Known fondly as Passive Income Anna by all her students on Selar, Ene Annabelle Ajogwu is a dynamic Nigerian creator and affiliate marketing expert who has transformed personal setbacks into a multi-million-naira empire using Selar. 

In this article, we’ll get a firsthand look at her path from difficulties and failures to overwhelming success, uncovering the strategies and mindset shifts that fueled her rise, along with a few actionable lessons for aspiring creators.

Tell us, Anna, what is your backstory, and what was life like before ‘Passive Income Anna’?

I come from a very interesting background. 

I lost my dad when I was seven years old, and at that time, it was just my mom and the five of us. Looking at my mom’s struggles while trying to make ends meet, I’ve always been the child who did not like asking for anything from her because I just felt like she already had a lot of responsibilities. 

For context, she was trying to take care of five children and herself as a single mother.

I remember when I was looking for accommodation in school, my house rent was N120,000/year. My mom wanted me to look for something around N40,000, but I had already found a place for N120,000, three times her budget. I don’t know how she managed to get that rent, but she did, and after she committed that huge amount, I realized I needed to start looking for ways to make money by myself.

So, I got into Ponzi schemes.

Initially, I made some money, but then I lost it all. I remember growing N10,000 to N800,000. I put the whole N800,000 back in, and then it just crashed. 

Afterward, I ventured into network marketing, but unfortunately, the person I registered under had this ideology that he needed to date me before he would give me his full support. While trying to navigate not dating him and also trying to succeed, I just seemed to keep failing.

Then I got into content creation and influencing and grew my first page from 2,000 to over 113,000 followers. And all of a sudden, I lost the page, and it just felt like life was happening to me again.

Wow. So, how did you get into affiliate marketing and digital product creation?

Fast forward to 2023, I was in a very bad place financially. I had learned how to make clothes, makeup, and different things, but none of those were working. I kept searching for how to make money online, and I kept seeing digital products for like three whole months.

Then, one day, I went to a party and somebody recognized me and complimented me on how good I looked. I went home, and when I was trying to make a post about the party, it hit me: “What if you created an e-book on how to dress and look better?!” That night, I created an e-book in less than two hours using Canva. I launched the product and only made six sales on launch day.

I fell into depression, literally crying on my bathroom floor, like, “God, what is happening with me?” But then, in my depression, it occurred to me that I could begin promoting other people’s digital products and model my methods after white people who seemed to do well at it. All it would take was content creation and consistency – things I was already good at. 

So, on December 29th, 2023, I created a new page and made a post. I told God that if this video does over 1,000 views, that means this is the page I’m going to use. I went to sleep, woke up, and I had 2,000 views.

That’s when I knew this was it.

Nice! What did your first ₦1,000,000 with Selar feel like, and how did it change your thinking about passive income?

I did a photoshoot with a one-million-naira balloon! It was sometime in February 2024 and it just made me realize that if I can do one million, I can do 10 million. If I can do 10 million, I can do 50 million, and I can do 100 million. And I’ve been able to do all of that. It made me understand that this was working and that I should keep milking it.

How did you make that first million? What was your strategy and what distribution channels did you use?

Everything was organic – just showing up and creating content. I was already creating content before randomly, but now tying it into making money online, it felt like it had a purpose.

I was posting five times a day, sometimes eight times a day. When I crossed 10,000 followers on Instagram, they took down my account. It felt like my life was about to end, and this happened four more times until I realized what I was doing wrong.

What was that?

I was using words that triggered the algorithm, like “you can make money online.” It felt spammy to them, like I was giving false promises.

Oh okay. But beyond creating content, did you partner with influencers or post on third-party communities to drive traction for your first million in sales?

No, I never did any of that. I wanted everything to be organic, to prove to people that they can do this organically. I didn’t see any Nigerian doing it the way I wanted to do it, so I wanted to be the first.

You’ve successfully built multiple income streams. What did that process look like practically?

Everything ties into everything. It’s the same effort you use to promote your products that you use to promote other people’s products. As far as you get your content creation done correctly, you can promote multiple products at the same time.

For instance, I’m creating my brand to be a one-stop shop for every kind of digital marketing inquiry. If you’re having issues making sales, I am the go-to person. If you don’t know how to do faceless content, I am the go-to person. If you don’t know how to edit videos, as far as it’s online, I am the go-to person.

It’s just realizing that the same effort you need to promote one thing is the same effort you can use to promote 15 or 20 other things.

Have you ever had a product that failed or flopped? How did you handle it?

To be honest, whenever I promote a product and it doesn’t go according to plan, I understand one thing — I’m not carrying it on my head enough. 

To our non-Nigerian readers: To “carry something on your head” often means being practically obsessed with something to the point where it’s all you think and talk about. 

It has nothing to do with the product. There’s a way you can sell air to people and they will buy it.

For instance, two months ago, I launched a product about ChatGPT and AI. On the first day, I made less than five sales because I didn’t carry it on my head enough. When I eventually got around to implementing what I was doing for my best-selling product, TMEACE, the sales went from 100 to over 600 in four weeks.

And what does “carrying it on your head” mean in this context, Anna?

“Carrying it on your head” means doing marketing back to back, hosting classes that are very practical, etc. People want to see exactly how something is going to work for them. That’s where webinars and online classes come in. People also want to see that you’re a real person they can buy from and trust.

Is there anything you wish more Nigerian creators knew about the digital economy?

Yes, there is. I wish they understood how important it is to build your brand and understand that they are the product. People buy from you first before they buy whatever it is that you’re selling.

When I first started out, I was talking about courses I bought, but I didn’t fully grasp the concept of building my brand. Lots of Nigerians in this space just try to sell products directly, forgetting that nobody’s just going to see you the first time and buy from you immediately.

I see lots of Nigerians who are broke and shy. You’re not supposed to be broke and shy. You should carry your business on your head so much that people get tired of seeing you, rather than people not understanding what you do or not trusting you enough.

I had a student who started a 90-day challenge on TikTok. She didn’t have the best background or camera, but she consistently showed up for 90 days. Her income multiplied by 10 times just because she realized that she was the brand and the product.

Pretend you’re speaking directly to a creator who’s trying to successfully sell their product like you do. What advice would you give to them?

First, I would ask about your marketing process. What kind of marketing are you doing? Then I want to see exactly the kind of content you put out there. If your marketing is boring, I would tell you to get comfortable with inciting emotions in your target audience.

Create videos that address the pain points of your target audience. For example, if you’re teaching people how to host interviews, address their stage fright. Make videos like “do these five things before your next interview so you don’t have stage fright.”

The whole point is to position yourself as a solution to their problems. But you cannot know their problems if you don’t do your research and find out what they are.

What’s next for Passive Income Anna?

My honest answer is doing the very best I can be doing at any given moment. I like to take things one step or one feeling at a time. If I’m feeling inspired to move towards a direction in that particular moment, I move towards it. I don’t have big grand plans – I just focus on doing my best in the present moment.