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My Honest Journey Building Daily Reality NG: What Worked, What Failed, and What I'd Do Differently
Welcome to Daily Reality NG, where we break down real-life issues with honesty and clarity. Today, I'm doing something different. I'm pulling back the curtain on this blog you're reading right now. The wins, the failures, the moments I almost quit, and the lessons that changed everything.
I'm Samson Ese, founder of Daily Reality NG. I've been blogging and building online businesses in Nigeria since 2016, helped over 4,000 readers start making money online, and my sites currently serve 800,000+ monthly visitors across Africa.
The Day I Almost Deleted Everything
It was a Tuesday evening in 2017, about eight months after I started Daily Reality NG. I was sitting in my room in Lagos, staring at my laptop screen, finger hovering over the "Delete Blog" button.
Eight months of work. Over 60 articles published. Countless hours researching, writing, editing, promoting. And what did I have to show for it? Forty-seven daily visitors. Most of them probably me, checking if anything had changed.
My younger brother knocked on the door. "Samson, you still doing that blog thing? Abeg, when you go get serious work?"
That question hurt more than it should have. Because truth is, I was asking myself the same thing. Everyone I knew was either working regular jobs or hustling in ways that brought immediate cash. And here I was, spending 4-5 hours every evening creating content that barely anyone was reading.
I didn't delete the blog that night. But I'll be honest with you, I don't know why. Maybe stubbornness. Maybe I was too tired to make such a big decision. Maybe some small part of me still believed this could work.
That "maybe" changed my life.
This article isn't a success story where everything worked out perfectly. It's the real story. The mistakes that cost me months of progress. The strategies that finally broke through. The moments of doubt and the small wins that kept me going. If you're building anything online in Nigeria, especially a blog or content platform, this is for you.
What You'll Learn From This Journey
- Why I Started Daily Reality NG (The Real Reason)
- The Brutal First Year: What Nobody Tells You
- My Biggest Mistakes That Cost Months of Progress
- The Turning Point: What Finally Worked
- Monetization Reality: When and How Money Started Coming
- Growing From 50 to 800,000+ Monthly Visitors
- Strategies That Actually Worked in Nigeria
- What Failed Spectacularly (And Why)
- What I'd Do Differently If Starting Today
- How I Stayed Consistent When Results Were Invisible
Why I Started Daily Reality NG (The Real Reason)
Let me start by destroying a myth: I didn't start this blog because I had some grand vision or because I'm naturally passionate about writing. The truth is much simpler and maybe less inspiring.
I started Daily Reality NG because I was broke and frustrated.
It was 2016. I had just finished my NYSC and was doing what most Nigerian graduates do: applying to hundreds of jobs, attending interviews that led nowhere, watching my savings disappear, and feeling the pressure from family who expected me to "be successful" now that I had a degree.
One evening, I stumbled across a blog post by a Nigerian who was making money through blogging. The numbers he shared seemed unreal to me. But what caught my attention wasn't just the money, it was the freedom. He worked from home, set his own schedule, answered to nobody.
I thought: "If this guy can do it, why not me?"
💡 Real Talk
Starting for the "wrong" reasons isn't actually wrong. Many successful bloggers started because they needed money, not because they loved writing. The passion developed later, through the process. If you're starting a blog because you need income, that's valid. Just be prepared for the reality that it takes time.
I spent two weeks researching everything about blogging. I was obsessed. I read every article I could find, watched countless YouTube videos, joined Nigerian blogging groups on Facebook. The information was overwhelming, but I was determined.
Then came the decision: what should I blog about?
This is where many Nigerians get stuck. They think they need to be an expert in something before they can blog about it. I almost fell into that trap. But then I realized something simple: I didn't need to be the world's greatest expert. I just needed to know more than the people I was helping.
I chose to write about real-life issues Nigerians face. Money problems, career challenges, personal growth, navigating life in Nigeria. Things I was experiencing and learning about myself. That's how "Daily Reality NG" was born. Reality because I wanted to write honestly, without sugar-coating. NG for Nigeria, my home and my audience.
The Brutal First Year: What Nobody Tells You
Here's what blogging gurus don't tell you: the first year is psychological torture.
You write an article that took you 5 hours to research and create. You publish it. You check your stats. Three visitors. Two of them are you checking from different devices.
You do this again the next day. And the next. And the next. Weeks pass. Your traffic barely moves. You start questioning everything. Is your writing bad? Are your topics wrong? Is blogging even real or just a scam people sell to desperate Nigerians?
My First Year By the Numbers
Month 1-2: The Excitement Phase
Published 15 articles. Average daily visitors: 5-10. Most traffic came from me sharing links in WhatsApp groups. I was excited just to see the numbers, even if tiny.
Month 3-4: The Frustration Begins
Published 12 more articles. Average daily visitors: 12-20. Growth was happening, but painfully slow. Started questioning if this was worth it. Family pressure increased.
Month 5-6: The Valley of Despair
Published 10 articles (slowing down from frustration). Average daily visitors: 15-30. Almost quit. Spent more time worrying about lack of results than actually creating content.
Month 7-9: The Stubborn Persistence
Decided to commit to 12 months no matter what. Published 20 articles across these months. Traffic: 30-80 daily. Started seeing occasional spikes when articles got shared.
Month 10-12: Small Green Shoots
Published 18 articles. Traffic: 80-200 daily. Google started sending organic traffic. Got my first ₦5,000 from ads. It wasn't much, but it was proof this was real.
By the end of year one, I had published 75 articles, built an audience of about 150-200 daily visitors, and earned maybe ₦35,000 total from ads and one small sponsored post. In total, I had spent over 800 hours on the blog.
Was it worth it? Financially? No. Psychologically? I wasn't sure yet. But something kept me going. Maybe it was seeing those numbers slowly climb. Maybe it was the occasional comment from someone saying an article helped them. Maybe I just didn't want to prove my doubters right.
💔 Vulnerable Moment
There were weeks during that first year when I would sit to write and just stare at a blank screen, paralyzed by the thought that nobody would read it anyway. Some days I published articles just to maintain my schedule, knowing deep down the quality wasn't there. I was going through the motions, hoping that somehow, eventually, something would click.
My Biggest Mistakes That Cost Months of Progress
If I could go back and slap 2016 Samson, I would. Not out of anger, but to wake him up to the mistakes he was making. Here are the big ones:
Mistake #1: Writing for Everyone (Which Means No One)
My early articles were all over the place. One day I'd write about technology, the next about relationships, then politics, then fitness. I thought variety would attract more people. Wrong.
What actually happens when you write about everything is you don't build an identity. People don't know what you stand for or why they should follow you. Google doesn't know how to categorize you. You confuse everyone, including yourself.
The breakthrough came when I narrowed my focus: practical life advice for Nigerians trying to build better lives. Money, career, business, personal growth. Related topics that shared an audience. That's when things started making sense.
Mistake #2: Obsessing Over Perfect Instead of Publishing Consistently
I would spend 8-10 hours on a single article, editing and re-editing, trying to make it perfect. Then I'd publish it and... nothing special happened. Meanwhile, I was only managing to publish once a week because each article took so long.
Here's what I learned the hard way: consistency beats perfection in blogging. An "80% good" article published today is more valuable than a "100% perfect" article published never. Google rewards websites that publish regularly. Readers reward creators who show up consistently.
Once I shifted to publishing 3-4 times weekly with "good enough" quality instead of once weekly with "perfect" quality, my traffic growth accelerated.
⚠️ The Perfection Trap
Perfectionism in blogging is usually fear disguised as standards. You're afraid the article won't be good enough, won't get traffic, won't make an impact. So you keep editing. The truth? Most readers won't notice the difference between your 6-hour version and your 10-hour version. But Google will notice if you publish once a month versus once a week.
Mistake #3: Ignoring SEO Because It Seemed Too Technical
For the first six months, I wrote articles based purely on what I felt like writing that day. I didn't research keywords, didn't optimize titles, didn't think about what people were actually searching for.
This is like opening a shop in a location where nobody walks by and wondering why you have no customers.
When I finally started learning basic SEO (keyword research, proper titles, internal linking, meta descriptions), my organic traffic from Google went from almost zero to being my primary traffic source within four months. I wasted six months of work by ignoring this fundamental skill.
Mistake #4: Trying to Monetize Too Early
At month two, with maybe 10 daily visitors, I plastered my blog with ads. Every possible space had an ad. I even tried to sell sponsored posts when I had no audience.
Not only did I make no money (who would advertise to 10 people?), I made my blog look desperate and cluttered. The few visitors I had probably left faster because of the messy design.
Lesson learned: build the audience first, monetize later. Focus on traffic and value for at least 6-12 months. Once you have real traffic, monetization becomes much easier and more lucrative.
Mistake #5: Comparing My Beginning to Others' Middle
I would look at successful Nigerian blogs with millions of monthly visitors and feel like a failure. "Why isn't my blog growing that fast? What am I doing wrong?"
What I didn't understand then: those blogs were 3, 4, 5 years old. They had gone through the exact same slow beginning I was experiencing. But I was comparing my month three to their year five. That's not just unfair, it's toxic to your motivation.
Once I started comparing my blog only to my own previous month's performance, my mental health improved and I could celebrate small wins properly.
The Turning Point: What Finally Worked
There wasn't one magical moment when everything changed. But there was a series of shifts in my approach that, combined, created the breakthrough I needed.
Shift #1: I Started Writing About Nigerian-Specific Problems
Instead of generic articles like "How to Make Money Online," I wrote "How to Make Money Online in Nigeria Without Dollar Account" or "Side Hustles That Work in Lagos Traffic." The more specific and Nigerian-focused my content became, the more it resonated.
Nigerians were tired of reading advice that didn't apply to their reality. When they found content that understood fuel scarcity, NEPA issues, naira devaluation, and local hustle culture, they engaged deeply.
Shift #2: I Stopped Hiding and Started Showing Up
For the first year, Daily Reality NG was faceless. No about page with my real story. No author photos. Just articles with no personality behind them.
When I finally added my real name, photo, and personal story to the blog, something interesting happened. People started connecting with me, not just my content. They'd reference things I mentioned in my author bio. They'd reach out personally. The blog transformed from information source to relationship.
People trust people, not faceless websites.
Shift #3: I Learned to Write Hooks That Actually Hooked
My early articles had boring introductions. "In this article, we will discuss..." type openings that made people click away immediately.
I studied successful Nigerian blogs and international content creators. I learned that the first 3 sentences determine if someone keeps reading. I started opening articles with stories, provocative questions, surprising facts, or bold statements.
My average time-on-page went from 45 seconds to over 3 minutes just by improving my introductions.
💡 The Hook Formula That Changed Everything
Open with one of these: A personal story that relates to the topic, a surprising statistic about Nigeria, a bold statement that challenges common thinking, or a relatable question your target reader is asking. Then quickly tell them what they'll learn and why it matters to them specifically. This formula increased my reader engagement by over 200 percent.
Shift #4: I Started Building an Email List (Finally)
For over a year, I relied only on social media and organic traffic. Every visitor who left my blog was potentially gone forever. I had no way to reach them again unless they remembered to come back.
When I finally added an email signup form and started building a list, everything changed. I could notify subscribers of new articles. I could send exclusive content. I built a loyal audience that returned regularly.
My email list became my most valuable asset. It's the one thing I truly own, unlike social media followers that platforms can take away anytime.
Monetization Reality: When and How Money Started Coming
Let me give you the real numbers, not the inflated success story version.
The Monetization Timeline
Month 12: First Google AdSense approval. Earnings: ₦5,000-₦15,000 monthly. Barely covered my data subscription.
Month 18: Growing traffic (500-1,000 daily visitors) increased ad revenue to ₦35,000-₦60,000 monthly. First sponsored post earned ₦25,000.
Year 2: Average 2,000-3,500 daily visitors. Ad revenue: ₦80,000-₦150,000 monthly. Sponsored posts: ₦50,000-₦100,000 monthly. Started earning more than my previous salary would have been.
Year 3: Traffic jumped to 10,000-15,000 daily visitors. Multiple income streams developed: ads (₦200k-₦350k), sponsored content (₦150k-₦300k), affiliate commissions (₦80k-₦200k), digital products (₦50k-₦150k).
Year 4-Present: Scaled to 20,000-30,000+ daily visitors. Total monthly income varies but ranges ₦600k-₦1.2M depending on the month. Multiple sites now, diversified income.
💔 Money Truth
Even when I started earning decent money, I didn't feel successful immediately. I had spent nearly two years earning almost nothing while friends in regular jobs were advancing. The psychological cost of that delay was real. Financial success doesn't automatically heal the emotional wounds of the struggle period. Give yourself grace if you feel the same way.
What Actually Makes Money in Nigerian Blogging
Google AdSense: Steady but limited. Great for starting, but you need significant traffic (50,000+ monthly visitors) to earn well. Naira devaluation affects dollar earnings negatively.
Sponsored Content: More lucrative than ads if you build authority. Nigerian brands will pay ₦50k-₦300k for single articles if you have engaged audience.
Affiliate Marketing: Underutilized in Nigeria but powerful. Promoting relevant products (hosting, courses, tools) through genuine recommendations earns consistent commissions.
Digital Products: Highest profit margin. Creating and selling eBooks, courses, templates related to your blog's niche can bring ₦100k-₦500k+ monthly once established.
Consulting/Services: Your blog positions you as expert. People will pay for one-on-one help, consulting, or specialized services related to your expertise.
The key insight: successful Nigerian blogs don't rely on one income stream. Diversification creates stability and maximizes earning potential.
Growing From 50 to 800,000+ Monthly Visitors
People always ask: "How did you grow your traffic?" They expect some secret hack. The truth is both simpler and harder than they want to hear.
What Actually Drove Traffic Growth
Consistent Publishing Schedule: I committed to 3-4 articles weekly for years. Not occasional bursts of content followed by silence. Consistent, reliable publishing. Google rewards this. Readers reward this.
SEO-Optimized Content: Every article targeted specific keywords Nigerians were searching for. I used Google's "People Also Ask" and "Related Searches" to find topic ideas. I optimized titles, headers, meta descriptions.
Internal Linking Strategy: I linked related articles to each other, keeping readers on my site longer and helping Google understand my content structure. This simple tactic improved my SEO significantly.
Social Media Promotion (Done Right): I didn't just drop links and disappear. I engaged in Nigerian groups, provided value in comments, built relationships. When I shared my content, people actually clicked because they knew me.
Writing for Shares: Some articles are for SEO, some are for social shares. I learned to create highly shareable content (emotional stories, controversial opinions, practical lists) that Nigerians would send to friends via WhatsApp.
Guest Posting and Collaborations: I wrote for other Nigerian blogs, participated in collaborations, got mentioned by larger platforms. Each exposure brought new audiences.
⚠️ Traffic Reality Check
My traffic didn't grow linearly. It was flat for months, then sudden jumps, then flat again, then more jumps. Some articles would go viral and bring 10,000 visitors in a day. Others got 50 views total. You can't predict which will hit. Your job is to keep publishing quality content and let probability work in your favor.
Strategies That Actually Worked in Nigeria
Some strategies work everywhere. Some only work in specific markets. Here's what worked specifically for Nigerian blogging:
Strategy #1: Hyper-Local Content
Articles about Lagos traffic hacks, navigating Nigerian banking systems, dealing with NEPA, understanding local taxes, these performed better than generic content. The more Nigerian-specific, the better.
Strategy #2: WhatsApp-Friendly Formatting
Nigerians share content via WhatsApp more than any other platform. I formatted articles to be readable on mobile, with short paragraphs and scannable sections. I added "Share this article" prompts that made it easy to copy and send.
Strategy #3: Naira-Based Examples
Instead of using dollar amounts or generic "X amount," I used specific naira figures. "How to Save ₦500,000 in 12 Months" resonates more with Nigerians than "How to Save Money."
Strategy #4: Addressing Real Nigerian Frustrations
Articles that acknowledged and addressed common Nigerian frustrations (unemployment, inflation, corrupt systems, difficult business environment) while offering practical coping strategies performed exceptionally well.
Strategy #5: Building Community, Not Just Audience
I responded to every comment in the first year. I created a Facebook group for readers. I asked questions and genuinely listened to answers. People didn't just read Daily Reality NG, they felt part of it.
What Failed Spectacularly (And Why)
Not everything worked. Some strategies failed so badly they're worth sharing so you don't repeat them.
Failed Strategy #1: Copying Western Blog Models Exactly
I tried implementing monetization strategies that worked for American blogs. Most failed in Nigerian context. Nigerian audience behavior, purchasing power, and online habits are different. I had to adapt strategies specifically for our market.
Failed Strategy #2: Paid Traffic Too Early
I spent ₦30,000 on Facebook ads when my site wasn't optimized for conversions. The traffic came and left immediately. Money wasted. Paid traffic works, but only after your site is ready to convert that traffic into subscribers or customers.
Failed Strategy #3: Chasing Every Trend
Every time a topic went viral in Nigeria, I would rush to publish about it. Most of those articles got short-term traffic spikes then died completely. Meanwhile, my evergreen content about timeless topics continued bringing steady traffic months and years later.
Lesson: Build your blog on evergreen content with occasional trendy pieces, not the other way around.
Failed Strategy #4: Neglecting Mobile Experience
Most Nigerians access the internet primarily through phones, yet my early blog design was desktop-focused. Load times were slow on mobile. Formatting was terrible on small screens. Once I prioritized mobile experience, engagement improved dramatically.
💡 Failure Is Feedback
Every failed strategy taught me something valuable. The key is failing fast and cheap, learning the lesson, and moving on. Don't get emotionally attached to strategies. Stay attached to your goal, but be flexible about methods.
What I'd Do Differently If Starting Today
If I could start over with everything I know now, here's exactly what I'd do:
Week 1: Foundation
- Choose a specific niche immediately (no wandering)
- Set up proper blog structure with SEO in mind from day one
- Create 10 foundational articles before promoting anything
- Set up email capture immediately, not months later
- Write "About" page with real story and photo from the start
Month 1-3: Building Content Foundation
- Publish 3 articles weekly, every week, no exceptions
- Focus exclusively on SEO-optimized evergreen content
- Learn basic keyword research immediately
- Start building social media presence alongside blog
- Join and genuinely participate in Nigerian blogger communities
Month 4-6: Growth Phase
- Guest post on 2-3 established Nigerian blogs for exposure
- Start collaborating with other bloggers in similar niches
- Launch email newsletter with weekly valuable content
- Optimize top-performing articles for even better results
- Start building relationships with brands in your niche
Month 7-12: Monetization Preparation
- Apply for AdSense once traffic is consistent (not before)
- Create first digital product based on audience feedback
- Reach out for first sponsored content opportunities
- Set up affiliate partnerships with relevant products
- Focus on email list growth as primary metric
⚠️ The Most Important Thing I'd Do Differently
I would set a non-negotiable 12-month commitment before judging any results. Knowing I wouldn't quit would remove so much mental stress and allow me to focus purely on execution. Half my struggle was the constant internal debate about whether to continue. Remove that debate upfront with a time-bound commitment.
How I Stayed Consistent When Results Were Invisible
This is the question I get asked most: "How did you keep going when nothing was happening?"
Honestly? Some days I didn't want to. Some weeks I published articles out of pure stubbornness, not inspiration. But here's what helped:
Mindset Shift #1: I Stopped Checking Stats Daily
Obsessively checking traffic numbers 5 times a day was killing my motivation. I limited myself to checking once weekly. This single change improved my mental health dramatically.
Mindset Shift #2: I Celebrated Micro-Wins
Instead of waiting for "I made ₦100k" or "I hit 10,000 visitors," I celebrated small wins: my first organic Google visitor, first comment from a stranger, first time someone shared my article without me asking, first email subscriber.
These tiny celebrations kept motivation alive during the long drought.
Mindset Shift #3: I Found My "Why" Beyond Money
Money motivated me initially, but it wasn't enough to sustain me through the hard months. I had to find a deeper why: helping other Nigerians navigate challenges I had faced, building something that was truly mine, proving to myself I could finish what I started.
When the money wasn't coming yet, these deeper reasons kept me going.
Mindset Shift #4: I Connected With Other Struggling Bloggers
Finding a small group of Nigerian bloggers who were also in the struggle phase was game-changing. We'd encourage each other, share wins, commiserate about challenges. Knowing I wasn't alone made the journey bearable.
💔 The Honest Truth About Consistency
I wasn't always consistent. There were weeks I published nothing because I was discouraged. Months where I barely engaged because I felt like it didn't matter. The difference is I always came back. Consistency isn't perfection, it's returning after you fall off. It's continuing despite the setbacks. That's the real skill.
Key Lessons From My Journey
- The first 6-12 months of blogging are psychologically brutal, but that's normal, not a sign you're failing
- Comparing your beginning to someone else's middle is toxic and pointless, track only your own progress
- Nigerian-specific content performs better than generic content adapted from Western blogs
- Consistency beats perfection, publish regularly even when articles aren't perfect
- SEO is not optional, learn basic keyword research and optimization from day one
- Build an email list immediately, it becomes your most valuable asset over time
- Monetization works better after you have real traffic, trying too early wastes time and looks desperate
- Your personal story and face make your blog trustworthy, don't hide behind faceless content
- Most successful strategies came from experimentation and Nigerian-specific adaptation, not copying others exactly
- The bloggers who succeed are simply the ones who didn't quit during the invisible progress phase
Frequently Asked Questions
How long before a Nigerian blog starts making real money?
Based on my experience and dozens of Nigerian bloggers I know, expect 12-18 months before earning significant income, meaning over 100,000 Naira monthly. Some earn faster if they have existing audiences or focus purely on monetizable niches, but most take at least a year of consistent work. The time investment upfront is real, but the compound effect later makes it worthwhile.
Do I need to know coding or technical skills to start a blog in Nigeria?
No. I started with zero technical knowledge. Platforms like Blogger and WordPress handle the technical parts. You can launch a professional blog in one day without touching code. Focus on writing quality content and learning basic SEO. Technical skills can be learned gradually as needed, or you can hire someone for specialized tasks once you start earning.
What if my English is not perfect?
Your English does not need to be perfect. Nigerian readers connect with authentic writing that sounds real, not overly formal academic English. Many successful Nigerian blogs use conversational tone mixing English with occasional pidgin. Focus on clarity and value, not grammatical perfection. Tools like Grammarly can help with basic corrections as you improve naturally through practice.
How do you handle family and friends who doubt your blogging?
I stopped trying to convince them and focused on proving through results. Most skeptics in my life changed their tune once the income became visible. Until then, I found support in online communities of other bloggers who understood the journey. You do not need everyone's approval to succeed, just your own commitment and a small support system that gets it.
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All posts are independently written and fact-checked by Samson Ese based on real experience and verified sources.
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