Like Chapaa

  • Making Money From Trends

    Posted: April 26, 2010, 11:16 am by Kelvin

    You know how twitter has ‘trending topics’? Just visit twitter and you’ll see a list of topics that are being discussed the most. You get what I mean?

    Google also has a ‘trends’ feature, but it is much bigger than Twitter’s trending section. Google Trends tracks what people are searching for and displays the most popular web searches over a certain amount of time. Visit their site and see for yourself: Google Insights For Search.

    During the height of the Esther Arunga madness in Kenya, Esther Arunga became one of the most searched for terms on Google in Kenya. What does this mean? Well, you have here a unique opportunity to make money online! What if there existed a website that talked of nothing but Esther Arunga? This site would have gotten tens of thousands of visitors when Arunga was all over the news. The site would probably have made some money, too. Nice, eh?

    What I am trying to say is that a quick, nice, and easy way to make money on the net is to build sites around popular topics, and make money off them. An example of this is quite common in the more developed countries: when a new movie or computer game is about to be released, tens of websites spring up that are about the new movie or game. These websites are all set up by opportunists trying to cash in on the buzz that will be generated by the new movie or game. Similarly, if someone set up a site just when Arunga’s madness hit, they’d probably be very happy with themselves right now.

    Google insights for search is an excellent tool for tracking trends. However, if you rely on it you’d be too late! The trick is to find the trend before it starts or very early (before it runs out of steam), then quickly set up a website that is heavy on information regarding the trending event, topic or person. Then, slap Adsense on the site (or find another monetization strategy – perhaps you could sell T shirts, I do not know) and watch the money roll in.

    The basic idea is that because a particular topic is popular, lots of people will be searching for information on it online. As in the Esther Arunga case, there was no one site that exclusively covered her story. If such a site existed, then the owners would have gotten a lot of the traffic generated by the Arunga buzz. You can apply these same principles to any other popular or trending topic.

    Idea: The debate on the new constitution and the upcoming referendum are only just getting started. By the time we’re getting to vote, they will probably be the only news in town. Why not set up a simple website in anticipation of this? Think about it. Nickel Pro could help you if you need help or advice.

    What else could be popular online? Can you capitalize on it?

    Cheers, and good luck.

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  • YU Treading On Dangerous Ground

    Posted: April 26, 2010, 10:17 am by wham

    I’ve, really, not had any problems with the YU mobile network ever since I made the switch from Safaricom. But things are starting to get…weird.

    Kwanza, what happened to the clarity I used to love? Talking on my YU line used to be a joy. The last two days have been close to torture. How long shall I continue to pay someone to torture me?

    Pili, and more importantly: a few of my friends have complained that they loaded airtime on YU and it simply…vanished. I did not pay much attention to this as I did not think YU would let something like that happen. I mean, if customers cannot trust that the money they put on their phone will remain theirs until they use it then YU has no business. Well, this morning I ‘lost’ Ksh 50 when I loaded my phone. Lost! To make matters worse, the customer service was unhelpful and bordering on rude…and they hang up the phone as I was talking.

    Dear YU, I do not know what’s going on with you people. You used to be really good. But now….well, you’re bordering on being thieves.

    YU have to realise that their business is that of providing ‘infrastructure’. People rely on their service for important things (like work). Whenever a phone company like YU has issues, the lives of its subscribers are inconvenienced in multiple and painful ways. For this reason, people will only use those phone service companies which they feel they can trust.

    It seems that one can no longer trust YU. How sad – when at some point they were one of the better phone companies out there….

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  • The Big Secret To Success

    Posted: April 24, 2010, 8:30 am by tranx

    Undoubtedly, lots of people have grown their businesses in huge ways over the last year or so. If you think about it, these people have one thing in common.

    It’s not brains. Plenty of smart people struggle everyday in business. It’s not connections – some people start with nothing and end up with empires. And it’s certainly not luck. I don’t believe in luck.

    But it’s not just hard work, either.

    What sets these people apart from the rest is not only their hard work but their willingness to take bold steps even in the face of uncertainty. Maybe the thing that’s holding you back – no matter who you are – is that you think things need to be “more perfect” before you get it going. Maybe you have conversations in your head like this:

    • “I need to have big money before I make a product.”
    • “I need to have my website beautiful before I launch it.”
    • “I need to have all the pieces of this software in place – with no bugs – before I sell it.”
    • “I need to learn more before I get started.”

    You know what? All these statements sound reasonable on the surface, but they’re really limiting beliefs. they presuppose that you will fail if everything isn’t perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, and imperfect businesses succeed wildly every day.

    Success isn’t about having the best plans – it’s about execution.

    • It’s about getting out there and actually doing something, getting a result of whatever kind and then deciding on what to do next.
    • It’s about delivering products and services – in all their imperfect glory – to whoever is ready for them, and then letting the rest of the world watch you grow.
    • It’s about letting go of the fear of looking stupid in front of people and taking your chances – and knowing that whether you fall on your face or cross the finish line, all the people you worried about failing in front of are wishing they had your guts.
    • It’s about saying “This is what I have to offer right now – and if you don’t want it, that’s fine.” People who aren’t ready for you (or who you aren’t ready to serve) will still be there after you get done serving all the people who need you now.

    An “okay” plan executed today beats a perfect plan that you’ll get around to a year from now.

    Take action. As soon as possible.

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  • A Better, Easier Way To Succeed In Business

    Posted: April 22, 2010, 9:38 am by Kelvin

    This is a little book with big ideas. Written by the founders of 37Signals, it is meant for new business owners and people aspiring to start their own businesses. The book teaches simple lessons (that you may have heard of before) in a clear and simple way, giving real world examples.

    It is a must-read for entrepreneurs. Download it here:

    Rework: A Better, Easier Way To Succeed In Business

    About the authors: Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the founders of 37signals—a trailblazing software company that produces products used by millions of people around the world. They have been profiled in publications like Time, Newsweek, and Wired. They’re also contributors to Signal vs. Noise, one of the Web’s most popular blogs. To learn more about Rework and 37signals, go to 37signals.com. Similar Posts:


  • We’re Hiring!

    Posted: April 21, 2010, 10:34 am by wham

    So, we’re hiring! We want to expand the web design and development team and we hope that all of you beautiful and talented people would like to work with us.

    Definition and Nature of the Work
    Web designers are responsible for creating the look and feel of World Wide Web pages for a client’s Web site. This involves developing a graphic design that effectively communicates the ideas being promoted by the Web site. A web designer may take part in the initial planning of a Web site, meeting with the client to discuss ideas for the layout and organization of the site, the types of colors or images to use (photos, illustrations, videos, etc.), and other matters concerning overall graphic design. Sometimes a web producer has already developed a basic concept for the web page. In this case it is the web designer’s task to create a design that matches the producer’s ideas.

    Because web designers work with a client or web producer to develop and refine ideas, they must have strong verbal and visual communications skills. Designers should be able to listen closely to the client and create pages that reflect what the client is looking for. They also need to be flexible because they may be called upon to change their designs. Since Web sites are constantly updated to remain current, a designer has to be able to work well under the pressure of tight deadlines and changing demands.

    What We Are Looking For
    We are looking to hire people who know their jobs. People who know that a website, above all, is a marketing tool. Specifically, we require that you be proficient (or willing to learn) in the following:

    • PHP
    • CSS & HTML
    • The art of using Photoshop or similar software
    • Javascript

    We develop primarily on the Wordpress platform and so knowledge of how to work with Wordpress (or any other CMS) is an added bonus.

    Please send a brief cover letter, your CV/resume and samples of your work when you apply. You may apply by sending an email to hello[at]nickelpro.com

    Thank you for your time. Please remember that you don’t have to be in Kenya to get the job!

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  • Goals

    Posted: April 20, 2010, 8:19 pm by tranx

    Have you sat behind the steering wheel without knowing where you are going? Sounds bizarre, right? What is more bizarre is that we do this every day in our professional lives without finding it disturbing! If you are smart (which I am sure you are and that is why you are reading this blog!), then you would have figured out that we are talking about GOALS which are important when we leave the house as well as when we go ahead in our personal, professional and business lives.

    In fact, my take on this is that having a goal makes life easier by giving us a direction and sense of purpose. If you want to be successful, then one of the things which you need to do is set goals in everything you do.

    So how do you SET goals?

    Goals are usually things which we want to achieve in life. Personally, you might have a goal to lose weight, professionally it can be to increase turnover, employee productivity, customer satisfaction etc. Once you have a broad goal…you pretty much have a direction which then needs to be broken down into activities.

    How do you DOCUMENT a goal?

    You can have long term or short term goals and their categorization is dependent on the time frame it will take to achieve them. For example, you can give yourself two months to lose four pounds or twelve months to increase customer satisfaction. Once you categorize this, you need to backtrack a bit and break it down into activities which will lead you to the goal.

    For example, activities to reach a place usually involve, starting the car, checking the route, driving, parking, etc. Similarly, you need to document steps which will help you get to this goal.

    After documentation comes EXECUTION

    This is actually the most difficult part of achieving your goal….you can only get it right if you execute the various steps correctly. This is the place where the difference between KNOWING and DOING can be understood well. Good planning makes it easy to reach a goal. Each step should be understood properly as that will influence till the overall quality of the goal you finally achieve. For example, well planned campaign for higher customer satisfaction is likely to get you close to 80% of your goal.

    A goal is only as good as its metrics!

    Metrics are nothing but numbers which can help you measure your goals and are as important as setting a goal in the first place. I have to lose weight is a meaningless goal if you don’t tie it with a number. Similarly, a goal to increase sales numbers is unlikely to be of any point if you don’t attach a number to it…let’s say a 30% increase from current levels. In fact, it is only with metrics that it makes sense to have goals in the first place.

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  • The Mobile Web In Kenya

    Posted: April 16, 2010, 7:47 pm by Kelvin

    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?

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  • How To Be A Freelancing Genius

    Posted: April 16, 2010, 9:36 am by wham

    From my experience on Like Chapaa, lots and lots of people would like to be freelancers. Probably even you, yes?

    While it is true that many try and succeed, it is also true that many try but fail. This could be due to many reasons and, probably, one of those reasons is that many people simply do not know what, exactly, to do when starting out. Are you a freelancer trying to set up and you do not know what to do?

    This e-book will help you to build the foundation of a prominent and successful freelancing career. Taking you from the first steps in building your name through to a deeper understanding of how your thinking can affect the results you achieve, How To Be A Freelancing Genius Pt 1 will assist you through the most important stages of your growth. All this for for free!

    Download it here: How To Be A Freelancing GeniusSimilar Posts:


  • The Average Is Irrelevant

    Posted: April 12, 2010, 2:20 pm by Kelvin

    The average Kenyan reads 0 books a month. It is what they say. Does this mean that bookshops in Kenya should close down?

    No.

    The truth is, the average is irrelevant. There are lots of people who buy 0 books a year. But then there are some who buy on or two books a month. Still, others buy hundreds of books a year. What do you think keeps mega bookshops like Text Book Centre in business?

    When starting or running a business, it makes little sense to try and treat all your customers the same. As Mr Godin says, “When you can’t figure out the best way to treat all your customers, the best way to price things, the best thing to offer, realize that the problem is almost always this: you’re trying to treat everyone the same. Don’t. Break them into groups with similar attributes, and suddenly the path becomes a lot more clear.”

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  • The Perfect Business Model

    Posted: April 9, 2010, 10:01 am by tranx

    There are a lot of different business models out there that you can use as a foundation upon which to build a business. But creating a business requires more than just a formulaic model and a systematic approach. It also requires a lot of creativity, inspiration, hard work and individuality. You need to know your market and to be able to differentiate yourself and your product or service from everything else that is already out there on the market. You need to be unique.

    You will want to start with something that you know you are good at, this is a really important aspect of creating your own business. One thing that you need to consider though, is how popular your craft is. For example, are there already a lot of people who are offering these services? If so, how successful are they? Do they have a corner on the market? Is there something about what they are offering that you can add to, or supplement?

    You will also need to consider whether or not what you are good at is a viable basis for a business. Quite simply, it is more difficult to make money at some things than others. For example, you can make money in a commodity business, but the problem is that you can’t differentiate yourself. The only way you can succeed in this business is if you do your job extremely well and that is tough to do.

    What you will need to do is to differentiate yourself in some way to the other businesses that already exist in your field. You can do this either through your marketing techniques, how you acquire customers, how you run your business, or the product itself. Your idea has to be something that not any other company or person can do. This is vital.

    So, if you are trying to run some sort of an affiliate business or a web design firm, your problem is that you’re no different from the over 1 million people who do it today. Try to find something new that you can bring to the field that has not been done yet. It is so important that you don’t simply offer a copycat rendition of a business that is already out there and functioning. The already-functioning business will have many advantages over you as their competition. They will have a realized client base, experience in “weeding out the bugs” of the business and they will always be 10 steps ahead of your game. They’ve “ been there, done that“ and they have the t-shirt.

    So, you need to go out there and get your own “t-shirt” as it were. Heck, get your own pair of jeans as well, while you are at it. Because when you offer something unique, something that is missing, it will open up a whole new market for your business, and you will reap the benefits.

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  • The Secret Is Out;THe Easiest Way To Make Money Online

    Posted: April 5, 2010, 12:23 am by wordseller

    Do you have trouble explaining exactly what you do?

    Are you confused or overwhelmed when it comes to making money online ?

    Do you hate your current situation?

    Are you tired of wasting precious hours and money looking for the perfect job opportunity?

    If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve come to the right place!

    Let’s face it…With almost 3 million jobless sprawling the streets of our country and another 700,000 young school leavers pouring into the job market every year life couldn’t be tougher. With the infighting within the government and the worsening of our economy it means our future becomes even dimmer. The truth is, life is a misery out there.

    While I am not an Economist, today you could change your life by just reading this piece .Simply put, I want to spill the beans and show you how you can turn your life. Am sure you have read articles here or else where on making money online but you still don’t know where to start.

    If you can read, type or touch a mouse then you can do it.

    FREELANCING is where you will start. And the secret is PASSION for what you do – something that holds interest, something that you find enjoyable, something that can motivate you or anything that creates hunger.
    PASSION = the key ingredient of success

    • Do you love reading? Then you can write.
    • Are you always fascinated by data, research or figures? Then you can try web research or data entry projects.

    What do you need?

    1. A computer, and Internet connection – You don’t need to own one. I myself started from a cyber café.
    2. Your Skills – Combined with passion. You cant succeed online if you are skeptical.
    3. Time – You need to treat this as a job. You will need to allocate this opportunity some time.

    Once you have put this together then you are good to go.

    How to get your first project
    Branding Yourself
    One of the first things you will need to do as a freelancer is decide on a brand for yourself.. Whatever it is you will need a business identity to work under and for clients to know you as. Along with your new name you will naturally need a logo, business cards and a website. Remember that you are now a business and all your materials need to be polished and professional.

    Building a Killer Portfolio
    Tip: Go to Google, Browse and see how top freelancers have crafted theirs. You are not here to invent the wheel are you?

    What To Include:

    • An introduction of some sort – usually just a statement is best
    • Your services, or else how will anyone know what you do?
    • Examples of your previous work.
    • Contact details.

    Where do you find work?
    This is where the challenge lies. Where do you find your first jobs and indeed your later jobs too? And what do you put in your portfolio?

    What If you don’t Have The Experience
    If you have nothing to show for yourself for whatever reason then you had either better be a great talker or find something to put as a sample. How to go about it:

    1. Create an imaginary job for yourself and execute it.
    2. Offer your services for free to people online
    3. Talk to your last employer into allowing you to show some of your old work for a specific period of time.

    How To Build Your Portfolio
    Offer your services for free and ask if its possible to get a testimonial. Alternatively you can use the work(sample) for your portfolio. You can try this by looking at

    What it if you find it hard to find work
    In any case it’s difficult for a client to hire you on the strength of your word alone then try free pitching, where the potential client will ask you to do some of the work prior to payment.

    Once you have worked a fair amount of jobs, you should find that you steadily get an increase in repeat work and referral work and that you depend less and less on new jobs. If this is not the case

    • you are either too expensive,
    • getting the wrong types of clients or
    • not good enough at your work (which in turn means you’re too expensive)

    There you have it. Go out and make some money today and change your life. Remember whatever you decide to do, just remember that nothing happens until you take action.

    Or, in the words of the great Abe Lincoln…

    “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left over by those who hustle.”

    Are you waiting, or are you hustling? It’s up to you…

    Here’s to Your Future Success,

    Kihato

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  • Do Something!

    Posted: April 4, 2010, 7:43 pm by Kelvin

    Helen Keller once said:

    “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.”

    What are you waiting for? Go out and try to achieve your dreams!

    “While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.”

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  • Kalahari.co.ke?

    Posted: April 2, 2010, 10:33 am by Kelvin

    Kalahari.co.ke have the following as part of their site’s terms of use:

    No person, business or web site may link to any page on this site without the prior written permission of kalahari.

    What does that mean? Jameni!

    Undoubtedly, Kalahari (I apparently do not have permission to link to them) is a welcome entrant into the Kenyan e-commerce scene but why the overly strict terms? Does Google and other search engines have written permission to include Kalahari in their search results?

    The web is built on the idea that sites should link between each other. Can you imagine if every website clearly prohibited anyone from linking to them? The internet would become much less useful, in my humble opinion. Moreover, the number of other websites linking to your own site is a strong determinant of how well you have done your SEO.

    I suppose the people behind Kalahari know what they’re doing…

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