This story is from a fellow Blogger.
He resigned from his CocaCola job to concentrate on his blog which he started using a phone. Right now, he is making reasonable money online legally in Nigeria and not regretting quitting his job. There may be one or two lessons to learn from the story. So read carefully.
What's your take on this?
PS: If you've also got stories to share, kindly mail me.
He resigned from his CocaCola job to concentrate on his blog which he started using a phone. Right now, he is making reasonable money online legally in Nigeria and not regretting quitting his job. There may be one or two lessons to learn from the story. So read carefully.
First of all, I think it would be nice to introduce myself. I am +Adeniyi Samuel by name and I hail from Osun State, Nigeria. I am a one
time forklift operator in one of the leading companies in the
Country (Coca-cola) who later turned a full time blogger and for over 6
months now, I have no curse to regret quitting my offline job.
You
might wonder why but truth be told, the coca-cola branch here where I
worked, only bears the name and not the pay. Working there seemed more
like working as an elephant and eating like an ant but after quitting
the job to turn full time blogging, the reverse has been the case, all
thanks to God. I now work as an ant and eat as an elephant.
How It All Started (The Insight)
It
all started around 2010 when I was doing nothing outside running mini
sites on the internet. Well, first I stumbled on some muf.mobi sites and
I love the engagement that was going through these sites and always
wanted to have something like that. I never thought of the money at that
time, all I wanted to do was create a site with loads of members and
have the name as the owner. That was all I cared about without the money
in mind after all I was using free internet as lots of free browsing
cheats were in vogue at that time.
From muf.mobi, I
knew about wapka but I couldn't use them because I wasn't able to code
and understand how the designing was done(it was kinda little complex
for me) but I was pretty good at muf.mobi sites and other few I knew
then and that lead to the formation of funhome.muf.mobi.
I
was so committed to my wapsite at that time that 24/7 whenever there's
power on my phone, I'd be with my phone posting and promoting the site.
At some point fun.muf.mobi would emerge as the top 10 sites on muf.mobi
but despite all these, I wasn't getting any pay, it was just for the fun
of it and it really felt good for people say 'thank you Samuel for
this', 'big ups bro', 'you are the best' etc and that was enough to keep
me going.
Around same late 2010, I decided to research
exclusively on how to make money online and I stumbled on loads on
information regarding that and read through many websites but they all
were basically stating stuffs I had read on previous sites, 'Taking
Surveys, Paid to read mails, Affiliates' etc.
I
eventually tried a couple of them all from my mobile phone, though I was able to make some money but they never got to my hand. I eventually never got to reach their payout
threshold, maybe because am a Nigerian but doing those where a total
waste of my time and even though I felt bad about it, I didn't stop
there, I still kept on researching.
How Blogging All Started For Me
Around
January 2011, I decided to take social network seriously in terms of
meeting friends, chatting and all so I wouldn't get so bored. Along the
line I read through one of my Facebook friend's status where he shared a
link on how he makes money online. His Name his +Jide Ogunsanya
I
clicked on the link and read through every bit of the post. I was
impressed by what I read and also read through other posts on the blog
(www.ogbongeblog.com) At that time, he stated he was making around
70K online monthly. I was like wow! If only I could even be making just
little online.
I decided to get closer to him by
sending him a message and requesting for his number. We started chatting
and talking via Facebook and phone (of course I was doing the calling).
He told me what he actually does was 'blogging'. I introduced myself to
him properly and give him an insight regarding what I have been doing
(Perhaps, that's what made him believe I could do it). He then told me
to go create a blog on blogger and start posting there.
Without
wasting time, I created a free blog on blogger that January 2011 and
that lead to the formation of www.trueinternetworld.blogspot.com. I
stopped giving time to my wapsite and eventually got on with
trueinternetworld blog. For me, getting along wasn't so much a big deal
because I am always quick to understanding stuffs about the internet. I
began posting and promoting on social networks, I gave the blog same
zeal I gave when I was on wapsite.
Somehow, I knew what
Nigerians wanted and what my friends on social networks wanted and I
worked more in posting those stuffs that were beneficial to them.
After
a while, Jide then told me to apply for Google Adsense. I never knew
what it was but he was able to give me an insight. I wasn't really
satisfied but then I still got my friend "Google". So, I googled about
Adsense and also went through the Adsense tips at OgbongeBlog.
I
applied for Adsense that January 2011 and upon first trial, I wasn't
accepted, reason been for navigation. I confronted Jide with this and he
gave some suggestions. I worked on those and re-applied and in some
couple of days, I was accepted. I felt like I won a jackpot but then,
there was a bigger task ahead.
Even through I never
actually read through the long policy Google Adsense had brought up for
me to read, I just read the few ones which was more like a summary on
other sites including Ogbongeblog.
Even through I had
making money in mind, I knew it wasn't gonna be over night because Jide
had initially told me that I needed loads of traffic and during my early
days, traffic came basically from social networks.
For
some couple of months, I couldn't boast of €3 in my adsense account. I
became worried and of course contacted the only mentor I had that
time(Jide Ogunsanya). He actually told me something which gave me more
zeal to keep on working.
He said and I quote, 'It took
me two years to make my first $100'. I was like 'What!!! Two(2) years
for $100? Then I still have a long way to go but then I knew, 2 years
was too much for me to make that amount.
At a time, I
began contacting friends on my facebook account with friends over 3K and
pleaded with them to please visit my blog and share just one on my blog
posts with their friends. Many ignored, some asked for a fee and yes,
some did it for me wholeheartedly without stress.
On
this fateful day, when I had contacted more friends and some shared my
posts, I checked my adsense account, lo and behold I saw I made €2+ that
day, I was like Wow! This is awesome. That fueled me and I kept and
pursuing and btw, all these were via the use of my mobile phone (samsung
e250).
Around Late February 2011, I traveled down to
Lagos to stay with my uncle and within a short period of time, my uncle
was already complaining that I pay too much attention to my phone. I
wasn't actually bothered with that because I was already used to it by
my parents(my parent always complained about me and my phone and it was
more like a song and daily routine to me) while in Benin so whenever
anybody tells me that, I would just smile.
Around March
same year, my dear uncle introduced me to coca-cola company as a casual
worker and my pay at that time was around N400 per day. I began working
and usually, am the kinda guy who pays much interest to my job and get
recommendations but then, that didn't take me away from my phone because
my phone was and is my best pal and I wasn't and isn't shy to tell
anyone.
Just few days at CocaCola, almost everyone close to me had
noticed me and my phone and when I realized this, I had to take
precautions because the money at hand is better than the one on the way.
For me, blogging and working, at the same time
wasn't really easy but my job then while at CocaCola as a casual worker wasn't that
stressful. Been a tracker, all I need do is track products living the
warehouse and to which sales truck its going to hence, it was more like
walking and writing kinda job.
 |
| Samuel, while working at CocaCola |
Most times while in
coke, I would close from afternoon duty(9pm) and instead of going home
to rest, I would go the cyber cafe and do night browsing because I
wanted to do some designs on my blog which ordinarily, can not be done
via my mobile phone since I never owned a laptop at that time.
With
time, that same year 2011, I began seeing some pretty good earnings. I
crossed the $100 dollars payment threshold in that same year 2011 and
received my first Adsense cheque but then, I had a problem, 'A foreign
account'. The essence of the foreign account was to clear my Adsense
cheque since the checks are in USD hence it cannot be cleared with a Naira account.
Getting a Foreign account wasn't the
problem but the criteria in our local banks to owning a foreign account
was the problem. Nevertheless, I got it sorted within a short time.
Around September 2011, I acquired a custom domain for my blog which led to
www.trueinternetworld.net and by then, by the grace of God, I was already
earning over $100 in a month .
I used my first cleared
earnings in acquiring a blackberry phone and a laptop and that was
around February 2012 and the journey didn't end there.
Working
in coke around 2012 became tougher because within a month I was able to
learn how to drive and operate the forklift machine and with the help
of God through a pastor who I consider as a brother, I was employed as a
forklift operator there in coke and of course, with an increment in
salary.
Initially while I was a casual worker, I always
thought forklift job was an easy job, well yes, for the first few
months it was because I'd smile when am on d machine driving instead of
using my legs :-), it seemed more like an advancement but after some
couple of months, it seemed like hard labour! ..lol.
Seriously,
it is not easy driving for 10hours at night without sleeping and only
for you to go back home and continue blogging, sleep for like an hour
and resume back to CocaCola.
With time I realized that, I
could be on the machine in coke driving and be thinking about the next
post to update on my blog. Sounds crazy right? But its true, it began to
seem like, I was all about blogging.
I don't want to
bore you anymore with much tales about me and my blogging journey but
the fact now is, am a full time blogger now who blogs at will and earns
pretty good income in a month with no boss to toss me around or tell me
when to work and when not to work.
Some Key Points To Note
1.
Blogging isn't for everyone. Only the writers who are good at writing
and enjoys writing about one or some particulars areas or topics are
good to go. Just so you know, I used to be a writer, oh well am still a
writer. I had written some couple of plays and songs which are no where
to be found now, now I do all my writings on the internet via my
trueinternetworld.net blog, which I've rebranded to www.techyan.com.
2. Blogging is for the
passionate and determined. Everyone wants to create a blog but not
everyone is passionate about it. If you read through this post
thoroughly, then you would probably note that, at the beginning
stage, I just love sharing information and tutorials even when I wasn't
getting anything in return outside "thanks" and appreciation from
readers.
3. Know No Boundaries: One major
excuse for bloggers this days is non availability of a laptop but the
truth is, I started out with a phone, not a smart phone but a Java
phone (Samsung E250 and Noka 6233). More over, getting a laptop or a
desktop computer these days isn't as expensive as it used to be then, if
you are determined, you should know no boundaries.
Truth
be told, am only a school sat owner(SSCE), who used to know some stuffs
in academics but now, I doubt if I can still be good at that because
24/7, all I think now is blogging and business :-D but of course, I hope
to further my education soonest.
Conclusion: I didn't
bring up this story of I and my blogging journey to suppress anyone.
It's just to challenge those who want to be a successful blogger but
limiting themselves to some factors.
I see blogging
more as a farming business where you plant today and harvest tomorrow
hence how much you plant today determines how much you harvest tomorrow.
I
personally wouldn't say am a successful blogger. I see myself more like
a striving blogger who hopes to be among the top bloggers someday.
Although I see myself been lazy these days maybe because of how much I
earn in a month, but I am definitely working to change that and would
definitely welcome ideas from you my friend.
What's your take on this?
PS: If you've also got stories to share, kindly mail me.
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