Linda Ikeji
She’s nothing like one of those popular Biblical characters; not even
a man to start with but scattered like pieces of jigsaw puzzles all
around the life of this former Nigerian model turned Blogger, are
empirical evidences that draw the mind into the story of the man called
David – Once looked down upon, not given much of a chance, picked on by
the darkest force imaginable by mankind and just like this man, Linda Ikeji
could see everything she had worked for in her life slipping through
her fingers and at the point where the final ray of light was about to
fade into oblivion, she bounced back, created a blog, posted a story,
two, three, four… expanded her frontiers and today, we can officially
tell you that Linda Ikeji has broken the internet by officially becoming
Nigeria’s number one news/gossip content website after overtaking the
almighty ‘Nairaland;’ a website that had remained Nigeria’s number one
website for a stretch of years.
For the records, Nairaland, while it was Nigeria’s number one
website, (and because it was number one) had an offer of $5 million to
sell and smile to the bank but guess what, the brain behind Nairaland
refused to sell for any price; to show how valuable the website was but
as at the time of writing this, Nairaland has lost the number one spot
to Linda Ikeji; who now owns a website we estimate to be worth over N1.1
billion judging by the $5 million offer Nairaland once turned down;
with the current exchange rate pegged at $1 exchanging for N220. This
offer came years ago and by implication, if the offer were to be made
today, it would by all means exceed the earlier $5 million offer, which
points to one irrefutable fact – Linda Ikeji’s blog is presently worth
much more but we’ll sit and have a drink with the aforementioned figure
for the time being.
Over the years, through a combination of seeds of hard work Ikeji had
persistently sown, the harvest of fortune bloomed; they bloomed so well
that in less than half a decade, Linda Ikeji became a reference point
for success stories and the resonating message that with hard work and
diligence come a reward that restructures destinies.
Linda Ikeji was not born with a silver spoon and of course her
journey to the point where she is today, came at a price – she went
through series of unbearable challenges but she refused to give in to
the deviant voices that never failed to whisper to her to embrace the
easier and less dignifying option – Linda Ikeji chose to work hard to
earn a decent living; one she would be proud of. A lot of the time, she
was afraid but she never threw in the towel; not because there was no
towel but because she was having fun blogging.
What started with less than a dozen stories eventually opened up into
archives of posts, images and fans who constantly looked forward to her
writing. She didn’t have all the money she needed to hire writers or
get an office but she trudged on. Today, Linda Ikeji rules the Nigerian
online scene like a colossus – riding her stallion christened
‘lindaikeji.blogspot.com’ into the field like a Roman war General but
with a sea of compassion and kindness sitting in the centre of her
heart.
Single-handedly, Linda Ikeji inspired a new generation of writers
under the umbrella of bloggers; who now compete with established
national publications like ThisDay, Punch, Leadership, Vanguard,
Channels TV and ovation for attention and business online.
In 2014, for instance, Linda Ikeji decided to hire writers; something
she had always planned to do but had never really had the financial
capacity to do when she was not blogging. Once upon a time, she wrote
personal things about herself but today, Linda Ikeji receives
advertising and PR briefs from billionaire politicians, multinational
brands and A-list celebrities but once upon a time, she had to manage
her scarce resources to even remain online as internet subscription
plans were largely considered a luxury as they were not particularly
affordable.
To understand the length Linda Ikeji goes to ensure she remains heads
and shoulders above all indigenous rival brands, it is important to
point out that her competitors include national publications line Punch
newspaper, Vanguard, Complete Sports, Thisday, Guardian newspapers,
Leadership newspaper, Ovation magazine, AIT, NTA, Silverbird Television
and countless others; with hundreds of employees strewn all over
different states of the federation yet she holds the aces of sitting on
top of the list.
Another unassailable fact about this phenomenal blogger with a pretty
face and a far prettier physique is that without her, a large chunk of
bloggers today would be out of business as the practice of ‘copying and
pasting’ her stories on their blogs has become something f a necessity.
In the current Alexa ranking in Nigeria, Ikeji ranks number one news
content blog (with the exception of Konga and Jumia, which are purely
e-commerce websites). Ikeji’s blog places 13 on Alexa’s current ranking.
The top websites in Nigeria; from the top down are listed below:
- Google.com
- Google.com.ng
- Facebook.com
- Yahoo.com
- Youtube.com
- Jumia.com.ng
- Blogspot.com
- Konga.com
- Twitter.com
- Linkedin.com
- Wikipedia.org
- Ask.com
- Lindaikeji.blogspot.com
- Nairaland.com
- Naij.com
- Amazon.com
- Goal.com
- Gtbank.com
- Punchng.com
- Dealdey.com
- Vanguardngr.com
- Instagram.com
- Aliexpress.com
- WordPress.com
- Zendesk.com
A look at the list above reveals the sheer investment, dedication,
sweat, sleepless nights, consistency, creativity and passion that Linda
Ikeji has poured into the blog, which has naturally become an extension
of her personality. Earlier today, Ikeji reminded fans and readers that
in 2009, she was the MD/CEO of Blackdove Communications. “I ran a
modeling agency and events company… I gave up on the office in 2010 when
I couldn’t afford the rent anymore and moved my business back home.
About a year later, the blogging I started in 2006, changed my life,”
she wrote.
Despite her overwhelming success as a blogger, Linda Ikeji, 34,
remains extraordinarily determined, simple, ambitious and single.
“I want to give back to the society. I feel like I am 10 percent
done, I haven’t done 90 per cent. That’s the way I feel. Hopefully in
another 2 years, I will accomplish another 40 to 60 percent before I
turn 40. Ultimately, I would have accomplished 100 percent,” Ikeji told iCampus
In 2014, she bought herself a N24 million Range Rover to celebrate
her 34th birthday with money derived from advertising and PR campaigns –
a far cry from the MD who struggled to pay her rent half a dozen years
ago; a reminder than when you work hard, life will always realign to
reward you.
Interestingly, prior to the moment she began blogging, she had
pursued a career as a journalist and once explained that the reason she
remains single is because she has not found a man she can spend the rest
of her life with.
Linda Ikeji is the second of her parents’ 8 children.
For ikeji, things once got so rough for her especially during her
days as an undergraduate; so hard that she would leave lectures, go to a
hotel and sell beer from 1pm to 10pm just to make ends meet but today,
there are millions of Nigerians whose days remain incomplete without
visiting her blog and interacting with other visitors therein via her
heavy traffic of comments.
We congratulate Linda Ikeji on this incredible feat and urge her to keep typing!
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