How would you like to turn your knowledge about tech into a digital business? This case study shows how Jide Ogunsanya built his digital business as a tech expert.
In Nigeria, blogging only started gaining popularity between the years 2006 to 2008. And Jide Ogunsanya was one of the first few to jump on the bandwagon.
But he didn’t just hop on it like most people. While I’d like to say he’s someone with a lot of focus and determination, that’s most likely not the reason for his present success. Let’s leave focus and determination for the motivational speakers to talk about.
To me, his will to help people, which is very evident in his posts, is what has separated him.
Jide is a serial digital entrepreneur, and thanks to the authority he built with his major blog, Ogbongeblog, he has gone on to win several awards and this has opened him up to the world of being a professional speaker as well.
A more in-depth look at how Jide Ogunsanya used his tech skills to build his digital business, Ogbongeblog, is today’s Talentpreneur story.
Getting started the smart way
There’s a normal, conventional path most people take when they want to earn from their talents or interests. Usually, it is:
Discover the talent/interest – Start a business.
While that looks like a normal process, it’s extremely flawed. Why? Because there’s a vital step most people miss. And it’s this:
Discover the talent/interest – Get specialized knowledge – Start a business.
This was Jide’s path to actually getting started. As he stated on his About page:
![How Jide Ogunsanya Built His Digital Business As A Tech Expert [Case Study] Jide Ogunsanya of Ogbongeblog](https://rathersure.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Jide.jpg)
I graduated as a microbiologist from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ogun state, Nigeria but enrolled in a 6 months weekend course in Java Programming at NIIT, Onitsha during my National Youth Service. At NIIT, I was able to master some computer skills which have been so helpful to me till this very moment.”
One of the greatest advantages of building a digital business is that you get to teach as you learn. Jide definitely translated his love for tech by using his newly acquired skills to build an online brand for himself, while teaching others his new discoveries.
Building his online authority…one tech post at a time
It’s normal to look at Jide’s progress now and wish to get the same results overnight. But then, he has spent 8 years refining his craft.
That’s a seriously long time to stay committed to something. Even married people can relate to that.
One major ingredient to succeeding online is to focus on a specific group of people you want to help. Some people call this, “your target audience”, “target market”, or “ideal customer”. Others like Paul Jarvis call them “rat people”.
As Jide further stated on his About page:
Ogbongeblog is the space through which I share tutorials and tips related to blogging, social media, digital marketing, money-making ideas. The topics I choose vary widely but revolve around my personal interests.”
If you ask me, that’s a whole lot of different categories. I’d burn out trying to even exhaust just one of them.
His content appeals to a wide variety of people, including, “bloggers, web designers, Internet entrepreneurs, information marketers, freebies fans and people with general interests in social media”.
All these categories still revolve around the subject of digital technology.
Newbie digital entrepreneurs may be tempted to ply the same route and try to appeal to this same wide variety. That’s going to be extremely fatal, in my humble opinion.
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Nowadays, it’s not as easy as it was then. It’d be like falling down the stairs of a building with 24 floors. You’d be wasted by the time you reached the ground floor.
Jide’s ability to build authority and appeal to this wide variety wasn’t accidental. As he stated,
I started the blog in 2008 to share my knowledge online especially as regards to solving tech-related issues and also to make legal money online. The moment I started making money from the blog, I started sharing with my blog readers, how they can also make money from the internet especially via blogging.”
Looking deeper at some of the previous posts on Ogbongeblog, you’d notice one thing:
He only blogged about topics and provided solutions that his audience wanted.
As he constantly built his authority, he attracted people with a wide range of interests. And a logical path from there usually is;
- They found his posts educative.
- They asked questions related to the problems they had, which may not be closely related to general tech.
- He answered their questions based on his personal experience and experiments.
The bottom line is this: Don’t start by casting a wide net. Let your digital business evolve as you recognize and address audience needs.
Growing his digital business with multiple income streams
Jide is not just a blogger. What makes him an entrepreneur are the services he provides and the products he creates.
And this just goes with the general rule of running a digital business which is,
“You don’t have a digital business until you have something to sell.”
But one important factor in getting people to buy what you sell is to first win their trust. And there’s one simple way to achieve that, which Jide shared in this post:
I use my blog to share things I know with people all around the world while also using it to promote all I do. The blog, makes money for me directly and indirectly. The more I share things I know, the more I win the trust of many people and when people trust you, they will find it easy to buy things you sell.”
Jide earns from his online endeavours in different ways. Some of which include:
- Google adsense earnings
- Sale of digital products.
- Website design services
- Social media marketing services.
You can get a detailed breakdown of how he earns online in 12 different ways here.
Asides making his blog the primary marketing channel for his services, he has also been able to package these services into one agency: NetDivo. And the truth is, creating packages for services, as opposed to marketing them individually has a way of increasing perception in the minds of readers and prospective customers.
In the words of Al Ries and Jack Trout,
Marketing is a game of perception.”
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His simple promotional strategy
To really make any headway online, you have to promote your digital business. Well, this is the same in any kind of business, even if you sell bottled water.
But promotion goes beyond just sharing on your social media pages. And his statement proves it;
I also explore paid advertising in promoting my online products, businesses and services. Remarketing and search advertising are some of the skills I use in increasing sales and creating awareness for my online businesses. I’ve several tools I use in measuring performance of my online campaigns. I have custom Google analytics dashboards I created to track series of metrics. Honestly, I’m a brilliant digital marketer..eh eh.”
Giving back to his community with no strings attached
While Jide Ogunsanya has other digital businesses online, like NairaforSMS, he has also taken his time to still make more impact on his community.
BloggersLab, his Facebook group which he started in 2010, now has over 15,000 members. And it’s simply an idea-exchange forum for bloggers to either form partnerships or solve problems.
He’s also allowed the digital community pick his brain by creating special Question and Answer threads, like this one on the popular Nigerian forum, Nairaland: Hi. I’m Jide Ogunsanya; Owner Of Ogbongeblog.com. Ask Me Anything!
And as a way to help upcoming bloggers gain more online visibility, his newest project, Bloggers.ng, already has over 600 live blogger profiles, and counting.
A few pointers from Jide Ogunsanya’s story
- Start from what you know. Develop it. Then expand.
- Use your blog to both share your knowledge and promote your work. It’s a content marketing best practice…#winks.
- Seek first to develop trust. Only then will you get sales. It’s not the other way round.
Get all the training you need
Do you also have interests in the tech industry? And how does earning from it sound to you?
From Jide’s story, he grew his digital business by creating valuable content and promoting it in a way that built trust. He did all this sharing his knowledge with people, helping them solve their problems. From there, everything else took off.
Like Jide, you too can take your love for tech to the next level. Let’s make that happen for you.
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Nicee one.. i love de art work
100%
i also blog here
dietherapy247.com
Thanks for the compliment Anthony :).
Jide Ogunsanya was once of the first Bloggers who helped me when I started blogging at year-2015.
I blog at oscarleeblog.com a Tech and school news Blog.
Success Bro!
Yeah, he was also one of the first few bloggers I found online when I first started. Truly a legend :).
Thanks for your comment Oscar.
I must tell you that Jide is a great man. I think so and I believe so. It’s not up to me to say why I think and believe so, but great things happen because there are great people doing them. No doubt, great things has happened to Nigerian blogosphere and a great mind like Jide is responsible for a good number of them. Whilst I recognize his entrepreneurial zeal and commitment to success, I also appreciate you Solarin for putting this up. I remembered you during the time Vanguard Spark was trending.
Hey Jethro,
Yeah I do remember you too. Nice to see you around here :).
Thanks for your awesome comment bro. I’m glad I was able to create this piece about him.
Jide Ogunsanya is the guy to reckon with when it comes to internet biz in Nigeria…. He’s a great guy.
I rep http://www.lasgidionline.com.ng
Jide is definitely a force to reckon with in the blogging business. His consistency has definitely helped him build his brand.
Nice write up Lanre!!!!!!
Blogging has paved way for Nigerians to become millionaires and this is one testimony of that fact.
Is it even easy mentioning Bloggers in Nigeria, without having him in the top 5?! I doubt it. Anyway, the lesson from all this is “Success takes time and effort”.
So, if you want to earn as much as Jide, and other bloggers, start working now. Get a blog; research, write, post articles daily. And ensure you don’t forget to share your articles to social media platforms. That is how it starts, one article at a time, and in few months time, you will be asking how you started pulling dollars from a blog.