Interview with Marko Saric – HowToMakeMyBlog

Today I’m pleased to interview Marko Saric from Howtomakemyblog. Marko is known for teaching thousands how to build their blog and run it successfully. Also known for his Twitter Marketing book, Marko serves as a great inspiration throughout the blogging community.

HowToMakeMyBlog has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Yahoo!, Social Media Examiner and several other high-profile sites. Marko was also  featured on BBC TV show Click, which you can see a clip from below:

Let’s start the interview

1.  Hey Marko Saric. Can we get a little bit about what you do?

My name is Marko Saric and I blog at http://howtomakemyblog.com. The blog started back in October 2008 and focuses on the blogging journey from the installation of a blogging platform, customization of the design, on writing great content, building a readership and earning an income. Basically everything aspiring bloggers need to get on the right track.

2. That’s awesome to hear man, seems to me your blog came a long way since 2008. What inspired you to blog?

The first website I started was about my favorite music band back in 1998. This was a topic I loved, knew much about and had a passion for. At university, I specialized in interactive and e-marketing, which turned me onto blogs. I transferred my music site into a WordPress blog in 2006 and that gave me insights into how blogs are run and that is how I got the idea to start a “how to blog”  in late 2008.

3. Unlike yourself, many bloggers tend to blog about topics that they do not know anything about, thinking they will make a decent income. What advice do you have to bloggers that try and take this approach?

It might work, you might be able to fake it until you make it. But writing about topics you know a lot about and are interested in will increase your chances of success.

It takes a lot of hard work and time to get successful so writing about your passion will definitely help you in the days when no one seems to be reading your blog posts and when there is no income coming in. Your passion will motivate you and push you to continue at those times.

4. So do you think it is important to have a positive “I can do it” mindset when blogging?

I think you must believe in what you are doing, if you do not believe in your blogging project, it will be hard to get someone else to believe in it. So be confident, believe in yourself and your knowledge and go for it, start writing with a very open-minded approach. That way you can do anything.

5. You are the author of your Twitter marketing eBook , mind telling us about it?

I wrote a series of Twitter marketing articles, they got a lot of attention and are to this day the most popular series of articles on my blog. Then I was asked to write a Twitter marketing article for Leo Babauta’s WriteToDone blog. This resulted in another successful article.

The demand didn’t stop though. I still received lots of questions and comments. People wanted my opinion on Twitter topics. That is how I knew that this topic could be made into a more-detailed, premium product so that is what I did. E-book features detailed information on how to create a successful Twitter account and how to get customers and traffic from Twitter.

6. With over 25,000 Twitter followers I can see why they came to you. With all the blogging platforms on the web, (Blogger, WordPress, Drupal, Squarespace etc..) Why do you suggest using WordPress?

WordPress.org is the best there is in my opinion. It is free, it is very customizable in terms of plugins and design templates, it is very SEO friendly, and it has a huge community of fans and developers behind it which means that there will always be improvements made to it.

7. Has there been anyone you modelled your self on or looked to as inspiration in your career? (You can name more than one person)

I believe it is very important to read a lot. You get knowledge, you get ideas, you get inspired from reading. So I am subscribed to tons of blogs but I wouldn’t say I modelled myself or my blog after someone else. It is important to find your voice and to try and differentiate from the crowd. That gives the reason to people to subscribe to you, to follow you and to listen to you.

8. What would you say you like most about living the Internet lifestyle? What do you least like about it?

I don’t really live the internet lifestyle that many experts are trying to sell. You know the traveling around the world, earning millions of dollars by automating everything and just sitting on a beach dream. My blog is a side business for me with some great rewards. It is just a hobby and I do not consider it as my work.

9. What advice would you offer to bloggers deciding to start their first blog?

Don’t plan too much, do not focus on design and other details. Too many people waste a lot of time planing the launch of the blog even though they have no audience etc.

Just get a domain name and start writing the best articles you can. Then go to StumbleUpon and Twitter and connect with people who are interested in what you are writing about. Then write another article and go back and connect to even more people. Do it all over again, and again, while also writing a guest post or two on bigger blogs in your field.

10. Great advice man. To wrap up this interview is there anything you would like to share with us? Business/personal plans, future goals, trips, books etc..?

I plan to continue writing the best possible posts I can and also try to connect to as many people in my target audience as possible both online and offline. That kind of takes the most of my free time so at the moment I do not have any plans for any new premium products. Everything is free hehe

11. Well, I want to thank you for taking the time and sharing your knowledge with us. Definitely had a great time chatting with you. Is there anything you would like to add before we finish off this interview?

Thank you! You have a great method for interviewing people, keep up the good work.

Marko Saric is an inspirational blogger to us all. Be sure to keep in touch with Marko on his website @ Howtomakemyblog and on Twitter @Howtomakemyblog