Posts Tagged ‘Freelance’

Should You Work For Free?

February 22nd, 2010

The primary reason for business is making money, that’s a given. Business is not like art, it can never be done just for the sake of it.

But business is not as simple as art. A piece of music or a pretty picture can bring infinite pleasure even if no one actually buys it. You could be carelessly singing in your shower [or the karaoke bar] while your audience marvels. Some genius could tape you and post it on youtube where it will virally spread and make a billion people’s day.

Hopefully, the appeal will be your singing voice rather than anything else.

But business isn’t like youtube karaoke. A business that isn’t earning is … well … not a business; it’s just a person being busy.

That said, benefits are not always monetary. Say, for instance, that you attend a seminar. You won’t get paid; more likely you’ll spend to attend. But you may learn a skill, and you will meet a hundred other people, all of whom could possibly buy from you. If you use 2 or  3 thousand to attend a workshop, meet two hundred people, and five of them end up being your clients and pay one thousand a piece [probably more], then it’s totally worth it.

The classical musicians of the past did not always get salaries. Many of them worked for food and board. They lived with their patrons and were given nice clothes, royal treatment, and access to a full time orchestra. They produced some of their best work for ‘free’.

The same applies with freelancing. We are often advised not to work pro bono, and no professional does anything for nothing. So when a client approaches you, you need to seriously review your options. What do you get out of it? Will this help you to meet potential clients? Will you learn anything new? Will it push you out of your comfort zone?

Are you engaging with people, getting ideas that you wouldn’t find by sitting alone in your office or at your computer? Are you meeting experts from other fields, people who could expand your pool of information? Are you forming relationships that can give you an edge as you find ‘free’ manpower to ‘outsource’? Are you making friends who could support you, advise you, [buy you birthday presents] and bring business your way?

And if this is the case, then are you really sure you’re not getting paid?

Sometimes your wage doesn’t come in cents and zeroes. Just because nobody is showing you the money, doesn’t mean you’re working for free.

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

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Online Freelancing [Interview]

February 17th, 2010

For the readers that don’t know, Maria Maina is a writer and freelancer extraordinaire. She is a graduate of the first edition of Biashara 30 – where she started her online freelancing career. Right now, Maria does something quite interesting: her online freelancing has grown to the point where she now has a team (of siblings and neighbors) who do all the work that she manages to get online through sites such as Freelancer.com. The set up very much resembles a BPO company, but on a smaller scale.

Q. You’re quite an achiever, tell us about you.

I’m just a kawa girl. If you met me on the street you would not think that I employ ten people from my home, LOL. I am a shy and private person. I think I am very talented at being hard working and ‘driven’. Also, “they” say that I’m quite young. I’m a girl who simply loves life! I love to live life to the fullest, you know? I take each day as it comes and I give it my absolute best, every time! Many people say I’m cheerful most of the time and pretty easy to talk to. I love my life and I love what I do.

Q. How did you start?

There was a time, in B30, that Kelvin was encouraging us to go out and try get online jobs so I was eager to try something out. A friend of mine had been using Elance for about six months, and she turned me on to Elance. She was behind on a project and asked me to help her with it for part of the payment, and I agreed. After working with her on it, I figured Elance was something I could do, so I checked them out, signed up, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Q. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

When I started out, I had no money in the bank and no access to any money. Things were thick! I used to live from hand to mouth month after month – every little bit of money that came in was already spent. But I gradually overcame this as I became better at getting clients and started saving.

Q. What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in Kenya?

I do not know if everyone faces this one – but not many people took me seriously. I kept hearing people tell me to get a job until my other business picked up. This is good advise and all but I believe one can only be successful if they focus sufficiently. One cannot focus sufficiently on both a full time job and a business – you have to choose. Atakaye yote hukosa yote.

Q. What was critical to your success?

I’m just a tenacious person. When I get into my stride I never give up. I think that is a quality that all business people need to have. Believe in yourself and never give up – no matter how dark and gloomy it gets.

Q. What about the competition and marketing, do you need to advertise, print flyers participate to conferences or is it mostly word of mouth?

I’m not sure how to answer this. I get all my clients online and the only form of advertising that I would say works is that all or almost all the clients I get really talk well of me. I would say word of mouth. It is the most important, anyway.

Q. Do you think that in order to “make it big” online you have to live in a Western country? Or does Kenya offer more or less the same opportunities?

Hey, people should wake up to the fact that if one is focused enough, then it does not matter where in the world you operate from. When you go to these online freelancing sites you will quickly realise that they are chock full of people from India. India is just like Kenya….why can’t we do it too?

Q. Where do you see yourself and your business (es) in the next 5 years?

Right now my whole team consists of semi professionals and we work from my home. I love that I can help my friends and family earn something. In the future I’d like to see it evolve to a point where I can hire more full time professionals who can help me manage the (hopefully) much bigger team. I want to see my little baby grow to the point where we can easily do five or six hundred gigs a month worth $30 each from sites like Elance and oDesk. That would be something, eh?

You always hear about BPO in the news and it is described in a way that makes you think it has to be a company getting huge contracts from big companies in America or Europe. Why can it not be a little business getting hundreds of tiny jobs from individuals all over the world?

Q. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

It takes time to build up a client base and portfolio with references. You have to be willing to take a few jobs that are not exactly what you want to do or pay a little less than what you want to receive in order to gain that all important feedback and history built up so that people will trust you with the higher paying jobs. Initially I only did the very well paying gigs, I feel that if I did all and any jobs earlier, I would be much more ahead of where I am right now.

Q. What advice do you have for Internet business entrepreneurs in Kenya?

Freelancing is a business, not a hobby. In order to make enough money freelancing as your sole source of income, you have to treat it like the business that it is. You wouldn’t expect to be paid a full-time salary on a job for working part-time hours, right? And quality in your work are essential to being a successful freelancer.

That’s all for today readers. If you’d like to hear more from Maria Maina please visit her website: www.mariamaina.co.cc. Miss Maina wrote a book early in her freelancing career, you can find it here.

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Starting Your Own Business [Interview]

January 28th, 2010

For the readers that don’t know, Crystal is the one and only “3CB”, a popular blogger and prolific writer. She is the brains behind ThreeCeeBee, a mother, and a rock lover. Crystal recently quit a well paying job to start her own biashara as a freelance writer. Today she’s going to share with us her story, thus far, as a freelancer.

Q. You’re quite an achiever, tell us about you
I’m a Jack – or rather a Jane of many trades; not all, but many. I sometimes think this is a disadvantage because the world is prefers ’specialists’ and can get sceptical if you dabble in too many different areas. But it’s also a fall-back because it gives me many different avenues to pursue. I worked at Oxford University Press Tanzania from 2006 to 2009. I was based In Dar es Salaam and edited textbooks in both English and Swahili. Before that, I interned at Kwani Trust for a few weeks. Academically, I’ve studied literature, music, media and creative writing … and it always helps to mention that I’m a PBerian.

Writing was a hobby for me, a form of expression – therapy even – a vent for the pressures from work. I had a radio play produced and aired on BBC World Service in 2007. My first novel, Against the gods, was published in August 2008 and is selling on Amazon. I’ve written several short stories and a lot of poetry, one of which was published in Green Piece QCS.

I’ve been blogging since 2007, and that’s my first love in terms of writing – mostly because it’s really, really easy. Plus I have a column called Crystal Dings in The Lily Review, which is an online e-zine for women, and I do some writing on my publisher’s website. I also have a beautiful little girl that I’m doing my best to raise.

Q. How did you start?
I have always enjoyed reading, and I wrote good compositions in school, but I started writing seriously in Standard 6 or 7 when my English teacher, Ms Simbi Muniafu, gave us a poetry assignment and it was so fun that I couldn’t stop doing it. I started to write a little fiction too; I had this little exercise book where I wrote out my romantic fantasies with a red pen – I was furious when someone stole it from my desk, and I’d still like to get it back.

In my high school, everyone was writing novels, so I didn’t bother. But then a friend, Nora, said ‘I look like writing a book’ so I started working on one. That’s what eventually became Against the gods. It was never intended for publishing, it was simply an narration of my daydreams. Years later I heard about an annual playwriting competition on BBC Radio so I tried out. My first entry, Showcase, was a religious satire that I had a lot of fun writing. It got a commendation. The next year, I wrote a play called The Game Plan. It won joint third prize and was aired on BBC. The team included Jenny Horrocks and Hugo Boothby from BBC, as well as Packson Ngugi, Nini Wacera, Kariz [Metro TV] and Keith Pearson. I met them during the recording in Karen, and it was lots of fun. Winning that prize gave me confidence in my writing, and convinced me that I could actually go somewhere with it.

I found Like Chapaa through Twitter a few months back, and it looked interesting, though it seemed like some theoretical model that would never work in Kenya. I started talking to Kelvin and Nickel Pro helped me set up a website and define my services. I had a lot of contacts that I had taken for granted – to me they were just interesting people that I had worked with in the past. So when I got back to Kenya, I sent a text to everyone I knew announcing that I was back home, and many of them set up meetings with me, including my former bosses. That’s how I got my first clients.

Q. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Fear. That was really the biggest thing. I was afraid I wouldn’t make it, and I had no clue where to start. I’m not really sure how – or even if – I overcame it. I still have panic attacks and moments of doubt. Fortunately, my previous job required that I give three months notice, so by the time I started getting cold feet, a month had gone and I couldn’t rescind my resignation. The next time I got really scared, I already moved into a new house and bought a fridge and a DVD, so there was really no turning back.

My friends helped. They’d look at my CV and the things that I had done and ask me why I was so afraid. And once I started working with Like Chapaa, they made it seem possible, which kept me going. Once the website was up, it seemed less like a dream, and I felt like I could actually do this. And my first clients showed a lot of confidence in my skills, so that quashed some of the fear.

Another challenge was defining my services and rates. I knew that I wanted to write, and that I was good at editorial work, but beyond that I was clueless. Kelvin from Like Chapaa chatted with me on the importance of stating exactly what it is that I do, so I sat down and broke down my skill set and we guesstimated how much it should cost. I also sat with my former boss – my first client – and he asked me what I would charge him. I was shy at first, but he insisted I give him a ballpark figure, which he agreed to, and from that I was able to set my rates. I’ve only been at it for a month, so I’m still working out the kinks, but it’s a lot of fun so far.

I went to Sheria House to register a business name and realised that my brand, 3CB, would not work as a name because they don’t accept initials. Plus, I would have to add another word like media or publishing or something at the end of the 3CB, so I had to brainstorm for a while. I’m still working on that, because a business name is something you’ll be stuck with forever and you don’t want something that will make clients giggle and dismiss you. You want to look professional.

Q. What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in Kenya?
I’ve only just started out, so I don’t know much about that yet. For me, I still say the biggest thing is being afraid. Everyone looks at you like you’re insane, and a lot of times you wonder about it yourself. I often ask myself whether I shouldn’t just get a real job and stop daydreaming, especially when the bills are due and the clients aren’t paying on time. But I’m happier than I’ve ever been at my desk job. I enjoy the space to set up meetings at my convenience and still have time for myself and for my family. It’s fun juggling my different projects and taking a nap when I really need it. I feel fulfilled, like I’m doing what I want for a change, and it’s such a high being paid to do what I love. It’s a pretty good feeling to be home when my daughter gets off school – something that I could never manage with a regular 9-to-5, and it’s so freeing to finally get out of the rat-race. Some of the challenges I expect to face are tax issues, accountability and keeping my books in order, but I’ll deal with that when it gets here.

Q. What was critical to your success?
Work ethic. In business, contacts are everything, but beyond the networking and the phone numbers and the diaries, the key is your attitude to what you do. My first clients were former bosses and colleagues who sought me out and gave me tasks because they believed in me – often more than I believed in myself! They were people I had worked with in the past and built relationships with. They had seen me relaxed and seen me under pressure, and they had seen that I can perform. They liked my work and recommended me to others based on business relationships that had sometimes lasted for as little as two weeks. That’s much more powerful than any form of advertising or pimping. To be successful, do your work and do it well – that’s all there is to it because when you put your all into what you do, people will notice, and they will pay.

Timing plays a role too. I always knew what I wanted to do; I had a rough idea that I wanted to write and be paid. But starting my business was all about timing. Things fell into place cosmically in the last six months in a way that had very little to do with me. The landscape in Tanzania changed, my homesickness grew beyond bearing, my spiritual outlook shifted, my baby said she wants to come home … it was simply the right time for me to take this step, and I’m very glad I did.

Diversify. Writing is my primary passion, but editing is the main source of income for my business at the moment. Find a related skill or service that can pay the bills even as you work at your primary area of concentration. Always have a tangent.

And, of course, you have to believe that you can make it.

Q. What about the competition and marketing, do you need to advertise, print flyers participate to conferences or is it mostly word of mouth?
I’m only just starting out, so right now my business is based on past associations. It’s a good place to start but I believe I will need an active marketting campaign to build my business. I don’t know if flyers would be particularly effective. I think the best system for me right now would be networking in various forums and making my work more visible, both on and offline. I’m still figuring out the best way to do that.

Q. Do you think that in order to “make it big” online you have to live in a Western country? Or does Kenya offer more or less the same opportunities?
I love my home, and I intend to succeed here because there’s nowhere else in the world that I’d rather live. And since I launched my writing career online, then that’s the most logical place to start. Blogging is practically free, you get instant feedback, and you build a network through other bloggers and readers. I know you can make it much bigger in the West, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it here. In any case, you have to start somewhere, and you don’t know until you try.

Q. Where do you see yourself and your business (es) in the next 5 years?
Ironically, I want to keep my business small. I’m not a very ambitious person – I hardly even consider myself an entrepreneur as such. I’m just a girl pursuing my passion and making a lot of money doing it. I don’t really want to expand on a commercial scale, I just want to keep having fun and keep making money; this isn’t something I will retire from. Girls are expensive, and I have two to take care of, so of course I will keep looking for avenues to make more and more money to meet our needs. But I don’t want to go all conglomerate and lose touch. I want to reach people on a personal level and make a difference.

In five years time, I see myself doing the same thing that I’m doing now – working hard, having fun, building relationships, living my dream. I plan to diversify into TV and film writing, something I have only toyed with thus far, and I’d like to do some directing. I also want to get into radio, and I’d like to host my own rock show a few times a week. It would be fun to have regular columns in the big magazines and dailies; I have my eye on True Love and Eve, which I enjoy reading. I’d like my business to be big enough to buy me a house, but not so big that it takes over my life. I plan to buy my dream car in the next two years, and my dream house in the next five, but my business will always remain cosy, homely, and most importantly, mine.

Q. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I would believe in myself more. People have always told me that I’m talented, but I’ve wasted a lot of time battling low esteem and self doubt. I would cut myself some slack and just get on with it. I’d also take my brand a little more seriously. 3CB the blogger and the tweeter was all about fun and letting it all hang out, which can be a good thing, but I think some of my online acquaintances would have a hard time seeing me as anything more than a diva or a joker.

Q. What advice do you have for internet business entrepreneurs in Kenya?
Again, I’m just starting out and learning the ropes, so I’m not sure quite how to do things. The most obvious thing is get a good internet connection, and don’t be so afraid to expose yourself online. TMI can be dangerous, what with identity theft and things like that, but at the end of the day, business is about people so you have to let your prospective clients see you as a person, not just a generic avatar or robot. Remember though that everyone you meet online is a potential client, so be professional; friendly, open, genuine, but professional. Also, remember the offline factor. As much as you’re working online, you will actually have to leave your computer once in a while and meet real live people. You can’t do everything through g-talk and webcam.

That’s all for today readers. If you’d like to hear more from Crystal, please visit her website: www.threeceebee.com or www.cbthree.wordpress.com

Crystal is an amazing writer. Make sure you check out her work.

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Freelancers & SEO – What You Should Know

December 3rd, 2009

Freelancers mostly get paid for their time and their expertise. You go to a freelancer because you want her to do something for you that you cannot do yourself. SEO, on the other hand is search engine optimisation – it is what you do if you want more visitors to your website getting to your site through the search engines (Google, etc).

Let’s assume that like any other good and forward-looking freelancer, you have a website. Is SEO important to you?? Honestly, search engine traffic is not tremendously useful for freelancers. That’s just the truth. Unless you’re targeting extremely local markets (like “graphic designers in Kisumu”), then SEO is mostly a waste of time and money.

Why? Well, generally, the market is too big to get any appreciable amount of useful web traffic. There’s too much competition – too many logo designers, too many web designers, etc. In my experience, it is hard for freelancers to get search engine traffic that leads to actual paying customers. Believe it or not, most people who are going to visit a freelancer’s website will probably actually type in the site into their web browsers (they already know about you and your site – maybe they read it off your business card) or people who clicked on a link somewhere and got to your site.

So, dear freelancers-reading-this, if I were you, I wouldn’t spend any money hiring anyone to do SEO for you. Of course do not ignore it completely, just don’t focus on it – an online freelancer doesn’t need 1000 visitors a day to make money online. The good thing is that SEO is not the only way to market online.

How do you market your freelancing service?

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How To Make 30,000 A Month Online

September 29th, 2009

Lately, we’ve been talking to people about online freelancing. A lot of the people seem to think that the life of an online freelancer is chaotic at best with low pay and long hours. This doesn’t have to be the case and to prove that, here’s a plan on how to make at least Kshs 30,000/- per month from online freelancing.

1. Belief – Have you ever heard the song, “it is all about belief”? Well, it is. You have to convince yourself that you can do this; you can make 30,000 a month working in your underwear. The easiest way to bring about belief is to break down the target (30,000) and make it seem more achievable. So, 30,000 a month is 7,500 a week which is about $100 a week. Achievable? On sites like getafreelancer.com, the lowest that you can be paid for one freelance job is $30. Do three of those and you have your $100 a week.

2. Pay Yourself - The biggest mistake freelancers make is undercharging. You’re so desperate to take a job that you’ll do it at any price. This is wrong – do not underpay yourself. Ensure that your time and energy are well compensated.

3. Target a Niche Market – contrary to popular belief, the people who will buy your services are not “the whole world”. Only a specific group of people with specific characteristics/needs will be interested. Find this group of people, and target them. This makes your advertising and marketing job pretty straight forward. Be warned that some niches are not worth it. All good niches have the following:

  • Your target market is able to afford your charges
  • There is a good number of potential customers in the chosen niche
  • Your market is not going to disappear overnight

4. Marketing Plan – Who is your target market? What do they want/need? Where can you find them? Is the market seasonal? You don’t need a 30 page document, but you need a marketing plan.

5. Prepare Your Marketing Material – first things first, get a website. Today, right now. If you do not have a website you won’t make much money. 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. Get a website! Nickel Pro offers a sweet deal on websites for freelancers.

Apart from a website, you probably also need business cards, a cover/introductory letter and samples of previous work done.

6. Execute – Many, many, many freelancers give up before they get anywhere. I never said freelancing is easy in any way but it can be sweet. Once your name is out there and jobs are coming in regularly, life gets to be very good. It is similar to climbing a hill: the climb is difficult and tiring but once you’re at the top…well, you’re at the TOP. Do not give up, just do your thing until you make it.

A very practical example, Maria, joined Biashara 30 being totally green. She wanted to get an online job but had a little problem: she didn’t even know what she could do for money as a freelancer let alone how to get an online job. But she’s a hard worker – she kept at it and kept learning and trying. About a month ago and after applying for numerous online jobs, she finally got one paying $30 to write some articles. Her online freelancing career thus took off and she is now doing pretty well for herself if I say so myself.

What about you? Do you want to make 30,000/- a month online?

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More Online Jobs

September 7th, 2009

More Freelance Jobs

Project Manager – PSD to eCommerce is looking for a talented project manager to handle all the client communication and project management for the company. You will be required to be somewhat knowledgeable with how the PSD to HTML slicing industry works, and how the pricing works. It is a bonus if you understand the eCommerce industry to (Magento, Shopify, wp-ecommerce), but it is not required, you must be willing to learn though.

Mobile phone programmer – Butterfly Works is interested to find someone who can program and test a game to work on mobile phones in East Africa. We will design the game and send you the specs, it needs to work on all phones with a color screen from different manufacturers. We wish to find someone with experience in programming who also knows the mobile phone usage in East Africa specifically Kenya. The game is about peace keeping and is aimed at young people. If you are interested please contact us with your bio and previous experience, thanks!

Copywriter wanted – Seeking a freelance copywriter for a small web site job. Please send url, examples and your rates to apply or contact me for further info. Preference for those based in Australia.

Content Writer – Need a writer to produce 5-10 fairly extensive articles / blog posts (1,500-2,000 words) on the topic of birthday parties for kids. There may also be ongoing blog work available, but the initial work is for 5-10 posts. We have a template structure for the posts that you’ll be able to follow. Need to be able to do extensive research – link to quality / relevant content. And potentially do some social media marketing as well.

Blogger needed – DigMyDrive is a new Website that allows members to ‘give their take’ on topics in specific driving categories. We are looking for bloggers to take on each category, posting 3-5 blogs per week on newsworthy topics or topics relevant to category members.

Experienced Flash Developer – Digital Aisle, the leader in interactive touch screen applications, is seeking an experienced Flash Developer.

Interface design – We are looking to build a music sharing website and need an excellent designer. We only require the HTML / CSS / PSD deliverable. You must love design, and be obsessed by perfection in design. Please send a long copies of your previous work and expected pay.

Freelance web designer and developer – We are a new social venture (not for profit) looking for a designer and web developer to develop an on-line marketplace.

Weekly newsletter article writer – Generation X Finance is an established personal finance blog that targets readers in the 25-45 age demographic. Topics generally include investing, saving for retirement, banking, taxes, and tips on saving money. In addition to the regular blog posts Generation X Finance has an email newsletter that goes out weekly. Each newsletter will generally feature a short 250-500 word original article covering some relevant topic. In addition to the short article there are links to three of the most recent blog posts with a brief introduction.

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.

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Ever Thought Of Building An Online Community? [Interview]

September 3rd, 2009

For the readers that don’t know, our interviewee today, Francis, is the founder of The Young Professionals Google Group, a java guru, and a successful internet entrepreneur. He sells e-books as well as advertisements on his Google group. Bwana Francis is also the chairman of the League of Young Professionals – a club in which I am a member.

Q. You’re quite an achiever, tell us about you
I am a software developer by profession and a social entrepreneur by choice. My passion is to see how we can tap the incredible power of web 2.0 technologies (specifically on communication and collaboration) to create great communities and then harness their power and influence to create capacity to solve problems, produce ideas and valued products. There are various tools and applications that individuals, groups, organizations and businesses use/ can use among them message boards, blogs, websites and web portals, mailing lists, news sites, SMS solutions, social sites like twitter and facebook etc

YP Google group is just one of such tool we are using to create a community of passionate young professionals who have a shared purpose of developing themselves and building a better Kenya.

To illustrate the enormous power of such technologies and the online communities around them, one needs to look at the role they played in the election of President Barrack Obama. Voters were reminded via SMS to go vote, could follow the updates of their candidate on Twitter & Facebook, huge amount of campaign money raised online as well as having vibrant discussion of issues on blogs, message boards and mailing lists. We do also have fortune 500 companies who have companies’ weblogs for their staff to blog about the personal life and their companies’ products. The ascendance of free and open source software can also be attributed to this.

Q. How did it start?
It started when I was doing my BSC in computer science. I become passionate about programming by seeing it is possible to create applications which can be used to solve a real problem. Once I got into web technologies, through curiosity and experimentation I looked at the available tools that could be used to achieve the goal, and a Google group and facebook group were the entry points. With time, I and the team I work with, shall be churning out a more integrated platform of all the technology to build great web portal

Q. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Most of the challenges were intrinsic (within), and I mean the prejudices and bias that the environment taught me as I grew up. Mostly everyone believes after campus you should be employed and not to experiment with ideas and risk. To overcome such I had to unlearn what I have been taught so that I could absorb new ideas and perceptions.

Secondly, IT is a field that requires specialized technical expertise some of which is rarely taught in schools. For example, to build my programming skills I had to proactively learn the java programming language for over four years through self study.

Q. What are the challenges of being an entrepreneur in Kenya?
There are two sets of challenges, one uniquely specific to internet industry and secondly the challenges of any business startup or initiative.

With regard to 1st, the % of Kenyans who have access and use internet regularly is around 8.6% of the total population as compared to countries like USA who have above 46% usage. So a large percentage of the population doesn’t access any product, service or platform that is internet based.

With regard to the 2nd, among the top challenges I can pinpoint that cuts across all industries in Kenyan context are firstly getting funds to finance your venture, secondly fierce competition from established and large global companies and thirdly building a successful business requires a large investment of your time and needs patience and commitment

Q. What was critical to your success?
It’s hard to single out one or a few since I believe it’s a whole set of skills which I could call the winning combination, but they generally fall in 3 domains.

  1. My ability and the passion to learn. Generally I buy & read at least 2 books (mostly on business & management) a month.
  2. Technical expertise. My programming skills are very good and I never cease to try to become even more qualified. I am always sharpening my saw, learning new skills and craft I need to get something done, being more competent either in programming or any other roles
  3. Emotional Intelligence. Mastered myself, can manage myself and my relationship with others. Can easily understand my emotions and the behavior of others.

All the three orchestrated together, I can say they are what is critical to my success.

Q. What about the competition and marketing, do you need to advertise, print flyers participate to conferences or is it mostly word of mouth?
Mostly through word of mouth and email marketing.

Q. Do you think that in order to “make it big” online you have to live in a Western country? Or does Kenya offer more or less the same opportunities?
Definitely that is a myth. Making money online is possible since I am making quite a lumpsome. You just need to have the right product, well priced and packaged and target the right audience.

Q. Where do you see yourself and your business (es) in the next 5 years?
I believe we shall have built the required competences and products to provide communication & collaboration solutions, be it to political parties, large organizations, community groups, NGOs, Small and Medium Enterprises and well as having flagship enterprise applications for mass usage.

Q. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
Not really, same direction but different routes. With experience I have come to know which works and which doesn’t work. Definitely I would avoid the latter, while only keeping the former.

Q. What advice do you have for internet business entrepreneurs in Kenya?
I will quote Charlotte Bunch who once said “We do not need, and indeed never will have all the answers before we act…… It is often through taking action that we can discover some of them.” Lets not be afraid to try and fail, it’s through trying, failing, having false head starts that we can only make great reaps ahead.

That’s all for today readers. If you’d like to hear more of Francis, please join the YP Google group and The League of Young Professionals. You can also reach him at the following:

Email – francis.mwangi.chege[at]yahoo.com
Alt – francis.mwangi.chege[at]gmail.com
Phone +254 721 663 208
On Twitter – https://twitter.com/francismwangi
On Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php#/profile.php?id=1579110764&ref=profile

PS Francis has a very good deal on a package of 800+ ebooks.

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Do You Also Want To Be A Successful Freelancer? [Interview]

August 26th, 2009

For the readers that don’t know, our interviewee today is an accomplished freelancer from right here in Kenya! She’s one of the most successful local freelancers I have heard of, having won a one year government tender to offer writing and editorial services for a regulatory state corporation recently. Imagine that! Our interviewee pens her thoughts at: http://kenyanfreelancer.blogspot.com. You can also find her on her website: www.smurtnotes.com

Q. You’re quite an achiever, tell us about you.

Thank you for having me here. I am writer, blogger, editor and proofreader. I found my passion in writing about a year ago and decided to pursue it, at first on a part time basis before taking it up full time at the beginning of the year.

Q. How did you start?

I started freelancing by chance. I had been working in corporate Kenya since leaving collage and my last FT job was in the banking sector. Upon leaving the bank and back into the overcrowded job market, I was searching for a job when I chanced upon an online magazine (nairobi.tujuane.com; I still write for them) searching for contributors/freelancers for their business magazine. With little knowledge about online writing but a salient passion and determination for writing, I put forward my application and like they say, the rest is history.

Q. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

The people over at tujuane were very supportive, understanding and offered the much needed help. However, the reality of working as a freelancer hit me so hard that it took me a while to adjust. Without a regular work schedule, daily commuting and no boss to answer to, at first it seemed like an easy thing to do, but it took an enormous amount of determination and self-discipline on my part to make it work.

I was also battling with the idea of telling people that I freelance which I must say is somewhat new here in Kenya. (Interestingly, saying you freelance is coded to suggest that one has no regular FT job hence searching). But after much thought, I realized what I did/do is no different than what people with a 9-5 do, just that I work from a home office with my own set of rules, structures and schedules and a very demanding boss-me. This has helped me greatly.

Q. What are the challenges of being a freelancer in Kenya?

Getting people to understand that being a freelancer is not about lazing around the house in your pyjamas and a bowl of pop-corn seated in front of the TV, while others are busy working out there. It’s still difficult to explain to people that I work from my home office, at times working 10-12 hours a day.

There is also the notion that one is not a professional or cannot deliver to par as those working in an office setting.

Finding clients has been an uphill task as Kenyans have been socialized to believe a 9-5 or operating an office outside your house is how one should be making a living. But, I must say this perception is changing, thanks in part to technology that has made it easier and fast to communicate with one’s clients anywhere in Kenya and/or the world.

Q. What was critical to your success?

Having a vision and believing in my abilities. I have also continuously sought to improve my skills by reading widely and attending workshops that can impart the necessary skills needed to be successful.

I am also a risk taker as I believe one can only know the extent of their abilities by taking wise and well calculated chances. Toss in a bit of luck, passion and drive; and you have a winning formula.

I do not view my freelancing as a hobby but as a business, thus putting in place the necessary business structures to support it.

Q. What about the competition and marketing? Do you need to advertise, print flyers participate in conferences or is it mostly through word of mouth?

I can say most of my clients are through word of mouth, networking, knocking on people’s doors and contacts I make at conferences. Having a presence online (blog) has greatly contributed to my marketing efforts. My business card acts as my marketing tool by clearly stating what I do and how I do it.

As for competition, I do not worry about it as the market is large enough for any one person, let alone a multitude, to fully exhaust it. It also depends with one’s line of work, how specialised, demand and market forces.

Q. Do you think that in order to “make it big” online you have to live in a Western country? Or does Kenya offer more or less the same opportunities?

I do believe, as long as you have high speed internet, patience, persistence and good judgment when it comes to making a living online, it does not really matter where you work from. I personally started writing online and still do, before sourcing for clients’ offline.

Q. Where do you see yourself and your business(es) in the next 5 years?

When I made the decision to freelance full time, I ensured to put in place a strategy that will chart my path to accomplishing my goals and vision such as working with a large corporation or even the government-but in the distant future, say, in three years time. But, this came sooner than expected and have had to make adjustments to my plans for bigger things. In the next five years, I hope to have made significant strides by having a freelance agency where businesses, government and NGOs can come to and source for highly skilled freelance professionally for their projects here in Kenya.

Q. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

To be honest, I wouldn’t change a thing as I have learned so much during my short stint as a freelancer and still do. The only thing I would say… why didn’t I start this sooner!

Q. What advice do you have for internet business entrepreneurs in Kenya?

Just choose an internet service provider that charges for unlimited usage on a monthly basis. This will save you the first headache of working online/remotely without running a huge bill on internet usage. Trust me on this!

Have a contingency plan just incase things do not go as planned e.g. the current power rationing or how to meet your deadlines and other obligations when you are under the weather.

Last but not least, there are so many scams out there and one has to be very careful when venturing into internet business. Google is there to help you filter companies/individuals that want to make you a statistic of scammed individuals online. Just search for companies that you feel are not genuine or suspicious. You maybe surprised what comes of it.

For aspiring freelancers, one thing that needs to be clarified and understood is that not everyone can/should freelance let alone do it successfully. It takes guts, passion, determination and vision, and of course, an entrepreneurial spirit to make it.

Good luck and all the best.

That’s all for today readers. If you’d like to read more, please visit:
Smurt Notes Editorial
http://kenyanfreelancer.blogspot.com
twitter.com/kenyafreelancer

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Looking For A Job?

August 24th, 2009

More Freelance Jobs

Bloggers Wanted – We’re looking for several talented blog writers to join our team of writers at www.webdesignerdepot.com, a popular blog dealing with web design. Compensation for each article accepted varies depends on length and complexity (average $150) and the position is available on a freelance basis only. Articles must be about web design topics as well as tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator and others.

Adobe Air Developer – Kerosene Creative Services is a Chicago/Los Angeles based digital advertising firm specializing in the entertainment and lifestyle business sectors. Were create innovative strategies and executions for some of the biggest Hollywood films.

Front-end Developer – Collaborate with developers, designers and product managers to produce an advanced, envelope-pushing UI for a Alexa Top 50 video-sharing portal used by tens-of-millions of users daily.

Photography Blogger – www.Digital-Photography-School.com/ is looking for a feature writer to provide content for it’s blog on a weekly basis (from 1-3 posts per week – to be negotiated). Posts need to be of a high quality and display a knowledge of digital photography.

Blog Writer For Employment Site – Employed Online is hiring for our work from home blogger position. This position is home based and so reliable internet connection and a computer are necessary to being hired. What you will be doing is researching various topics and information that will be given to you, such as job trends, articles, and other information. You will then write short descriptive articles on your findings. You will be paid bi-weekly through PayPal if available or through other means decided upon after hiring.

Freelance Flash Work – I have 5 .swf files. I need to have them play in order within one .swf. I don’t have the original .fla. This is a one time project, but I will keep your contact info on hand for future work. Give me a quote and time frame for the project. If you need more info just message me. Thanks and I look forward to working with you

Talented Freelance Writer Wanted – Suite101.com is looking for talented writers who can write a minimum of 3 non-fiction articles between 400-600 words each month. As a Suite101 writer, you can enjoy the freedom to write what you want, when you want and earn a competitive income off your articles over the lifetime of your career – even if you decide to stop writing for us.

Drupal Developer – We’re looking for an experienced Drupal developer to work together with our development team in Toronto. We’ve been developing Drupal sites for almost 3 years, we’re growing and we’re looking for new talent to join our team.

Engineering Blogger – Knovel (www.knovel.com) is an online technical resource that helps engineers innovate and solve complex problems faster by providing instant access to trusted technical information. We are looking to expand our online presence, and are seeking an Engineer, or Engineering Student, to be a featured writer on our blog (www.knovelblogs.com)

Freelance Web Designer – create a website for a band to fit many genres of music.

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.

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

August 12th, 2009

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!

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Posted in Make Money

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