Can You Make Money Blogging in Kenya? Are there real people who make money blogging or is it “all talk and no pay”?
Well, since launching my first eBook “How To Run a Profitable Blog”, I have had to answer numerous of such questions via emails and in different other forums.
A few years back if you had asked me if it is possible to make real money blogging I would have answered – NO (plainly and frankly). But today, I can confidently say that “Yes it is quite possible to make money blogging”. This is how bloggers make money in Kenya and other parts of the world.
How To Make Money Blogging in Kenya
Method 1: Google Adsense
In Google adsense you are paid by Google.com…you simply allow them to use your blog for their own advertising purposes and you get paid every time someone from your blog clicks on the ads.
It is a relatively simple way of making money but it calls for a bit of hard work and commitment.
-How to get started with adsense
- Write many articles on your blog for 6 continuous months
- Ensure all of your articles are original and not copied from what others have already written
- After 6 months drop your first application for your blog to be considered by Google.com
- If your blog is approved at this stage then you can start making money with it (and withdrawing via PayPal)
- If you request is not approved, make sure you follow Google’s guidelines before making another request again
Examples of bloggers who have been earning handsomely through Google Adsense include: Ghafla.com and SoftKenya.com.
For you to earn more with Adsense, you need to sustain huge traffic flow to your blog. You can contact me if you would like to receive some advice on how to start making money with Google Adsense.
Method 2: Affiliate Marketing
First I would like to clarify that bloggers don’t sell things – they only recommend helpful products to their fans. What is affiliate marketing – as an affiliate marketer you are paid a commission for every successful sale you deliver to a particular company.
For example, let’s say you register to become an affiliate marketer for Travel Start (a local firm that deals with online travel booking arrangements). You are given a special link and a few banners that you can use for marketing purposes.
Now every time someone comes to your blog and then clicks on your special link they’ll end up on the Travel Star website…once they book a flight or a hotel room, you’ll get paid!
Another example of affiliate marketing program that works here in Kenya is the Payoneer Debit Card Refer a Friend Program. In this case you are paid every time a person signs up through you special link and withdraws up to $100.
To cut the long story short, affiliate marketing is a super simple way to make money with your blog. And the best part of it is that you earn without really sweating…
-How to get started
- Start a niche-specific blog e.g if you would like to become an affiliate of Travel Start I would recommend you start a blog about travel & leisure
- Write helpful articles that are SEO optimized – I can teach you how to do this
- Apply for the right affiliate program – I can teach you how to do this one too
- Set up a payment channel i.e how you are going to be receiving your money – I can also help in this case
If affiliate marketing sounds like the thing for your thing…I can show you how to get started through step-by-step training.
Method 3: Consultancy
If you are an expert in any area of life – be it cooking, weaving, family matters, medical expertise, legal affairs…simply anything, you can start a blog and start offering consultancy services.
One of my clients (and trainees) is a hotelier and he is planning to roll out a blog that teaches people hotel etiquette and stuff. In this case, he will seek to monetize his blog by seeking to train companies as well as individuals on how to carry themselves in a 5-star hotel.
Another consultancy business that you can think of setting up on a blog is fashion and related. I will give you the example of Larry Madowo’s sister who runs a small blog about fashion.
What I’m trying to tell you, if you want to “make money blogging in Kenya”, is that there are unlimited ways of making money blogging in Kenya. It all depends with your capability to think outside the box.
 |
| Me giving a talk about blogging. You can make money through such talks |
- Identify an area of life where you are an expert in – it could be farming, campus politics, fashion or anything else
- Start writing useful articles targeted to a specific audience e.g if you are dealing with campus politics you’ll want to write stuff about campus politics and so on
- Your goal is to position yourself as an authority in your field of expertise…once you manage doing this money will slowly start trickling in
- You can make money by charging people who want to receive SPECIALTY ADVICE or TRAINING. Also, you can earn when you are invited for seminars to give talks.
If you are not sure how to get started as a “consultancy blogger”, feel free to hit me up…I have written a comprehensive on this topic and I can share it with you for free.
Method 4: Selling a Product e.g eBook
You can start a blog that revolves around your product (s)…here let’s say you cook or chef and you have a unique cook-book that you want to sell out there. You can start a small blog about cooking and use it to market your eBook.
The possibilities are unlimited in this case…if you know how to bake cakes, you can start a blog and use it to sell cakes…my friend Bilha does that and she gets orders from all across Kenya.
If you have practical guide that you have been wishing to share with the world, well, all you need is a blog. My friend Sheeroh Kiarie sells a comprehensive training on “How to Become a Video Transcriber”. Another of my friends Mr. Larry Keya sells small guides about farming e.g “How To
Grow Watermelons”.
Do you have a product that you wish to sell out there? Why not start blogging today?...if you wait for too long then someone will make good use of this idea and you might find yourself regretting for not having started early enough.
Method 5: Selling advertising space
If you have an established blog, you can sell out some advertising space to people who would like to market their stuff. In this case you become the like a magazine of newspaper and only sell the space to the highest bidder.
It’s a bit of a task, but with the right mindset and training you can always benefit from it.
Method 6: Short-term Contracts
Just the fact that you know how to blog is enough to get you a well-paying contract with any good corporate that values social media expertise in Kenya.
Recently, I introduced one of my blogging students to the world of travel blogging. It took less than 2 months of writing and corporates, including Serena Hotels, were all over him begging for contracts...they want to partner with him so that he can be blogging for them.
I also know of another blogging friend who heads the digital strategy for Kenya’s Standard Chartered Bank…and you know what, he isn’t an IT expert at all…he’s just a good blogger and that’s all. The company had to pay a lot to consult him.
Contracts can range from short-term to long-term ones…it all depends with your bargaining power and the quality of work that you are willing to offer to the world.
Is It Possible For Me To Make Money Blogging in Kenya?
Yes it is possible…and I can say that again. But the only warning I would like to give to you is that blogging is not a GET RICH QUICK SCHEME. It is not a job for LAZY PEOPLE. Blogging is a passion; blogging is a way of life.
Do you want to be trained to become a top blogger? Click here to start your training >>>BLOG TRAINING.
