"Celebrity Blogger" Daniel Scocco

Today I'm excited to share with you a recent interview with one of the most recognizable, prominent bloggers on the scene today. Unless you've been living under a rock lately, or you're a relative newbie to blogging, you've heard of Daily Blog Tips. Since its inception back in 2006, it has distinguished itself as being the ultimate go-to guide for those seeking to make an impact and an income online through their blogging efforts.
Today DBT creator shares some of the secrets to his success and strategies for a better blogging experience.

Q. Most bloggers are already familiar with you and the ever-popular site, Daily Blog Tips, but for the newbies on board, can you please share a little about who you are and what D.B.T. is?

A. I make a living building websites, basically. Part of my income comes from popular blogs that make money with direct sponsorships, another part from mini websites that make money with CPC ads and affiliate marketing.
I used to do consulting work as well, but I stopped doing that. Even at $200 hourly it was not worth my time, and working for other people can be annoying once you have your own business.
Daily Blog Tips is where I write about building and monetizing blogs.

Q. What was the inspiration behind creating Daily Blog Tips?

A. I launched this blog back in 2006. At the time I was already seeing a relative success with some other blogs of mine, so I decided to create DBT to share the tips and tricks I was learning along the way.

Q. How has the blogging arena changed since when you first started?

A. I believe that around four years ago blogging had more close relationships. That is, you would create a blog on a certain niche, and within weeks you would already know everyone inside that niche. They would come to comment on your posts, you would comment on theirs and so on. Obviously this was only possible because you didn’t have thousands of blogs on every niche. As the blogging phenomenon grew we lost some of that closeness. I don’t think that this is necessarily bad though. It is just how things evolve.

Q. What would it surprise others to know about you?

A. Some people get surprised when they discover I am Brazilian, as all my websites and online properties are in English. Apart from Portuguese (my mother tongue) I am also fluent in English, Italian and Spanish.

Q. In several of your posts at D.B.T. you refer to Google rankings and other analytics. What's a better metric of blogging success—Google P.R. or Alexa stats?

A. Neither.
If you want to make money with your blog, the most important metric are the revenues you generate. It's even more important than traffic. Just think about it: would you rather own a blog that receives 200,000 monthly visitors and generates $2,000 monthly or a blog that receives 50,000 monthly visitors and generates $10,000 monthly?

Q. What in your opinion is the biggest misconception about making money online?

A. The biggest misconception is thinking that making money online is both easy and quick. The reality is quite the opposite. Building an online business is very similar to building an offline one. As such, it requires a lot of hard work, and it takes time.

Q. How can bloggers increase their chances of having a guest post opp at Daily Blog Tips?

A. Focus on writing something that will be valuable to my readers, and possibly that has not been covered far and wide in the past.

Q. What separates a good blogger from a great blogger?

A. I would say persistence. Most people give up way too soon. You don't need to be a talented writer or an expert at SEO. As long as you are willing to work for two years in a row on your site, every single day, I am sure you'll be able to make a full time income with it.

Q. Have any social media advice?

A. Don't use social media just because you hear the buzz word a lot. First of all figure out what are your objectives, and then evaluate how the different social media tools and platforms can help you achieve those. Else it's just a waste of time.

Q. Any new projects or Daily Blog Tips updates you'd like to share with readers?

A. Another blog I own is called Daily Writing Tips, and in May we'll be launching a Freelance Writing Course there. There are many opportunities for freelance writers on the Internet these days, so this might be the right course for some of your readers. Make sure to subscribe to the blog if you want to receive updates about the launch.

Editor's note: This is the 1st of my "Celebrity Bloggers" series. Stay tuned for more! A special thanks to Daniel for sharing his insight and his time.

Okay, readers, anything surprising? Valuable lessons? Comments?