ALL ABOUT LINDA IKEJI

 
Linda Ikeji was born on September 19, 1980. An indigene of Nkwerre L.G.A. in Imo State, Nigeria. She was born into a family with a really humble background, and is the second of seven children. She was raised in a Christian catholic home as well.
At a very tender age of 10 years, Linda began a hobby of writing. The fiction she wrote were commended by her family and friends. As time went by she developed a passion for news. Different from most teenagers her age, Linda Ikeji cherished listening to news, watching newscasters and interviews, and when the chance came to study at the University in Lagos, she chose into Mass Communication.
However, to her disappointment, she was admitted to study English Language. To support herself through school and reduce burden on her family, Linda started working at age 17, doing anything from being a waitress, ushering in occasions to modeling and bar-tending. Anyway, none of these paid much back then in the late 90′s. She began the modeling career in 1998 and gave up in 2005. She was also a fashion columnist for a struggling celebrity magazine, and after two years of toiling in the news room, she gave up that too.
She came into entertainment as a determined model while studying in Unilag. Linda modeled for numerous brands, like the ‘Rose of Sharon’ label, owned by former President of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria (FADAN) and Nigerian billionaire and oil mogul, Folorunsho Alakija, and in some of the most fascinating fashion shows in the country back then. She was at ECOFEST and has also done some outdoor advertisements.
She said: “I’d run off from lectures to a hotel and sell beer from 1 pm until 10 pm. I did this for a few months. It wasn’t easy at all, but I had to survive”.
In the year 2004, after she had concluded her University education, she labored so hard to crack into the Journalism trade, by introducing her media company, called Black dove Communications, which was a modeling agency and events management outfit. The name Black dove was however inspired by Silverbird, which happens to be a name and also a bird. It was also inspired by the fact that her best colour is black and beloved bird is the dove.
Linda Ikeji remained within her walls of comfort zone which was modeling, so instead of being in front of the camera, she chose to be behind camera by managing an agency, signing up models, training them and getting them jobs. Although Linda claims to still have the modeling agency, but not managed by her anymore. She also commenced what she tells in her earliest blog post as her “true passion”, her magazine called, FM & B. The first issue was published in the 2006 and on realizing how expensive and stressful magazine publishing was, she only had two more editions printed.
The blogging episode started in 2006. Luckily, in that same year, Bella Naija, another very popular Nigerian blog, posted a story about Linda and for the first time, Linda started to see a new opportunity to take her writing to the world.
Linda Ikeji began blogging in full in 2007 to share stuffs that fascinated her with her readers. About five years afterward, her blog, Linda Ikeji Blog has developed into one of the most visited blogs in the country. Thousands trooped into her site on a daily basis for news, entertainment, celebrity gist, gossip and lots more.
She said: “I was receiving like 200 visits a daily and for me back then, it was a great deal, sincerely. Now I’m receiving like 50,000 visits daily from about 180 countries around the world.”
It took Linda Ifeoma Ikeji about four whole years of dedication to start making good cash from her blogging career.
She said: “I never for once even thought that I could make money from blogging. I didn’t begin blogging with the frame of mind that some day I would really make money from it. As a matter of fact, it never even crossed my mind. I never said to myself that, OK let me start blogging now and maybe in five years time, I would begin to see the dividends.
I never anticipated that it would ever happen at all. In 2008, 2009, I was placing free ads on my blog, I was the one asking my blog readers to please give me their ads to place in my blog for them free of charge. Now in 2010, people began asking me about my advert rates and I was like ‘seriously?’ I didn’t even understand what it was not until I asked a few persons and they told me their own advert rates, so was how it all started for me.”
So far Linda Ikeji has purchased two brand new cars, her dream car, which is a 2008 Toyota Camry that she bought about in 2011.
She said: ‘‘I’ve been dreaming about this car ever since I saw it two years ago, and I was finally able to pay for it two days ago, after making savings for nearly four months. The most exciting part is that I have a blog to show it off. At least now some people go no say my ‘levels don change’.
She of late obtained an Infinity FX 35 SUV costing over N8 million. A very sweet child to her parents, she acquired a multi-million 5-bedroom duplex for her parents in Surulere, Lagos.
Linda Ikeji at a point started having over 1 million unique visitors each month to her blog when some really controversial stories were posted on her blog, and that brought the much awaited recognition and large income. In August 2012, Linda was described as a success and a case study for the business of blogging by Forbes Africa.
Now talking about Linda’s personal life, she is so single and searching. She is yet to find her – My ideal man must be a decent guy, God fearing, very good looking and must be able to support what I do. According to Linda, she can never date a man younger than she is, but can marry a man who doesn’t earn as much as she does.
Her reasons- “How many young men out there actually make the kind of money I make? If I am waiting for a man who earns more than I do, I might perhaps be doing so for a while. There are a lot of guys who earn more than myself, but if I come across a man who earns lesser than myself, it is fine by me, as long as he has his own money. But not like a guy who has no job, no, that will never happen.”
Her blog which receives well over 50,000 visitors each day is a top shot for online advertisers and for others longing to draw web traffic to their sites. It is really funny to know that comments on Linda’s blog can be very controversial and very interesting than the post itself.
She is also a motivational writer, who has written a couple of such. According to Linda, she does not like speaking, but rather delights in writing. She believes she does her motivational talks through her blog.”
Linda’s blog is believed to gather a regular sum of N5m every month from adverts from several brands and online ad networks, and this has made her the highest earning blogger in Nigeria today. Indeed, blogging has really fetched her the popularity, and comfort she has dreamed about.
Linda Ikeji has had her own fair share of criticism, as is the case with the world of success. Lots of person’s have criticized her, saying her blog promotes big time rumors. She was once accused by popular Nigerian celebrities for snooping into their private affairs, and this she has publicly denied. Her success in the world of blogging has even propelled her sister to create her own blog.
Linda Ikeji is quite humble, unrelenting, very hardworking and a role model to lots youths today, and with very many dreaming to be successful just like her.