6 FINANCIAL TIPS FOR A WOMAN'S LIFETIME

Money is "everything". We all seek it,we all love to spend it. For the Kenyan woman, the use of finances differs from one stage of life to another. As you grow needs and priorities change. Kenyan Update hereby is giving the Kenyan woman in their different stages the best financial tips that suite them
1. Singlehood
Today, many women are happy to stay single
for much longer than they would have a few
decades ago. While this is a time of great
personal freedom, it is also the right time to
start laying the foundation for a solid financial
future.
Some key financial priorities for single women
are:
* Saving for short and medium-term goals like
buying a car or putting down a deposit on a
property;
* Starting a retirement plan – the longer you
save for retirement, the better your after work
life will be!
* Covering yourself through disability cover if
something happens that leaves you unable to
work;
* Having an emergency fund for unexpected
events.
2. Life together
Now you and your Mr Right are settling down
to a life together you can be forgiven for
focussing on the wedding or first house or next
romantic trip. But you should drag your head
from the clouds long enough to adjust your
finances to your new circumstances.
Specifically you should:
* Review any disability cover now that you are
a ‘we’ with dual incomes – your needs will be
different
* Consider taking out life insurance to ensure
your partner is provided for if you pass away
and vice versa
* Decide how you want to handle your daily
finances: draw up a household budget, decide
who is ‘in charge’ of finances, look at bank
accounts and decide if separate or joint
accounts work best
* Draw up a will
* Whether you are getting married or just
living together, draw up an appropriate contract
to protect yourself
3. The pitter-patter of tiny feet
Your tiny little bundle of joy packs quite a
financial punch. Not only will they cost a lot on
a day-to-day basis, but they’ll also need to be
well taken care of should anything happen to
you or your partner.
Some specifics to think about:
* During the very early days, have you got
enough put away to cover maternity leave and
the associated costs of pregnancy and early
child care?
* Have you added your child to your will?
* Does your medical cover work for the whole
family? And have you added your child to your
cover?
* Have you taken out a life insurance policy or
reviewed your existing plan?
* Have you increased your emergency fund?
* Have you started saving for their education?
4. Owning a home
Whether you are making the decision to buy a
house solo or as a couple, this is likely to be
the biggest investment you will make in your
life (next to retirement savings). You will need
to save up a substantial deposit before buying
property - aim for at least 20%. A new house
comes with many other costs such as transfer
fees, alterations, security and furnishing.
Before taking the plunge, make sure you are
very well prepared.
Other things to check off your list:
* Take out insurance to cover bond
repayments should something happen to you or
your spouse.
* Check that your will stipulates the right
people as beneficiaries
* Revisit the details of your short-term
insurance contract
5. Going it alone
Unfortunately, statistically, you are likely to end
up flying solo again, either through divorce or
by outliving your partner (women live on
average seven years longer than men).
If you do face divorce, some financial
considerations:
* Alimony, maintenance and custody of
children, division of assets, healthcare, life
cover, and retirement savings and investments
* If necessary, amend your will, and revisit
your estate plan to ensure that your children
are provided for.
If your partner dies, it is important to be very
familiar with the benefits attached to life
assurance policies and retirement funds as
well as having a good grasp on his financial
affairs in general.
6. Retirement
Retirement planning should ideally begin when
you start working. Just as important, however,
is the management of your money once you
have retired.
Things to think about:
* It is never too late to take out a retirement
annuity – your eventual lump sum decreases
dramatically with every year that you postpone
it.
* Once you have retired, you will require expert
advice on the right pension to buy, and gaining
further capital growth through reinvesting your
money at the appropriate risk.

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KENYAN BANKS WITH FRIENDLY RATES ON LOANS 2016

Most Kenyans don't or usually get loans from Kenyan financial institutions with the fear of paying heavy interest rate in comparison to the intended use of the money. They worry about not getting value from their loans.
According to CBK,in a review of institutions offering various types of loans to Kenyans done by February 2016,t  here are the banks with consumer friendly rates.

Housing Finance and Family Bank had
the lowest loan rates in the last quarter
of 2015 while Middle East Bank and
Guaranty Trust Bank were the most
expensive.
The move is meant to promote
competition and transparency in
pricing of loans and reign in on high
interest.
In the personal loans category of
between one and five years, K-Rep Bank
at 25.7 per cent offered the most
expensive credit as at mid-December
2015. Consolidated Bank comes second,
charging 25.4 per cent interest as
December 15.
The lender with the third cheapest
personal loans is Middle East
Commercial Bank at 24.2 per cent. UBA
Bank takes the number four slot at 24.1
per cent on personal loans. Guaranty
Trust Bank charged 23.7 per cent
interest.
Conversely, in the personal loans
category for between one and five
years, Habib Bank Ltd at 8.4 per cent
charged the cheapest rate. Guardian
Bank Ltd at 14.1 per cent offered the
second cheapest loans while National
Bank of Kenya at 14.7 per cent was the
third most affordable. Family Bank and
Housing Finance share fourth slot.
In its comparative report, CBK notes
that over and above these interest rates,
the banks may levy other fees and
charges, including administration,
processing, valuation, legal and
commitment fees, among others.

EFFECTIVE RATES CHARGED
“Therefore the effective rates charged
by individual banks may be higher than
these published interest rates depending
on the other fees and charges levied on
loan products by the specific bank,” says
the regulator.
“The actual rates are based on
negotiations between the bank and the
borrowing customers. It should be noted
that the published interest rates only
constitute banks’ lending rates.”
For business loans repayable between
one and five years, K-Rep Bank at 27.2
per cent gave the most costly loans as at
December 15. It is followed by Jamii
Bora Bank at 24 per cent with Guaranty
Trust Bank coming in third at 23.4 per
cent.
Meanwhile NIC Bank at 22.7 per cent
comes in at number four as the lender
with the most costly loans.
Transnational Bank is the fifth most
expensive lenders at 23 per cent
interest rate.
Conversely, UBA Kenya at 15.2 per cent
offered the cheapest business loans
while Gulf African Bank at 16 per cent
was the second cheapest lender of
business loans. First Community Bank
at 16.8 per cent is the third cheapest
lender of business loans.
Diamond Trust Bank at 17.2 per cent is
the fourth cheapest lender while Bank
of India at a rate of 17.5 per cent is the
fifth cheapest lender.
For the overall average weighted
lending rate for each commercial bank
which represents the weighted average
rate across all loan categories
(corporate, business and personal) and
maturities (overdraft, 1-5 years and
over 5 years) Middle East Commercial
Bank at a rate of 24.6 per cent is the
most expensive lender.
It is closely followed by K-Rep Bank at
24.2 per cent which makes it the second
most costly lender with Guaranty Trust
Bank at a rate of 23.8 per cent
becoming the third most expensive
lender. Credit Bank at a rate of 22.5 per
cent is the fourth mostly costly lender
while I&M Bank at 20.8 per cent is the
fifth most costly lender.
Contribute to the topic by commenting below

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10 WAYS YOU KNOW YOU ARE A LEADER

We think of leadership as a title that
has to be deserved or earned.
But leaders are rarely, if ever, born. If
we had to isolate a factor that
creates leaders, it’s probably some
combination of circumstance and
persistence.
Many, many leaders walk among us–
in all kinds of people, places and
positions.
Some of the greatest leaders you’ll
ever meet aren’t even aware of their
own leadership.
Here are 10 signs that you may be
one of them:
1. You have an open mind and seek
out other people’s opinions. If
people are drawn to you because you
are open to others people’s opinions,
you are a leader.
2. You offer advice and counsel. If
you find yourself advising your
colleagues, and your friends are
asking you to counsel them–if people
seem to seek out and value what you
say–then your empathy is strong and
your perspective has real-world
usefulness to those around you. If
you often help those around you
navigate their rough patches, you are
a leader.
3. People count on you. If people rely
on you, it follows that they trust you
to follow through and deliver on your
promises. If you hold yourself
accountable and demonstrate the
kind of day-in, day-out responsibility
that leads others to trust you, you are
a leader.
4. You’re a good listener and people
confide in you. Being able to listen to
others, having people speak to you
frankly without worrying about who
you’ll tell or how you might use that
knowledge against them, are signs of
strong leadership–not to mention of
being a nice person. If you
understand that listening is more
important than speaking, and if
people know they can confide in you,
you are a leader.
5. Others follow your example. The
most powerful form of leadership
isn’t persuasion or argument or force,
but example. Whether times are good
or bad, people notice who’s present,
who’s effective, who’s working hard
without distraction. When that person
is you, others naturally follow you–
and you are a leader.
6. You insist on excellence. As
Aristotle said, we are what we
repeatedly do, and therefore
excellence is not an act but a habit.
When you are in the habit of standing
up for excellence and you hold
yourself and those around you
responsible for quality, you are telling
others that you act rather than talk,
show rather than say, deliver rather
than promise. If you are not making
excuses or blaming others but
holding up the standard of excellence
and quality, you are a leader.
7. You have a positive attitude.
Positive, optimistic people make
people around them happy. A positive
outlook doesn’t blind you to problems
or issues but allows you to seek out
something good in almost every
situation and to know that eventually
things will be all right. It’s the kind of
spirit that keeps people motivated
and spreads optimism, and it means
you are a leader.
8. You treat people with respect.
Knowledge may give you power,
being smart may give you an
advantage, but when you give respect
you will always receive respect in
return. If you look for the good in
everyone you meet and respect them
for who they are, it’s likely that they
hold you in high esteem and that you
are a leader.
9. You genuinely care about others. If
you spend time supporting, guiding
and sharing your knowledge with
those around you, giving them the
opportunity to achieve success, and
if you care about their well-being and
do all you can to help them attain
their own success, you are a leader.
10. You are confident and
passionate. Most people are always
watching each other, looking for cues
about how to behave. Being
confident means moving with
assurance, being passionate about
what you believe and refusing to let
anything get in your way. If you work
consistently toward a cause with
vision and confidence, you are a
leader.
Are you failing to see something
important within yourself? Weigh
yourself against these traits,
reconsider what you think you know,
and recognize yourself for the leader
you may really be.

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CBK, DELOITTE ON THE SPOT OVER CHASE BANK

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) allowed audit
firm Deloitte to alter and publish Chase Bank’s
2014 financial results as part of Deloitte’s cover-
up of the reporting mess it created in the
classification of the lender’s controversial
Islamic assets, it has emerged.
Documents that Chase Bank directors submitted
to Parliament last week show that Deloitte –
with the backing of the CBK – not only moved
the controversial assets in the bank’s balance
sheet from the Other Assets line to Loans and
Advances for 2015, but also restated the
previous year’s report a year after they were
published with the regulator’s approval.
Chase Bank directors told the National
Assembly’s finance committee that Deloitte
made the changes with the aim of covering up
its sudden U-turn on classification of the bank’s
Islamic assets that kicked up a storm and
caused the lender’s collapse two months ago.
Deloitte, who were Chase Bank’s external
auditors for more than 20 years, in March made a
surprise about-turn to classify disputed Islamic
banking assets as insider borrowing and slapped
the mid-sized lender with a qualified audit
opinion that caused panic among depositors,
leading to its closure.

The changes and restatement of the results
were even more intriguing because they were
made barely a week after the CBK director of
bank supervision, Gerald Nyaoma, wrote to Chase
Bank confirming that the lender’s financial
statement had conformed to the regulatory rules
and authorised their publication on March 30 as
required by law.
“We note that the annual returns on the audited
financial statements and disclosures for the
period ended December 31, 2015 as presented
by Chase Bank Kenya conform to the format
prescribed by CBK prudential guideline,” said Mr
Nyaoma in a letter dated March 30, 2016.
Chase Bank directors, however, submitted to
Parliament documents showing that Mr Nyaoma
five days later fired another letter to the lender,
insisting that it had not made full financial
disclosures.
“The errors noted were that there was no
mention of the bank’s auditors and whether the
auditors issued a qualified or unqualified opinion
on the financials,” said Mr Nyaoma in another
letter dated April 4, 2016.
Chase Bank’s restated figures showed it had
under-reported insider loans by a whopping Sh7.9
billion and ultimately ended up with a surprise
Sh743 million full-year loss as opposed to the
Sh849 million loss it had declared earlier.
The bank had reported a net profit of Sh2.3
billion for the year ended December 2014.
The documents submitted to Parliament also
show that Deloitte’s covert meddling with the
2014 financial statements saw Chase Bank’s
loan book for the period to December 2014 rise
to Sh64.4 billion from the Sh53.8 billion in
statements published a week earlier – a
difference of Sh10.6 billion.
The increase was made possible by the
movement of what had been classified in the
balance sheet as “other assets” worth Sh11.9
billion but was later restated as Sh3.4 billion –
the rest of the cash having been moved to
directors’ loans and advances.
Accounting professionals said it is illegal for
auditors to change the contents of financial
statements that had been approved by regulatory
authorities and published one year earlier without
offering an explanation. Why the CBK allowed Deloitte to push through
such an accounting move and authorise its
publication is the question Chase Bank directors
are now asking Parliament to investigate.

Source: Business Daily

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HOW TO AVOID BUSINESS MISINTERPRETATION

Intellectual property is a fairly new subject
although its origins date back many years.
Where there is no intellectual property protection
other laws can be resorted to for remedial
action.
Take the example of the tort of passing off. Tort
refers to a wrongful act resulting in injury to
another’s person, property, or reputation for
which the injured party is entitled to seek
compensation.
The tort of passing off protects your business
from misrepresentation.
For example, if someone opens a business in
your name and rides on the goodwill of your
business to make profit then that is passing off
and it is actionable in court.
For you to succeed in a passing off claim you
must prove that the misrepresentation was made
by a trader in the course of business and that it
was intended to injure and damage your
business.
In some countries passing off has been listed as
a restricted trade practice. The tort of passing
off can therefore supplement a cause of action
where no trademark protection has been granted.
Claiming damages
Your business can therefore recover from a
tortfeasor (one who commits a tort) in the
absence of a registered trademark.
All you need to do is show that you meet the
requirements set out above and file an action in
court.
You would be claiming damages and can make a
claim for other orders like injunctions stopping
the tortfeasor from passing off your business.
Under Kenyan law it is not possible to trademark
your name or surname for the obvious reason
that names are not distinctive. Even then, the
Trademarks Act prohibits the trademarking of
names.
Recently there was a dispute between Chelsea
and Manchester United over the image rights of
former coach Jose Mourinho.
Apparently, Chelsea owns the trademark over
Mourinho. It is not clear how the trademark was
granted under the United Kingdom and European
Union intellectual property law offices. The UK
trademark was granted in 2003 and the EU one
in 2005.
Since it is not possible to protect your name as
a trademark under Kenyan law, how then do you
secure your image rights?
This is especially applicable to entertainers and
celebrities.
It is possible to use the principle of
impersonation where a third party has wrongfully
used your name or image to perpetrate a fraud
or a crime. If someone pretends to be you, so to
speak, and commits a crime or a fraud then you
can sue for damages.
Impersonation is a crime and you can have the
impersonator prosecuted. You can also recover
injunctive remedies other than damages for
impersonation.
Another law that may protect your image is the
law against forgery. In this case it becomes an
image right when somebody forges any aspect of
your persona such as a signature. Not only is it a
crime, it is also a civil wrong.
Intellectual property law may not always be
sufficient to address wrongs, especially if you
have not secured intellectual property rights. In
such instances you can resort to other laws to
the fill the gap.

Source: Business Daily

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UCHUMI SUPERMARKET SET TO CLOSE

Kenya’s oldest supermarket chain is now
set to wind up over its debts, after it lost
the first round of a court battle, whose
success was hinged on the said law.
The new legislation, the Insolvency Act
No. 18 of 2015, which would have
effectively stopped the creditors from
proceeding with a winding up case
against the retailer, is yet to be fully
operationalised.
The new Companies Act cannot be used
to wind up a company until Parliament
passes procedures to shut down a firm
under the Insolvency Act of 2015.
The procedural rules are the ones that
would enable, or invoke the court’s
jurisdiction to hear and determine such
disputes.
Parliament is required to enact the
procedural rules and guidelines required
under the Insolvency Act No. 18 of 2015
for liquidation of companies.
Until that happens, creditors today have
been placed in limbo by the lawmakers
as far as filing winding up cases is
concerned.
Uchumi was banking on a precedent set
by the winding up petition for Blue Bird
Aviation Ltd. In the case, High Court
judge Eric Ogola ruled that the old
Companies Act cannot be used to wind
up a company until Parliament passes
procedures to shut down firms under the
Insolvency Act of 2015.
However, High Court judge Farah Amin
has found that the retailer cannot rely
on that precedent because the creditor,
who has sought to wind it up for its
failure to pay debts, had actually
commenced the process a day before the
law changed.
San Giorgio Ltd, while relying on Section
220 of the Companies Act Cap 486, now
repealed, issued a statutory demand to
Uchumi, dated November 5, 2015, stating
that unless it is paid the outstanding sum
of Sh53,106,754 within three weeks, it
will petition the High Court for a
winding up order without further notice.
“The creditor was entitled to rely on the
law then applicable. Uchumi had due
notice of the outcome and the procedure
that would be applied. Payment was not
made and the subsequent steps
followed,” said Justice Amin.
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
The judge said the right to file a winding
up petition arose on November 5, 2015,
just one day before the new companies
law came into force.

company was deemed by the
operation of the law to be unable to pay
its debt on November 5, 2015. On
November 6, to use a layman’s words,
the law changed,” said Justice Amin.
She said the effect was that at the time
the notice was issued, the Companies Act
Cap 486, had not, on that day, been
repealed.
“Therefore, the law applicable to the
question of whether or not Uchumi is
unable to pay its debts was and is the
now repealed Act.”
Last Friday, the retailer was told it
would have to defend its desire to
remain open after the suit to wind it up
was allowed to proceed.
The court explained that for the new law
to apply to Uchumi, such retrospective
application, to be fair, must be expressly
and clearly provided for in the said law,
but this is not the case.
“If the court were to take the approach
of retrospective application of the law,
the creditors may justifiably argue that
their legitimate expectations on serving
a notice of demand and filing a petition
had been thwarted,” said Justice Amin.
Uchumi owes suppliers Sh3.6 billion
with another Sh2.5 billion debt held by
banks with charged assets against a total
asset base of Sh6.1 billion, which puts
the retailer in the red.
The company is, however, calling for
bankruptcy protection.
Imports and supply firm San Giorgio Ltd
initiated the case that has seen several
other creditors with a combined debt of
Sh300 million join the suit to close down
the retailer.
Uchumi had sought to have the new
Insolvency Act, which also rescues
institutions in distress, to be applied to
the case.
Justice Amin has also stated that the
court is fully aware of the public interest
in the matter and the impact on the
economy in terms of jobs or an
opportunity for suppliers to market their
produce.
The case will be mentioned on July 22.

Source: Daily Nation

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5 TRICKS A SALESMAN CAN USE TO WIN CUSTOMERS

There is nothing as difficult as Sales.
Convincing an anonymous to buy a
product, for the first time and
expecting him or her to do just that.
A lot of experiences from this sort of
a jaw blowing whereas others are
simply top of this world.
A skillful salesperson would sale you
oxygen. A boring one would irritate
you even if he or she sells honey, the
sweetest product. Here are five skills
all sales personnel need to employ in
their day-to-day business.

1.Pre-Customer Contact – This is the
foundation stone of everything in
prospect. A sales person should not
sell what he or she doesn’t
understand or basically assume that
the customer knows the product.
Take time to do the homework well.
This also entails policies, rules, terms
and conditions beforehand.

2.Presentation skills – a good sales
person would even sell you oxygen.
By effectively explaining the buyer
benefits and basically making it a
show as opposed to pick and go sort
of business. Limit the customer
choices, allow them to choose what
they like or even choose not to like
anything.

3.Prospecting – It is incorrect
especially for those
in the marketing docket to wait for
the customer to call via phone or
make a physical contact. The
initiative to follow up and go there
works spectacularly and thus the
need to make a move.

4.Handling Objections – “Do I look like
I need those metal plates?” “Please I
don’t, they are too ancient!” A
woman once told me during my
frustrating stint in this career six
years ago. All objections are not
inclusive; some would do it to
irritate you. What matters is what
you do after that. I was advised
(later) that I should have asked what
made the customer feel that the
plates were too ancient.

5.Close the sale by winning the
customer –“I prefer you buy it now,
because we got a 10% discount,” a
salesman recently told me. This
simply implies this sales man really
wanted me to buy the products. It
sounds more luring because of the
‘discount’ part of it. Always offer an
incentive. It works magic!

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TUSKYS,KCB PARTNER TO OFFER INTERNSHIP FOR 1600

Tuskys Supermarket has signed a partnership
with KCB to provide internships for 1,600 youths
at its 50 outlets.
The supermarket chain will offer internship
opportunities to beneficiaries of the KCB
Foundation’s 2Jiariri scholarship scheme
launched in March this year.
The bank’s Sh10 billion-a-year youth
empowerment programme is meant to benefit
500,000 small-scale entrepreneurs over the next
five years.
Tuskys, on the other hand, has been running an
internship programme for fresh graduates and
youth launched in October last year.
The programme is aimed at creating a pool of
skilled staff for its outlets countrywide and
tackling unemployment among the youth.
The partnership will also target 13,000 youths
across 22 counties for contract farming
opportunities in agribusiness.
KCB will provide the youths asset financing and
working capital. Tuskys has committed to buy all
the produce of programme beneficiaries. KCB
Foundation Executive Director, Jane Mwangi,
said the initiative will offer entrepreneurial youth
a shot at economic empowerment.
“At KCB Foundation it is our belief that the
youth hold the greatest sway in the pace and
trajectory that the East African economy will
take into the future.

‘‘We also acknowledge the great contribution
agriculture makes to the national GDP and we
are committed to supporting the sector,” Ms
Mwangi said at the signing ceremony.
Tuskys Supermarket CEO Daniel Githua said the
partnership will pool resources, skills and
experiences to advance youth skills, self-
employment and further hone entrepreneurship
skills among the youth while at the same time
providing employment opportunities for
beneficiaries.
“We have noted a marked improvement in terms
of productivity from youths who have gone
through our internship programme,” said Mr
Githua.
KCB Group, through its foundation, expects to
generate 2.5 million new jobs by helping build
skills among artisans and ease their access to
capital.

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84MILLION TO NAIROBI AGRIBUSINESS

Nairobi County will spend Sh84 million on
greenhouses, poultry farming and rabbit
keeping projects in the city.
At least Sh40 million will be used to set up
greenhouses and water tanks even as the
government works to fight unemployment
among the youth.
An additional Sh34 million will be used to set
up the first ever poultry slaughterhouse and
generally improve the sub-sector.
Sh10 million will be used to start at least 10
rabbit units, a venture the county government
will undertake in partnership with various
youth and women groups.
The money is part of the Sh534 million that
the department of Agriculture, Livestock and
Fisheries proposed for the 2016/2017 budget
to improve the sector in Nairobi.

Members have until June 30 to approve the
Sh36 billion budget, the highest ever for the
county.
Agriculture executive Bernard Mugenyo said
interested groups will be expected to
contribute towards hiring labour and
purchasing of materials required to set up the
necessary structures for the projects.
"We will be targeting high-density areas where
the rabbit projects will be started and we hope
this will earn income for the young people,"
said Mr Mugenyo.
He revealed the rabbit projects will mainly be
established in informal settlements such as
Kawangware, Kibera, Korogocho and Mathare.
Meanwhile, Mugenyo said the Sh40 million will
be used to construct 34 green houses in 34
wards and will mainly target areas where dairy
farming is being practised.
Already, there are 17 greenhouses in Nairobi in
several areas including Njiru, Kangemi and
Shauri Moyo. The allocation is expected to
increase the number to 54. "The existing
greenhouses have been distributed to schools
and are being used for learning. The new ones
target women and the youth as we work to
ensure food security while boosting income
generation," said Mugenyo.
He added: "The county government will
initially control the projects but will later hand
them over to local communities. We want
youth and women groups as well as local
communities to contribute towards the
projects as this will instil a sense of
responsibility and ownership," he said.
Part of the Sh34 million is meant to improve
poultry farming generally, according to
Agriculture Chief Officer Jasper Balanya.
He said the proposed poultry slaughterhouse
will be set up through a public-private
partnership. They are already in the process
of identifying a suitable area for the facility.
Balanya said they will also set up set up 34
poultry projects in the county. "This will be the
first poultry slaughterhouse in Nairobi and will
ensure the chicken we eat is safe and
hygienically prepared," he said.

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OIL PRICES IN KENYA TO RISE

Kenyan consumers will pay
more for fuel at the pump for the next month
after the Energy Regulatory Commission raised
retail prices during its monthly review on
Tuesday.
The ERC increased the maximum retail price of
petrol in the capital, Nairobi, by 2.3 percent to
86.17 shillings ($0.8527) per litre, saying the
costs of importing refined petroleum products
had gone up.
It also increased the retail prices of kerosene
and diesel.
Costs of energy and transport have a
significant weighting in the basket of goods
and services used to measure inflation in the
East African country.

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MAKE THE BEST ON YOUR RETIREMENT LIFE

We all want a good life
after we have toiled and moiled for years,
sweating an working hard to ensure that
things keep moving.
Well, sometimes it needs more than just the
dream of a good life. It requires that you start
working for the future of the dream you have.
You need to re-collect your mind, draw the
right path and follow. A lot can be done at
this particular moments but one of the surest
way we can all agree on is a pension.
A good pension scheme can really bail you
out when things have hit rock bottom, or
boost you when your life is on an upward
trajectory.

That is why one is encouraged to start
investing in this noble course in a bid to enjoy
the benefits when the right time comes.
And the biggest misconception many of us
have is that pension is only for the people
who have aged and have left their
employment. This is not exactly the case.
As long as you are 18 and above, you are
entitled to pension.
Perhaps the only thing you need for you to
enjoy these benefits at the lowest rate and in
good time is the right partner who will offer
the services.
Take for instance Enwealth Financial Services
Ltd. Initially known as Liberty Pension
Services Ltd, Enwealth today boasts five
years of service and a growing number of
customers thanks to the services offered
here.
Simon Wafubwa, CEO Enwealth Financial
Services Ltd.
Enwealth specializes in provision of pension
scheme administration services, retirement
benefits consulting services, retirement
benefits and social welfare training
services, employee benefits research and
surveys, corporate trustee services, corporate
principal officer and insurance.
Its products include Enwealth Keho Hela
income draw down fund, Enwealth personal
pension scheme and Enwealth diaspora and
expatriates fund (for the Kenyans in the
diaspora).
Perhaps there is the issue of how secure it
is.
Enwealth CEO Simon Wafubwa will tell you
that the organization is licensed by the
Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA).
Currently Enweath has over 20,000 Kenyans in
the diaspora who are receiving their services.
The organization also trains Kenyans
interested in taking pension and enjoying
retirement benefits.
At Enwealth, you are also entitled to benefits
as your retirement contribution continues.
Such benefits are given at a reasonable rate,
better than what other organisations give.
According to Wafubwa, saving is an attitude.
“There are four dimensions of capital; social
capital, intellectual capital, spiritual capital
and financial capital. If you happen to have
all of them, you are the luckiest in Kenya,”
Wafubwa advises.
Enwealth aims at dignified retirement for all.
By the way good and dignified retirement for
all of us is what we dream for.

Read More

KARIITHI MURIMI, BUSINESS ANALYST PASSES ON

Kenya's business
community is mourning the death of respected
economist Kariithi Murimi who died last
evening at his home in Nairobi's Wood Avenue
estate.
Murimi described himself on as CEO and Team
Leader of JMG Strategy Innovations Ltd as
well as a constitution and Governance expert
in Strategic Risk solution.
He studied an MBA General Management at
University of the Free State, was widowed and
is from Kianjiru, in Central Kenya.
The cause of his death is still unknown as
family and relatives still come to terms with
his demise.
READ MORE
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Bank loans
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retirement, urges NSSF
Uganda economy to grow 5.9 percent in
fiscal 2016/2017: World Bank
Murimi, who was one of the best brains in the
country on matters economics, shaped debate
in the country on the economic scene and was
a regular commentator on topical economic
issues on different media outlets.
He spoke to this writer on many issues from
debt, governance, taxation to different
government policies and how they affected
the economy.
He was a major critic of the policies pushed
by the international donor community and
financing entities.
He was for example uncomfortable with over-
reliance of the government on foreign aid as
well as implementing policies pushed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) without
interrogating their intentions.
For example, he had warned that there was a
salient risk in having people from just one
background being in charge of all sectors of
the economy.
This he said in response to a move by
government to hire either intentionally or
otherwise people who had a stint at the IMF.
"The IMF always has a straight jacket
approach to things. If wage cuts work
anywhere then it wants to implement that
everywhere," Murimi, said in an earlier
interview.
Mr Murimi said there is a likelihood that since
most of those advising the president in
financial issues have been at the IMF, it also
follows that they are likely to give the same
advice be it on who to appoint or how to deal
with an economic crisis.
The Jubilee administration appears to place a
high premium on any candidate that has had a
stint at the IMF.
Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich, his deputy,
Kamau Thugge, chief of staff Joseph Kinyua,
and Treasury's director of economic affairs
Geoffrey Mwau have all had a stint at either
the World Bank and the IMF or both.

Read More

10 TOP INSURANCE COMPANIES IN KENYA

need to secure your business venture by
ensuring you cover up any risk that can arise
and hinder your business operations. The
question answer lies in your insurance - as in-
transferring your business risks to a third party
– an insurance company in your country
(Kenya). It means that you need the best of
insurance companies in your country to be safe
– avoid enterprises that are likely to go into
receivership or even collapse.
I will highlight the ten leading insurance
providers in Kenya. Insurance Companies are
formed to indemnify the insured if they incur a
loss arising from an insured risk. The company
put back the insured in the same state they
were before the loss occurred. There is a fierce
competition among the insurance businesses in
Kenya mainly focusing on health insurance and
motor vehicle insurance. Risks are eventualities
that happen without a plan resulting in a loss.
The top 10 insurance companies in Kenya
include:
Jubilee Insurance Company Jubilee insurance is
the country's leading insurance provider and the
best insurance company in East Africa. The
measure is by the parameters of market share
and gross premiums. The company has a
market share of approximately 11% making it
the dominant insurer in the country. Jubilee
Insurance is reputable for the provision of the
best medical insurance cover. The company has
a good risk management record. Jubilee has
embraced technology in the delivery of its
services to increase the quality of services they
offer clients.
Kenindia Assurance Company Kenindia is one of
Kenya's fastest growing insurance companies
regarding the market share they dominate.The
company commands a 9% market share of the
overall insurance market. The company came
into existence after some Indian insurance
companies operating within the Kenyan came
together to form a solid body.Kenindia is one of
Kenya’s first life assures that offer clients a
wide range of life insurance policy options. The
insurance policies cover that the company
offers include life, fire, and marine and motor
that are the most sought insurance covers by
clients.
APA Insurance Company APA has been in the
insurance market for a decade, and it has
recorded tremendous results. It holds a
substantial market share despite its short time
in the market.APA has developed a very
innovative package that has attracted clients to
take up covers with the company. It best
recognized for being the first insurer in Kenya to
offer protections for HIV/AIDS.The company's
strategy of coming up with insurance cover that
were not previously insurable made it easy for
the company to penetrate the market with ease.
The company was born as a result of the
merger between Pan African Insurance and
Apollo Insurance Company. APA Insurance
Company insurance company in Kenya seems to
be on the right track to taking a significant
share of the regional market.
Britam previously known as British American
Insurance Company offers a broad range of
insurance and related financial services. The
company has been in existence since 1920 and
has continued to enjoy growth regionally. The
increase attributes to the provision of superior
services to clients and tailoring their services to
suit the particular needs of the clients. The
insurer is reputable for its comprehensive life
assurance covers. Britam is an insurance
company in Kenya mainly owned by Kenyans
and managed by Kenyans.
UAP Insurance UAP offers a broad range of
products to consumers. Its products are tailored
to meet the existing market gap that is
indemnifying all possible risks to give clients
peace of mind. Risks are highly dynamic, and
UAP Company uses this opportunity to develop
new products in the market. The company
offers personal and business products. Under
the single tire, the company provides covers for
crop, livestock, home and motor insurance.
Under business insurance, the company
provides covers depending on the unique needs
of the enterprise.
The insurance company of East Africa ICEA is
one of Kenya's top 10 leading insurance
companies. The company has vested interest in
some economics sectors in the Kenyan
economy. The company long-term as well as
short-term insurance options.The company has
over the years enjoyed steady growth amidst
high competition from other insurers. The
company has establishments in the East African
countries.
Co-operative Insurance Company The company
previously Co-operative Insurance Service
Limited was formed in 1978.The name changed
in the year 1999 as part of a repositioning
strategy. It saw the company gains a national
outlook. The company provides services such as
life assurance and general insurance which
include motor, fire, theft, Marines among others.
CIC Insurance has a high value due to the
number of assets at its disposal.
Chartis Kenya Insurance Chartis insurance
formerly A.I.G is an international insurance
company that has found a home in Kenya. The
establishment of the business in Kenya over
four decades ago shows that the Kenyan
insurance industry is maturing. Chartis provides
complete accident, personal, health and general
insurance packages. Chartis is one of Kenya's
best public insurance providers. Recently I have
seen an advert on the mainstream that the
company might be adopting the original name
A.I.G. The company has roots in the US and is
believed to be one of the most profitable
insurance companies in Kenya.
Heritage Insurance Company Heritage is an
insurance company in Kenya whose
management believes it has an opportunity to
compete favorably in the Kenyan market and
the regional market. Heritage Insurance prides
itself on being the best bank regarding claims
payments for the insured. The bank is best
known for being prompt in settling claims to
clients who suffer losses. The company offers a
broad range of products to its customers. This
product could be short term or long term. The
products provide by Heritage range from
agricultural, property, goods on transit,
accidents, fire and theft.
CFC Life CFC Life is an insurance company in
Kenya owned by the CFC bank. CFC has
recorded high-profit rates over the years and
gained a considerable size of the market share.
The company's assets have a value of over 13
billion. CFC provides its customers with a group
of individual products. Its unique products have
attracted a wide range of clients who have
bought covers with the insurer. The company
aims at improving the life of their customers.
You can suggest in the comments section and
company that you think should be included in
the list of the top 10 best insurance companies
in Kenya

Read More

10 WAYS TO INTERNET MARKETING SUCCESS

The best internet marketing in Kenya strategies
have brought change in the advertising world,
and agencies are coming up with new ways of
branding their clients products online. There are
many misconceptions about online marketing
strategies, and it is because of this reason I
have decided to write this exclusive article.
Most people have been giving me different
views on running their ads on the internet
because they have been given the wrong
information, or simply they did have knowledge
of what is the best strategy to use online.
Are the internet marketers in Kenya misleading
clients? Or do they lack knowledge of the best
practices to use? Why do you run ads for a
customer if you are very green in the online
advertising world? Why place someone’s ad on a
website that has zero visitors simply because
it’s you friend or it was mentioned somewhere
as the best site? Whether a website has a good
design or got votes as the best anywhere online
that cannot be used to promote clients products
online. That’s stealing from clients, and that is
what is giving people wrong perception about
online advertising.
What Companies Need For Internet Marketing
1. Website and Blog
Companies have physical offices and locations;
this is where your clients get their goods/
services or where a delegation of duties occur.
When it comes to the Internet circles, you need
a registered office, where online consumers
would buy your goods/services, leave messages
and get feedback without any physical contact.
A website must have a registered domain like
www.mybusinesstricks.com; this is your
company’s name. You need a website hosting –
this is where your website domain resides – like
the physical location. Read what is a blog and
how to run a successful blog.
You need to hire web designers to develop the
website for you. Since your site would be static,
you will need a blog for your site - read this
article on what a blog entails, I also recommend
you read about taking your business online. In
the blog, it's where you will update anything
new about you company, provide product
reviews and so on.
2. Social Media Accounts
Before you embark on any major online
campaign or think of hiring an SEO (search
engine optimization) expert, you need to have
the major five social accounts up and running.
They include Facebook Fan Page, LinkedIn
Company Page, Google Page and Local Listing
of Google, Twitter and Pinterest Account.
Having the above two categories in place, you
are ready for your internet marketing in Kenya,
either by yourself, a member of your staff, hiring
an internet market or considering MBT as your
marketing destination. Now, let’s look at the
right marketing strategies on the internet as per
their significance and importance.
Essential Internet Marketing in Kenya Strategies
to use to Promote Your Products
1. Content Marketing Is By Far The Best
First, before I analyze this strategy, am looking
at both the long term gains and short term gains
of either the advertising model. And yes,
content marketing is the Number one online tool
to use on the internet. And why exactly am I
saying that this is the number one method?
Using the Alexa Rank metrics – and I do not
want the noise that their metrics is not
consistent – I already know that – Google.com
ranks No. 1 in Kenya, YouTube No 3 and
Google.co.ke ranks No. 5. The three searches
engines, this means Kenyans consume more
content that you can imagine. In fact, when a
company advertises on TV or Print media,
Kenyans will use Google to search their reviews
and more information about the product.
And using the same metrics, all the leading
sites in Kenya, get most of their traffic from
Google and social media, a reason to continue
reading more about content marketing in this
article. The study has also shown that products
reviewed on blogs get more attention than
goods that have not featured on any website or
blog. There are several ways of content
marketing that you can use to promote your
products online – especially for long-term gains.
These methods include blog content, video
marketing, reviews, file sharing, and guest
blogging on authority blogs. Blog content is in
the form of articles, images, and infographics –
they say an image speaks 1,000 words, and I
say an infographic speaks a million words.
Remember when listing what you require for
internet advertising success? I said you needed
a blog and these articles you write or hire
someone to write you will publish on that blog.
For better performance on search engines such
as Google, I advise you write articles of over
800 words. Like this article you are reading, it is
over 2000 words and do not overuse your target
keywords – a keyword is a particular word you
want people to learn about when you publish
your content. After writing and publishing your
articles, interlink them using your target
keywords and share them on your social
networks. It might take some time for the
materials to be picked up by search engines but
once they start appearing in search results –
this is a long term investment you have made in
your business. You will also use the blog to
interact with your customers.
Let’s look at video marketing as part of your
content marketing strategy, as shown above,
YouTube is the third most visited website in
Kenya and world’s second largest search
engine. You create videos related to your niche
and upload them on YouTube, share with your
networks and customers to flock to your
business. There is another video sharing forum
called Vimeo – for Vimeo, you share videos
after paying and those videos appear on search
results better than the YouTube videos.
Reviews and Guest Blogging
Before you think of doing a review or guest
blogging – KINDLY – examine the statistics of
the website online. Use Alexa.com and
vampirestats.com to get an overview of how
the website ranks – do not allow yourself to be
a fool, get the right information. Some of these
statistics might be inaccurate, but since you are
reviewing all the sites using the same measure,
the statistics become accurate.
For instance, an excellent website in Kenya
should have its rank below 700, this means that
its getting ton of visitors every day. You can
have your products reviewed on a site and get a
link back to your original site, and this is the
same case for guest blogging. Here at
mybusinesstricks.com, our sponsored reviews
start at 5,000/= per review, and we have free
guest posts provided they meet all the
requirements on our website. To contribute to
our site, send us a message on our Facebook
page.
The last part of content marketing that we are
highlighting is the file sharing. There are several
online resources you can use to share your files
either in the PDF format or PowerPoint slides.
For PDF files, you can use Scribd.com and
Dropbox.com to share your business content
and use Slideshare.net to share your slides.
To achieve the success of content marketing,
you adhere to the following, share the right
content and do not misuse keywords. Share on
social media, leave behind Comments and reply
to comments, interlink your files, articles, do not
write questionable content, write for your
audience and not search engines.
2. Banner Advertising (Again, Remember to
Check The Websites Rankings)
There are two methods you can use to promote
your products in the Internet using the banner
advertising methods. You can decide to buy ad
space directly from websites giving this option,
and I highly recommend this option. Use third
party methods such as Google Adwords through
Google Adsense to serve your banner across
their network.
Banner advertising is an effective online
marketing strategy that you can use to increase
your business sales. We rank this as the second
best internet marketing in Kenya strategy to use
for your business.
3. Search Engine Marketing Strategies
A search engine is a website tool that helps you
discover content online through web pages –
refer to content marketing. Search engines
include Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Bing, Ask
among others. There are several search engine
marketing strategies that you should use and I
only recommend Search ads and Search engine
optimization. Each of the search engines,
provide its ads such that when someone
searches a particular product using a specific
keyword – your ad will appear beside the search
results. We have Google Adwords, Bing Ads,
Yahoo Ads, and if you are not familiar with this
options, you need to hire someone to help you
reach the right audience.
The second search engine marketing strategy to
use is the search engine marketing commonly
referred to as SEO (search engine optimization).
For SEO to work better for your company or
web business, you need to adhere to the
instructions give above on blog content. SEO
means optimizing your website pages, blog
content in a way that search engines will find it
when people look for information on the
internet. In this instance, you have no option but
to hire an expert in SEO. We have so many SEO
companies in Kenya and what you need is to
search for the in the Internet using your
preferred search engine.
SEO includes the on page optimization and the
off page optimization. The on page is a
technical part of SEO and requires an expert to
carry out the process for – but this is mainly
done by your website developers. It involves
having the right heading tags, a good source
cord, Sitemap creation and submission to
search engines. Deep linking, proper use of
anchor text – here is an example of an
appropriate use of the anchor text method for
deep linking – learn about the SEO services you
can provide in Kenya. The link connects an
article I wrote about “SEO services in Kenya,”
see the text of the link is different from the
article title.
The off page optimization includes link building
such as creating a link wheel, article prism, and
social bookmarking. Social sharing, guest
blogging, press distribution, article submission,
directory submission, blog commenting and
online reviews are other methods.
4. Social Media Marketing Strategies
I know most of you thought that I will place this
strategy as the number one method to use in
Kenya, but to your surprise, I rank this way No.
4. You can trust my analysis in the link I
provided above. I linked you to leading websites
in Kenya and most of them get traffic
organically from search engines that require the
application of the three methods above. I will
talk about two ways here Google Page/Local
Listing and Facebook, but remember to create a
Twitter profile for your company, ensure your
are listed on the LinkedIn network and get
verified on Pinterest.
a) Google Page and Local Listing
Google page is a must service for your
business, because of the power given to Local
listing on Google pages by the giant search
engine. And for your information, Google is here
to stay, and it is not likely to lose its market
share anytime soon – hence the reason to
comply with what it requires in ranking your
business website. You need to have a Gmail
account and create a Google Page from the
google plus of your profile. Once you create the
page – same way you do for Facebook, you
connect it to YouTube, Your website, and its
rankings improve on Google search results.
b) Facebook Marketing Strategies
Almost all the companies and brands in Kenya
are using Facebook to promote their products
online and reach over 3million Facebook users in
Kenya. Using Facebook to market your products
is very tricky; this is because Mark and his
team want to make more money from you. Now,
this is the funniest part of Mark’s team; you pay
to get likes. For you to share something and
been seen by your fans, you need to pay again,
does this make sense?
That’s why Facebook introduced the promote
posts option now calling it boost posts – just to
milk you more money. Just to give you some
statistics, when you share a link without content
to your likes of the page only 0.3% will see your
post. If you include some texts to the link 3%
will see the post and if your share like 150
words without any connection, around 16% of
your fans will see your post. For more people
who like your brand to see what you post, you
must boost that post even if you paid to the
get likes
5. Google Adwords Links
Using Google Adwords links is another way to
market your business online. For instance, in
Olx.co.ke, you can place your links to appear
after ads in a certain category. You can also
buy direct links from interested bloggers.
6. Email Marketing
Most Kenyans still use their emails to get
valuable information, and this is another reason
that makes Google and Yahoo top websites
because most people use Gmail and Yahoo mail
for online communication purposes
Among the many internet marketing in Kenya
strategies, for now, let me give you a chance to
conceptualize the above methods before we
analyze others ways for getting your business
online.

Read More

10 STRATEGIES FOR INTERNET MARKETING SUCCESS

The best internet marketing in Kenya strategies
have brought change in the advertising world,
and agencies are coming up with new ways of
branding their clients products online. There are
many misconceptions about online marketing
strategies, and it is because of this reason I
have decided to write this exclusive article.
Most people have been giving me different
views on running their ads on the internet
because they have been given the wrong
information, or simply they did have knowledge
of what is the best strategy to use online.
Are the internet marketers in Kenya misleading
clients? Or do they lack knowledge of the best
practices to use? Why do you run ads for a
customer if you are very green in the online
advertising world? Why place someone’s ad on a
website that has zero visitors simply because
it’s you friend or it was mentioned somewhere
as the best site? Whether a website has a good
design or got votes as the best anywhere online
that cannot be used to promote clients products
online. That’s stealing from clients, and that is
what is giving people wrong perception about
online advertising.
What Companies Need For Internet Marketing

1. Website and Blog
Companies have physical offices and locations;
this is where your clients get their goods/
services or where a delegation of duties occur.
When it comes to the Internet circles, you need
a registered office, where online consumers
would buy your goods/services, leave messages
and get feedback without any physical contact.
A website must have a registered domain like
www.mybusinesstricks.com; this is your
company’s name. You need a website hosting –
this is where your website domain resides – like
the physical location. Read what is a blog and
how to run a successful blog.
You need to hire web designers to develop the
website for you. Since your site would be static,
you will need a blog for your site - read this
article on what a blog entails, I also recommend
you read about taking your business online. In
the blog, it's where you will update anything
new about you company, provide product
reviews and so on.
2. Social Media Accounts
Before you embark on any major online
campaign or think of hiring an SEO (search
engine optimization) expert, you need to have
the major five social accounts up and running.
They include Facebook Fan Page, LinkedIn
Company Page, Google Page and Local Listing
of Google, Twitter and Pinterest Account.
Having the above two categories in place, you
are ready for your internet marketing in Kenya,
either by yourself, a member of your staff, hiring
an internet market or considering MBT as your
marketing destination. Now, let’s look at the
right marketing strategies on the internet as per
their significance and importance.
Essential Internet Marketing in Kenya Strategies
to use to Promote Your Products
1. Content Marketing Is By Far The Best
First, before I analyze this strategy, am looking
at both the long term gains and short term gains
of either the advertising model. And yes,
content marketing is the Number one online tool
to use on the internet. And why exactly am I
saying that this is the number one method?
Using the Alexa Rank metrics – and I do not
want the noise that their metrics is not
consistent – I already know that – Google.com
ranks No. 1 in Kenya, YouTube No 3 and
Google.co.ke ranks No. 5. The three searches
engines, this means Kenyans consume more
content that you can imagine. In fact, when a
company advertises on TV or Print media,
Kenyans will use Google to search their reviews
and more information about the product.
And using the same metrics, all the leading
sites in Kenya, get most of their traffic from
Google and social media, a reason to continue
reading more about content marketing in this
article. The study has also shown that products
reviewed on blogs get more attention than
goods that have not featured on any website or
blog. There are several ways of content
marketing that you can use to promote your
products online – especially for long-term gains.
These methods include blog content, video
marketing, reviews, file sharing, and guest
blogging on authority blogs. Blog content is in
the form of articles, images, and infographics –
they say an image speaks 1,000 words, and I
say an infographic speaks a million words.
Remember when listing what you require for
internet advertising success? I said you needed
a blog and these articles you write or hire
someone to write you will publish on that blog.
For better performance on search engines such
as Google, I advise you write articles of over
800 words. Like this article you are reading, it is
over 2000 words and do not overuse your target
keywords – a keyword is a particular word you
want people to learn about when you publish
your content. After writing and publishing your
articles, interlink them using your target
keywords and share them on your social
networks. It might take some time for the
materials to be picked up by search engines but
once they start appearing in search results –
this is a long term investment you have made in
your business. You will also use the blog to
interact with your customers.
Let’s look at video marketing as part of your
content marketing strategy, as shown above,
YouTube is the third most visited website in
Kenya and world’s second largest search
engine. You create videos related to your niche
and upload them on YouTube, share with your
networks and customers to flock to your
business. There is another video sharing forum
called Vimeo – for Vimeo, you share videos
after paying and those videos appear on search
results better than the YouTube videos.
Reviews and Guest Blogging
Before you think of doing a review or guest
blogging – KINDLY – examine the statistics of
the website online. Use Alexa.com and
vampirestats.com to get an overview of how
the website ranks – do not allow yourself to be
a fool, get the right information. Some of these
statistics might be inaccurate, but since you are
reviewing all the sites using the same measure,
the statistics become accurate.
For instance, an excellent website in Kenya
should have its rank below 700, this means that
its getting ton of visitors every day. You can
have your products reviewed on a site and get a
link back to your original site, and this is the
same case for guest blogging. Here at
mybusinesstricks.com, our sponsored reviews
start at 5,000/= per review, and we have free
guest posts provided they meet all the
requirements on our website. To contribute to
our site, send us a message on our Facebook
page.
The last part of content marketing that we are
highlighting is the file sharing. There are several
online resources you can use to share your files
either in the PDF format or PowerPoint slides.
For PDF files, you can use Scribd.com and
Dropbox.com to share your business content
and use Slideshare.net to share your slides.
To achieve the success of content marketing,
you adhere to the following, share the right
content and do not misuse keywords. Share on
social media, leave behind Comments and reply
to comments, interlink your files, articles, do not
write questionable content, write for your
audience and not search engines.
2. Banner Advertising (Again, Remember to
Check The Websites Rankings)
There are two methods you can use to promote
your products in the Internet using the banner
advertising methods. You can decide to buy ad
space directly from websites giving this option,
and I highly recommend this option. Use third
party methods such as Google Adwords through
Google Adsense to serve your banner across
their network.
Banner advertising is an effective online
marketing strategy that you can use to increase
your business sales. We rank this as the second
best internet marketing in Kenya strategy to use
for your business.
3. Search Engine Marketing Strategies
A search engine is a website tool that helps you
discover content online through web pages –
refer to content marketing. Search engines
include Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Bing, Ask
among others. There are several search engine
marketing strategies that you should use and I
only recommend Search ads and Search engine
optimization. Each of the search engines,
provide its ads such that when someone
searches a particular product using a specific
keyword – your ad will appear beside the search
results. We have Google Adwords, Bing Ads,
Yahoo Ads, and if you are not familiar with this
options, you need to hire someone to help you
reach the right audience.
The second search engine marketing strategy to
use is the search engine marketing commonly
referred to as SEO (search engine optimization).
For SEO to work better for your company or
web business, you need to adhere to the
instructions give above on blog content. SEO
means optimizing your website pages, blog
content in a way that search engines will find it
when people look for information on the
internet. In this instance, you have no option but
to hire an expert in SEO. We have so many SEO
companies in Kenya and what you need is to
search for the in the Internet using your
preferred search engine.
SEO includes the on page optimization and the
off page optimization. The on page is a
technical part of SEO and requires an expert to
carry out the process for – but this is mainly
done by your website developers. It involves
having the right heading tags, a good source
cord, Sitemap creation and submission to
search engines. Deep linking, proper use of
anchor text – here is an example of an
appropriate use of the anchor text method for
deep linking – learn about the SEO services you
can provide in Kenya. The link connects an
article I wrote about “SEO services in Kenya,”
see the text of the link is different from the
article title.
The off page optimization includes link building
such as creating a link wheel, article prism, and
social bookmarking. Social sharing, guest
blogging, press distribution, article submission,
directory submission, blog commenting and
online reviews are other methods.
4. Social Media Marketing Strategies
I know most of you thought that I will place this
strategy as the number one method to use in
Kenya, but to your surprise, I rank this way No.
4. You can trust my analysis in the link I
provided above. I linked you to leading websites
in Kenya and most of them get traffic
organically from search engines that require the
application of the three methods above. I will
talk about two ways here Google Page/Local
Listing and Facebook, but remember to create a
Twitter profile for your company, ensure your
are listed on the LinkedIn network and get
verified on Pinterest.
a) Google Page and Local Listing
Google page is a must service for your
business, because of the power given to Local
listing on Google pages by the giant search
engine. And for your information, Google is here
to stay, and it is not likely to lose its market
share anytime soon – hence the reason to
comply with what it requires in ranking your
business website. You need to have a Gmail
account and create a Google Page from the
google plus of your profile. Once you create the
page – same way you do for Facebook, you
connect it to YouTube, Your website, and its
rankings improve on Google search results.
b) Facebook Marketing Strategies
Almost all the companies and brands in Kenya
are using Facebook to promote their products
online and reach over 3million Facebook users in
Kenya. Using Facebook to market your products
is very tricky; this is because Mark and his
team want to make more money from you. Now,
this is the funniest part of Mark’s team; you pay
to get likes. For you to share something and
been seen by your fans, you need to pay again,
does this make sense?
That’s why Facebook introduced the promote
posts option now calling it boost posts – just to
milk you more money. Just to give you some
statistics, when you share a link without content
to your likes of the page only 0.3% will see your
post. If you include some texts to the link 3%
will see the post and if your share like 150
words without any connection, around 16% of
your fans will see your post. For more people
who like your brand to see what you post, you
must boost that post even if you paid to the
get likes
5. Google Adwords Links
Using Google Adwords links is another way to
market your business online. For instance, in
Olx.co.ke, you can place your links to appear
after ads in a certain category. You can also
buy direct links from interested bloggers.
6. Email Marketing
Most Kenyans still use their emails to get
valuable information, and this is another reason
that makes Google and Yahoo top websites
because most people use Gmail and Yahoo mail
for online communication purposes
Among the many internet marketing in Kenya
strategies, for now, let me give you a chance to
conceptualize the above methods before we
analyze others ways for getting your business
online.

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IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS

There are a number of ways to
incentivize various mobility options,
but what works especially well is a
company-wide commuting policy
giving everyone in the business clear
guidelines and the tools to make their
commutes easier and healthier.
Why employers should be invested in
their employees’ commutes
It may be a surprise to learn that
commuting is closely aligned with
health: Regular exercise, after
all, improves physical and mental
health; and that means lower
insurance premiums, increased
employee morale and
performance, and fewer sick days.
How does this connection work?
Research in recent years has
repeatedly shown that sitting behind
the wheel of a car for long periods of
time leads to higher blood sugar,
cholesterol, risk of depression, anxiety,
blood pressure and other
negative health outcomes.
At the same time, commutes are
increasing in length in just about
every Kenyan city. Blame growing
suburban populations, a recovering
economy putting more people to work
and an increase in families who may
want to live close to a central business
district but can't afford to.
On the plus side, active commutes that
employ more transit use, walking and
bicycling have been linked to better
overall health . Even taking a bus and
then walking or biking between the
bus stop and your final destination
burns calories and gets extra steps in.
Related: When This Boss Walks 10 Miles a
Day, She Leads a Much Healthier Team
Sure, your employees can always get a
gym membership. But if someone sits
in a car 90 minutes a day, he or she
might not have the time or desire to
add in treadmill time. That's why it's
advantageous for employers to
encourage active commutes by linking
them to wellness in employee benefits,
and by helping employees avoid
traffic while boosting their health.
Another reason why offering
employees the resources and support
they need for alternative ways to
commute makes sense is that an entire
generation of up-and-coming workers
expects it. In fact, the youngest of the
milliennial generation are driving
less ; and, more specifically, they're
commuting by car less often than do
the older generations. Older
millennials and Generation X'ers are
also shifting away from driving.
The message? If your company wants
to recruit and retain talent, it’s time to
start supporting employees who don’t
want to drive to work during rush
hour.
How to shape a commuting policy
More and more options and tools are
available today for developing a
healthy and active commuting policy,
especially for employers in urban
areas. This can be as simple as
rethinking parking: Businesses are
starting to offer employees payments
equal to what would have gone to a
parking space -- if those employees
choose to commute by bike, transit
or carpool or on foot.
Policies developed around remote
work and flexible hours are other
great methods for boosting
productivity and allowing employees
to avoid rush hour altogether. Dell
launched its Connected Workplace
program in 2009. That program allows
25 percent of the company's staff
worldwide to work remotely or work
flexible hours -- which allows
commutes to occur before or after
peak rush hours.
The company estimates that since 2013
alone, its program has saved Dell $21
million in office space, time wasted in
traffic and electricity bills. "Flexible
work solutions can help any
organization to reduce their facilities'
environmental footprint while
simultaneously fostering creativity
and collaboration," Dell has said of its
flexible work program. "It also helps
empower team members to do their
best work -- whenever and wherever
that may be. "
In fact, according to the Global
Evolving Workforce
Study commissioned by Dell and Intel,
86 percent of the 4,700 study
respondents surveyed said they
believed they were just as productive
or even more so at home than in the
office.
Partnering with organizations like
transportation-management
associations, local transit
authorities and even other businesses
can also help employers offer commute
options to their employees. In Austin,
Texas, near where Dell is based, a
group of tech companies in the
downtown area formed the Brazos
Tech District, to address common
problems, including transportation.
The group partnered with local transit
agency Capital Metro to offer
discounted monthly transit passes, and
has worked to encourage local
property owners to include bike
facilities in downtown buildings.
Related: Why Are Companies Still
Avoiding Telecommuting?
Your company can get in on this trend,
too: Whether that means incentivizing
transit use or engaging in company-
wide commute competitions, you'll
find plenty of options for
helping workers find a commute that
boosts productivity, saves time
that otherwise would be spent in
traffic and improves morale.

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INTERESTED IN ONLINE BUSINESS IN KENYA? READ THIS

article covers the definition of online
business in Kenya as understood by Kenyans,
the myths surrounding online investments and
taking your business online. Remember you can
hire me to guide you through every process of
understanding the Internet world regarding
investments.
I have decided to write this article after
realizing that 90% of Kenyans using social
media do not know the difference between
having an online business and taking your
business online.
It is an eye opener article for everyone who
wants to start an online business in Kenya, do
business online, selling products online and
make money online because the article explores
different available opportunities in Kenya.
What Is Online Business in Kenya?
When most people hear about online business ,
they think it’s simply the extension of the
physical stores to the online world. It is one
mindset about online business, and it's very
correct. The other school of thought of business
minded people is that online creates an entirely
different environment for starting new ventures
and this is the other mindset and perfectly in
order.
The third mindset about online business – and
the last one in this analysis – is the thinking of
transacting business online without participating
in any way in developing the online activities.
For instance, you have some products in your
house, and you need to dispose of them, you
can post your ads here for free , and you will get
customers to buy your products through the
online world connections.
So what exactly is an online business in Kenya?
It is the kind or type of businesses in Kenya
operated and transacted online through the use
of the Internet and information systems deliver
different services to Kenyans. It is through the
provision of digital content, online services
among other related businesses.
Start an Online Business In Kenya
Starting an online business where you make
your profits purely online is the most
advantageous way of making money online
through different programs. What exactly does
starting an online business entail?
Last year, I covered an article about the online
business ideas and the actual cost of starting
the same in this post about new business ideas.
You need to check the article to understand the
fundamental requirements of starting an online
business in Kenya.
How do you make profits online from the new
business venture? There are numerous methods
in which you can use your online business to
become rich – and it takes time if you follow
the basic rules of doing business online.
I will mention here different ways you can use
your online business to make abnormal profits
within one year. First, before you start your
online business, find out what suits you and
your budgets – the opportunities available online
are countless – do not make a rushed decision
because you will regret later.
The mention of this method you can use
assumes you have read the above article about
new business ideas in Kenya that require your
understanding of the basics of running an online
business in the East African economic giant.
You can run a classified ads website in Kenya
and spent few coins on marketing your website
and charging people a small fee to advertise on
your site. The fact that some sites are using
huge chunks of money does not mean that you
cannot sail in the market. It is because you will
be behaving like someone who cannot start a
supermarket just because some chains are
operating in all major towns in Kenya.
You can provide free fatty meaningful content
like mybusinesstricks.com and sell ad space on
your website. Our website does not share any
crap, silly stories, propaganda, and our
advertisers advertise their products on our site
because they got the right target audience. You
can create an online payment solution in the
case of your online venture and make more
money than you can imagine.
I have also covered different ways of how
making money online in Kenya in the following
articles
1. Explore Scam Free Ways To Make Money
Online by doing simple tasks and,
2. Learn four ways Kenyans can use to make
money online even if they do not have
certificates
Taking Your Business Online in Kenya
It is different from running an online business
because you just want your customers to find
the right information about your organization
online – or only – you are changing with the
changing times.
For instance, the Kenya Revenue Authority,
KRA, does not ‘actually’ make profits online but
most Kenyans are now embracing the internet
world and getting their PIN from the cyber
cafes’. It is one way of doing your business
online. You just let people find the right
information they want from your online office
free of charge.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Taking your
Business online in Kenya
One of the benefits of taking your business
online – in this case, we are using KRA as an
example, it’s that it will quicken service delivery
to all Kenyans. People no longer need to go to
Times Tower – the headquarters of KRA to get
their PIN and this is the best thing that
happened to the government institution since I
was born 28 years ago.
Another advantage of taking your business
online is that you can serve many people at
once. For instance, I teach guys simultaneously
about making money online from the comfort of
my living room and achieve the same results –
this would have been a difficult task was I to
teach them face to face and yet they are in
different locations.
Disadvantages for taking your business on in
Kenya is the fact that it will reduce paperwork,
and this would result in laying off some
employees from the company because their
work is taken by only a few Internet gurus who
would create the websites and update its
applications from time to time.
Doing Business Online in Kenya Without Owning
a Website | Blog
People in Kenya can still make money online
even if they do not own the platforms that are
used to do the businesses such as websites,
blogs, and applications. As mentioned earlier,
you can use platforms such as Olx to sell your
products and make money from the online
sources that refer customers to you.
Challenges of Online Business in Kenya
The online business in Kenya has similar
difficulties experience in other sectors and
which have a negative impact on someone’s
businesses. For instance, it has taken me time
to come up with this article, the content, the
flow and someone, somewhere steals my
content, publishes it on his/her website without
giving credit back to me – this is a big pain.
There are chances that the copyrighted content
might rank higher in Google and Bing search
results disadvantaging the original content –
remember traffic from other sources other than
search engines is not really that important
though it plays a big role in promoting someone
online.
Another challenge is pornography – I will not
elaborate this aspect
For Kenyan bloggers, another problem is getting
the companies to advertise on their websites. It
is difficult because most of them believe in
promoting their products online through
Facebook and Google AdWords this makes it
harder to do online business in Kenya. Most
who use Adsense to generate income from their
blogs make peanuts from the content. For
instance, mybusinesstricks.com, despite the
enormous traffic from search engines, makes a
few pennies from Google Adsense .
Would Like Learn About Making Money through
online business in Kenya or taking your business
online?

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10 TIPS TO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

1. Keep the big vision in sight.
A big vision will take you far. I put this
tip first because when things go wrong
on the path to your success, and they
will, keeping the big vision in mind
will enable you to steer your way back
to a successful course. It may not
always be the course you imagined,
but your big vision becomes your
north star, which in turn helps you
navigate and orient yourself through
the darkness. I believe in this so much,
I even co-wrote a book on the
subject with my brother. Your vision is
your foundation, compass and celestial
beacon, lighting the way forward.
2. Fuel your vision with perseverance.
What should go hand-in-hand with a
big vision is the perseverance you’ll
need to keep moving forward. If
you’re a Game of Thrones watcher,
there was a great line in a recent
episode when Stannis Baratheon was
being advised about the lack of
wisdom in starting a battle in the
snow. He responded: “We march to
victory or we march to defeat, but we
go forward, only forward.”
Sometimes, when things get
challenging on your path as an
entrepreneur, you have to commit
yourself to moving forward, regardless
of the discomfort and fear
surrounding the next steps. When you
fuel your big vision with perseverance
and the spirit of “only forward,” you
eventually meet your success.
3. Make a plan, but be flexible.
You need a few sets of plans, even if
each is only a few pages. A business
plan, with an accompanying
marketing outline, are important
blueprints for success. They help you
map out the major landmarks of the
road ahead, define your success and
break the journey into important
metrics you can track your progress
against.
I’m not one for a giant, robust plan
nobody will access, but I do advocate a
more modest go-to plan that can act as
your basic instruction manual and
hold you accountable to specific
numbers. The reason I don’t support
highly detailed plans is that I believe
you need the flexibility to alter the
course as necessary. Sometimes, large
changes to the plan will be necessary.
Related: How to Establish a Vision
Statement Employees Will Get Behind
4. Embrace your expertise.
If you’re already innately good at
something, or have a skillset, embrace
it. Don’t try to be all things for all
aspects of your business. Hire out or
sign contracts with agencies for the
things you can’t do, and focus on your
strengths as quickly and often as
possible. Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades
and a master of none.
5. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
What is already working in other
people’s business models, in your
industry, in software applications and
other business operations that you can
emulate instead of re-create? Don’t
waste your time trying to set up
systems when you can simply purchase
and install one, saving precious time
and spending little money. I always
keep my burn rate in mind and run as
lean as possible. But sometimes the
best decision is to take on the expense
of some good systems so you don’t
have to waste time and make mistakes
building your own.
6. Don’t burn out.
This isn’t just a stale piece of advice:
Your health is literally the most
important thing in your life. When
your body gives out, you’re done. Your
heart doesn’t care how good a business
you have; your circulatory system isn’t
all that impressed with your money or
accomplishments. . . you get the point.
Personally, I try to eat really good
food, get good sleep and take as much
time as I can manage day by day to
laugh with my kids and see my wife.
You will burn out if you sacrifice your
physical and mental health on the
altar of your business. So, take care of
yourself.
7. Leverage everything.
Life hacks may seem like just viral
fodder on the internet, but they
can teach an important mini-lesson in
leverage. When you use leverage to
your advantage in every aspect of your
life, you go further, faster. Leverage
outsourced help to streamline tasks
and gain traffic time for important
phone calls. Leverage down time
waiting anywhere (the doctor’s office,
your kid’s school, your mechanic’s
waiting room, your airline flight) to
get stuff done.
8. Keep your sense of humor.
If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re
missing out. I was almost asleep the
other night when I thought of a funny
event that had happened earlier that
day, and I suddenly found myself
erupting with laughter so loud I woke
the dog.
Laughing is a good cure to diffuse
stress, infuse some lightheartedness
into life and get some perspective on
the fact that, hey, this is only life after
all -- you don’t have to take it so
seriously.
So, try to laugh more and stress a little
less. It strengthens your emotional and
mental well-being, keeps other people
from getting under your skin
and keeps you cool and collected, plus
a lot more fun to be around.

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