As many people are venturing into blogging, it’s normal for people to start asking the question ” how lucrative is blogging in Nigeria?”
To answer your question, yes, blogging is a lucrative business in Nigeria. The forerunners of blogging in Nigeria like Linda Ikeji and Bella Naija have proved that it’s possible to make money blogging.
Yes, you can use your laptop, smartphone and data to make money from home doing what you love; but just like any business, you need to learn the ropes, you need to know what works and what doesn’t.
You need to work hard to learn what blogging entails and how you can build it to grow a successful blogging business in Nigeria.
Since you now know how lucrative the blogging business is in Nigeria, you will need to know how you can make money when you start your blog or more ways to make money if you already have a blog.
How lucrative is blogging in Nigeria?
Naija auto made a list of the 10 richest bloggers in Nigeria showing their net worth. The person at the top of the list is Linda Ikeji with a net worth of 40 million dollars, followed by Omoyele Sowore with a net worth of 10 million dollars and the least on the list is Jide Ogunsanya with a net worth of 117 thousand dollars.
Is it not obvious that blogging is lucrative in Nigeria?
It’s possible for you to make money blogging in Nigeria if you are willing to learn how to.
How to make money blogging in Nigeria
1. Google AdSense
Google AdSense is one of the popular ways bloggers and other content creators make money online.
Even though there are other ad networks you can use to make money on your blog, Google AdSense is the most popular one among them.
Google places adverts on your website on products and services that could interest your blog audience so you could get paid when users view and click on the ads. The steps to start using Google Adsense are as follows
1. Create an AdSense account
Go to the Google Adsense website to register with your Gmail account
2. Activate your AdSense account
Select the type of Ads you want and how you want them to be displayed on your blog.
3. Wait for your site to be reviewed
Wait for Google to review your blog and verify that you can receive ads
4. Start showing ads
Your blog will start showing ads when you have been reviewed and verified.
2. Online courses and webinars
When you have proven to be an expert in your field, you can make money by creating an online course that teaches people something about your field of expertise.
For example, if your blog is focused on teaching people “how to cook Nigerian food”. After years or months of consistent blogging and traffic generation, you can create a course or webinar teaching people specific knowledge.
There are thousands of Nigerians teaching people online and making money daily. Emmanuel Akpe has made over 50 million naira selling a copywriting course of N5,000 to thousands of people via WhatsApp.
How to create a course in Nigeria and make money
1. Look for a course topic
Your blog may be on different topics based on your own niche so you need to look for a topic that will appeal to your audience and a topic they can pay you for.
It is possible for you to create a topic that will appeal to your audience about they would be willing to pay for so you need to make research and also look for ways to confirm that they are willing to pay for the topic you are basing your course on.
One of the ways to achieve this is checking if others have written a course on the topic you are trying to write on, if others have created a course on it, that means there’s a demand for that topic.
That’s a green flag, you can still go ahead to create the course with your own unique touch
2. Write your course outline
After discovering the topic you want to write about, you need to make your outline available. Your outline is what guides you on how many modules and units you would want to have in your course.
Break your outline down in a way that will be easy for your target audience to understand. Make sure your outline covers everything about the topic
When you give more value than the price they will be paying, you will most likely have a good review that could lead to more sales.
3. Create your course content
Let your course content be as comprehensive as possible so that you will add value to your students that will transform their lives.
The value should come first before the money. If you make money your priority you may end up not making the money. But if you should put people first you will make money.
Ask yourself, “should I use video, text, or audio? or should I combine them all?”
The form of transfer of knowledge should be based on the topic you choose. If you feel video is better then use it. The goal is to convey knowledge to your students in the best possible way.
4. Decide your teaching platform
There are different ways you can use to host your course online, some of these platforms are WhatsApp, Telegram, course websites and LMS websites.
People create courses and share them with their students on WhatsApp using voice notes, text and videos.
Course creators also host courses on telegram groups to host classes, pinning recorded live classes to the telegram groups and using video and text also to teach their students.
Some use online teaching platforms like udemy and Selar to host online courses. On this platform, the learning process is self-paced text studio and audio also for students to follow. Students are also given quizzes to test their learning process.
Finally, you can create a course on your website using LMS ( learning management system) like Courseware to host your online course.
Choose the platform that suits your targeted audience.
5. Decide your pricing
What value are you giving your students? Can they find it elsewhere at a cheaper rate?
Make sure you give more value than the money you are receiving.
6. Advertise your course
If you fail to advertise your course you won’t be able to reach many potential clients. So, it’s advisable that you get to reach people through Facebook, Tik Tok, Google, and Instagram ads.
These ad services will target specific people in your niche so that you can buy your courses.
3. Freelancing
Freelancing is the act of providing services to different clients in exchange for money. Just like the offline world, where a tailor can see different clients without being restricted to one client. Likewise, online, Bloggers, writers, copywriters, web designers, etc can sell their services to different clients.
Most bloggers use their blogs as a portfolio to get clients that pay them for services such as writing, website design or SEO.
How to start freelancing as a blogger in Nigeria
1. Decide your niche
Your blog may have different sub-niches, you can decide to choose any of the sub-niches as your niche or you can decide not to write in your blog niche. For example, if your blog niche is “making money online”, you can decide to focus on “affiliate marketing” as a sub-niche.
It’s important to focus on a particular niche, by doing so you will be seen as an expert and you will be paid more.
Apart from writing, there are other freelancing skills you can learn as a blogger in Nigeria. Some examples are
- SEO
- Email marketing
- Website design
- Digital Marketing
2. Create a landing page
To show your prospective clients your skills, you can create a landing page that will prove to them that you have what it takes to meet their writing or any other freelancing skills they desire.
And the blog posts on your website can serve as a portfolio on your landing page to show your writing skills.
3. Perform Guest post
Guest posting is the act of writing on the website of other bloggers. Performing guest posts can bring more traffic to your website, and give you exposure and visibility.
Look for blogs within your niche that accept guest posts so you can write for them and increase your chances of getting freelancing gigs. A potential client can stumble upon your blog post and possibly reach out to you.
It’s important for you to put your work in the face of people so as to build your brand online. Therefore, look for websites where you can guest blog.
4. Pitch
Target websites in your niche and send them cold emails, telling them how you can be of benefit to them through your skills.
You will be surprised at the result of your quest.
5. Sell yourself on Social media
Gradually, but steadily build a following online on social media platforms. You must not be active on all channels but start from one.
Many people have used social media to get writing gigs.
Where to get Freelancing gigs
1. Freelancing websites
You can get freelancing gigs from websites like Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr and the like. These websites bring people with skills and people in need of the services together.
People with skills are called freelancers while people in need of skilled services are called clients. You can fill in your skills
2. Job boards
In Nigeria, there are job blogs like Jobberman, my job blog and others that you can register on so you get updates on job listings.
Updates will be sent to you on whatever skills or job type you selected.
3. Social media groups
You can join social media groups where jobs are posted frequently that you can apply for.
4. Consulting/ Coaching
The experience and expertise you have garnered over time can serve as an instrument of wealth because many other people will need your services.
The image below shows how Neil Patel got consultancy opportunities through his blog and he mentioned that blogging is the easiest way to get big companies without pitching.
Consultancy is one of the lucrative ways to make money blogging in Nigeria.
Photo credit; Neil Patel
1. Write high-quality blog posts
The importance of high-quality content cannot be overemphasized, if you want to be seen as an expert, then you need to write comprehensive and quality blog posts.
2. Position yourself as an expert
Go to places where you can meet other experts and connect. Keep in touch with them a
3. Write guest posts
Guest posting or blogging is another way to increase your brand visibility, when a different set of people read your content it increases your reach.
And you never know who is reading your blog posts.
4. Give out free content
Create and send out free content to people through your blog and across all your social media platforms.
5. Speaking Gigs
Opportunities to speak will also present themselves to you if you are able to build a brand on your blog.
Speakers are paid well for their knowledge and expertise. If you can position yourself well, you will be able to build a lucrative business out of your blog.
1. Build a brand
Find ways to make yourself known, connect with people in your field, dish out free content and position yourself well.
2. Start locally
Go to seminars and events in your city, see what others are doing, network and learn. You can even offer to speak for free
3. Seek testimonials
When you speak for free, you can request testimonials in return. Then you share the testimonials on your platforms to boost your credibility.
I found an article showing you how to get started as a freelance writer in Nigeria.
Other ways to make your lucrative in Nigeria
1. Accept sponsored posts
Bloggers with a large audience get business requests to promote their products and services. When you have been able to grow your blog to get thousands of Monthly visitors you will get the same offers too.
Optionally, you can reach out to brands in your niche, informing them of your audience and how it would benefit them if they advertise on your platform.
2. Write Books and eBooks
Writing a book should not be a big deal if you have written on your blog consistently and gained mastery over time in a subject matter.
You can write and market books in your field that will make money for you
3. Organise webinars
Webinars are also ways to make your blog lucrative in Nigeria, you will be able to share your knowledge with people online.
You will charge them a fee to access your webinar focused on a specific topic.
How to start your blog that will be lucrative in Nigeria
1. Choose a niche
Choosing a blog niche means deciding on a particular area to focus on. It’s easier to grow a brand when you focus on a particular area than when you do everything.
Specialists are paid more than generalists. Therefore, try to make your blog as specific as possible so people know what to expect from your blog.
When this happens, those interested in your content will keep coming back for more and they can easily subscribe to your newsletters because their interest aligns with what you are offering.
2. Decide your domain name
A domain name is the website address people place on their web browsers to access your website. www.truehost.com.ng is an example of a domain name.
Make your domain name simple and easy to understand so people will know the purpose of your website even before visiting it.
3. Register your domain
Truehost is among the places you can find a domain registrar to check the availability of your desired website on the internet.
If the domain name you desire is not available, you have two options; use other domain extensions ( .com, .net, .Ng, .com.ng etc.) Or use another domain name.
After trying the options mentioned above, you will definitely get an available domain name that you can use for your website or blog.
After successfully buying a domain name for your website, the next is to buy hosting.
4. Buy a hosting
Hosting is the space available on the internet for you to keep your website files so that you and your users can access your blog at any time.
A domain works together with hosting, therefore, you will have to buy both services from a web hosting company.
We recommended Truehost cloud for your web hosting company because of its affordability and quality of services.
5. Install WordPress
When successfully buying web hosting and a domain, you will need to install WordPress on your website.
WordPress has tools that will help you easily design your website or blog. They have themes and plugins that you can use to create a beautiful blog and add functionalities to it.
6. Start writing
Now that you have designed you have bought your domain and hosting and have designed your blog it’s time to start writing.
The niche you choose will determine the content you write and post on your blog.
Perform keyword research and list the topics you want to write on. Fix the topics into a calendar, write on them, and publish them.
7. Promote your blog
After writing on your blog you need to find ways to increase traffic through social media, guest blogging and the like.
Failure to promote and market your blog will limit the growth of your blog.
Conclusion
You now understand how profitable blogging is in Nigeria and how you can use it to make money.
Don’t just read about it; start your blog today so you can make money from home too.
