One of the most frequently asked questions we hear of late is: “What can I do to make extra money?” We see this question being asked not only on the MomBoss platform, but it is one of the most frequently searched questions on Google. Everybody wants to earn more money, because let us face the sad fact … CASH IS KING and without it (or enough of it), we are unable to give our children quality education, get out of debt, finally move into the house of our dreams, afford quality medical cover, take care of our parents and so on.
Did you know?
According to the figures from Numbeo, the cost of living in Kenya (which depends on the quality of life you demand) for a four-person family living in Nairobi is on average 190,398KSH a month, excluding mortgage or rental expenses. The average cost of Preschool, full-day for one child is 19,691.98KSH per month, and International Primary School in the region of 1,113,076.92KSH for one child for the year. GULP! Couple this with the rising petrol and food price, high taxes, rising inflation, government tariffs, import mismanagement, Middle East conflict, and climate change, most Kenyans are feeling the pinch!
This trend has had one incredibly positive effect! Along with the current global pandemic, it has forced all of us to rethink our current situation, how we spend money, and to start thinking out the box when it comes to earning a living. Over the past two years, MomBoss Kenya has seen so many women grow and shine. From the home-based cook and baker, the artist and crafter, the freelancer and service provider … you name it, the MomBosses have BOOMED! We have encouraged our members to be relentless in growing their online presence and the results speak for themselves! The future has always been online, no matter what it is you do.
Since the whole world has gone online, even schooling, if you are not cashing in you are missing out! We have all had to adapt to the current trends from learning how to navigate various platforms like Facebook or Instagram, creating content for YouTube, or even how to manage our own website – all of us have sharpened our skills in the online marketing game. We all still have so much to learn and it’s often hard to keep up. I can safely say there is no magic recipe that will make you rich overnight. Success is reserved for those that put in the effort, the ones who make the sacrifice, and above all, those who are disciplined enough to reach their goals and dreams.
So, let us get into the topic at hand, shall we? There are several super popular and lucrative online businesses that are trending currently. In this Edition, I am going to discuss Training and Blogging. I have done extensive research on these topics and am going to break them down as simply as I can. Get your thinking caps on, start dreaming bigger, and most importantly – Light that fire in your soul!
If we are very honest with ourselves, how much of what we studied in high school or university (there are exceptions of course) are we really using today? Often, what you studied in university is not what you end up practicing as a working adult. After school, I studied Somatology for three years. Even though I am grateful for the knowledge the topic gave me but must admit that I rarely use my training especially when it comes to earning an income!
The traditional education system has many flaws when it comes to preparing impressionable young people for the realities of life. How popular are courses that help one understand oneself or people better, life coaching, how to budget or get out of debt, and so on? Oh yes, training in today’s age is a BIG BOOMING BUSINESS, and now is the time to become an expert in that field and start offering training to others.
If this is your passion, dive into this industry headfirst, harness and sharpen your skills, develop your niche and launch your training career. This type of online business involves little to no startup costs. But the returns, once you have established your brand and value – are HUGE!
Did you know?
In early 2016, Inc reported that the eLearning industry was worth $107 billion and it is still soaring!
Once you have set up your training course the next challenge will be to market it well. Some good ideas would include free offers, introduction webinars or creating exciting and value-adding content where your target audience is hanging out. Another nice way to grow is to offer an affiliate program where those who promote your training courses are rewarded.
With a little effort and research, you can gently polish your chosen niche to perfection, sharing your passion and knowledge to help empower those around you.
I get overly excited when I think of blogging, and have addressed the topic many times in previous articles or during my “Lives”. We have discussed how blogging is a great way to add value to your audience by keeping them engaged. For example, if you are a hairdresser you could blog on articles that involve subjects such as how to manage hair loss or how to make homemade hair masks, and so on. This is a fun way to add value and direct more traffic to all your Social Media pages. I have even mentioned how beneficial guest blogging is – your talent can be showcased on another website giving you access to a different audience. Therefore, we offer the guest blogging service on the MomBoss Market Space Website. So even if you do not have a website yet, or even if you do, you can feature your articles on our space and we can promote them for you.
But enough of that! Let us get into the juicy details of how you can make money out of becoming a serious blogger – earning money while doing what you love. Best of all, just like the training section above, blogging requires little investment. All you will need to do to get started is to open a web hosting account, a domain and then install a FREE WordPress on it. Yup, that is right, you do not even have to invest in a fancy WordPress website or pay a developer to design one for you. There are great free options that are perfect to get going as a budding blogger! Exciting right! Now do not rush choosing a domain and name. This is one step you should put some careful thought and effort into. Take the time to get to know the back end of your website. There are great support functions on WordPress and should all else fail, trusty YouTube is there to guide you on how to make the necessary changes. If you have a budget, you could get a website developer to make a few tweaks for you but from experience, a simple website for blogging is easy-peasy to figure out. Besides, it is always better to know how your own system works. From here, patience and consistency is going to be vital to your success. As you perfect your niche by harnessing your passion, profits will begin to follow.
According to straycurles.com the most popular and profitable blogs are:
If you are new to blogging and according to my research, most sources encourage beginners to take a good “Training for Beginners Bloggers Course” that can point you in the right direction. These courses will help you to better understand some valuable skills such as SEO (search engine optimization), content creation, and how to market and promote. There is a fine art when it comes to blogging, so if you want to do this as a living as opposed to a hobby, mastering these skills will give you a serious competitive edge.
As I mentioned earlier there is no quick solution to making money online so you will have to be patient, continue to grow your blog website, and consistently provide exciting value. As a new blogger, make sure that all your blog posts are of a high quality. Forget about SEO for the first few months and focus on the quality of the content you are producing. Do loads of research, make sure your blogs are perfect, and ensure you are marketing them on all your social media pages. You do not want to start the game off by publishing mediocre work that will fail to impress. You need to grab your audience’s attention – even if it is only a few readers at a time.
Often bloggers get despondent when their blog don’t go as expected. Please don’t give up! Some of the top reasons blogs fail, and that you should be paying attention to are as follows:
So how do bloggers make money?
The three main ways are by promoting your own products, affiliate marketing or advertising. The most success is seen with the latter two. Allow me to expand on this for clarity:
Affiliate Marketing:
Have you ever been on a blog link and seen a pop up with an “Affiliate Disclosure”? Basically, this notification informs the reader that some of the links on the website are affiliate links, and if used to make a purchase, the website earns a commission at no additional cost to the reader/purchaser. This avenue is by far one of the most popular ways to earn money from blogging.
With affiliate marketing you promote other people/companies’ products on your blog/website and in return you earn a commission. Did you know? Commission ranges anywhere from 5% to 100% depending on the niche you are in! Yes, that’s right, no typo errors – these are facts! You can promote both digital and physical products. I would suggest you begin by looking within the MomBoss network and who you can approach and partner with to promote their products on your space.
It goes without saying that the commission on physical products will be less than digital ones. But it is also true that slow and steady wins the race so every successful sale counts.
Advert Revenue
Once you are generating good traffic on your blog niche, place relevant advertisements on your blog by applying to platforms like Google AdSense or Media.net. The secret to earning here is doing loads of research into the niche and keywords.
Let me explain how this works. With Google AdSense, you will earn when a visitor clicks on the advert placed on your site. But be warned, you will be banned if you go clicking yourself! Earning will depend on how many page views you get and the percentage of visitors that go and click on the advert.
As you move from being a novice to an expert in your blogging journey and want to make the most revenue you can, look into writing your blogs using CPC keywords that will earn you more money from every click. Using a tool like KeywordTool.io will set you off in the right direction.
Some of the top highest paid AdSense Keywords for 2021 are:
Phew well – I don’t know about you, but that is a lot to absorb and to be honest, this is just the tip of the iceberg! But I urge you not to use this as an excuse to chicken out. Every plant begins as a tiny seed that, as you continue watering will grow stronger with its roots firmly planted in the soil. There are multiple free resources available to get you started. So invest the time into your brand and start building a business that you can be proud of – mapping a legacy that will last for eons to come.
Stay tuned for PART 2 coming out in the next Bi-Monthly MomBoss Kenya Magazine, AUG / SEP 2021 Edition.
Article written by: Lauren van Rooyen Founder of MomBoss Kenya, South Africa, and Dubai CEO of MomBoss Market Space Wife, Mother, Blogger, Influencer E: lauren@mombossmarketspace.wpcomstaging.com W: https://mombossmarket.space/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/mombosslauren_/ References: www.Bloggingx.com www.numbeo.com www.straycurles.com www.alejandrorioja.com
MomBoss Market Space enables business owners, employed professionals, contractors, and repairers to list their services all under one roof so that you can feel safer and at ease choosing any service from our directory, whilst helping women working in male-dominated trades to stand out
