I sat in the rickety sofa just outside my house looking forlorn and lost with the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar who wandered for seven years in the bush, because I had neither shaved nor trimmed my hair for more than 2 months already.
Right there on the sofa my mind wandered without rest, the pressure to sought out something meaningful for myself and make the most of my life engulfed me like a 35 years old female without suitors but desperate to marry though I was just seventeen years old soon to turn eighteen in a few mon ths time, the age people believe you should become an adult even though I personally don't agree.
My bad appearance was not my fault or so I thought.
It was a period where people were as confused as I am too, and there was a mental shift concerning offline job security.
because of the ravaging pandemic which kept everyone around the world indoors for a long period of time and unsure of what would happen next. I had already stayed indoors for two months without going out and it seemed like I was loosing my senses. I was already a sophomore in the university at that time but coming from a family below average, the odds were against me it was difficult to cope in school with what I received and the thought of that really disturbed me a lot.
Thoughts of how to make money legally alongside pursuing my bachelor's degree in chemical engineering was not funny at all as I was usually moody, disturbed yet no solution was forthcoming. My school is situated in a village far from the main town so the possibility of getting a part time job that will be handled alongside school is really slim as the only jobs available here are sales representative for small shops, laundry work of schools which all offered meager pay for full-time basis. At that time I knew nothing about online skills, business and opportunities, I was a social media addict but all I was doing online was to get trendy gists, watch funny videos and stay updated with latest news and happenings in Nigeria and beyond.
In my desperation to get a money making venture or skill online, I didn't think twice when I saw the status update of my contact on WhatsApp which read “if you have 2000naira and you want to make money online send a direct message”. The urge inside me to question my decision of inquiring was immediately dismissed after I remembered the words of Blake Toth who said “if you don't take the time to sharpen your ace, you will spend your whole life hacking away at missed opportunities” . It is just 2000naira I said to myself, if I loose it without any rewards I didn't really lose much but if I gain then it would be a worthwhile adventure, little did I know that I was opening a can of worms, well that is a story for another time.
Davidson is the name of the contact I messaged for the online opportunity which required posting contents on my Facebook page from a website as well as get referrals for a commission. It was partly successful till it crashed then me and Davidson quit talking for a while not because of any bad blood but because what brought us together was no longer there.
I soon went back to my former self characterized by unnecessary thinking, surfing the internet and basically wasting my time as we remained indoors. July 2020 brought an unusual breakthrough. I received a message one day from Davidson asking me if I would like to work with him in his online design brand iPLUG designs. I was perplexed at first because I knew nothing about working online, I had no skill or anything at all to be able to work in such a capacity. Guess what? He wanted to teach me to work with him because he had observed I had excellent soft skills such as honesty, hardworking and good communication.
I was introduced to the world of digital marketing, my eyes were opened to the possibilities in the online space, immediately i took courses on Google and jobberman for digital marketing beginner course and soft skill acquisition respectively so I worked as a content writer for iPLUG while Davidson was the graphic designer, I did my best to market the brand, I got some clients and I built the social media pages on Instagram, Facebook as well as increase the WhatsApp status viewers.
The position was not lucrative but I could not work for other brands because I lacked the needed skill, expertise and experience so I did not have the confidence to do a curriculum vitae talk less of applying for any job.
I was stuck in my lack of adequate knowledge of a particular digital skill while continuing with my tertiary education as that is my priority. Fast forward to December 2022, I had to leave Infinero ( iPLUG name was changed during rebranding and registration) for some reasons which cannot be explained here. That split gave me a mind reset and it was a hard pill to swallow. It dawned on me that I was too engrossed with iPLUG that I forgot to develop myself.
Throughout last year 2023, I was in a journey of self discovery and the thought that I would graduate soon keeps hitting hard on me so I needed a turnaround. I went back to my digital marketing skills but I realized that I was more like Jack if all trades master of none, I learnt a bit of search engine optimization, a bit of meta advertisement which includes Facebook and Instagram, a search of social media management and marketing, a bit of content writing without having expertise in any.
I decided to select a niche and focus on it, it wasn't an easy pick because I have interest in different things but I needed to consider my financial capabilities to pursue any skill I choose. While deliberating on what to do I started writing contents on my Facebook page, I wrote stories, I wrote about different things to boost my page visibility and it was working, in less than a month my followers grew from about 250 to more than 600. As I saw the metrics favor me I knew I right there I have to use writing to make money and that birthed copywriting in my mind.
I have always loved writing while growing up but I discarded the thought because I thought it wasn't lucrative at the time probably because I was not exposed. Last year I rekindled my passion for writing and sought to learn copywriting as a means to use what I love to earn money for myself. I started doing research about what it entails and how to learn it but I have financial setbacks and that is a big constraint but then Skillharvest came to my rescue. I came across a Facebook sponsored post from skillharvest about scholarship opportunity to learn TECH skills. I doubted it was truly free at first because that word free has become a bait to get leads before the paid class is then announced to them.
I didn't let doubts stop me, I applied for skill harvest then weeks later I received a mail to write a test alongside the material to prepare. With eagerness I immediately read the material as soon as I could then wrote the test. I aced the test and I was admitted on scholarship to skillharvest program, I was so excited that finally I'm getting a headway in my skill and for free.
The copywriting classes have begun and my facilitator Mr Tobi Obafemi is a wonderful copywriter with a great personality, just one week of classes and I am feeling the adrenaline rush already, I can't wait to explore my Writing potentials.
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