Earn From Resume Writing

June 1, 2010 by 4 Comments

At some time, it’s better to leave your brain on the loose – right? It’s better to give it the greatest freedom it deserves and it’s then and only then, that it will pick up many ideas – both dirty and fresh. At this point, you don’t need to care what it picks up, you will sort good from bad later on. It is under this principle that My brain picked up as many ideas as it could and when I started separating the good from the bad, I realized I was almost throwing one important idea to the dust bin, so I quickly picked it back, dusted it and decided to research more about it and I realized, wow, you can actually earn from writing professional resumes – God! ever thought of it?

Come on let’s face it, Times are tough, and we’re moving ever deeper into the age of specialization. Employers are demanding to know more about the applicant – their work record, natural talents and personality traits. They want more information upon which to base their interview selections than just the cold facts on the application form. Personnel managers are placing a higher premium on their time, and delegating to others the job of “weeding out” the unqualified applicants from those whose backgrounds and goals come closest to fitting the needs of the company.

To get in to see the person doing the hiring nowadays, the job applicant has to “sell the short-stopper,” and that calls for a professionally written resume. More and more firms are demanding resumes. Prove me wrong on this one. Most of the jobs worth having will require a written resume before even an initial interview is granted. On the other side of the coin is that Probably 80 percent of the people searching for jobs don’t have a resume. Of the 20 percent who do have resumes, many are ineffective; they simply do not adequately present the applicant’s total qualifications. Everyone – with or without a resume – is looking for this key: A professionally written resume, a sales presentation of their qualifications and experience that will get the job for them – the job they want. The job hunters are wound up in their own specialties and problems. They don’t know how, and they don’t have the time – AND they’re willing to pay you to put it all together for them.The demand for this service is growing daily. Here’s a business you can start for virtually nothing, parlay into a million dollar enterprise in less than two years – trust me!

Setting Up a Resume Writing Business
There is no special knowledge, education or experience required. Knowing the general format of a “modern resume,” and the ability to keep yourself up-to-date on new resume formats is the only qualifications you need. There are so many newsletters, websites, blogs and short courses on resume writing, you can consider signing up for some.

You’ll need a computer, professional quality printer. You can begin, with a lower quality printer but “think big” if you’re to survive in any business. You don’t have to book a big office at the city center or so, just start from the comfort of your bedroom.

Invest in a good book on how to write “job-winning” resumes. Select a book or eBook which discusses both the cover letter and the format of the body of the resume. You can also find free articles on the internet. Also study different types of modern resumes. You can check some here, www.bestsampleresume.com

In addition, you probably, at some point, will need a resume writing software that will help you. If you need a free software to get you started you can e-mail me on resumwriter@gmail.com.

Now that you’re set to go, there comes popularizing your services. If you have an e-mail list, you can send this to your subscribers explaining your services in details. You can also print posters and put them in relevant places. The notice boards at Odeon Cinema is a good example. You could also consider running an advert in the local newspapers or websites like Career Point Kenya depending on your advertising budget. Aside, you can print business cards and circulate them around. you can also create your blog and explain your services.

You’re now done. From there, you should start thinking of how to organize interviews with your future clients and establishing competitive prices that will keep you in business.

If you would like to get more tips on resume writing and frequent updates on online resume writing jobs plus other online money making opportunities, send the word, “money” to 4445.

Good luck!

Filed Under: Lazyweb, Make Money, Miscellaneous Tagged With: , ,

Lessons learnt while dyeing my hair

May 31, 2010 by Leave a Comment

For a while now, I’ve been trying to get my hair purple. I’ve dyed it three times, and it ended up blacker than when I started. Aside from being terribly frustrated, I’ve learnt a few lessons for life and business.

1. Always do your research

I went to five or six shops looking for the perfect shade of purple. Turns out shops in Nairobi don’t stock much beyond brown, black, blonde, and grey.  Apart from realising that someone should stock strange hair colours – even if it’s only on demand – I discovered that Nakumatt and Uchumi sell half a litre of Ooh yoghurt at 73 bob while Ukwala sells it at 95 shillings. Interesting.

2. Get dizzy-proof

The thing with servicing clients, no pun intended, is that sometimes, you’ll go round in circles and end up right where you started.

The first colour I bought was aubergine, and after several sessions using varying degrees of it, and going through black, red, blue, and several purples, I’ve ended up with plain old aubergine. Come Saturday, I’ll put it on my hair undiluted, and drive my hairdressers off the edge of sanity.

In business, be prepared to spin on the spot with a client, and when you walk past the same signpost for the millionth time and client says ‘that’s exactly what I want!’ do some yoga, smile, and remember that it’s worth it in the end.

3. Failure isn’t always a bad thing

On the assumption that the Saturday dyeing will work, it will have taken me two weeks, four sessions, three thousand shillings, 6 to 7 hours, and six pairs of gloves to get my hair the right colour. But, I now know 3 ways not to dye my hair, and next time, I can do it using 200 bob and one go.

4. Improvise

At one of the shops I went to, they didn’t have purple dye, but they suggested I try powder food colour. I laughed at the idea, but apparently it’s a popular one, and it gives you a much wider colour range. Plus, it’s temporary, so if it doesn’t work out, it’ll be gone in a few weeks.

As a business person, you should always give the client what he wants. But if you don’t have it, sell them a Plan B. Just be sure it’s one that works.

5. Know when to stop tweaking

The thing with artists is we never know when to stop. We always want to put in one more word, take a comma out, change the shade of blue, twist a bit of code, make everything just perfect.

During my multiple sessions, I started out ultra-violet black, which was too dark, so I added some aubergine, which was too light. I put in a bit of food-colour purple … which took me back to black. Very frustrating. If I’d just left it at bright purple, it would have darkened with time.

Good business is like dyeing hair; you get your hands messy, you don’t know what to expect, you use a lot of resources [and water] and your hands get really, really hot.

So remember to have a tank, a long fuse, a borehole, a source of emergency capital and a brilliant assistant, even if that assistant is you.

And always, always, always wear gloves.


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

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

The Mobile Web In Kenya

April 16, 2010 by 12 Comments

I got some interesting stats on the state of the mobile web in Kenya. (Got them here).

Have a look:

  • Page-view growth since November 2008: 615.4%
  • Unique-user growth since November 2008: 246.2%
  • Page views per user: 525
  • Data (compressed) transferred per user (MB): 5
  • Data (compressed) transferred per page view (KB): 10

Top 10 sites in Kenya (unique users)

  1. facebook.com
  2. yahoo.com
  3. wikipedia.org
  4. bbc.co.uk
  5. youtube.com
  6. gmail.com
  7. live.com
  8. hotmail.com
  9. twitter.com
  10. cnnmobile.com

It seems that both the number of people who access the internet from their mobile phones and the time they spend online is increasing at an unimaginable pace…..but we already knew this, right?

The interesting thing to me here is that in the top 10 sites visited, there is no local site. How strange! What does this mean for you and I? The race is on to produce a website that Kenyan’s will flock to. I suspect the same thing goes for PC users. We need a large uniquely Kenyan website. Will it be you who comes up with it? Why not?

Filed Under: Internet Culture, Miscellaneous Tagged With:

What If?

March 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I spent the weekend with a lively group of people and we talked a lot about the state of e-commerce in Kenya (more on this in a later article). Things seem to be really really picking up – for example, Nickel Pro has built more online shops this year than the whole of 2009 (and we’re only in March). However, as fast as things seem they are moving, great huge stumbling blocks remain. There is still no reliable, convenient way to process online payments in Kenya. 🙁

One thing that we discussed at length was the state of old media (particularly newspaper companies) in Kenya. In more developed countries, newspaper industries are dying because of the Internet. Many of these companies have good and useful websites but no one has found out how to efficiently make money off news sites. This means that the newspaper companies are facing a declines in sales because less people are buying the physical newspapers – preferring to read news online yet the online news is not monetized efficiently. What a predicament, eh? The news business is in trouble!

What about Kenya, though? Well, I think that this situation will take time to be apparent in Kenya. The impact of the Internet on newspaper sales is probably minimal. But for how long? Newspaper companies should be wary – especially with the fast uptake of of the mobile web in Kenya. It won’t be long before people, en masse, start consuming news primarily through their mobile devices and PCs.

Can we do anything to speed this up?

What if you poached the leading writers from all our major newspapers? You know, akina Mutahi Ngunyi, Sunny Bindra, Chris Hart…even Oyunga Pala. Take twenty of the best and most well known writers in the country – writers with fans who never miss reading them. Pay them handsomely to work exclusively for you and set up a website that is well designed and works very well on the computer and on mobile devises. Now, everyone who wants to read their favorite writer has to come to you. Hopefully, the newspapers will not find replacements quickly enough.

The question is…..will you succeed in shaking up the industry? Will the new business make you lots of money? How will the public take it? What do you think of this idea?

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Starting An Online Record Label

February 25, 2010 by 10 Comments

How much do you think local musicians earn from their music? I bet it is pretty low. Perhaps that is why musicians in our part of the world have full time jobs. As a musician, when you give your song or album to a local record label such as Ogopa Deejays, or Calif Records…how much do you earn? How much do they earn?

I believe that all artists should have affordable access to all channels of music distribution, get all of the money generated from the sale of their music, and all without giving up any of their master recording ownership, copyrights, merchandise rights, live performance income, public performance royalties or any other rights or money. Do you share my beliefs?

So recently I helped a friend (a musician) set up online. He made a sale yesterday. A Swedish couple, in Sweden, liked his album, and bought it. My friend emailed me saying, “you should start an online record company.” I actually have thought about that for quite a while. I know for sure that our local artistes have a far better chance of earning from their music online than through the local market. Blame piracy.

Is there need for an online record company? Well, look at it this way…if I was a musician and I found out that I can quit my day job and focus on my music, I would jump at the opportunity! Would you? The bigger issue is whether there is a market for Kenyan music online. More research needs to be done on this but I do feel there is a large and untapped market for anyone’s (not just Kenyan) music online.

What would it take to start an online record company? I do not know. But as with all good ideas that I have, I shall share my thoughts with you, dear readers.

First and foremost, one needs to know how to market online. You shall be taking the hopes and dreams of people and you shall be responsible for their success or failure. You need to know how to build an online presence, nurture it and grow it. This requirement means that, currently, not many Kenyan are qualified to start an online record label.

Secondly, one needs to understand how to market music online. Apart from setting up the artist’s website, blog, etc etc one must be able to actually find a market for the music, and then sell it. The most obvious places to sell seem to be places like: iTunes, Amazon MP3, Zune Marketplace, Rhapsody, eMusic, etc. One should also understand the more indirect methods of selling – for example, one American band famously gave away all their songs free on MySpace. They then went on a tour of the USA, and had live – well paying – shows in almost every town, big or small. Despite being a small unknown band, almost all their shows were well attended. It turns out almost everyone knew of them and liked their music (they got it free).

Looking at the two requirements above, I would say that, really, all a prospective online music label needs to have people who know the Internet; people how know marketing and, above all else, people who are creative and are not afraid to to do new and different things. Could this be you?

Let’s be honest, some music is harder to sell than others. If I had an online record label, I would find ways to work with only those musicians whose music inspires or impresses me. One would think that the best way to run the business would be to accept all musicians. I be to differ. Perhaps you can offer certain limited services to every other musician but I believe real success can only be achieved if you work with musicians who you believe in. Marketing is challenging, online marketing even more so. if you do not believe in what you are trying to market, then you will not market it so well.

Finally, my type of online music record label would be creative in how it charges its musicians. I believe that musicians deserve 100% of all their royalties, copyrights, merchandise rights, and any other rights. Instead of charging a commission on the royalties, for example, I’d charge a small annual fee (depending on how much work I do for them).

Does this make sense to anyone? Discuss below, let’s start an online music record label, shall we?

Photo by Shankar, Shiv.

Filed Under: Lazyweb, Make Money, Miscellaneous Tagged With: ,

Making Money With A Blog

January 13, 2010 by 9 Comments

There’s a lot of information out there about making money with a blog. And a lot of hype. For example, this article reports of blogs making $15,000 a month! Imagine that. There’s no doubt that you can make money from blogging. The blog your are reading does, in fact, make us money. 🙂 If you missed it, here’s a series of articles that we did on setting up a simple blog business.

However, I thought it is important to write something of a ‘reality check’ concerning making money with blogs, especially in Kenya.

So, you want to make money blogging? Welcome to the club! Thousands have gone before you and many have succeeded but the sad fact is that the overwhelming majority of bloggers make little money or, most likely, nothing at all. I’m not trying to discourage you, just telling you as it is 🙂

Many bloggers that I know of start off with the idea that they’ll make money from advertising. This is cool – thousands of blogs survive and thrive on this, especially with Google’s Adsense program. But, and it is a big but, the truth is that advertising may not be your best option. In fact, many of the blogs that fail were started with this general plan: Start a blog – write many cool and interesting and fun articles – get lots and lots of visitors over time – make money. This may very well fail in today’s internet. Why? Well, it is very difficult to make substantial amounts of money off advertising alone – especially with Google Adsense. Yes, Adsense is wonderful and it supports thousands and thousands of blogs to make money but it does not work unless you are getting large numbers of visitors to your site. If you don’t get at least a thousand visitors a day then Adsense will very much disappoint you. That’s the truth. So don’t base your whole plan on advertising alone.

The good news is that there is a world of options for blog owners. For example, Kenya Buzz (which is not a blog), managed to get some advertisers on their site even when their visitor numbers were pretty low. I’m not sure how much they charge but it’s got to be something worthwhile. If you can get such advertising deals for your young blog then go for it, by all means. This brings me to another important point, unless you have very high visitor numbers, ‘self service’ advertising works better than advertising platforms such as Google Adsense. By this, I mean that it would be better to try and find your own advertisers at your own rates than relying solely on programs such as Adsense. For one thing, you can make more money even if you don’t have the visitors – depends on how you structure your deal and market it.

Of course advertising is not the only way to make money using blogs. Problogger has a huge list of ways to make money using blogs. There are, indeed, many other ways. We have to keep in mind that, at its core, a blog is very much part of ‘social media’ and web 2.0. A blog is a tool that you can very easily use to build a community of like-minded people. This is why, when it comes to blog monetization, I favour the techniques that use blogs to build or enhance a business. What I mean is that you do not actually make money ‘from’ the blog, but because of it. For example, Wambere does make money with Like Chapaa but not from it – she uses it to get clients for her other business. It works very well. So, for instance, if you are a photographer, you definitely want to set up a blog but not so that you can make money off advertisements or other ‘direct’ means – the blog helps you build a community of readers; it further helps you engage those readers and nurtures their interest in you, and your work. Selling your photography services to them then becomes much easier – and every new reader is a potential client who will love your blog, engage with it and, finally, buy your services. A blog is perfect for this. Blogs work very well for businesses that have a long sales cycle – businesses in which buyers take time before deciding to buy from a particular person/business. I hope I’m clear. In my experience, this is the best way to make money using blogs in Kenya.

So, before you rush out to your blogs, here’s some more thoughts:

  • You just have to pick a niche. Do not write a general blog, it gets you nowhere and will not build a very good, single minded, community. For heaven’s sake do pick a topic that you really love. There are many months of cold nights ahead and if you don’t love what your blog is about, then it will start to feel like a “chore” and then your blog will die a slow, miserable and penniless death.
  • Think clearly and rationally about the content of your blog. Remember that your content and style of writing will attract a very specific type of person. You want to avoid attracting people who will not end up being your customers because then you’ll be wasting time with the blog, ama? For instance, if you are a freelance writer, it may be very natural to write a blog about “how to write well” or “how to make it as a freelancer”. You will be surprised at how many people do this. The question is, who are your readers going to be? If you are a writer, and your readers are other writers, do you think they will pay money for you to write for them? No? Then don’t do it! Write about something like photography, so that you attract photographers who may then, possibly, need your writing services.
  • Blogging is hard work and it takes a pretty long time before it starts paying off. It may take months to years, even if you write daily. There are millions of blogs out there and every potential reader of your blog already has tons and tons of other things to do with their time. Please only do this if you are prepared to go “long term.”
  • As you work on your blog, you will notice that as time passes, you become more successful. If you picked a good niche and write quality stuff, then you will succeed, after a while. Just keep at it and have a clear picture of what you want from the blog so that you keep yourself motivated. Thinking long term is better.
  • Blogging money can be the best money you ever make! Most bloggers just love writing (because they picked a topic that they enjoy) for their blogs and when this starts making them money, it is pure bliss!
  • If you already have a web presence for your business, or if you are already into ecommerce, then you just must have a blog. It is priceless in terms of marketing and enhancing your online presence. For one thing, a blog does wonders to any site’s SEO (search engine optimisation). You’ll want to think clearly and deeply about the ‘tone’ that your blog will take. Make sure it goes well with the rest of what you do. Creativity is key, though.

So, that’s it, some random thoughts on making money using blogs. What do you think? We’d love to hear from you. We’re also available for hire, by the way. 🙂

Filed Under: Blogging, Make Money Tagged With: ,

Mr Planner

January 7, 2010 by 6 Comments

Alibaba is an interesting website. You can use it to find manufacturers and/or suppliers of almost any product imaginable. If you wish to start a retail shop, Alibaba is likely to be very useful to you. Go on and try it and see for yourself!

Do you remember drop shipping from the other day? Alibaba is one place in which you can find lots and lots of Drop shippers. What does this mean? This means that, using Alibaba, one can quickly start an online shop. Just find a supplier (drop shipper) for what you want to sell and start selling it.

Now, here’s an idea: generally speaking, it would be more profitable to start an online shop with the target market not being in Kenya. An online shop that aims to sell to Americans or Europeans is generally, usually, more profitable than one targeting Kenyans in Kenya. Because internet penetration here is still low. Now, the problem with selling to Americans or Europeans is that if you are a Kenyan in Kenya then you probably know little about foreign markets and customers. You could start your little shop and go months without a single customer.

What can you do? Well, you can hire successful and proven eBay sellers. The idea is to structure a deal with them where they sell on your behalf. Theoretically, they already know how to sell on eBay and they should be able to sell your product better and faster than you. All you have to do is make sure that at the end of the day, you make your money somehow.

Now think about it. You have used a drop shipper and an eBay retailer to sell goods to customers you know nothing about. You are making money because you had the audacity to set the whole thing up. The whole ‘system’ only works when everyone makes money and is happy. Looks like something that we should try in Biashara 30, eh?

Can it work? I have no idea! Why don’t you try it?

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