Mortgage financing for Diaspora-Kenya

1. HFCK-Housing finance
Housing finance generally finance up to 85% the value of the property/ sale price (whichever is lower) for a maximum period of 15 years.
Read more http://www.housing.co.ke 

2.SCB Non-Resident Kenyan Mortgage - http://www.standardchartered.com/ke/cib/mortgage.html City property 70% Urban property 60% financing.

3.Kenya Commercial Bank-The Mortgage Division of KCB. The Mortgage Division is fully responsible for the growth and development of the mortgage business within the KCB Group.
-Today, KCB is sufficiently equipped in both Financial and Manpower resources to operate various types of Mortgages, housing finance projects as well as investment and savings accounts. The S&L Mortgages portfolio includes:
-Home loans to both salaried and self-employed people
-Loans to buy already built houses for owner occupation or income generating purpose
-Construction loans for income -generating housing units such as apartments, flats and commercial buildings -Construction loans for residential houses countrywide for owner occupation or income generating purpose.
-Loans to facilitate estate developments
-Specially packaged staff mortgage facilities for companies, co-operative societies and organized groups -Mortgage Plus Loan products that provides an avenue for customers to borrow against their existing securities , to bridge short and/or long term needs. -Fixed Mortgage Loans, a mortgage product that allows you to fix your interest rates for a renewable period of 5 years.
More details on pre qualification - http://www.kcbpropertyguide.com/index.php?option=com_kcbqualify&view=kcbqualify&Itemid=271# 

4. Barclay's Bank
Financing up to 90% of the cost of the home you choose to buy, and they will guide you carefully through the whole process. Interest rate of 11.99%.
First step requirements;
-A regular income -Minimum age of 18 years
-Valid identification – ID or Passport
More details http://www.barclays.com/africa/kenya/co ... tgages.php 

5.Relocations Kenya. Relocations Kenya works closely with reputable banks and other finance institutions to enable our associates make the right choices, when it comes to getting loans. If you live abroad, contact us to find out how we can assist you to make your dream investment at home.
 -Financing Up to 80%
-Upto 70% financing on Income generating property, financing.
Read more http://www.relocationskenya.com/homeloans.asp

6.Cooperative Bank.
Terms
-Maximum loan as percentage of value (LTV): 80%
-Loan term: up to10 years.
-Additionally, customer should have lived in the country of residence for at least 1 year at the point of applying for the mortgage. Currently the rates are:1- 10 years 13.75%
Read more http://www.co-opbank.co.ke/Main-Site/Ho ... ing-Abroad Q&A http://www.co-opbank.co.ke/Main-Site/Ho ... s-Answered

7. CFC Stanbic.
Full loan-to-value financing-100%
http://www.stanbicbank.co.ke/portal/sit ... ddb60aRCRD 

8.Equity Bank- http://www.equitybank.co.ke/KAB/

Louis Kaptich is the Marketing Director at http://www.propertyzote.com

The twitter Elites In Kenya

1.Juilus Kanyi.

Kenyas top twitter elite is Julius Kanyi who is a fresh ICT graduate. Technology is his religion, music is his savior. He has 40,000 followers and 40,494 following.  His twitter handle is @kanyicool.Kanyi has been on twitter since 2009. Little is know of him though.

2.Jeff Koinange (@koinangejeff)

An Emmy-Award winning Journalist with an MBS (Moran of The Burning Spear) from the President of Kenya. Author, Husband, Father and ALL KENYAN, ALL THE TIME!! He has 20,000 followers and following only 403 people. He has been twitting from this January year.

3.The Daily Nation (@dailynation)

With 16,372 followers and 12,403 following. It's a top Kenyan Company with the most twitter followers.

4. NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya)

The sister branch to daily nation is fourth with 19,099 followers and 6,870 following. 

5.Aly-Khan Satchu(@alykhansatchu)

An active Investor at the Nairobi Stock Exchange, The USE and various other African Stock markets. He arrived in Nairobi in August 2006 and published his book "Anyone Can Be Rich" based on the NSE and the Kenyan Economy. He comes in 5^th with 13,858 followers and 14,535 following. He has been on twitter since 19^th February 2009. He has 84,981 tweets or updates and counting.

6.Erik Hersman.(@whiteafrican)

Co-founder of Ushahidi, iHub Nairobi and AfriGadget with 13,862 followers and only following 555. He is 3 years old 10 months on tweeter. He is ranked 22,360 out of 10,104,366 tweeters worldwide.

7. Safaricom Limited (@safaricomltd)

Safaricom is a leading provider of converged communication solutions in Kenya with 12,824 followers and following 3117. Has been twitting since February 2010.

8. Homeboyz Radio(@homeboyzradio)

Nairobi's Hypest radio station, the biggest DJs, the freshest presenters and the craziest vibe. If you are looking for a station with swagger, you find it here. Homboyz radio had 10,000 followers and following 899.

9. Larry Madowo(@larrymadowo)

He is a business anchor and reporter @NTVKenya, technology enthusiast, a lover of life, learner, disciple, writer, voice artist, MC  and speaker . Wow! That’s Madowo for you. He has 10,517 followers. He seldom follows people, only 417. He has been on twitter since 2009.

10. UNEP (@unepandyou)

The official twitter page of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).With 30,467 followers and following 9,387.

11. Fr. George Mabura(@fr_mabura)

 He is a Roman Catholic priest. Faithful to the Holy Father and the magisterium of the Catholic Church. He has 8,405 followers in his herd and he follows 6,396 people. Its commendable to have a man of the cloth embracing technology.  Even the Pope himself is on twitter. Pope Benedict XVI tweeted for the first time, announcing the launch of a Vatican news information portal. It read: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI". This was back in 29^th June 2011.

12. Martha Karua (@martha_w_karua) 

A Mother of 2, and an advocate for Justice & Human Rights. She is the MP for Gichugu Constituency and Presidential Candidate for Kenya 2012. She is one of the top politician to use social media to foster conversations and engage with the public at a personal level. She has 20,775 followers and only follows 25. She doesn't quite follow people, which is quite unethical in the realm of twit world.

For the complete list via Websitegrader & tweetgrader

Louis Kaptich is Owner & Co-founder www.propertyzote.com / www.hotelzote.com free online property/hotels booking multi-listing websites # 1 in EA & a vivid tech-enthusiast.
 

Must do top 9 things when you visit Kenya

For a full Kenyan experience make sure you do at least this 9 things:-

1. Go on a Safari. Kenya, the land where the word "safari" was born, also known as the cradle of mankind, is a land of unashamed splendor and great contrast. From the highlands of central Kenya to the great Rift valley and its resident lakes across to the second largest lake in the world; Lake Victoria further south to the elephants of Amboseli and a spectacular view of Africa’s highest point Mount Kilimanjaro and down to the cost where the shimmering white sands of the beaches of the Indian Ocean and ancient culture of millennia passed is still alluring to the traveler to this day.

2.Watch the Wildebeest Migration- The seventh Wonder of the World! Each year between July and October, the famous Wildebeest migration takes place from Tanzania to Kenya. It has been called the greatest wildlife show on earth. Each year, always on a different moment, hundreds of thousands of wildebeests suddenly gather at the Serengeti plains to trek to greener places. After making a big circle through Tanzania and Kenya, they come back to the Serengeti plains again. At the point where they have to cross the Grumeti River, there are camps from where you can watch this extraordinary phenomenon. Movie clip.

3. Visit a Traditional Village. A number of tribes in Kenya still live more or less the same as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. From the Masai,Samburu, Kisii, Gikuyu, Kalejin,Mijikenda to Akamba.

This photo of Mombasa is courtesy of TripAdvisor

4.Visit the Coast region. The coast region stands apart within Kenya. This is where the vibrant mix between African, Arabic and Indian influences has created the famous Swahili culture. Swahili has become the lingua franca in all of East Africa. Places to visit are the island city of Lamu and the harbour city of Mombasa, where Fort Jesus - built in the 16th century by the Portuguese - gives an insight into colonial times. Oh, and don't forget the coast has over 500 kilometers of beautiful white sand beaches, often with private Hawaii-style resorts where you can have dinner in the open air with a Bacardi coke while looking over the Indian Ocean


5.Take a balloon Ride. Going over one of the national parks is very different in an air balloon! It's a very special experience to flow over the country and have a 360 degrees view over all the wild animals walking beneath you. Although they are advertised as "balloon safaris", they aren't really full safaris. Trips typically start at dawn and take a few hours, after which there's a champagne breakfast on the ground. They can be arranged through many top end lodges.

6. A Trek to Mount Kenya. Going to the almost vertical top (Batian, 5199 metres) is only for trained and fully equiped climbers. But anyone who is reasonably fit can take tracks that go up to 4000 metres, or even higher. For your information Kate Middleton had a “wonderful 24 hours” at the Kenyan lodge where Prince William popped the question.The couple — who announced their engagement to the world on Wednesday — spent one night at the “romantic” lakeside Rutundu Log Cabins in Mount Kenya National Park in October...Now Married. 

7.Take a Dhow Trip Making a sailing trip along the coast in a traditional dhow vessels is a great experience. Dhows were used by Arab traders to frequent East Africa from the 8th century on, and are still fully in use today. Both cheaper, more basic and luxurious trips are available. People usually sleep on the ships and seafood is caught fresh every day. Many dhows leave from Lamu. The bigger boats also have motors while the smaller boats rely on the wind only.

This photo of Mombasa is courtesy of TripAdvisor

8. Go Diving at Kenya Beach The diving and snorkeling possibilities of (for example) Watamu National Park along the coast are highly rated, even by professional standards. The reef is in excellent condition and there are big numbers of extremely exotic fish, in every shape and color conceivable. Harmless whale sharks also visit the are regularly, a highlight for any diver. The waters are totally excluded for fishers.



9. Visit Nairobi. Nairobi is known as the safari capital of Africa, however the city has still managed to keep up with modernization. Unlike other cities, Nairobi is surrounded by 113 km² (70 mi²) of plains, cliffs and forest that makes up the city’s Nairobi National Park. The city is filled with many things to do during the day and the night. Tourists can have their pick from numerous safaris (wildlife, cultural, sport, adventure, scenic and specialist), eco-tourism tours, restaurants, culture, shopping and entertainment. While in Nairobi, tourists can also engage in numerous sports from golf, rugby, athletics, polo, horse-racing, cricket and football (soccer). If you're the type who wants to explore a bit of the Nairobi nightlife and safari, it may be wise to start at bar first, since the clubs and discos in Kenya don’t get busy until around midnight and don't close until the sun rises. By far your best source of info on what's rocking on any given weekend is a local. The end of month weekend offers the best local action.Several clubs stage "cultural nites" which feature music ,traditional foods and drinks from some of Kenya's main ethnic
communities .An excellent opportunity to see Kenyans unplugged and hear the biggest local music acts . Other clubs you may want to check out are Westlands-Gypsy's, Sohos, Black Diamond, Galileo's, Pavement. Nairobi CBD- Florida 2000,Zeep,Wine Bar, Simmers, Psys(Former Hooters) and Kengeles just to name a few. Don't forget to try out carnivore restaurant you one stop game meat restaurant.

Check,book with Hotelzote.com for guaranteed discounted rates for short stay hotel &  accommodation  in Kenya and across East Africa.

Office Space Price Comparison, in Nairobi and across East Africa.

This article compares the cost of leasing an office space in Nairobi and Across East Africa.

Several factors are to be considered in determining the cost. Most often this cost is measured per Sq. Feet or per Sq. Meters.

Are you converting web traffic into sales?

Public Relation and Social Media

For the past 50 years or so Mass media has for long been used to reach the masses. This is a top down market approach to reach the so-called audience. It's all about public relation rattled to its core in a good way. Mass media now belongs to the masses. Social media has reversed this trend. 

Social media has rattled mainstream media to its core. Traditional media is struggling to survive, fewer reporters. Performance review is now emphasized on traffic and it takes increasingly heroic efforts to gain substantive coverage in MSM

Public relation is increasingly becoming interactive and interpersonal. In a matrix stand point MSM has been controlled communication and it extends to advertising. Social media is on a conversation collaboration mode, which makes it antic, surprising and uncontrollable.

Imagine you just moved in to a new apartment block and the neighbor upstairs has invited you to a house party.. Lots of question will pop up. I don't know this people?, What should I take?, What should I wear?  But boils down to, what kind of visitor will you be?  A Wallflower?  You may be too insecure to bring that bottle of Brandy or wine for that matter, or cooked samosas and salads. Or show up and hang up at the periphery and wait for someone to talk to you. Or just listening in anxiously, too scared to strike up a conversation. This is just an analogy on how most companies and operations or start out on social media/public relation. A company X ltd want to start out on social media. First they just want to listen and see what is going on. With skepticism on social media they dint take part in the conversation. Prospects on SM were asking questions on their products and discussing. This made them realize that Listening is good but anticipating is more valuable. On the opposite end on this spectrum you wouldn't want to be a blow-hard ”Mjuaji”. Showing up to the party with 2 crates of beer and huge bunch of your favorite music collection. This is bad. You are Stranger and  don't take over because you will end up making no friends. What you want to be is “one of us”. Do your homework. Find out what the party is all about. 

What do you want to accomplish.

You want leads right? Actually what you want is qualified prospects to find & visit your website, have a look around, sign up. Be careful not to ask a lot of yourself and a lot of your prospects. It's a hard work to be a customer.

Focus.

PR is not just about hits-its about frequently distributing relevant content via the right channels, to boost credibility and findability.

It is unproductive to have loads of raw unqualified prospects. Having a web marketing campaign that leads to 50,000 more people visiting the website but have only 2 people sign up as a result, no one is impressed. You don't want everybody. The only way to find the right people is to do your research: where do qualified prospects get their information. What kind Google searchers do they run, and find out whom they talk to in the industry. If you get to know who their competition speak to and which Facebook groups or who they follow on twitter.

Frequency

How frequently is frequent? Every day. Not a single day should go by in which you don't think on how to build your on-line presence. These are some of the things you should do:

• Put up a blog post or start a dialogue on a relevant blog at a competitors blog, influencer and having  a conversation.
• Contribute relevant content through the social media by tweeting, Facebook at least 4 times a day
• Pitch a new idea to a blogger, influencer
• Show case a new media hit in the mainstream media or blogs,make sure people know about it so as to get traffic around it. Its not just about the hit its about marketing the hit itself.
• Analyze your website traffic & tweak your overall SEO 
• Attend an event and broadcast content from he venue, live tweeting.

You don’t have to do each of them everyday but at least one of them everyday.

Be part of the dialogue, every single day. The day that you go missing no one is going to miss you. With basic guidelines own employees could participate and contribute on this.

Relevance

The community and results will tell you how relevant your content is.

If your content is often downloaded/shared via social media, emailed, stumbled upon, liked, or retweeted then you are doing a great Job, otherwise when you hear crickets then you need to rethink your strategy. Check on how raw website traffic is being affected. The number of conversions would indicate rate of success. Create content the is reflective of your brand. You may have a good dialogue on-line but are you customers happy or do the complain of over-promising? Having terrific content that is driving people to website and conversions is good, but if you customer service, product or sales team stinks you stand loosing credibility.

Content

Put out a press release that contains actual news. It’s all about stripping out the thorny baloney that makes most press releases longer. Three or four bullets of worthy news that people can get right straight to it irrespective of their time. Having multimedia that a blogger can rip out of the press release and put in their blog  is recommended.

It's not easy to make videos. If for instance you have 10 product features, make 10 one min videos. Pod-casts, articles about you and your industry, blogs posts, comments and tweets are also good for content. Recent market research white papers or surveys make excellent content and if you are ambitious make a widget or a mobile app.

Chanel

Its takes a lot of time to create this stuff and all this shall be in vain if you don't have the right channels. Sending out the content and not getting results is a possibility. You may be sure it's the right content, fits the brand, relevant and valuable. You must make sure its goes to the right place. Use Google analytics to determine relevancy of the most traffic & authority. 

In summary the mass media is declining and you can take advantage of the Internet to find, listen to and interact with prospects. You can reach the masses with your own content bypassing MSM cheaply and here of course they are already hanging out. If the folks like your content, they'll pass it along. This approach makes you credible and findable.

Twitter Widgets

Building Vs Buying a House

I have been frequently asked this question by friends and have heard people argue about it..Am I better off building my house or buying?

So to set the record straight on the pros and cons of either building a house or buying one, they are several valid reasons that favor building but nonetheless, here are the explanations.

Time

Building a house is a full time job... well, at least a solid part time one. You will have to really manage the construction- keep track of costs, inspect the work daily, inspect the building materials, clean up the work site when workers leave it a mess, and secure the work site. And most importantly, you will have to keep and ensure the schedule. The schedule. It is extremely important. You have to take your time. Remember, you will NOT be able to comfortably live in the house while it is under ANY type of construction. Wait to move in until it is completely done. The schedule- your costs can double because the concrete guys can't work because they are waiting on the footings to be complete, or the inspector can't inspect because this isn't done, that's not done...the toilets aren't in because the plumbing isn't done... etc. etc. Fundis can't wait around without pay. And delays costs money. Make sure you give yourself ample planning and buffer time, and when someone doesn't show up, FIRE THEM and understand that you may have to reschedule everyone else.

Contractors

Contractors (the workers, the fundis)- these are locals and are normally lazy. You have to manage them like you are the warden and they are the prisoners. Be fair, be respectful, but be firm, make eye contact, and don't look away until they do. Be tough and speak loudly. “Massive pilferage only occurs when you hand over the project to some 'foreman'. Fundis hardly get an opportunity to steal. Fundis generally rob each other of tools. Your foreman is the main problem; he's the blood-sucking vampire. The best way to deal with fundis is to allocate production quotas. For example, each fundi for a walling per day must use up to 6 full wheelbarrows of mortar at 1:4 mix otherwise sack them immediately, same applies for plastering. Electrician is by contract for instance Sh.7,500 per every two bed roomed apartment completed. If you will not be at the site DAILY please add 1.2 million to your budget. If you hand over to a construction company, add 1-5 million to whatever budget you have. Purchase stones, ballast and sand in sufficient quantities, then take 3 months leave from work to be on site daily. Only pay cash at delivery for these materials and always verify quantities,” mwafrika31 advises.

A signed contract is recommended. Don't smile around them. Be extremely clear and to the point about what you want from them, and how you expect it to be done. Tell them: "You will not be paid for shoddy work, but for great work, you will be paid well!" Have a watchman watch the construction materials day and night, then have another watchman watching the watchman. Inventory your materials. Have other work for them to do (cleaning or landscaping, etc.) in case for some reason they show up, but can't work because you didn't properly manage the schedule. A bag of cement disappearing once in a while is nothing compared to the Markup your contractor will be making of the whole deal.

Architect and a structural engineer

Hire an architect and a structural engineer. They are your best friends. And before you give them that first visit, decide on EXACTLY what you want, how you want it, and then DO NOT EVER CHANGE THE PLAN that they create for you. I mean nothing. Not one bit. Don't add or subtract one nail, one block, one inch once the plans are drawn up properly. And remember, you may not want to live in this house forever, so, while you might think it nice to have a roof that slopes up steeply, then back down shallow, in the shape of your initials, remember, build something very nice but very generic, that all can enjoy, in case you ever need to sell it. Besides, it's location, then quality finishes, then size that sells. Custom junk, including electronics, custom paintings, overdone landscaping, super-duper toilets, etc., no matter how much you "invest" in them, loose value when selling the property.

Fact-finding

Get to know your city inspectors and what they expect. Get to know someone who has built a home in your area prior. Take them to a nice dinner. Ask tons of questions. They are your consultants. Treat them well, and they will reward you with money-and-headache-saving wisdom. Wisdom #1- make absolutely sure that you have an official title to the plot, and that there are no liens, claims, squatters, planned highways, easements, or right-of-ways that could interfere with your home in the future. Do indeed have the green card. Get an lawyer to help you with this. Understand that your house isn't on paper, or in a world unto it's own. Utility connections, driveway lengths, angles, and access, security issues such as trees, brush, gates, etc., set-back planning, types of soil, water and rainfall runoff, pests, bad neighbors, railroad or plane noise, bad smells from a nearby go down, mobile phone signal strength, which way the house faces, matatu access if your car breaks down, proximity to a police station, traffic, etc. You must consider ALL of these factors before building. Don't just build on a plot because you own it, or because it's cheap. Research all of these things and anything else you can think of before one shovel-full of dirt is moved. Camp out on the plot (if you own it, or with permission before you buy it) before hand... know what it is that you are getting into. Talk to people in the area.

Extra Cash

Have extra cash.. just in case something goes wrong, or there is an unforeseen problem or expense. If you take out a mortgage to build, make absolutely sure that you are very clear on when the bank is planning to disburse funds, and how much at a time, and what they require of the house, inspection-wise, to consider it CLOSED. ALWAYS have the money to pay people, and to buy materials ON TIME and CONSISTENTLY. Don't play games with paying people.

Buying.

This has it set if advantages, for example you save on time, and have no construction hustles.

A lot of considerations and facts rely on the mode of purchase. Is it on mortgage or a one-time purchase? If it is on mortgage you have to be careful read deeply through the agreement and make sure you don’t fail on repayments as you can loose the whole investment. Do your homework and comparison on affordable interest rates in the market. There is no much to say since there is little to alter on the house when you are buying.

When you build a house you get to build the house of your choice "dream House" that is more pocket friendly. Although it is hell dealing with the fundis it’s a worthwhile experience more so you can get a contractor to do the job. You also Improve the Return of Investment (ROI) when you build and no fear of imagining what would happen if things went south if on mortgage. And remember regardless of whether to build or to buy, it may make sense to invest in a conventional property, since idiosyncratic houses are generally much harder to sell. That said, with an ambitious aesthetic design, or if you plan to buy and stay in a particular house for decades (life time) weigh consider cost & mental implication before you decide.

How does a standard three-bedroom house cost compare with other African countries and parts of the world?

For a normal salaried laborer in Nairobi, to own a house in Nairobi is a dream that is good from far, but only to realize that it is far from good. The property market in Nairobi –Kenya purchasing a 3-bedroom house would cost anything from 7 million you on average within a 20km radius from CBD. 

At www.propertyzote.com a leading online property-listing portal a 3 bedroom on average goes for 9.01 Million and from the recent Hass consult Property Index 2011 Quarter one 2011 report, the average value of a 1-3 bedroom property is currently at 10.77 million.

To buy a house on a mortgage loan of 6 million, cost of borrowing at 13.5 % pa, for 20 years your monthly repayment will be Kshs.72, 442 meaning after 20 years you have paid a total of Kshs.17, 386,080(240 x 72,442).

There seems to be a drop in deposit rates, the main driver of the ongoing aggressive cut in lending rates that are now spreading to the mortgage market. Barclays bank reduced its mortgage to 11.99 per cent will run till the end of September as it seeks to grow its mortgage business.

KCB mortgage rate dropped from 15 to 13.5 percent, while Stanchart reintroduced its 10.9 per cent fixed mortgage offering. Housing Finance currently offers mortgages at 12.5 per cent base mortgage rate and is gearing up for a Sh10 billion corporate bond as it positions itself for long term housing development projects

However, across Africa, Uganda’s mortgage rates remain high compared with Kenya. Uganda’s residential mortgage is at 22.02 per cent while the commercial mortgages stood at 21.81 per cent, according to BoU’s economic survey.

Taking an average of properties in Uganda listed at www.propertyzote.com a 1-3 bedroom house in Uganda would cost you Ksh.12 million. The same house in Dar es Salam Tanzania is going for Ksh.9.8 million. High cost of land, building materials and market speculation by estate agents is fueling this. In South Africa a 3- bedroom at Sonstraal Heights, Durbanville Western Cape goes for Ksh.13.8 million. From www.realeststeweb.co.za the average nominal value of medium-sized homes (141m²-220m²) declined by a marginal 0,1% y/y in April 2011, after rising by only 0,1% y/y in the preceding month. This brought the price of a medium-sized house to about R972 900 (Ksh.11.6) in April. A real price decline of 3,9% y/y occurred in this category of housing in March 2011. South Africa’s mortgage rate is at 11.5%.

A study done by the Institute for Housing America, titled “International Comparison Mortgage Product Offerings” Interest rates are lower than 6% which I believe are very manageable levels, for instance; in Sweden mortgage rates is at 4%, Japan at 3%, UK at 5%, Australia is the highest at close to 7%.

Around the world a 3-bedroom house in a suburb at Waterworks Road, Red Hill Qld-Australia would go for not less than Ksh.70 Million. The same house in the Cornforth Way, Widnes WA8 Liverpool-UK goes for Ksh.25, 145,764 Million.

Looking at this house prices I conclude that property prices in Kenya are still affordable. The Kenyan Government should increase on the basic pay. This explains a lot why Kenyans in diaspora find it very affordable to buy property in Kenya. For them it is more than a bargain.

Check out www.propertyzote.com for properties in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda

How you could develop a community around your company on a social networking site of your choice.

Online community

A business should consider several factors before joining a community, for instance, a community that has a large user base, attracts people who might be interested in its products or services, and accommodates its objectives (optimally goals along multiple stages in its sales cycle). Connecting with customer targets and people who might spread its messages, create content that prospects find engaging, and interact with them frequently are some of the ways to succeed in social media.

There has been tremendous growth of social media usage. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Flickr are among the most popular sites that receive hundreds of thousands of visits everyday and foster lively conversations among users.

Social media is so appealing and business can leverage on their popularity because, if we consider the importance if communities and social media in our daily lives. Friends, family and colleagues are all part of our communities and social media simply relocated communities from the physical to the online world.  Not all random charts on social media however, necessarily create business value. In most instances connecting with and persuading strangers to learn or introduce a new product is challenging.

Utilize their resources.

Though the ultimate goal is to sell a product or service, it is paramount to know that a community does not form around a service, unless a business proves that its service can empower others.  It’s important therefore that a business should take time to engage and cultivate potential customers. This is achieved by not just engaging them but engage with an open mind and humility. Positive feedback is a reflection of the good quality of the company product or service, while negative feedback helps a business understand what aspects of the product or customer service need improvement.

When this is best put into practice, respect improves the company’s online reputation.

Define Objectives

A company must define its objective before deciding to join of form a community on social media.

Is it trying to recruit talents, find partners, or build a brand? If the answer lies in the former two, joining a community related to its industry may be sufficient. If a business wants to build an online brand, however, joining a community should serve as a step instead of a goal. Only forming a community can a business have more control over the topics of discussions and their relevance to its products or services.

A business should also consider the popularity of the community. The more the users a social media site contains the more people a business gains exposure to. A large network empowers viral messaging. The combination of valuable content and large networks creates a buzz around a business brand and helps draw prospects to a company website and thus increase website traffic. A good example is www.rich.co.ke a financial portal for those who participate in the Kenyan Shareholder Revolution and second liberation. Aly-Khan Satchu -@alykhansatchu the owner has more than 11,000 followers on twitter. He constantly engages his followers and gives NSE markets updates.

Communities on social media are valuable not only because they can attract prospects. Online communities help in several parts of sales cycle such as lead generation, post-sales education and customer support. Discussion forums enable interactions with customer and feedback collection. A business needs to define what goals it wants to achieve on social media to maximize the return of time spent on managing its presence.

What to do.

To build an effective community, a business should; Connect, Create and Engage. Connect applies to the people a business wants to invite to its community. It can either find contacts manually or review recommendation automatically generated on most of the commonly used media sites. Though the goal is to focus on potential customers, it is not a bad idea to connect with friends and family, who might not become customers themselves but can refer others to the business.

Create refers to creating content that potential customers might find interesting and helpful. The idea is similar to blogging: the goal is to generate materials in which prospects can find value.

Engage is equivalent to establishing ongoing interactions with prospects. To engage people on social media, a business should not only create useful content but also interact with prospects. On Facebook and LinkedIn, for instance, a business can post comments and answer queries. Twitter, on the other hand, allows a business to share succinct updates. All of the networks on this sites are assets a business can grow to promote valuable blog or a website content.

It takes time to grow a network using social media, but a business can avoid many mistakes by first observing how other businesses have utilized different social media sites.

Some of the social media sites to consider are, LinkedIn, which is more business oriented networking and helps business owners build both personal and business credibility through answering questions and sharing profiles.

Facebook has fan pages that allow businesses to build a community of potential or existing customers and share multi-media content. Lastly Twitter enables succinct and text only interactions that make talent recruitment, business collaborations and information sharing timely and effective.