How Linda Ikeji 'Destroyed' My Career

I had a job; one of those jobs where the dress requirement never matches the salary, thank God for night market! My job was good for a beginner; it held great prospects for the career I wanted, but it never got me the recognition I deserved. To get noticed in my field, I would have to grind hard for at least 15 years, the pay at the top wasn’t even fantastic. My entire pension would not be enough for a Birkin bag. Someone was making more from shouting “koko master’’ in a philistinic video. Another was making more by simply copying and pasting people’s story; does she have 2 heads?

If Linda Ikeji can do it, I can do it better. If Linda can make money, I can make more money! I am smarter, finer and have more connections than all the servers in my bank branch put together. I am also a champion on Nairaland.’’

So, armed with this wonderful self-assessment, I quit my job at a burgeoning career in one of Nigeria's top banks and proceeded to gather all the tools I needed to become the next big thing in Nigeria’s blogosphere.

I bought a domain; Linda did not have one at the time. I found a great techie to help me with all the details: server, website, email etc. and a good creative friend helped me with logo and branding. When all was done, before a single word was written, I high-fived myself in every single way possible. My site, logo, branding, domain and ideas were bigger and better than madam Ikeji’s.

So now, time for work. I wrote my first post with all the enthusiasm in the world and shared it with my dear friends on social media, my former colleagues and my wide contacts and connections. The response was great; they liked it, shared it and commented on it. The second post went just as well. Then my tech chap, who was monitoring the visitors to the site told me that while people were enthusiastic on social media, there were not actually coming to the site. He then dropped a bombshell and asked, what will you do differently from Linda Ikeji and the other entertainment sites, what special insight do you have? How can you use your contacts to create a unique selling proposition? Oh I wished he had asked me this before I left the cosy left corner in the bank head office.

I was equipped for my last job, almost over-equipped. In addition to my degree, I had multiple certifications that most beginners never bother with. I had prepared well for life after school. While I was in college, I thought an accounting degree would put food on my table – going through the rigorous class lectures and drills. However, little did I know that I would end up not punching the calculator, but weaving words together – as a blogger.

Nigeria’s influential blogger, Linda Ikeji, poster child for blogging in Nigeria changed my life. I allowed her to change my life even when I wasn’t ready for that change. Her fame, designer clothes and luxurious trips reeled me in. I got in without a solid plan.

Linda Ikeji makes success look easy and is to blame for most of the copycat blogs around Africa. Her astounding achievement as a solo blogger who has gone on to own a thriving media enterprise is an admirable feat.

It’s easy to jump into blogging after reading of her success, but many like me are hardly prepared for the real work. I wasn’t even very passionate about blogging when I started out; all I wanted to do was write a bit and get that advertising dollars. I didn’t even have a strategy or a fall back plan. It was all supposed to be easy.

The life of a career blogger is anything but easy. Very few people listen when Linda Ikeji says she hardly socialises as she has to stay at home to work on her blog. Our eyes are too fixated on the designer shoes and bags she constantly flaunts on Instagram.

We also forget that she officially started blogging in 2007, almost four years before she made a dime from it. Linda Ikeji also has almost as much enemies and friends- still not sure I’m ready for that life. She is renowned for controversies, mostly due to her gossip style of writing, which many have criticised for lacking in credibility. In 2014, her blog came under scrutiny amidst allegations of plagiarism and unfair usage of images, which led to the blogging platform Blogger, run by Google, temporarily taking her website offline. She remained unshaken.

At 36, Linda Ikeji is expanding beyond blogging to build a media empire. While she continues to serve as a source of inspiration, it is important to look beyond the glitz. Just like Rome, the Linda Ikeji Empire wasn’t built in one day. The fancy things are paid for by years of endless grinding. Overnight success is a myth.

‘’An overnight success takes about fifteen years’’ – Anonymous.