The last two years have had a significant toll on the Kenyan economy and many Kenyans have been hard hit. With an increase in fuel prices and an unbearable tax burden, the cost of living in Kenya is on a steady rise. Today relying on one source of income is no longer practical. Kenyans need now more than ever to take up the challenge and be a part of the online movement. The covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the numerous flaws in our economy. Moreover, several industries have proven to be unsustainable owing to the new norms created by the pandemic. Businesses that relied heavily on physical interactions have plummeted as the world makes a mass exodus into the online market. To survive, businesses must embrace the online trend and ride the wave or be buried under it. The online market in Kenya has a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 in the past two years and is projected to reach CAGR 24 by the end of this year. Such statistics reveal that Kenya's online market is ripe for the picking. However, the online world can be very intimidating and overwhelming for beginners. Moreover, unscrupulous characters tend to take advantage of uninformed Kenyans, leaving many as the victims of online scams. Consequently, many people are afraid of looking for online opportunities and have concluded that they are all scams. This could not be further from the truth! While there are a few people taking advantage of people's ignorance, there are many genuine businesses online.
Opportunities for genuine online businesses are endless. You can sell practically anything online and find someone to buy it. However, you need to have an understanding of how the online market works to avoid becoming a victim of scam artists. More than that, it is important to understand the best beginner-friendly online businesses to get your foot through the door. For beginners I would advise starting with 1 of the 3 businesses: e-commerce, blogging/vlogging, and affiliate marketing. In my opinion, these offer the highest convenience and security for newcomers in the market. Also, there are many established companies that provide a platform for beginners to participate in e-commerce businesses making it easy for anybody to join the online bandwagon.
E-commerce refers to the process of purchasing and selling goods or services online. As the name suggests the entrepreneur needs to have a product or service to offer potential clients and charge for it. There are three main forms of e-commerce namely business-to-business, business-to-customer, and customer-to-customer. While this might sound intimidating it is actually a lot easier than it sounds. E-commerce aims at either replacing brick-and-mortar stores or supplementing the same. Basically, what this means is that you can have a business run purely online; or you can have a physical store and use the Internet to reach additional customers. For beginners, the easiest way to start an e-commerce business is to create a social media page and post the products and services you are offering. You can then pay for social media and Google advertisements to reach out to new clients at a low cost. Please note, running an e-commerce store requires handling logistics such as deliveries to clients. Alternatively, you can sign up with an online store of your choice, which will eliminate many logistical challenges and increase your chances of reaching new clients. To find an online store you can Google and compare the terms and conditions of different online stores in the country.
Blogging/vlogging is another great opportunity for beginners to make money online. Blogging entails writing articles about events, situations, and topics of interest. The good thing about blogging is that it provides an avenue to create valuable content of your choice. You can blog about virtually anything; politics, religion, food, fashion, art, sciences, sports, etc. However, the key to successful blogging is quality and consistency. Bloggers who are not consistent may not build a following and thus might not receive the necessary or desired compensation for it. It is also necessary to take blogging seriously if you choose to make it a source of income. Also, you should have social media accounts to promote the blogging page to increase your reach. You can also pay for ads to make your blog more popular. Bloggers make money through advertisements and affiliate links. One of the easiest places to start a blog is on WordPress.
Vlogging is very similar to blogging except it focuses on video journals rather than written journals. Many bloggers also use vlogging to supplement their articles. However, you can use vlogging alone and still earn a decent income. One of the most popular vlogging sites is YouTube. Content creators post videos to entertain viewers and generate revenue based on advertisement commissions. These commissions are calculated based on the number of views and interactions the video receives. Like blogging, people who focus on creating video content must take it seriously if they intend to make any sensible money from it. They are for consistency and quality is key to successful vlogging. Vloggers also use affiliate links to make money by getting commissions from sales.
Affiliate marketing is currently one of the most lucrative ways to make money online. Unlike all the other mentioned online jobs affiliate marketing requires the least amount of capital to generate revenue. In fact, affiliate marketing does not require capital in most cases. The idea behind affiliate marketing is to generate revenue by recommending a product to friends, family, acquaintances, or even strangers. An affiliate marketer is essentially a broker; that means that you do not need to have a product or service of your own. Some of the richest online business people are affiliate marketers as the business model results in the highest profit margins. According to Investopedia, digital marketing, analytics, and cookies have made affiliate marketing a billion-dollar industry. Affiliates make money by recommending products and getting a commission from the sales of those products. Of course, as with all the other ways to make money online affiliate marketing requires commitment. Since affiliates make money based on commissions, it stands to reason that the more hardworking a person is the greater the commissions they will receive.
There are two main ways that affiliates can make money: pay per click and pay on commission. Pay-per-click modules offer the lowest returns since they do not guarantee a return on investment for the companies. As the name suggests affiliates under such models are paid for the number of clicks or the amount of traffic that they send towards the company's website. The model was the original approach to affiliate marketing. However, as e-commerce evolved more businesses shifted to the pay on commission module. Here, companies pay affiliates commissions based on sales. The latter is the most common model these days since it provides the most value for both the affiliate and the company. For example, a company can offer affiliates a 5% commission on all sales for a particular product. That means that if the affiliate sells a product worth 1000, he or she will get a one-time payment of Ksh50.
SimpleSell SMS offers one of the friendliest affiliate programmes for beginners. The system works by offering affiliates a unique link and code to promote the bulk SMS service. Affiliates then post the link to their social media pages or anywhere they want to advertise the platform and receive commissions from all purchases. Through our system, affiliates receive up to 10% commissions on bulk SMS sales. However, unlike other affiliate systems, SimpleSell SMS maintains a long-term relationship with its affiliates thus guaranteeing a stream of revenue. What this means is that simple sellable pays affiliates 10% of all customer expenditure. In other words, every time the person you referred to us makes a purchase you will receive a commission. In addition, the company provides payments regularly sent directly to your M-pesa account. This makes it a worthwhile venture for any person regardless of their age, background, or expertise. To enroll on this program get in touch with the affiliate team via affiliate@simplesellable.com.
By Christine Njoki - Published 30th Sep 2021, 11:56pm
