Today’s guest at MikeShakin.com - Daniel Scocco, famous blogger from Brazil, author of Dailyblogtips.com. I think that Daniel is one of the best bloggers around. I appreciate that Daniel took time to answer my questions.

Thanks for talking with us, Daniel. You’re a blogging celebrity, but what about regular Daniel? Where do you live? What do you do in your spare time? Give us a glimpse into your non-blogging life.

I don’t share too much of my personal life online, because I figure it would bother people to death….

But since you are asking, I am a 26 year old guy currently living in Brazil. Most of my day is spent working. When I am not online I am either training (weight-lifting and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), playing the saxophone, or going out with friends.

Could you explain how you became a full-time blogger?

Back in 2005 when I got my degree in International Economics I was left with a big document that I had prepared for my thesis. I had put a lot of effort into researching and writing it out, but I was sure that apart from myself only two people would end up reading it, my teacher and my father….

Instead of letting the document sit idle and gather dust, therefore, I decided to chop it off into small articles and publish them on the web.

That is when I started researching about web publishing models, and when I came across blogging. I built my first blogs with raw HTML files, and after a while I discovered WordPress and became a loyal user.

After university I started working for a multinational company (inside the marketing department), but one year there was enough to make me realize that I didn’t want to work inside large companies. In fact I didn’t want to work to anyone else, I wanted to have my own business, so I quit my job and started working full time with online projects. That was late in 2006 if I remember well.

What does your average day look like? How do you budget your time?

Most of my times goes to work. I try to not go out during week days, so from Monday to Friday I work around 10 hours per day. On the weekend I half that to 5 hours per day or so.

I don’t have a strict routine, but I like to take regular breaks, say every 2 or 3 hours.

You have many original posts on your blog highlighting many interesting techniques I have never heard shared publicly before. How do you come up with all your new ideas?

I manage many websites and blogs, so all my ideas come from actually getting my hands dirty. I am not that smart, but I am pretty creative, so I am always trying new things. Some work, some don’t. The important thing i to learn from all of them.

What awards does your blog have in blogosphere?

At one point it was among the 100 largest blogs in the world according to Technorati. As of today it should still be among the 500 largest.

It is also listed among the 50 best marketing blogs in the world, according to AdvertisingAge.

Finally, the blog was nomiated under the “Best Web Development Blog” category for the 2009 Weblog Awards.

What kind of traffic does your blog get? What is a number of daily visitors on your projects?

Daily Blog Tips gets around 300,000 monthly page views. It is not my largest site though.

What are your top tips for writing a successful blog post?

First of all make sure the content of the post will be unique. Secondly, make sure it will give a lot of value to potential visitors. Sometimes you’ll need to spend a lot of time (i.e., 10 hours) researching and writing the post to achieve that.

Once you have the two factors above just publish the post and promote the heck out of it.

Where do you see the blogosphere headed?

I believe blogs are already an integral part of the web. In other words, people should start seeing them just as another type of website, like online forums or online stores.

If the Internet had not existed - what do you think you would be doing?

I would probably be trying to create an offline business. I don’t see myself working for someone else. I tried it, and it sucked.

If someone is new to blogging and are looking to make money from blogging, what tips would you offer?

Focus on building traffic and authority on your blog first. Once you have that, the money will come naturally.

Thanks a lot, Daniel! What is your final word to Russian bloggers?

Russia and Brazil are in similar situation right now, which is: they have plenty of opportunity for those willing to work hard. If you want success, therefore, go get it.

Mike Shakin