Module 3-: This is the Part 3 of the article series i started few days ago titled: “How to start a blog for free and make money.”

Figuring out which is better to target between a Nigerian (local) audience and a global audience can be really hard. While the global audience might seem like the obvious winner, there are many bloggers targeting a Nigerian audience who make far more money than their counterparts who opted for a global audience.

So, there’s no straightforward answer to the question on which audience is better. You can only figure out which is more suitable for you after studying the pros and cons of each and re-assessing your capabilities.

Now, let’s do a critical comparison of the Nigerian audience to the global audience. You must bear in mind, however, that we won’t be declaring a “winner” after all. This post is meant to help you make a well-informed decision yourself as to which audience to focus on with your blog.

Are you ready? Let’s roll…

Targeting Nigerian (Local) Vs Global Audience: Which is the Best?

a. Opportunities

It goes without saying that the global audience offers more opportunities. Only few blogging topics can attract a huge Nigerian audience and fetch you good profit in the long term. But the list of niches that can attract a global audience is endless.

If, for example, you are interested in blogging about natural remedies and home remedies, you won’t be able to attract attention in Nigeria because not many Nigerians are interested in that topic. However, the same topic will attract a global audience and can ultimately fetch you huge profits because the demand for natural health tips and products is booming on the global front.

b. Competition

Although targeting a global audience presents many niche options to choose from, there is always fierce competition. No matter what niche you choose for a global audience, chances are that there are already hundreds of other blogs in that same niche. So, you will always have to face the challenge of fierce competition.

If you opt for health and wellness, you will have a hard time competing against the likes of WebMD, Livestrong, Mayo Clinic, and others. If you opt for technology, you just can’t beat Techcrunch, Techradar, and Engadget to their game. Go for business, and you will be bullied by business blogs like, Entrepreneur, and Forbes. And remember, these are just the big, popular blogs. There are many other less popular blogs, too, that are ready to crush you right from the start.

Even if you choose for a low competition niche, you will always face competition—though it might be low. However, it’s much easier to attract attention when targeting a Nigerian audience—even if the niche is competitive—because the competition is much less when compared to what obtains on the global front.

c. Startup funds

Even with little or no money, you can start a blog that targets a Nigerian audience and still turn it into a popular, profitable blog.

Many high-traffic blogs in Nigeria are running on free blogging platforms like Blogger. Examples include,, and many others. So, getting a domain name isn’t a must when you are targeting a Nigerian audience. And you don’t necessarily have to spend on anything.

However, to attract a global audience, you need to really stand out and do things professionally. You need to register a domain name. You need to purchase a hosting plan. You need to purchase a premium theme. You need to design a professional logo. You need to have a marketing budget. And if you have a mailing list (which is highly necessary), you need to pay a monthly fee for that, too.

d. Writing skills

Because Nigeria is not a native English speaking country, a Nigerian audience will most likely overlook any grammar errors in your writing. So, you don’t necessarily need to have stellar writing skills to attract and engage a Nigerian audience.

But if you are unable to write stellar content that’s free of obvious grammatical errors, you won’t be taken serious on the global front. Whether credibility is a function of grammar proficiency or not is up for debate, a global audience will deem you credible only if your writing is good and compelling.

e. Profitability

If you blog for a global audience, you will have many options to make money from your blog. You can create your own products, such as ebooks and videos. You can market other people’s products as an affiliate. You can sell ad space to advertisers. In short, there are many monetization options that will fetch you huge profits from a global audience. And interestingly, a global audience usually comprises buyers who are ready to pay for quality.

However, if you are targeting a Nigerian audience, your monetization options are limited to selling your own products or services, selling ad space, and affiliate marketing. Nothing more. But the profitability is much reduced when compared to what obtains globally. Ad networks like Google Adsense don’t generate much profit from a Nigerian audience, and Nigerian affiliate programs offer low commissions. Worse, Nigerians are always reluctant to pay for valuable information, which explains why ebooks may not sell well.

Conclusion-: If you are blogging on a niche that most Nigerians aren’t interested in, then you can target a global audience provided you have the required startup funds and writing skills, as well as the determination to weather the storm of fierce competition.

But if you doubt that your writing skills will impress a global audience, or you don’t have much money to spare, then stay put with a Nigerian audience provided there’s huge demand in Nigeria for the topic you want to blog about.

5 Factors to Consider When Starting a Blog for Nigerian Audience

The successes of Nigerian bloggers like Linda Ikeji, Uche Pedro, Loy Okezie, Jide Ogunsanya, and others proves beyond doubt that blogging can be turned into a profitable, full-time business right here in Nigeria. And this explains why many Nigerians are joining the bandwagon of blogging, hoping to succeed like these individuals.

While there’s no guarantee that targeting a Nigerian audience will make you succeed at blogging, you have better chances of success than when you are targeting a global audience, due to fierce competition on the global front.

It goes without saying that blogging for a global audience has the potential to fetch you more profits than would blogging for a Nigerian audience. But you can still make six-figures monthly as a blogger targeting a Nigerian audience. In fact, all the bloggers mentioned above are blogging for a Nigerian audience, and they are making far more money than most others who opted to target a global audience.

Starting a blog—even for a Nigerian audience—requires adequate planning if you are to have any chances of success at all. Here are five important factors to consider when starting a blog targeted at a Nigerian audience.

1. Passion or interest

Before taking a plunge, ask yourself if you are really passionate about blogging. Are you joining the blogging bandwagon in a desperate bid to make some quick bucks, or out of a genuine interest to help people?

In addition, while it’s not a must that you are an expert in your niche, you need to choose a topic that you’re really passionate about or interested in. Your passion or interest will keep you going during those tough times when your traffic remains low and it seems no one is interested in what you are saying.

Moreover, you can only research and churn out quality information on a topic when you are passionate about or greatly interested in that topic. If you choose a topic that you are not really passionate about or interested in, you will fizzle out when you start facing the harsh challenges of blogging. And your blog will join the endless list of abandoned blogs littering the Nigerian blogosphere.

2. Competition

Before you start a blog targeting a Nigerian audience, you need to find out about the competition in any niche you consider specializing in.

If you target a niche with too many blogs that are already established and very popular, you will have a hard time making headway in that niche. And your journey to success as a blogger might be prolonged beyond your imagination.

Let’s use entertainment and celebrity gist as an example. There are so many popular blogs in this niche, a brand new blog has little chances of making headway. Frankly, you can’t compete against these blogs unless you have a unique voice and huge money to spend on promotion. So, to increase your chances of success, you should consider a niche with less competition, but in huge demand.

3. Demand

Another very important factor you should consider when starting a blog for a Nigerian audience is the demand for the topic or type of information you want to blog about. While your passion or interest in a topic is important, demand is more important because you can only attract an audience with what they want, not with what you are passionate about that they don’t want.

For example, if you start a blog about bead making because you are passionate about that craft, you won’t attract traffic, let alone make money. Why? The reason is because only few Nigerians want to learn bead making. And even the few who are interested are unlikely to learn it online. Do you now understand why demand is important?

So, the higher the demand for the information you want to blog about, the higher your chances of building a large audience, and the better your chances of making money blogging.

4. Profitability

Being able to attract a large audience is one thing, but being able to make money from that large audience is another; they are totally different. That a niche is in huge demand and has the potential to generate massive traffic is does not mean it’s profitable.

For example, Nigerians love hunting for browsing cheat codes and hacks. And no doubt, any blog that shares these will generate a massive audience within a short period. But the question is, how can you monetize such a blog?

You can’t succeed at selling ebooks or other products to an audience desperate to use paid services for free. Neither can you attract advertisers because no company wants to have its name associated with such a blog. You get it now, how demand doesn’t necessarily mean profitability? So, you have to consider a niche where you can sell to your audience or attract advertisers.

5. Uniqueness

No matter what niche you choose, chances are there are already some active blogs in that niche. They might be few, though. You must figure out what will make your blog stand out from the rest. And you must give people strong reasons to favor your own blog over others in your niche.