One of the good things to happen this century is the Internet, which has made the world a global village. Many things can be done on the Net, as it is fashionably referred to.
The unemployed too can get a job on the Internet. How? By availing themselves of the opportunities in Internet marketing, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE
THESE days, coming by a job is hard, no thanks to the economic recession. Millions of jobs were lost to the recession from which there seems to be no respite. Many governments are seeking to tackle unemployment through various policies, all to no avail.
As there appears to be no answer to unemployment, people are looking for new areas to survive. One of such is internet marketing, a process whereby people use the internet to create jobs for themselves.
Other jobs that can be done through the internet include website creation, content writing, updating of social media sites, promotion of online products/ services, Pay Per Click (PPC), targeted e-mail lists, among others. The jobs vary, offer different appeals as well as remuneration. Usually, people who provide these services are paid periodically, subject to the agreements they reached with their customers.
Internet marketing has attracted attentions globally. In the developed economies, such as the United States and Europe, internet marketing has gained prominence as people veered into it to earn a living. Nigeria has joined the league of nations that leverage on internet marketing, among other ideas to create jobs, because of the growth in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country.
Experts say internet marketing has the potential to create jobs for the large army of unemployed youths. They say millions of people surf the internet daily for one opportunity or the other, adding that the volume of traffic determine the earnings of people that create jobs for themselves on the internet.
According to the experts, people who want to go into internet marketing must have at least secondary school certificate, adding that people with higher qualifications stand a better advantage. Other requirements include the ability to study and understand the technicalities of ICT facilities, good presentation of services/ products, network and time in surfing the internet.
The General Manager, System Power Limited, Mr Steven Akinwale, said people who want to create jobs through internet marketing must have a laptop, desktop, modem, a mobile phone, among other tools, to do the job effectively.
Akinwale said people can sit in the comfort of their homes and create jobs, adding that one does not need a big office to operate. However, he said getting clients or customers is not easy because one has to search for them online, stressing that this involves going through specialised websites that are on internet.
Acording to him, people can go into content writing to survive once they have a good understanding of English language. He said content writing is into different stages, arguing that one can write on different topics as directed by the owners of the site.
“There are a lot of website owners online who are looking for people to write for them on different topics. There are many high paying clients who want articles or blog posts on their sites. Others pay people to create information for the products they are selling online.Website owners that are in Europe and other developed economies pay in dollars. The fees ranged from $500 to $1000 depending on the nature of the work. Some pay less; that is why it is important to have ICT facilities to function well in this kind of business,“ he said.
He said there are hundreds of graduates who are writing for website owners to earn a living, adding that the figure will increase because of the surging interest on internet use in the country.
Akinwale identifed updating of social media sites as another employment opportunity on the internet.
He said: “Besides my job as information technology engineer, I update social media sites for people. When I write website content for someone, I always offer to create and update a Facebook and Twitter page for them for an additional fee. Lots of people know they should have a social media presence, but they don’t really know how to get started or keep it updated.
“Most of the time, the websites I create are for myself. I use them for my own businesses. In addition, I set up sites for small businesses that want online presence.
“Though one must have electrical and electronics background to do this, people from different backgrounds have taken time to study this area and are doing well today.”
He said there are thousands of social media sites that need activation, adding they are looking for people who can update their sites for them.
For Mr Sunday Adeoye, his online business has been rewarding him bountifully. A graduate of Ogun State University, he said he had put endless search for jobs endlessly behind him since he started working as an internet marketer.
“I promote online products and services. A lot of the money I make as a marketing professional comes from being an affiliate of various companies. That means the company pays me a commission. Three of the programmes that pay the most consistently for me are Google Adsense, Amazon, and TangoWire. Besides, I sell books online and get paid,“ he said.
Adeoye said he had trained many people on how to be self-employed, especially in internet marketing.
He advised people to write on national/ global issues and post them on blogs to foster growth, adding that search engines, such as Google and Adsense, are ready to pay the writer once there is a huge traffic on the websites or blogs where the article is posted. This, he said, can be done on a part-time basis. “This is where the issue of Pay Per Click comes in. The more people click on the website to read the article, the more the remunerations accruing to the owner of the work,” he added.
Similarly, the Managing Director, New Horizons Computer Learning Centres, Mr Tim Akano, said job opportunities are waiting to be exploited on the internet. Akano said google boasts of millions of websites, which people can go through to locate opportunities. He said beyond marketing products or services online for companies in Europe, people could create and market their products on the internet. He said the universities are turning out over 100,000 graduates every year, arguing that it is high time people sat down, think and create jobs for themselves.
He said background in sciences is not compulsory when it comes to maximising opportunities in the ICT industry.
“What people need to do is to get a little knowledge of ICT processes. With that, one can do a whole lot of things for himself and survive. The issue of internet marketing is broad and relative, depending on what people are interested in offering on the internet. Globally, the ICT industry has the potential to create millions of jobs for people without much stress,” he said.
