Travel is not cheap, especially when your flight departs from Kenya.
Which means, you have to find for ways and means to make money while traveling.
In this post, I share some quick and easy ways for you as a Kenyan to earn money while traveling, some of which I have tried myself.
Try them out and see which one works best for you.
What's Covered in This Article
Sign up with Uber
Do you have a car that spends most of its time by a parking lot?
You could actually make some money for travel while also meeting lots of new people.
Simply hire a driver to ferry people while you are away.
Best of all, as Kenya slowly transitions into a 24-hour economy, this is an opportunity to make money during both day and night, as well as on the weekend — inafwata na bidii yako!
Try driving with Uber!
List Your Space on Airbnb
Do you have an unoccupied house or a spare room where you currently live?
With a little creativity, you might as well try to make some shillings by listing it on Airbnb.
Some best neighborhoods for AirBnB in Nairobi:
- Kilimani and Lavington areas due to their proximity to a large expatriate population, shopping malls e.g. Yaya Center etc, eateries, and start-up hubs e.g. Nairobi Garage, iHub, etc;
- Embakasi and Syokimau areas due to their proximity to JKIA international airport.
- South B, Langata, Mbagathi Way areas due to their proximity to Wilson airport.
- Muthaiga, UNEP, Gigiri areas due to their proximity to a large expatriate population as well as to the UN headquarters.
- Westlands and Riverside areas due to their proximity to a large expatriate population, shopping malls e.g. Sarit Center, The Mall Westlands, Westgate etc, and eateries.
The main challenge with AirBnB is getting that initial guest to book with you and give you a 5-star rating. Thereafter, everything else will be a breeze.
Here’s the link to sign up as an Airbnb host.
Start Your Own Online Business
This could be anything.
Check out this link for 101 profitable business ideas you can start in Kenya today.
I, for instance, is a business plan writer in Nairobi. You can become a virtual book keeper, become a freelance writer, a web developer, a social media strategist, a brand coach, etc.
Become a Freelance Proofreader
Did you score high in English?
Might as well make money catching typos and grammatical errors.
Make Money on Amazon
Here are 6 ways Kenyans can make money on Amazon:
- Sell items in any one of Amazon’s 37+ selling categories.
- Tap into Amazon’s Affiliate Program as a way to monetize your website or blog.
- Self-publish a book and list it on Amazon. Publishing to Kindle is they pay you to 70% in royalty. You also have the privilege of keeping rights to your book and setting your own list prices, as well as making any changes to the book.
- Sell your handmade stuff on Amazon Handmade aka the Etsy of Amazon. Once you apply to be considered, you will be vetted based on your background and experience.
- . Amazon charges 15% commission and a $1 minimum referral fee. Learn more about the requirements for Amazon Handmade here.
- Apply to be considered to sell your designs on Merch by Amazon. Applicants are vetted based on background and experience.The greatest advantage of Merch by Amazon is that you simply design your artwork and upload it. Once a customer buys, Amazon does all the production, shipping and customer service.
Sell Your Photos
There’s a great need for high quality high resolution images of black and brown people aka people of color doing normal everyday stuff like laughing, chillin out, taking a coffee, etc.
You could tap into this niche by selling photos you’ve taken in Kenya on platforms such CreateHER Stock, Colorstock, Shutterstock, Fotolia, Bigstock, etc.
Start a Blog
…like every Tom, Dick, and Harry, you know, right?
Although it requires both time and effort to eventually start earning from your blog, the upside is that it doesn’t cost much to start one — and it’s fairly easy and quick.
Initially, the only expenses you might have to deal with include buying an affordable hosting package through a web hosting provider such as Bluehost, which has a hosting package beginning from $3.95 a month if you sign up through this link here.
You can then set up affiliate links throughout your site and start earning money whenever a consumer clicks on a link and buys the product.
Design Greeting Cards
If you have a creative hand, you can make money either designing cards for greeting card companies such as Blue Mountain Arts Selfish Kitty, NobleWorks Cards Oatmeal Studios etc; or design cards on sites such as The Greeting Card Shop or Card Gnome (kind of like an Etsy for cardmakers).
Once you’ve applied for a shop and created your designs the organization takes care of card customization, buying of cards, printing and mailing of cards. Card Gnome pays you 5% of the price of the card. Payout is by check once you’ve accumulated $10.
Create an Online Course
When it comes to creating an e-course, it boils down to creating an information product on a subject you’re very knowledgeable, making it available to those who want to learn about it, and then getting money from that.
With platforms like Udemy or Skillshare, you could start bringing in money as you travel sooner than you can imagine.
Make YouTube Videos
Do you by any chance have something that could go viral?
Or have expertise in something people might be interested in watching?
Make a YouTube video today and monetize it either with Google AdSense or by embedding affiliate links in your video descriptions.
How much you make will be determined by how viral your videos can go and how wide an audience you can attract.
Google AdSense pays per view.
So that should be your end-goal, to have as many views as is possible.
Sell African Arts And Crafts
If you want to cash in on this option, then start by visiting markets such as Kariokor and Maasai Market.
Buy your curios, crafts and arts and list them on marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, Zibbet, ArtFire.
Of these three, Etsy is my favorite as there fees are moderate, and payment is via PayPal which I ultimately cash out via M-PESA. Etsy charges a KES 20 listing fee per item and 3.5% commission on any sale made.
You can then start making money as you travel.
While you are away, you can ask a friend or family member to ship the items on your behalf for a small cut.
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Photo by pina messina on Unsplash
Well, have you tried any of this ways to make money while you travel? What has your experience been like? Share with us in the comments below.
