Many people who are wanting to blog often ask me how I get ideas and content to write my posts. One great place to get fresh content is from interviewing experts.
Darren Rowse, author of the blog ProBlogger obviously agrees as he recently wrote a post called Two Tips on Landing Interviews for Your Blog.
Clearly Darren is referring to “email” interviews, where you email questions to the subject and they email a response. While this can be a great way to get responses from a large number of people, I’m not really in favour of email interviews. Perhaps this is my journalism background speaking but I really think the best way to conduct an interview is by talking with a person, usually by phone.
How do you do this? Send a short email introducing yourself and stating what you want the interview for and what it will be about. Give a time limit. For my book, my interviews have taken about an hour. For your blog they could be much shorter, even as brief as five or ten minutes. Suggest a couple of dates and times. This will save some back and forth emails if these dates work for your subject. If they don’t, they will likely suggest an alternate date if they are interested.
Don’t worry about rejection. Most people are flattered to be asked and I’ve rarely been turned down. In fact, the only “rejection” I had was actually someone who had to cancel and we’re still trying to reschedule.
You need to decide in advance whether you’ll record the interview. The advantage of recording is you don’t have to take detailed notes and can concentrate on what the person is saying. You also have the option of using the recording as a free giveaway or a product. The downside is some people are nervous about recordings and become inhibited.
If you do decide to record the interview, it’s easy to do using a bridge line, Skype or physical recording devices. If you are going to record you need to practice ahead of time to make sure the recording device works. Of course, you must get permission before recording. Ideally, let the subject know in advance if you are planning to record.
When it comes time to do the interview, it’s a good idea to send a reminder email the day before. Make sure you have prepared a list of questions so you get the most out of this person’s time. When you get the person on the phone, be polite and ask your questions. Be sure you really listen to their responses and be prepared to go “off script” if they say something interesting that you want to follow up on.
When you reach the time limit you specified, end the call. If you and the expert are really on a roll, they may be willing to continue, but don’t assume. Say something like, “We’ve reach the twenty minutes I promised this interview would take. Thanks for your time. I do have some more questions I’d like to ask if you don’t mind going overtime, but I understand if your schedule doesn’t allow it.”
When the call is finished, send a thank you. If you have a snail mail address, send a card rather than an email. When you post the article you write as a result of the interview, send the link to the expert with another brief note of thanks. Be sure to include a link to their website or blog.
Clearly conducting interviews is more time consuming than just using your own knowledge to write posts, but it can be very rewarding. Interviews give you fresh content, can increase your readership if you land a big name interview and they can lead to unexpected business relationships with the experts you speak with. If you’ve never done an interview, plan to give one a try in the next few weeks.
Andrea J. Stenberg
Have you landed a big interview for your blog, ezine or podcast? Tell us how you did it by leaving a comment below.
