Welcome to another interview in my new series, as mentioned before each week I will be interviewing a fellow blogger who has kindly answered my blogging questions. This week I bring you an interview with DiTesco aka Francisco Perez, so let’s get on with it…

DiTescoPlease tell my readers a little something about yourself?

My real name is Francisco, also known as DiTesco, my online persona. I am a proud father of two wonderful kids, born in the Philippines, raised in Brazil, lived in a lot of places and now in between Europe and Brazil. I have a degree in Business Administration and mastered Finance at IMD (International Management Division – Switzerland). I have occupied several management roles in the past, such us, COO of American International Group in Europe, CEO of Sensormatic Sysytems, CFO of Banesto Group (banking), Auditor Supervisor of PriceWaterHouseCoopers, etc. Presently, I am an online business entrepreneur, while still managing (offline) my small Business and Management Consulting Company.

So tell me about your blog, when and why you started it and how you came up with the name for it?

I started to blog some three years ago because I had some friends who were doing it and said that there was money to be made, lol. I have to be honest that having the opportunity to make money online was the one that motivated me most and while this is so, over time, I found that it was 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. The domain name has no history behind it as at that time I was not so sure what I was doing. It was all new to me. I looked for available names and iblogzone.com was available 🙂 That said, and since I mainly provide resources to help like minded individuals to build a successful online business, I call my website “Home Based Business Resources“. That’s right, its for people who are serious and prefer to work from the comfort of their homes, not the beach 🙂

Do you find blogging takes up a lot of your time?

YES, I devote a lot of time and effort “blogging”. Literally, I have built a small network of websites where I provide content to all those that are interested on the topics I talk about. Obviously my main focus is still iblogzone.com and today, it is mostly my online business that keeps me occupied, professionally speaking. One of the reasons that I spend too much time online is because, I manage way too much websites. As your online business takes off, the more time you should devote into it. You not only have to ensure that you are pumping in regular content, but there is also the matter of “everything” else attached to it. You need to build and maintain good relationships with fellow bloggers, you need to find good products, you need to promote, you have to socialize, and most importantly, build your reputation and gain credibility.There is no such thing as being in a pool and wait for the money to come in. You can even have a website that generates “passive” income but normally it does not stay that way for too long and you have to manage it somehow. So you have to work, and that takes time.

Where would you say most of your traffic comes from for your blog?

Fortunately, I have traffic coming from many different sources. According to my analytics my main sources are organic (search engines – 50%), followed by Twitter, SU, and from my awesome and great supporters 🙂

Do you use social networks to promote your blog and if so which ones would you recommend to other bloggers?

Let us put it this way. A blog is a communication platform and in a way is also a form of socializing. Getting your word out, providing your opinion, sharing other people’s stuff, interacting with commenters, etc. Isn’t that also part of the social web? As I have said previously, you should build your reputation and gain credibility and socializing is one of the best forms to achieve this. The “blogosphere” is no longer a single players game and you need to build your community of people, to help each other out, extend your reach and build credibility. It’s a “jungle” out there 🙂

Now, I agree that if you are on all Social Media sites that it can be a waste of time. There is no way you can be active in every single one of them. You should only pick a couple and be active, by interacting, exchanging information, helping other people, etc. My chosen networks for this purpose are Twitter, FaceBook, SU, BlogEngage and wordpress social network.

How do you promote your blog? Are you created a promotion plan?

verything I do, I plan ahead for it. Most of the time though, what I have is a “checklist” of things to do. For example, when I am writing a post, I research – check, write quality content – check, optimize for SEO – check, publish – check, and it goes on. The only forms of promotion I have used up until today and that have been proven effective for me is by using the power of socializing. This includes, communicating via my “websites”, Twitter, FaceBook, SU and WPJ, commenting on other people’s blog, guest posting and SEO. No major planning required for this. The only important thing is that you take action. Things don’t work on their own. At some point it needs a push, do it, that’s the plan :).

If you could give some useful advice to new bloggers, what would it be?

There are quite a few actually :), but here goes.

Determine upfront what you are going to blog about. Yes, you need to plan this right out, i.e, choosing the topic or niche, especially if you are thinking on building a small online business. If you are thinking of blogging just for fun, you don’t really have to worry about anything. SEO, quality content, blah, blah, are only important for business. If indeed, it is a small business you are looking for, aside from determining the topic or niche upfront, build a nice looking website, provide good content and value for your potential audience, build your readership by interacting, socializing and respecting other people’s views and opinions. Do not get lured by those “magic” systems that will make you rich overnight, they only work for those who actually sell them. Learn the ropes on basic html, internet marketing, and SEO. And finally, TAKE ACTION. Act upon everything you learn and put it in motion. I will try, I will do, are not actions, and they will take you nowhere, trust me. There is much information out there that teaches you how to do things. Everything else is up to you.

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Many thanks for the interview Franciso.

If you are interested in an interview on Blazing Minds then please use the Contact Me button at the top of the Blazing Minds blog..

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