The New Age:How Entrepreneurs Can Take Advantage of the Opportunities the Internet Provides
Tariro Mushonga sits down with digital entrepreneur, Limbikani Makani, Founder of Techzim to speak about the opportunities that are present for Zimbabwean entrepreneurs on the internet.
Daytime occupation?
Running Techzim.
What is the idea behind Techzim?
Writing about opportunities for consumers and startups in internet and mobile platforms.
What message are you sending out to the masses?
Lowered barriers to accessing information and building information products.
How have you managed to stand out among other local technological websites?
We covered information that not many people did not.
What were some of the challenges when you started?
Finances to run a blog full time were just not there and without any revenue this can be difficult.
How did you deal with them?
We worked from living room and worked 24/7.
In your opinion, what is the current state of Zimbabwean Online Publishing?
There are many personal blogs in Zimbabwe than one would think at a glance. Professional blogs, however are not as many because it is not easy to run one viably.
Can blogs rise to become credible competition to mainstream media?
Blogs are increasingly important as a source of information. It’s not new but just lowered barriers that allow more and more people to self-publish on the internet and if their content is worth something, it bubbles to the top. The idea of mixing news and opinion is of course something that many people consider unprofessional, but as long as it’s done transparently, then objectivity is still maintained and readers actually appreciate the more personal angle to the news. So it's not just regular blogs, it's social media posts as well, videos as well, microblogging on Twitter and other way that allows individuals to inform and express their view on current events.
How hard is it to monetize on the internet?
Again it’s not just about blogs but monetizing internet content in general. With the most common means being advertising and subscriptions, it’s really about building an audience and community through being reasonable and transparent with them so they know you are looking out for their interests and not any other hidden agendas. An audience attracts advertisers and high quality content attracts subscriptions. Convincing advertisers to advertise online is not easy however and a lot of work still needs to be done to have internet platforms included naturally in advertising budgets along with print and billboards. So, not easy to monetize.
Besides advertising, are there other ways that bloggers can earn money off their content?
Subscriptions, sometimes donations from people that identify with the need for the information. It's also important to look beyond the internet itself. Sometimes a brand that has an audience online can be monetized offline. Remember audiences are people and people still have offline needs for interaction, communication and learning new information.
Can a person live off blogging here in Zim? If so what kind of content is king?
Not necessarily the type of content, but the type of audience. If there's a big enough audience for a type of content, there's an opportunity. And the audience doesn't need to be within Zimbabwe’s borders. The internet is global.
What advice would you give someone who wants to start publishing on the internet?
Mostly what I have responded above, but most of all, to keep at it and not expect immediate results. Takes patience to build an audience once you have identified that you are meeting a real need.
Techzim receives thousands of page views and unique visitors each day making it the biggest technical blog/news site in Zimbabwe. They can be found at www.techzim.co.zw
