In today’s interview we are going to be talking with Francisco Perez from iBlogZone.com. Francisco’s blog is all about blogging and wordpress related tips and the tools for bloggers. Since starting the blog 4 years ago, it’s been a great benefit to Francisco in both revenue and through building personal relationships and contact online. I hope you enjoy this excellent interview with Francisco, as I know I did.
1.) Please tell us about yourself and how you got into blogging?
My real name is Francisco Perez (aka DiTesco) I graduated in Business Administration and mastered Finance at IMD – Switzerland. While I have occupied several management roles in the past, I started to blog some 4 years ago just to see if it was in fact possible to make money online. Yeah, I won’t lie, it was the opportunity to make money online that motivated me most, lol. Fast forward 4 years and I found that not only is it possible to have a good business online, it is also a great medium to build relationships, make friends, learn a lot of stuff, share my views and opinions, experience, and yes, identify some additional business opportunities.
2.) What is the focus of your blog and why did you choose that niche?
The focus of my blog is towards helping people to start their home based or small business online. The main reason why I choose this niche is because I was fortunate enough to gain a lot of experience as a Business Executive, where it is easier for me to talk about it, in addition to my passion in Consulting.
3.) How are you currently monetizing your blog traffic?
Oh my, every way possible! A business opportunity is a business opportunity, so I try them all and see which ones work. Currently, I am happy with AdSense, affiliate marketing, selling advertising spaces, and the Consulting services that derives from my traffic.
4.) What do you know now that you wish you knew when you first started blogging?
I would have to say building my email list. I started only in the beginning of last year and had I known that it would be an important medium for a lot of things, I would have built it earlier.
5.) What are three blogs that you visit almost daily?
I visit a lot of blogs regularly, including yours! But to be more specific about “almost daily”, I would have to say SEOMOz, SearchEngineLand and Google’s Webmaster Central blog.
6.) Can you give us three recommended tools/services that you use with your blogging?
I use a lot of tools, but those that I use in a more regular basis, are: To manage my social media activity, I use Hootsuite. For keyword research, I use Google’s Adwords Tools, SEMrush, and uBersuggest. For search, e.g., to look for trends, most searched topic, etc.. Google Insights (Trends).
7.) What advice would you have for someone who is just starting with their first blog?
Define your objectives and goals. Answer the question.. What is it do I want do and achieve? Once you got that figured out, it will be much easier to succeed. Just be sure to set realistic goals, and adjust them as time goes by.
8.) What’s the best advice or tip you’ve discovered about blogging since getting started?
“Slowly but Surely”.. That was the advice I got from a mentor that told me to forget about “short cuts” if I wanted to build something for the long term. It paid off! Trying to get things done very quickly is possible, but normally will not last. Take SEO, which is one of my favorite topics. While going the quick route may work for a while, it won’t last. Think long term and you will start doing things naturally, consistently and with quality.
9.) If you only had $100 to start a new blog, how would you use it?
Heck, that’s a hell of a lot of money, lol. Seriously, I started with zero $ investment. My current blog, iblogzone.com, was born from “blogger” and only after some months did I purchase my domain name, while still hosting my blog there. Not until after a little over a year did I decide to self host my blog. Well, that really did not answer your question did, hah. OK, I would purchase a domain name, buy a hosting (affordable shared one), and setup a “WordPress” powered blog. According to my calculations, both the domain and a hosting account should probably be less than $100.
10.) How can readers of the blog get in touch with you?
Well, my main blog is iblogzone.com. You can also find me on twitter at @ditesco, on FaceBook and on Google+.
Finally, thanks Zac for giving me this opportunity to share a bit about my experience and let your audience know more about me.
Thanks again Francisco for taking the time to share your advice and story with the Blogging Tips community. If you would like to learn about other bloggers and how they are finding success online, be sure to read through our blogger interview series.
