How to make money online

You don’t have to leave the comfort of your couch to make money these days, and there are lots of ways to earn the extra coin without taking your time or presence away from you employer. This week we’re looking at some of the avenues that the internet has opened up to its users to create and run businesses at literally the cost of nothing but a few bundles.

AFFILIATE MARKETING

What it is:

You can make money by earning commissions for sending customers to their business through clicks on banners placed on your website. The first thing you will need is a website or blog of your own which you can market to these businesses. You do so by signing up through affiliate marketing networks, or through a company that has its own affiliate marketing system, such as Amazon or, in Kenya, Jumia. Once you sign up, you will be able to track the number of people who have clicked on advertisers’ banners and been redirected to the companies’ sites. These are the clicks that will earn you commissions.

Emmanuel Chekumbe, a website developer, “You enter into an agreement with the company, and in return, you earn a commission from clicks and purchase done by customers,” he says.

Affiliate marketing is new to Kenya. According to Martin Muli, the organiser of the Social Media Awards (SoMa), affiliate marketing is facing challenges from competitors such as Google, Facebook and social media content marketing. “Google is the biggest competitor because it makes money from sending users to companies’ sites or by charging for adverts,” he says. Additionally, Muli notes that companies are increasingly opting to sell their products through social media story-telling instead of setting budgets for banners. “The current trend is that companies looking to market online will set a higher budget for Google and social media than banners for affiliate marketing,” he says. This means that a product will be more likely to reach the targeted customer on social media before they can open a website and click on a commission-earning banner that redirects to the same product.

Local examples: Some of the sites you can link up with and start affiliate marketing locally are Jumia and Kilimall. On Jumia, you are required to register and start advertising their content which includes banners, feed or deeplink generator. When visitors to your website click on your Jumia ads, you will earn a commission of up to 13 per cent on all orders customers make within 30 days from your Jumia adverts.

On Kilimall, the commission you earn will vary according to the kind of products available. “For example, the commission for mobile phones is 2 per cent, clothes 8 per cent, baby toys and kids’ accessories 8 per cent, baby and maternity products 8 per cent,” says Kilimall.

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCING, MANAGING AND MARKETING

Did you know that you can make money off being a social media big-wig? Yes you can! The growing number of Kenyans using social media, and the subsequent digitisation of businesses has created a booming business for social media influencers. For instance, according to a survey by Twitter, 49 per cent of Twitter users rely on recommendations from influencers. You can use Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to drive social or marketing trends if you have a big enough following, and get paid to do so.

How to make money as a social media marketer: The main tools you will need are internet enabled mobile device, laptop or desktop, reliable internet connection, social media accounts on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and a following. According to Muli, you will need to have an online community that is well defined.  “As a social media influencer, your audience should be able to give back maximum value. For example, you can be an influencer whose audience’ earning value is Sh20,000 while another influencer could have the potential of an audience whose earning value is Sh200,000,” he says. When getting started, you may need to ride on existing trends and post relevant materials as regularly as possible to grow your online presence. Currently, some of the popular social media personalities in Kenya include Robert Alai, Sharon Mundia, Caroline Mutoko, Xtian Dela and Cyprian Nyakundi. Once your social accounts get traction, you may need to pitch marketing proposals to specific corporates and businesses in your area of interest. Currently, some of the top corporate entities that have been using social media influencers in their marketing campaigns include Safaricom, Co-operative Bank, and Equity Bank.

DROP-SHIPPING    

According to Martin Muli, this is one of the young entrants in the local online space. Drop-shopping basically involves you starting an online shop – with no inventory or storage costs. To get started, you will need to do is create an online store. Once you have your virtual store, you will need to find suppliers and manufacturers whose products you will then market via your virtual store. “When someone orders a product from your online shop, you send the order to the manufacturer and the product is shipped directly to the customer,” says Chekumbe, adding that you may also ask the manufacturer to rebrand the products using a name you choose before shipping them to customers. “Kilimall is one of the local companies that do drop shipping. Some of their products are ordered from China and shipped to local customers,” he says. Indeed, may Chinese manufacturers are using drop-shipping to access markets they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

Advertising your virtual store: Running a drop shipping business will require you to put in quite some marketing effort to generate traffic and sales. According to Chekumbe, when advertising your online store, you can pay for adverts on Facebook, Twitter or Google, and set up displays via Facebook and Instagram pages. “You may also start a blog where you write articles about the available products in your store,” he says. Always bear in mind that your customers can also shop from these stores directly, and so you need to find a niche that you are very good in.

ONLINE CONTENT PRODUCTION

Top on the list of this segment is online academic writing, which involves penning research papers, dissertations, essays, assignments, and even thesis. Earnings for online academic writers currently stand at between $20 (Sh2,000) to $60 (Sh6,100) per week.

Getting started: There are many websites that offer academic writing opportunities such as WriterBay, Academia-Research, and Essays Writers. Some of these websites like Writerbay.com have more competitive earnings of up to $20 (Sh2,000) per page. In most cases, a page contains 275 words. On WriterBay, you will need to bid for any available assignments. This means that you may not always get a high pay since you will be lobbying with a low per-page figure. Some of the lowest paying sites include EssayWriters.Net which pays from just $2.5 (Sh260), and iwriter which pays as low as $1.25. Despite the low pay, these website are more likely to get you jobs since, unlike WriterBay, you are not required to make bids. For instance, on iwriter, all you are required to do is register for free and start writing. You will also need to acquire an online writing account or open one. There are multiple accounts for sale that are available on academic writing networking platforms such as the Kenyan Facebook group Online Academic Writers’.

Risks: The main risk lies in buying fake accounts. However, online operatives with fake accounts could also lure you to work for them for free. Some administrators of accounts such as iwriter may terminate your account if you constantly score poor ratings due to unoriginal content.

YouTube: Apart from producing content on these online writing channels, you may create your own profile on YouTube where you create and spread content, and make money in the process. Locally, two of the leading figures who produce their own content online are media personality Caroline Mutoko and political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi, who both run successful YouTube channels. According to Muli, you must understand your audience in order to grow your ability to attract more people. “People are looking for versatile and attractive content. The right content will not only reach the viewer, but their associates as well,” he says. With good content and growing viewership, you will start generating revenue for yourself. Your earnings will be sent through your AdSense account. Additionally, you may redirect your traffic to any affiliate links you have to boost your revenues through affiliate marketing, or transform your video content into live events.

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UNETHICAL ONLINE TACTICS

There are numerous tactics used to grow online presence that are deemed as illegal or unethical. They include:

Bots: These are software programmes designed to automatically interact with an audience. They may auto-follow, auto-reply, harvest data or even take over accounts.

Click farms: This is where a large group of people is hired to click on paid advertisement links, visit the targeted website click on affiliate links and even sign up for newsletters.

Black Hat SEO: This involves manipulating search engines to increase the relevance of a web page that operates against search engine rules. This tactic involves keyword stuffing and blog comment spamming.

Fake likes and followers: These are fake items created to generate popularity for a page, or a company. They are sold by companies, individuals and hackers. For instance, a viral programme known as Zeus creates fake Instagram likes which are sold in batches of 1,000.