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: ,

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: , , ,

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
Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With:

Don’t Be Left Out – Learn How To Make Money Domaining

July 12, 2009 by 6 Comments

Make Money Online Through Domaining
A lot of people desire to make money, online or elsewhere, but they think that starting your own small business requires a lot of start-up capital. This is incorrect. You can start a business with next to nothing and thrive. Domaining is a prime example of how you can do exactly that.

What is domaining? Domaining is the art of making money online through domain names. But what are domains? I assume everyone reading this has had at least some experience with how the internet works. Probably you have typed www.something.com into your browser at some point. You have? Good. That which you typed in is a domain. A domain name, quite simply, is what you type in to your browser when you want to visit a particular website.

I won’t bore you with all the hard-core tech. stuff behind how domains work but, at this point, a little more technical stuff is necessary. You are able to access every website because it is hosted on a computer, just like yours, which is set up so that the public can access its files and folders online. Such a computer is called a server. Very basically, the internet is a network of many servers and we access them through our computers, mobile phones, and other devices. Every computer or device that is on the internet (whether is is a server or device used to access the server) has a unique address on the internet. This is called an IP address. Normally, an IP address is something like: 216.239.51.99.

Therefore, to access a website you need to get your browser to go to the IP address for that website. Now, as you may have noticed, it’d be quite a task to remember even one single site’s IP address, let alone the tens of sites that one may visit in a day. The domain name system was creating particularly to solve this problem. Instead of remembering a bunch of numbers, you remember just a simple “name”. For example, it is much much easier to remember www.google.com than it is to remember 216.239.51.99.

Another key benefit of the domain name system is that domain names are transferable. If you were to move a website from one server to another, the IP address has to change – everyone who accesses that site will have to use the new IP address. But having domain names changes this. You can move your website from server to server with the domain name staying the same. What does this mean? This means that you can transfer domain names, as well as whole websites, from one server to another easily and quickly. Or, in chapaa-speak, you can sell your website or domain name very easily.

Domainers
Domainers are people who take advantage of the domain name system and use it to earn money online. And guess what? Anyone can profit from this business – your gender, age, education, race/tribe does not matter one bit! You just have to work hard and smart. Don’t get me wrong though, this is NOT a get rich quick scheme and not everyone who reads this will make even a single cent online. A very common misconception is that web money is easy to get – that’s not necessarily true. You have to work just as hard as you would elsewhere. Only difference is that you can do it from the comfort of your home and at your own pace and time.

Ready to start? Good. 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.

How Do You Make Money From Domain Names?
Basically, you can make money from domains by selling them, or parking them. Selling them is pretty self explanatory – you buy cheap and sell high. Many people sell domain names through established marketplaces such as sedo, flippa or Pool.com. Still others sell them privately. For example, read about how people made millions selling domains related to Michael Jackson following his death. Or have a look at the top 100 domain sales this year – you can make thousands (of US dollars).

Domain name parking is a little more complex. Simply put, it is creating a really really simple, one page website on your domain name and loading with with advertisements. When people visit those domains and click on the adverts, you earn money. Selling domain names is a quicker way of earning from domains but parking (if done right) is a more stable, hands free way of earning from domains – it is passive income (you don’t have to do anything but receive money 😀 ).

To be a good domainer, you will have to apply a healthy mix of selling and parking.

A Note On SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving chances of people finding your websites from search engines such as Google or Bing. Higher chances of people finding your website through search engines means higher traffic (number of visitors to your website) which usually means higher earnings for you. It would be impossible to be a successful domainer without learning and applying a little SEO.

Although domainers do not often get to delve deep into the SEO realm, you should be aware that domains that would naturally do well in search engines (SEO-friendly domains) are more valuable. I’ll definitely be writing more on SEO but you can get a head start by going here: SEO Book, or SEOMoz.

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to move on to the next step. 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, Small Business Tagged With: ,

Making Money Online – Where To Start

July 7, 2009 by 11 Comments

If you have even basic knowledge of operating computers with access to a good speed Internet connection, you can make some money online. Lots of people dream of making money online but many don’t have an idea of where to start. Where do you start? What’s the fastest way to make money online?

Making money on the Internet doesn’t always demand investing money or having technical knowledge. With hi-speed Internet coming to Kenya soon, making money online will be easy. To prove this point, we are listing down several online money making ways as part of our introductory article on this subject. Whether you are able to earn Kshs 70 a day or Kshs 5,000/- a day, the fact is that you can money money online now!

Top Ways of Making Money Online

  1. Amazon Affiliate Programs – Sign up for Amazon.com’s affiliate program and sell Amazon’s products on behalf of Amazon. Amazon.com will provide you complete support and back-up, and they will pay up to a 15% commission on each sale.
  2. Amazon Seller – Have something you want to sell online? Earn cash by selling your stuff on Amazon.com. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it doesn’t cost you a penny until your item sells. They provide the infrastructure and support – you just earn whenever your product is sold.
  3. Adbrite – Barter space on your website for text advertisements. Adbrite pays you for selling your website space.
  4. Associated Content – If you are good at expressing your emotions on paper, or if you have experience in a particular field, write about it and submit to Associated Content to get paid $3-$20 for each article that gets accepted. Get paid for submitting text, video, audio or images.
  5. eBay – Way too popular to write much about! Simply collect your old stuff, or any stuff, and sell it to earn money.
  6. GetAfreelancer – An freelance website that has all kinds of projects for writers, editors, programmers, coders, web designers etc. All you need to do is become a member and start bidding on projects in your areas of expertise and get paid for projects you win. An alternative is Elance or Guru.
  7. Infolinks – This is one of the best ways to earn good money. Infolink deals with ‘in-text advertising’ that can be seen on many websites as scattered double underlined links. Simply sign up and start.
  8. Etsy – Do you create crafts? Etsy is a huge online marketplace where people sell their crafts. Since it draws people looking for handmade products or craft supplies, Sellers find it more profitable for many crafts than eBay.
  9. Clickbank – This is an excellent opportunity for people who have a knack for selling. Basically, clickbank is a large extensive databank of products which you can sell for a commission – with the commission rates being generally 50% or higher. Simply find a product you like and start promoting it!
  10. InnerSell – Do you have a customer who needs a product or service that you don’t sell? Earn additional income when you use the InnerSell system to connect those customers who want what you don’t sell with trusted Vendors who have a track record of delivering.
  11. Software Judge – If you have a strong opinion about some software, whether positive or negative, and want to get paid for your review, this is the place to go!
  12. Cafepress – Are you artistic? Cafepress let’s you put your designs on Tshirts, Hats, Mugs etc with no upfront costs AND they give you a shop where you can sell your branded items.

Finally, note that it is possible for you to make money on the internet if you put time and effort into it. One of the major reasons why most newbies fail is because their expectations are not in line with the level of effort required to be successful. Be prepared to work hard for every cent that you make.

I’m always ready to answer any questions – just ask! Remember to read Like Chapaa regularly for more information on making money online and getting ahead in life. Why not subscribe for free, or sign up to receive free email updates?

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With: ,

How To Make Money Online In Kenya

July 4, 2009 by 121 Comments

Some of you may recall that a while back I gleefully reported having made $150 in two hours. That was like a wake-up call, and I have since been applying myself online in ways I had not thought of previously. The results have been amazing!

See, I started blogging (and this internet thing) when I was still in high school (in the delightful town of Nyahururu) so I’ve been around the net quite a while. And I’ve always been tech-savvy so I got to know my way around the net pretty quick. I think I know how to do most things online. However, making money online has always been like that elusive Holy grail – I never seemed to “get” how it’s done. But now I do.


I’m not quite sure how, I didn’t see it coming. It’s been a very gradual process, though. A lot of small payments led to that ‘big’ one of $150, and as I said earlier on, the $150 spurred me on to vigorously try my hand at other projects I have been thinking of. The results were really nice and the earnings pretty sweet 😀 It’s been a slow gradual process getting to this point and nothing happened overnight. But, boy, the education and experience is priceless!

Guess what, though? Making money online is not hard. Anyone can do it, even you. The two most important things you need are the will to do and patience/perseverance. With those two in place, I’m 100% sure that you too can make money online. It’s not that hard – there’s usually a well known set of steps to follow and all you need to do is to apply them diligently. I’m no expert but I do make good money online. www.likechapaa.com is my attempt to teach what I know, if you care to read. You can even subscribe (free) or sign up to receive free email updates if visiting the site often is too much of a hassle.

Most of the sites that write about making money online are pretty good. They also all talk about making money from a distinctly non-Kenyan viewpoint. However, I have come to learn that being in Kenya makes a huge (yet subtle) difference to the process of making money online. Specifically:

I’ve seen many many small websites run by Europeans/Americans that make money off advertising, especially Google Adsense. This doesn’t work very well back home. I’m not saying it is not possible, I am saying that it requires a lot of hard work, and a large userbase. Unless yours is a pretty big/well known website, making money off advertising is a pipe dream. So don’t depend on it until your website is very well known.

But then, does that mean that small Kenyan websites cannot make money online? Nope. I run several of these, so i should know. The trick is, since you cannot really rely on selling adverts, you have to sell something else. Find a product or service (yours or not) that is appropriate to your website and sell it.

Finally, many Kenyans are yet to come online. Some other Kenyans do access the internet, but don’t go beyond Yahoo mail. This means that a lot of people do not frequently access the internet. This also means a lot of your potential customers/clients simply have no way of getting to you. This is why a healthy dose of traditional, real world, marketing should be included in your marketing strategy. You cannot rely on purely online marketing without mixing it with some offline stuff.

That’s it, my take on the nuances of making money online in Kenya. Why aren’t you making money online? Are you going to try? You know, I go to sites where people make money online (e.g. Rent A Coder) and I’m just amazed by the numbers of Indians (or people from that part of the world) who are out there, making hundreds of US dollars a day. Can you imagine that? Hundreds of them, broken English and all. Yet they are making it. Why can’t we in Kenya? I don’t know if it is pride, but I feel we can do a better job than most of them do. We just have to seize this opportunity.

God bless you.

Photo by timbrauhn.

Filed Under: Make Money Tagged With: ,

Do you Like Chapaa?

July 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment

So what’s this site about?

This site is about exploring the big wide web and discovering cool little things, novelle ideas, as well as ways and means of making our lives better. It focuses a lot on making money on the internet because I think it is about time us Kenyans got into this in a BIG way.

I know a little about this topic, and I am burning to share it with you. Why don’t you tell me what you need to know, so that I can write about it for your benefit? It’s super easy, you see. At the end of every article on this site, you can leave comments. It’s an easy way of seeking clarification. Why don’t you try it?

Alternatively, go here, or email me: chapaa[at]likechapaa.com (replace [at] with @)

Filed Under: Miscellaneous Tagged With: