Photo: Miss Linda Ikeji
Billionaire blogger, Nigeria’s Linda Ikeji, who is Africa’s number one blogger, shares the story of her rising from grass to grace, including her uncommon audacity and relentless determination which culminated in her succeeding against multiple odds.
Before going into her story, let’s get to know her better by way of an introduction.
Linda Ifeoma Ikeji, otherwise called the queen of African bloggers, is a Nigerian blogger, writer, and entrepreneur and known for her blog ,www.lindaikejisblog.com, has set a pace for so many bloggers all over the continent to follow.
She is estimated to be worth over $40 million (over N20 billion) at the current exchange rate, making her the richest blogger, not just in Nigeria but the whole of Africa.
Linda makes a lot of money from the blog, so much that she could buy 5 cars and 2 mansions and many more under a year from it.
It is reported that she earns close to N19.5 million every month from direct adverts on her blog alone.
In June 2019, Forbes Africa published a magazine entitled, “Content Is Queen” with Linda featured on the Cover Page.
As a lady who has had her share of the struggles that many Nigerians born into poor homes experience, her success story continues to be a source of inspiration to several millions of people all over Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
In addition to that, her monthly earnings from Google is estimated to be around N12 million.
www.lindaikejisblog.com blog is one of the most visited websites in the world, and the money just naturally starts flowing to her.
Apart from her blog earnings, she also makes a lot of money from her Youtube and TV channels, video productions, and other kinds of entertainment the Linda Ikeji Media undertakes.
As her website traffic grew, her blog started attracting serious advertisement deals from some of the biggest companies, political parties, non-governmental organizations, and so on.
These advertisement deals, usually in the form of sponsored posts or banners, till today remain her blog’s greatest method of generating income.
It is reported that Linda charges anything from N50,000 to N300,000 to promote a song, video, product, or service on her blog.
In 2015, Linda Ikeji bought a mansion that is currently valued at over six hundred million naira (N600m) in Banana Island, Lagos.
The celebrity blogger is also the owner of a 75 million naira seven-bedroom mansion located in her hometown (Nkwerre) in Imo State.
She also bought her parents an N100 million duplex in Lagos, Nigeria.
The billionaire blogger is not only a lover of big and expensive mansions, she is also a lover of big cars and has a very good collection of them.
Linda Ikeji ‘s cars collection include:
1.A N108 million Bentley Mulsanne which she bought in 2018 for her son to celebrate his arrival.
2.A Range Rover Sport 2014. which she bought for 24 million Naira.
3.An Infinity FX 35. She bought this SUV for N8 million.
4.A Toyota Sequoia, which she she bought for her daddy for about N7.5 million.
5. A Toyota Camry which she bought in 2011.
6.A Honda Civic 2010 car gift to her manager for his hard work in promoting the LIB brand.
7.A Honda Accord car gift for her younger brother, Peks,for his birthday
Linda, 41, is a single mother with a son named Jayce, who she gave birth to on September 17, 2018, in a hospital in Georgia, Atlanta.
Linda’s story from the horse’s mouth
Let me tell you a bit of my own story, and I hope it inspires you to go out there and get yours.
I started my hustle very young, just fresh out of secondary school. I started modelling even before I got into the university.
At the university, I also continued my modelling career and I also started organizing beauty pageants,
I organized Miss University of Lagos for three consecutive years and in 2003, I decided that I want to contest in a beauty pageant.
I contested in Miss Nigeria 2003, and I failed.
I finished university, and I started my own company; a Modelling and Events Company. I hustled a lot back then to keep my company afloat.
When the money wasn’t coming in as I had hoped, I decided to put my hands in other businesses. So I started a magazine. I failed at it.
I started a Marketing and Public Relations Company. I failed at it.
I started a TV Modelling Show. I failed at it.
I attempted to start a Reality TV Modelling Competition. I failed at it.
I did an Annual Fashion Show for 7 years, I didn’t succeed at it. I didn’t make money.
And then I wrote a book, I didn’t sell up to five hundred copies. I failed. I failed so many times.
Infact 13 years after I have started my hustle, I was still broke, I was still struggling, I was still trying to find my way.
Some days I would lay on my bed, and I would cry my eyes out. I would get up, work, fail and then, I would cry some more.
I would ask God why?
I worked so hard since I was young for so many years, why have You refused to bless me?
There were days I would leave my house, very early, very, very early; enter my car, and drive around Lagos, from morning, till evening.
I would go from one company to the other, from Ikeja to Mile II, from Yaba to Lagos Island, with proposals in hand, asking for sponsorship, asking for someone to hear me out, begging for someone to believe in me.
99% of the time, I went home empty. Nobody tried to help,
But you see, no matter how bad it got, no matter how many doors were slammed in my face, no matter how many times I fell, I never stayed down. I never gave up. I never stopped working. I never stopped praying. I never stopped believing in myself.
In fact, giving up was never an option for me. I was going to continue to work until I got my breakthrough.
If I had given up, I won’t be standing here right now talking to you.
But, what I didn’t realize when I was crying my eyes out and calling myself a failure, was that God had already put something in my life a few years back that would change everything.
As you all know, I’m a blogger and before I had my breakthrough in blogging, I blogged for 4 years passionately without making any money.
Those days, I would beg for 100 naira to pay for browsing time at the cyber café, but then in 2011, everything changed. Companies started to pay me for something I had nurtured with love.
And just 6 years later, haa…
You may not fail as many times as I did. Or maybe you may fail more times than I did.
But you have to remember that failure is part of success.
If you never fail, how are you ever going to learn?
The only true failure in life, is when you stop trying, when you give up.
No matter how many times you fall, you have to get up and you have to keep going.
There is something amazing waiting for you at the finish line.
Listen to me and listen very carefully.
You have a purpose in this life.
You were created by God for a reason.
Find your purpose.
Believe in your purpose.
Live your purpose.
You can give yourself the life of your dreams.
You can achieve success beyond your wildest imagination. It’s up to you.
In this journey of life, you are the master of your fate.
The captain of your soul. You are responsible for the choices you make in your life. So make the right ones.
Please, I beg you, believe in yourself.
Believe in your dreams. Surround yourself with people who share the same vision with you.
People who support you. Never ever let anyone tell you, you cannot do anything.
Work hard, work smart, and remember there is no testimony without struggle.
I wish you all the very best.”
#nevergiveup
