Can you make money from Facebook in Kenya in a town like Nakuru? The answer is yes. It can be done, it’s being done. Facebook Entrepreneurship is a reality in Kenya.

I was once invited to talk a group of young people at the American Spaces in the Nakuru KNLS Library. When I asked the participants what they expected from the training at the beginning, many said they wanted to know how they can work for overseas clients writing articles and doing data entry.

I had to disappoint them on that occasion. I was not there to tell them how to make mega dollars writing for clients somewhere abroad. I just wanted to show them how they can make Kenya shillings for clients they can interact with on a daily basis.

Facebook in Kenya

By June 2017, 43 million out of the 48 million Kenyans had access to the internet. This represents a 21,565% growth from the 200,000 who had access to the internet by the year 2000. Out of these, 6.2 Million Kenyans meaning that 13 out of every Kenyans has access to Facebook.

The huge number of Facebook users provide a large market for services and goods. Organizations and individuals in Kenya and the rest of the world are now using Facebook to reach potential clients. Facebook provides a quick and cost-effective way for organizations to pass across their message and to interact with their clients in real time.

Individuals like musicians, politicians, business leaders and others have also discovered the great potential to reach more people on Facebook. Unfortunately, most of these business owners and individuals lack the time and/or the skills to run their Facebook pages.

Making Money on Facebook Entrepreneurship

Working online is all about offering solutions, and it’s no different for Facebook entrepreneurs. These organizations need people with the time and skills to run their Facebook accounts or promote them on Facebook. There are two main ways to earn money using Facebook.

Facebook Page Management

Popular brands be they organizations or individuals attract a huge number of followers with the right content. The owners of these pages need someone they can trust to run their pages creating content, posting and interacting with the fans.

A Facebook page manager needs to understand the brand they are representing and to stay in touch with all the developments. The manager is required to create content that keeps the page interesting, informative and fully representing the brand.

Additionally, the person needs to be of very high integrity because anything they post on the platform represents the brand. Any negative post sent with ill intentions can cause irreparable damage to the client. This is why honesty and integrity are must-have qualities for any Facebook Page Manager. Other qualities required are tenacity, creativity, humour.

Safaricom and KCB are some of the Facebook Pages whose curators are doing a sterling job in keeping the pages informative and entertaining.

Facebook Promoter

Sometimes the brand you’re representing may not have Facebook pages or they may be having just a few fans. For these clients, you may offer to promote their services and products on your own page which you may create for marketing purposes.

The page can be built around your own name which you then work hard on promoting. Alternatively, you can create a unique name for a page which you’ll use for marketing. Such a page will need to be very entertaining and informative on a diversity of topics to attract a huge fan base to which you’ll be posting.

This page requires, even more, creativity to run although it offers more freedom to the owner. Since you’ll be expected to promote different organisations, individuals, services and products, you need to attract a diverse fan base and keep the page entertaining through other non-marketing posts.

Facebook Post Boosting/Promotion

Facebook gives you a chance to reach even people who may not have liked your page. Through the Facebook promotion option, you can greatly increase the reach of your post, increase post reactions or even add more fans.

The option gives you an option for a targeted audience by location, gender, age, likes and hobbies. Of all the social media platforms, this is the most effective targeted marketing strategy. The beauty with this is that, if you have linked your Facebook page to an Instagram business account, the promotion will run on both platforms.

Getting Started with Facebook Entrepreneurship

Look around yourself. How many organisations and individuals known to you can do with your Facebook Entrepreneurship services? You can start by offering your services for free to help you master the trade (that’s how I got started) and get a recommendation thereafter.

Start by working with people you know. Show them how they are missing on the marketing when they fail to reach the thousands of customers on Facebook. In due course, they will appreciate what you can offer and will pay you for it. In addition, they will help you get a work portfolio and an introduction to their friends who might need your services.