about starting out your own business. Plenty of good tips that will get you on your way to success. If you need help, you can join ‘Biashara30’ a 30 day program where we teach you everything we know about starting your own business and take you step by step until you start making money.

I’d also like to mention one thing that I think is very important. Africa having the fastest growth of Internet use, having your own website is crucial for any business. Having your info and contacts available on line increases your chances of getting more clients. Check out Nickel Pro to get a great website. Their prices are great too and I think they do resumes and profiles too if you are looking for a job.

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