The future of bulk SMS messaging is here

AfriSMS, a low cost bulk text messaging platform, is now available in Nigeria. AfriSMS provides unique services for small and medium scale businesses, individuals and corporate clients through its website www.AfriSMS.com. With its wide coverage, and delivery to international mobile numbers, AfriSMS can provide services such as Database Rental for clients seeking market classified data, ‘Do It For Me’ where SMS’s can be sent on behalf of customers, SMS Broadcasts and Robocall (Voice SMS) technologies. AfriSMS aims to be the leading bulk messaging platform in Africa, capitalizing on the boom in GSM communications in the last decade. In a highly competitive market of low cost, online SMS messaging, AfriSMS.com has created a unique value proposition that would appeal to all market segments, and deliver value to its clientele.

“With over 150million people in very fragmented consumer markets, nationwide, there are several market segments which are yet to be uncovered in terms of reach”, says Ms. Aramide Abe, CEO of AfriSMS.com. She further explained that mobile phone technology is the fastest means of communication and has become the most effective in West Africa today. “Research has shown that it has overtaken other traditional mediums such as radio and newspapers in popularity. Nowadays small business can engage their clientele and even provide customer loyalty through simple text messages.”

The company has plans to launch a corporate portal, for higher volume users which will provide the same services as their current website. AfriSMS launched officially on September 1st, 2010.

CelebrityRead©

CelebrityRead© is a monthly not-for-profit reading event that aims to restore the reading culture amongst young Africans. According to the organisers of CelebrityRead©, “the whole idea is to revive, though gradually, the reading culture amongst African youth, using the ‘celebrity power’. Imagine D’Banj reading from a book to a live audience and the impact it will have on his numerous fans, believers, supporters, followers and lovers. It will be indeed a gradual lifestyle changing platform.”

The event is coordinated by Greenwich Media Limited, and supported by Terra Kulture, RedSTRAT Communications, Kachifo Limited (Publishers of Farafina imprints), ImageBuilders Limited and Myne Whitman.

CelebrityRead© holds on the last Saturday of every month.

Venue: Terra Kulture, Plot 1376, Tiamiyu Savage Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.

Time: 3.00PM – 6.00PM

There are plenty of books for sale at the event. This gives you the rare opportunity to buy books and have them signed by the featured celebs.

The first 15 entrants get 1 free African book each.

There are gifts for every book bought within the events’ Venue.

There will be lucky dips, and 10 audience members will get great gifts.

Refreshments are served and admission is FREE!

For general news, free downloadable contents and info on coming editions, kindly check our Facebook events page or go to http://www.celebrityread.com/

Professional websites for as low as N6,650 Per annum

Individuals and small business owners alike can now get their own websites at the affordable price of N6,650 for the ‘Standard’ web pack offered by GoldenSteps Enterprises on their newly launched website http://www.mynigerianblog.com. This standard web pack offers a domain registration with GoDaddy.com, webhosting space with inMotion INC, and a WordPress blog attached to the domain name.

At N6,650 per annum, this offer is one of the cheapest in the industry, however, cheap in this context does not connote inferior, since the three elements that make up every website:

Domain name: All domain names are registered with GoDaddy.com, a leading domain name registrar

Web Hosting: All websites are hosted with inMotion INC, also a top VPS and Dedicated Server host

Web pages: The blog engine is the latest version of WordPress (the same software that powers the popular wordpress.com), and is also said to be the best blogging engine in the world, with thousands of theme and plugins available for use

Why is it so cheap? The Chief Technology Officer of the company says that the existing webspace has been divided into the minimum possible size, 10MB. Businesses that require a custom application and database or that upload a lot of media in the form of photos, video, audio clips and other additional features will need more space. For those, there is the ‘Premium’ web pack, that comes with 100MB webhosting space and a N21,650 price tag. Another benefit of these packages is that since they are essentially blog engines, users have complete control over the content and look of their websites and can change these whenever they want.

GoldenSteps Enterprises is a web development company that specializes in building custom B2B and B2C applications, focusing on individuals and small businesses. MyNigerianBlog.com is their platform for dealing with the accessibility issues many face when acquiring their own websites.