If you were online, especially on social media sites like
Facebook and Twitter, in the last few weeks, you would
have likely witnessed the whole Linda Ikeji blog
shutdown brouhaha.
Linda ikeji on NdaniTV
Being such a famous blog, when a site like Linda’s goes
down, people go into panic mode, gossip mode, accusation
mode, and all manner of thoughts and words will fill the
blogosphere just to make sense of it all.
Over a very short 24 – 72 hour period, even those who had
never heard of Linda Ikeji or her blog’s success were forced
to pay attention to the drama of Google’s shutdown of a
popular blog.
Add to that, scandalous claims, and back and forth write ups
attacking and defending the subject of this sudden take
down, and you have what we in the business of Internet
marketing and web publicity often refer to as “The Perfect
Storm”.
You see, the end result of a brouhaha like that is usually
only one major thing: instant fame locally and across the
world via social media and the general web, constant site
visits to the affected domain into the tens of thousands (and
very possibly millions), and the eventual short and long
term branding of a name some may have either forgotten,
never heard of before, or were not fully focused on for
months or years.
With a scandal like this, which was suddenly “cleared up”
within mere hours by an unexpected confession from the
very person who claims to have started the attacks that led
to this media circus, you gain FOR FREE, the kind of
advertising some companies have to spend tens of
thousands of DOLLARS on throughout a full year to get even
close to the kind of instant fame that was generated here
within mere hours.
And for me, that threw up some red flags instantly, and
prompted an immediate investigation into whether or not
this could have been the publicity stunt of 2014 played out
so far, rather successfully before our very eyes.
Now before I continue, let me make it clear that I respect
anyone, especially in this case a person like Linda Ikeji, who
puts their name out there in front of millions of people
around the world as legitimate internet entrepreneurs.
Why? Well being one of Nigeria’s first ever globally
recognized Internet entrepreneurs myself, having gotten
involved in successfully creating and selling my own ebooks
about online marketing since as far back as 1999, I know
what it means to have your claims doubted and your story
scrutinized by millions of people who don’t know you
personally.
So, I must make it crystal clear that this is in no way a
personal attack targeted at Linda Ikeji or her friends.
I was in truth one of those hundreds or thousands who
publicly sent tweets to Linda showing support during a tough
time. Which is why I was alarmed, concerned, deeply
interested, and eventually quite frankly disappointed by the
saga that the Ikeji-Aye Dee incident created.
In all honesty, I felt betrayed after reading all of the
“confessions” that were posted by Linda and Aye Dee. To
have my trust and interest toyed with like that IS NOT
something Linda should ever take lightly. In fact, I believe
strongly that an open letter of apology still needs to be
written to all fans and well-wishers who were tricked into
investing in this scandal at all.
I feel as though we were all played and all this noise was
created to force millions of people to pay attention to the
Linda Ikeji blog.
So, What Really Happened Here? Were Nigerians scammed
into believing a fabricated falling out just to get Linda’s
ratings & site visits up? I realize that is a bold accusation and
I do NOT make it lightly.
I therefore humbly invite Linda and Aye Dee to respond if
they so desire because I have some rather startling, though
speculative, information to share that requires their input
for things to be clarified.
Inconclusive Evidence #1:
After some research, I found that the Linda Ikeji blog had
been losing site visits loosely estimated into the hundreds of
thousands monthly over the past 13 months to the tune of
close to 1 million monthly site visits lost within that time.
The screen shot on the link below is from a little known
Internet-based investigative site which estimates (from the
outside) the number of non-unique visits to popular web
sites like Linda’s blog. See the screenshot here.
As you can see from the image shown above, Linda’s blog
visits appear to have been on a steady decline for over a
year.
If that estimate is accurate to any degree, then it stands to
reason that if her blog’s popularity was on a steady decline,
it would only be wise to do something urgently to ensure
those precious site visits are immediately restored or even
dramatically increased, to block off any loss or possible loss
of income as a result of less and less traffic visiting Linda’s
blog.
Now as I stated, this is a speculative deduction as I am not
an inside source and have not performed inside forensic
analysis on her blog traffic or income from her site. But any
expert internet marketing analyst will tell you there is
reason here to suspect some form of “foul play” as if indeed
her site traffic was on a steady decline so would her income
(eventually), which would likely prompt an attempt to regain
any loss in popularity.
So, did Linda and/or her friend Aye Dee see this constant
declining trend and then plan a fictitious reason to regain
the lost attention to Linda’s blog and even catapult it to
greater fame than it had in the past? You have to agree this
is a possibility especially in light of the “confession” by Aye
Dee and a clarification of whether or not the trust of loyal
readers has in any way been tampered with in an attempt to
rescue a slowly dying blog.
Inconclusive Evidence #2:
The domain name change from the free URL
lindaikeji..com as we all agree (Linda included) is
something that should have taken place much sooner than it
eventually did. However according to Linda’s own
statements, she never bothered to make the change since
most of her most obvious choices had already been taken
up by cybersquatters. Well, it turns out that one of those
cybersquatters was her mentor and friend Aye Dee. So then
I am forced to ask the following rather obvious question…
Why on earth would a mentor and friend purchase a
relevant domain name years before their alleged rift and
not pass that to his friend and mentee for her required
needs?
It simply doesn’t add up that Aye Dee purchased such a
valuable domain name (lindaikeji.net) since 2011 and yet
did not release it to his friend immediately upon his
purchase when it made sense to do so. Now, three years or
so later, that same domain name is what he offers as part of
a peace offering to “help Linda get her blog back on top”.
All of this barely 24 hours into the ruckus of her blog being
shut down. Something is definitely out of whack here.
My theory: Either Linda or Aye Dee or both decided it would
be best to effect the domain change only after a scandal like
what we just experienced would force the world to pay
attention to Linda’s blog at the time of the change.
Why wait for the latter?
Well, recall that Linda’s blog was already haemorrhaging
huge amounts of traffic and/or visits monthly. It would
therefore be foolhardy and downright dangerous to effect a
domain name change that could easily and very likely result
in even greater loss of traffic.
Most online users have such poor attention spans that if a
domain name change is made suddenly and quietly
thousands of visitors would lose interest within minutes or
days if they are unable to access the blog via an old name
they are used to and then are forced to find out where the
new site has been moved to. Many people simply won’t
bother.
So, rather than risk further heavy losses in traffic, it would
make sense to for example to create a situation in which all
eyes would be on the old blog’s domain being shut down,
and then Linda would of course be forced to find a new
name and relocate in order to carry along all her old and
new readers.
The incidents of the past few days and weeks look too much
like a set up to invoke interest in a dying blog and make a
long needed change to its brand without risking any loss in
traffic and thus income.
Now while rejuvenating a dying site or creating interest in a
changing brand are not wrong in any way, the way in which
this is done is what must be carefully considered, analysed
and reflected upon to ensure the people’s trust and loyalty
that has helped make Linda famous has not in any way,
shape or form been betrayed by the need to retain her
income.
I therefore invite Linda and friends to clear up any
misconceptions their actions over these past days may have
created.
Was this scandal real or faked?
If it was faked then that is a breach of trust and should never
happen again as if that kind of betrayal is allowed to go on
unchecked many more will soon follow possibly by the
subject of this article and thousands more bloggers and site
owners who would readily do anything illegal or unethical
just to get attention and make a quick buck or two.
If none of the actions taken were as a result of a conspiracy
to defraud the public into believing a false rocus, then
please take the time to prove what happened was not pre-
planned.
How? Show screen shots of a thriving blog’s traffic, show
proof of messages that Aye Dee claims to have sent a year
or so ago proving this was not a recent development that
was planned to garner undeserved attention. Share any
other proof that can be showcased for the public’s own
scrutiny.
All this is necessary to guarantee others’ actions at getting
justice from sites like Google, attracting deserved attention
and gaining popularity through ethical means are not
lumped into a negative box alongside faked plagiarism
claims and possibly faked scandals as may be the case here.
For the guarantee of the belief in the integrity of Internet
entrepreneurs within Nigeria especially, this issue must NOT
be swept under the carpet.
Kunle Olomofe is an Internet entrepreneur, author and
marketing and publicity coach. He can be reached at
kunle@kunleolomofe.com. Twitter: @kunleolomofe.


saharareporters.com/2014/10/12/linda-ikeji-blog-shutdown-scam-resurrect-dying-blog-kunle-olomofe

i beg someone should help me summarize dis story!

i promise 2 send dat person #200 recharge card!!!

.

Mogbe op.. Dem no teach u summary >: