Six Figure Blogger Interview – Manolo from ShoeBlogs

One of my favorite blogs to show people when they ask to give examples of innovative ways to use blogs to earn an income is Monolo’s Shoeblog. If you haven’t seen it before you really must go have a look – it’s a blog written by ‘the Manolo’ about shoes and celebrities. Odd topic? Yes and no – in fact the more I reflect on ‘the Manolo’ the smarter I realize that they are as its a blog that crosses two popular niches – shoes and celebrity.

The blog is written in the third person by ‘the (anonymous) Manolo’ who has a real cult following. The style of writing is quirky, fun and at times quite bizarre – but I (and many thousands of others) love it!

I’ve been emailing the Manolo off and on for a while now and have been hassling them for an interview – today my wishes came true. I decided to get into the third person spirit and do the interview in that style. The Manolo answers my questions very candidly and even tells us how much the Manolo earns from the shoe blog – you might be surprised just how lucrative shoes can be!

The ProBlogger – How did the Manolo get into blogging?

The Manolo – Ah, this it is the good question. The Manolo he had been blogging in the tiny small way for many years prior to the launching of the shoe blog, but it was always most unsatisfying because it was not about the Manolo’s true love, the shoes, and so the Manolo he finally decided to follow his bliss by starting the blog about the shoes and the fashion.

The ProBlogger – If you had to describe Manolo’s Shoe Blog in less than 15 words how would you do it?

The Manolo – Shoes, fashion, celebrity, humor and Manolo!

The ProBlogger – How long has the Manolo’s Shoe Blog been going? Does Manolo have other blogs or websites?

The Manolo – October 16th, it will be the first anniversary of the Manolo’s Shoe Blog.

Yes, the Manolo he has several other blogs that have been spun off from the Manolo’s humble shoe blog: the Manolo’s Prada Blog, Manolo for the Men, Manolo for the Brides, Media Galore, and the variety of the related single pages about the shoes and the fashion, such as the Gallery of the Horrors. Most can be accessed from the front page of the Manolo’s Shoe Blog.

The ProBlogger – Did the Manolo choose to start blogging about the shoes because Manolo loves the shoes or because Manolo saw a good way to make money from a blog through the shoes?

The Manolo – When the Manolo invented the shoe blog last year, it was simply the way for the Manolo to celebrate the beauty and glamour of the feetwears. Within the first month or two, however, the Manolo he began to recognize the commercial potential.

However, the blog of the Manolo it is not about the moneys. It will always first be the blog about the shoes and the fashion and the fun, not the blog about the *selling* of the shoes.

This person, Mr. Snitch, he has discussed the marketing aspect of the blog of the Manolo quite accurately (here and here).

As has the Manolo more briefly.

In the short the Manolo loves the shoes, and the capitalism!

The ProBlogger – Does the Manolo blog for a job full time?

The Manolo – As the Manolo has said on many of the occasion, the Manolo he is the flaneur.

The ProBlogger – What are the main ways that the Manolo makes income from the Shoe Blog?

The Manolo – In the order of importance, the affiliate sales of the shoes and the fashion, the contextual ads like the google and the chitka, the blogads, then the Amazon, and then the tshirts and the miscellaneous. This, of the course, does not count what the Manolo receives for writing his new column in the Washington Post Express.

The ProBlogger – Why does the Manolo write in the third person on Manolo’s blog? How do readers respond to this?

The Manolo – On many of the occasions the Manolo he has been asked about this, all the Manolo can say is that this it is the authentic voice of the Manolo.

The Manolo he is the Manolo, it is not more complex than this. And, of the course, the readers of the Manolo they react most favorably. One need only look at the comments section in his blog to see the response.

The ProBlogger – How much does the Manolo make from blogging?

The Manolo – The Manolo he is the six figure blogger.

The ProBlogger – What advice would Manolo give to new bloggers wanting to start making an income from blogging?

This it is difficult to do, because the Manolo’s blogging journey it has been so idiosyncratic. What he does it is not like what anyone else does.

Yes, since the Manolo invented the shoe blog, there have been started many of the shoe and handbag blogs, some of them very good. Yet none of them are like the blog of the Manolo, none of them have the particular combination of shoes, fashion, celebrity, and humor that makes the blog of the Manolo one of the more popular places in the blogosphere.

And so the lesson the Manolo he takes away from this for the new bloggers is to be aware that the large part of the mission of the blogging it is to entertain, and so you must write well, in the lively manner.

Do not be afraid to be different, in the fact, being different it is the advantage in the marketplace where there are fifty hundred new blogs on the topic you have chosen. Also, do not be afraid of the odd combinations of the topics, or of the peculiar view of the world, or the different way of approaching your subject as long as these things can be entertaining. Do this, and post faithfully everyday, and be generous with your links and with your readers, and your audience it will find you soon enough.

The ProBlogger – Do any of the Manolo’s readers know who Manolo is? What are the advantages and disadvantages of blogging anonymously?

The Manolo – Anonymous? The Manolo he is not anonymous, he is the Manolo.

Yes, the particulars of the Manolo’s existence they have remained hidden from the view of the public, and indeed it pains the Manolo to keep such the artificial distance from his many internet friends, but the readers of the blogs of the Manolo they know the Manolo, the real Manolo, very well.

The ProBlogger – What tools does the Manolo use to run the Shoeblog?

The Manolo – The Manolo uses the WordPress for the Shoeblog, and the Blogger for most of the other blogs, but only because he is too lazy to move the other blogs to the far superior WordPress application. This it is all he uses.

I’d like to thank the Manolo for the time and effort taken to answer my questions. You’re a truely remarkable and unique individual – thank you for sharing your story with the ProBlogger readers!

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