DeCranium:
Sir, most bloggers in your niche find it compelling to always divulge key information as regards their job.

They do this with the aim of posts which teach people what they(the bloggers) already know.

I have seen that you also do this.

How is it that clients do not simply implement all what they've found on your blog and instead seek to hire you (Not you, specifically.. I mean bloggers, generally)?


Also, is it that at times, bloggers hoard the very best of their ideas so as to remain relevant and get more clients?

The foregoing question may appear strange. But I really wish to know.

Sharing all you know positions you as the go-to expert and makes people always come back to you for more.

Clients cannot do it themselves because (1) they don't have the time, or (2) they feel you're still more knowledgeable than they are and it's best they hire you, or (3) they're too lazy.

sanny18:
What advice do you have for a writer to be?
Have been having various challenges of writing what i have in mind down and other problems.

Start writing!

lastbaff:
Congratulations Abdullahi.

How did you get clients when you started out as a freelance writer?

They come to me on my site and from the sites I guest post on. These two methods have worked well for other rockstar Nigerian freelancers like Bamidele Onibalusi and Victor Ijidola.

abbey621:
I'm very intrigued by your passion but I do have a few concerns/questions:

1: You claim to have worked with a company like Shopify? Specifically their marketing campaign? Was that this year? I consulted for them earlier this year through auditing and was wondering why I never heard of your company?

2. You claim your company made six figures U.S Dollars in it's first year and you also bagged your degree within the same time period(According to LinkedIn), how many people are employed in your company?

3. Your website looks to plain for a company that makes six figures in U.S dollars, look into upgrading it to meet the demands of global marketing teams. Seems the website was created less than 6 months ago, why did it take you so long? Especially since you've been earning good amount of income since 2014.

1. Their marketing manager would be out of job if he discloses he outsourced all the smart work the company thinks he did.

2. Two employees and 30+ freelancers

3. LOL. Have you seen how "plain" kottongrammer.com looks? The site makes $7m EVERY YEAR.

wahabian:


Trying bro,how do you advice I overcome the issue of lack of capital?

Do some side hustlings.

Doskit:
Hello brother, I have so much passion for writing but there is this phobia I have that makes me feel I can't write well if I do. I'm currently a student at OAU and will love to go through training if you have any. oxygenmat .

Just start writing, that's the only way to overcome your fears. I used to have phobia too.

autofreak2020:
Please sir, I need you to guide me on how to write award winning essay. I have submitted a couple of essay in the last 400 days and none has made it to final stage, then I wonder what might be wrong.

I have 3 requests sir;

1. Can you mentor someone who's got no background in writing (essay, article and blog post). It is worthy to confess to you that, I did calculations throughout my University degree. I studied mechanical engineering.

2. Can you share 7 samples of your essays that made it to final stage of essay competition with me?

3. I want you to recommend any writing guide to me, it could be books, video tutorials, audios or websites.

I anticipate your response. Thanks.

1. From what you've typed, I like to think you write well. You just need to give more contests a shot.

2. See some here: http://naijawriterscoach.com/category/winning-entries/

3. DailyWritingTips.com; "Elements of Style" by William Strunk (you can download it for free online); my free book, "Your Right To Write," etc.

neoshaklum:
This is pretty impressive and inspiring, how do you keep motivated when your campaign(s) does not meet your target when starting up. And do you have any kind of resource guide to put one on track?

I diversify everything: clients, marketing channels, offerings, profit model, everything. That way, when an aspect isn't working well, some others are there to fall back on. I recommend "Choose Yourself" by James Altucher. That has to be the best business book I ever read.

wahabian:
making Nigeria proud,thank you bro.

Thanks bro, we all can do that more.

Kaykaymil:


Okay small guys like us can thrive a bit on that budget sent You a linkedin add up Onochie add let me tell You more about our startup and then we can take it up from there cos we launch in one month.

Better to use our contact form so the right member on my team can handle it.

NewSheriff:
In addition to this, what major challenges did you face while starting up and how did you overcome them?

Payment processors. Most of them don't open their doors to Nigerians. I had to settle for some which do, like Payoneer and 2CheckOut.

ash1akintola:
Your works speaks a lot about ur calibre. You were A sure help to my first Website. (it was like a Website scholarship as u paid most of the fee). The problem I have sir, I am into writing poems which to a large extent dont pull trafic. Not everybody likes poem. But the distinctive part of my work is that I love rhymes so much..... Friends have adviced me to write a book compiling my scribbles,but the fact is, the highest number of visitors on my blog now is just an embarrasing number of 23,the reason why I cant keep subscribing to ipage every year........ For something not worth it. Ur kind advice sir

You need to find a market where people spend. Even if your poetry blog goes popular, are people willing to spend in that niche? If you read my Forbes piece, I had to do that at a point.

U09ce:
Oxgygen, I salute. How do i instigate myself to start writing long essays. The last I wrote was during my WAEC.
And again, what is the secret to English poems? How are they composed? Perhaps you guide to a book detailing its rudiments


Thanks

It's easy to start writing.

Step 1: Decide you want to start.
Step 2: Sit.
Step 3: Start writing.

I'm not into poetry, but the good thing is everything you'll ever need to learn about it is available for free online. Just ask Google for relevant blogs and then start reading them daily.

DeCranium:
I must say that you are a man I very much respect, Sir. I however want to ask these questions. What is digital marketing all about? How is it that you have been able to gain so much knowledge of digital marketing coming from your status as a citizen of a country which lags behind in technology? Also, how have you been able to prove that you know your onions well, thereby getting clients, in a world of many foreign experts?

Digital marketing is a broad term covering all forms of attracting, engaging and converting users on the Internet to paying clients. What we do is only a subset of digital marketing: content marketing. I've been learning all I can since I started writing online several years ago, regularly reading industry-leading blogs majorly. I still do.

There are many ways to establish your expertise: maintain a blog with regular quality content, guest post on reputable sites and network with already established bloggers and marketers who can give you intros.

Kaykaymil:
How can You help startups because i see Your campaign budget is in some thousands of dollars and most companies starting up would not have such budget. Basically how can You support small businesses? would be interested in talking about my startup with You

That's because my primary market is the U.S., UK, Canada and Australia. That said, the lowest budget on our contact form is "Under $2,500" meaning we work with even the "small guys"

DrOladipo:
The can-do-it spirit of Nigeria. Posts like this inspires the mind. More Nigerians are representing us well than the few unfortunate ones soiling the name of our dear country. Bro, please do well to mentor aspiring tech lovers.

That's exactly the purpose of this thread.

PureWays:
Great Job man.

I believe you can do more.

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I am Abdullahi Muhammed, the founder and CEO of Oxygenmat.net, a content marketing company. I just got published on Forbes:

www.forbes.com/sites/under30network/2016/06/07/from-5-to-6-figures-how-my-pivot-paid-off/


I’m a Nigerian and have always lived in Nigeria. I was born in a rural community, had a traumatic childhood and started writing on my Nokia 6080 phone (because that was the only tech gadget I had) some 7 years ago. Fast-forward to today, I’m the CEO of a company that’s hit 6 figures U.S. dollars in its first year.

My company has worked on the marketing campaigns of companies like GetResponse, Hostgator, Shopify, Gumtree and Arvixe.

I and my company have also been featured on:

Entrepreneur Magazine: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274450

Inc. Magazine: www.inc.com/aj-agrawal/how-this-entrepreneur-improvised-his-way-to-success.html

The Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com/christina-scribner/against-all-odds-entrepre_b_10115176.html

World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/10/4-ways-big-data-can-improve-your-business

Not trying to sell you anything or telling you all these to brag. I’m creating this post in the hope that some of you may be inspired and know that it's possible to be Nigerian, live in Nigeria and use creativity and hard work to make a difference right here in Nigeria (or even globally).

Nothing extraordinary about me. I’m just an ordinary guy always looking to make a difference in extraordinary ways.

I’ve answered some of the most common questions I get asked in the above links when the publications interviewed me.

But if you’ve got any other questions not already covered, feel free to ask. I’ll do my best to answer them.

I'm the said Nigerian writer published on Forbes. I think the OP posted a wrong link. The correct one is http://www.forbes.com/sites/under30network/2016/06/07/from-5-to-6-figures-how-my-pivot-paid-off/#6c19a19756d5

OP, I don't know you but thanks so much for sharing the news

doyinisaac:
So after I saw this thread I was joyful because I felt it was a good thing that a Nigerian blogger is featured on Forbes...so I told my italian friend of mine who i met online who works at the information research department of Forbes about this news and she said she was not aware of such,so after hearing that statement I came back to this thread and clicked the link the op posted and the link was invalid...smh...the op is lying....

You can check out my latest post here if you're new to blogging: http://howtostartablogonline.net/blogg

Check out this blogging tip: http://www.instructables.com/member/oxygenmat111/

And for those who simply want to create their website with a Content Management System (CMS), I have a detailed guide here: http://naijawriterscoach.com/set-up-a-blog

The pros of using a CMS is that it is easy, fast and highly customizable. You'll largely relate with it similar to how you relate with your MS Word: point, click and save.

In addition, a blogger should have a clear-cut reason for his blog right before he starts it. It's silly to start a blog because everyone else blogs. You can see 34 reasons to blog here: http://howtostartablogonline.net/why-blog

Hi everyone.

So... I just started a new project: teaching people how to create a blog, and I'm doing it for free.

I've been online for years, and I know starting a blog can be confusing for many. In fact, "how to start a blog" is one of the most common questions I get asked.

I've been teaching people how to start a blog since last year but the beneficiaries have been largely Nigerians. Now I'm taking it global.

So, whether you’re 15 or 75, and whether you’re in the U.S. or South Africa, you too CAN, and SHOULD, start a blog.

A simple guide on WHY and HOW is here: http://howtostartablogonline.net

I'll appreciate any feedback you have. And please feel free to share it with your friends if you like it.

Hi everyone,

Please I would appreciate it if someone can tell me reliably how much an LG Plasma TV of 32 inches is sold.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

Please I would appreciate it if someone can tell me reliably how much an LG Plasma TV of 32 inches is sold.

Thanks in advance.

This is to inform the general public and especially, all secondary school students in Nigeria that the United Bank for Africa (UBA) 2013 edition of the National Essay Competition is out. Winners will get educational grants to study in any African University of their choice.

The topic is “How reading has impacted my knowledge”. The first, second and third prize winners will receive N1,000,000.00, N750,000.00 and N500,000.00 in educational grants respectively. The deadline is November 1st, 2013.


Read more: http://naijawriterscoach.com/2013-uba-foundation-essay-competition/

This is to inform the general public and especially, all secondary school students in Nigeria that the United Bank for Africa (UBA) 2013 edition of the National Essay Competition is out. Winners will get educational grants to study in any African University of their choice.

The topic is “How reading has impacted my knowledge”. The first, second and third prize winners will receive N1,000,000.00, N750,000.00 and N500,000.00 in educational grants respectively. The deadline is November 1st, 2013.


Read more: http://naijawriterscoach.com/2013-uba-foundation-essay-competition/

By: Muhammed Abdullahi Tosin*

If you’re observant, you’d have noticed that hardly does any debate or divergence of opinions between Nigerians occur on social media or in the blogosphere these days without it turning into a tug of torrent abuses and personality assassination.

Too many times, the comments on internet news sites and threads on forums veer away from being constructive, intellectual and solution-oriented debates into festivals of insults and blame-sharing exercises. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about, head on to Sahara Reporters or Nairaland and see for yourself. And even many other Nigerian internet media at that.
Few days ago, a reader (whose Facebook profile says he’s a General Manager at a firm) commented on a news item about

General Al-Mustapha on The Vanguard. He said Al-Mustapha deserves to be free, having wasted away in custody for more than a decade. Then another reader dropped a sledge hammer on his skull: “Gutagi, first of all I want to know who made you a manager of a company, before you open your stinking mouth and say a killer is a free man. It means you need to examined your brain. Mad man.”

In the first week of this year, a friend wrote a reflection on the effects of the fuel subsidy removal one year after and published it on Sahara Reporters. As usual, the comments were divergent: some critical, others complimentary. One thing most of them shared in common was unwarranted insults and curses. For instance, one comment was, “You’re an enemy of GEJ, stop writing foolish, amoebic, anti-progress, purposeless and subject matter-less articles.”

My friend told me he was unhappy about it. My response shocked him more. “I was expecting this,” I told him. “If you don’t want your personality dragged into the mud and smeared, you don’t express your views to Nigerian netizens.” I’m not spiteful of Nigerians. I’m one of them. But the ugly trend has become so commonplace and consistent that it has lost its ability to appall us.

We also read comments on pieces published on Aljazeera, New York Times and BBC. Many issues generate divergent views there too, but submissions are mostly intellectual responses, made with respect – or at least tolerance – for others’ views. As it turns out, others’ opinions can be respected or condoned elsewhere. Not in Nigeria. We are too intolerant, too arrogant to appreciate dissenting views.

If you post frequently on Facebook also, you know too well what I’m talking about. If you don’t, go check the Facebook page of public figures like Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and see how uncouth and disappointing the comments on most posts are. Is this how we hope to foster national integration? Is this how we hope to live by our motto of “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress”?

This ugly trend is the rule rather than the exception on issues having the slightest connection with religion or ethnicity. The gory pictures left by the debates on Late Prof. Achebe’s There Was A Country and the proposed amendment by the Senate of section 29(4)(b) of the 1999 Constitution are still vivid in our minds. But granted that religion and ethnicity in Nigeria are potent kegs of gunpowder at which one should never attempt a shot, it’s disheartening that even debates on issues that damnify us in common like fuel subsidy removal, poverty and unemployment also most often degenerate into verbal feuds.

I think part of the problem is that the internet allows for discussants to appear faceless. So we abuse this to mean we can be rude to and blackmail anyone and get away with it. We respond to submissions by even professors and respected community leaders that we dare not stand before and look in the face, with phrases like “You’re an idiot!” “You don’t belong to this century!” “You’re a shameless old bitch” simply because we’re covered by the screen of our PC or mobile device. This is unfortunate. It’s not a way to live.

God knows best why He created us to be different. Cultures and worldviews are bound to clash, leaving us shocked – sometimes disillusioned to the marrow. But that’s part of the beauty of heterogeneity, the very basis of human beings. God forbid that we should all always look alike, think the same and hold the same views. The world would be all too boring and monotonous. And when two people always agree on issues, one of them isn’t important.

Begging issues and attacking persons is just disgusting and uncivilized. Almost everyone has been guilty of this, however little. The Internet has done us a great good – affording everyone a fair opportunity to be heard anywhere as much as a Harvard Professor. We should appreciate this and learn: that we can disagree and still be friends. Insulting others does no one any good. It only injures the feelings of others and attracts counter attacks. Worst still, the points being passed across, however noble, would end up in the thin air as no one likes to listen to insolent people.

This is a big challenge for us all. Our strength as a nation is in appreciating and maximizing our diversity – harnessing our different potentials, values and resources to improve the lots of all. We can choose to efface the menace now and engender mutual respect and national integration – or choose to make it our culture and be consumed by what the ugly consequences will be.

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*Muhammed Abdullahi Tosin is a freelance writer, writing coach and the author of the free eBook, “[url]Your Right To Write” (http://naijawriterscoach.com/your-right-to-write/). Find him on Twitter @Oxygenmat (https://twitter.com/OxygenMat).