Blog Interviews – How To
One way of adding conversation and ideas of other knowledgeable people to your business blog is by conducting blog interviews.
Is there someone you know who is 1) good at writing or talking 2) knowledgeable about your business or organization who can add valuable information to your blog? Do you have a client or employee or affiliate who might add valuable information about your business? Perhaps someone who runs a similar business or organization in a different geographical location might be able to present new approaches or ideas.
Locate Person to Interview
Whom to interview? People who already have a blog are good choices. They know how to write and express themselves verbally, so this will help make a coherent interview. Someone you know professionally who can educate your readers in a succinct manner might also be a good option. If you find a blogger online with whom you have had no previous connection but might want to interview, leave a few comments on their posts to start an interaction and see if this blogger might be a good person to ask. I have a good relationship with my heating – air conditioning – plumbing company, and I was pleased to present an interview with Raritan Air Water Power Service as a way to learn about a small business, how the business uses social media, deals with difficult customers and says thank you to clients.
Ask a Few Questions
What to ask? I usually come up with about 4 to 6 questions for the person I am interviewing and suggest the interviewee may skip any they choose and create any new ones. For question examples, read this interview with me by Shari Weiss. Here is one question you can ask almost any person you interview online: “When did you get started with what you want to call social media, and why did you start?”
You can ask questions that are specific to the person that you are interviewing as well as general questions that might be useful for almost anyone. Another question that Shari asked me: “What are the top lessons you have learned about life and/or business since you began your Life on the Net?” (Read my answers, including Put it in writing and Listen to your client.) How would you answer that question? How might someone else? We could probably come up with some great business and life advice if we asked 100 knowledgeable and articulate people that question.
Present the Interview
How can one make the interview easy to read? Going back to the example of Shari’s interview, note how she highlighted certain parts of the interview:
Shari took a list of my business – life learning lessons and organized them in an easy to read manner:
You can organize the information you get from the client and edit any parts that you might consider a bit too wordy for a blog post. Remember, attentions are short on the web. Grab your readers attention – you don’t get paid by the word (unlike Charles Dickens).
Show Relevant Images and Media
What kinds of images might enhance an interview? If you are interviewing a person with visual skills, show off their work – see my interview with Elke Reva Sudin. If they do well as speakers, perhaps a video or audio presentation would best show what they have to say. For examples of podcasts as interviews, visit Bella Buzz by Desiree Scales. Hannah Katsman regularly interviews cooks on her Cooking Manager blog – some show photos in the kitchen, working away at a culinary creation. For my interview with Hannah I sent her a photo of my family at a winery, raising our wine glasses.
On the Raritan Air interview, I used their logo and business information:
Now that adds color and interest to the many words of the interview.
Encourage Comments
How can one get readers to respond? Say so! Ask for responses to the interview at the end of the post. Announce the post on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media networks to give others the opportunity to read the post and give feedback. If you are interviewing someone who is not used to blogs, be sure to let them know that readers may want feedback, and there may be an opportunity to add further to the interview by responding to comments.
Have you ever conducted a blog interview? Have you ever been interviewed on a blog? Feel free to add a link to the interview in the comments if you feel it will add to the discussion.
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Themocracy
What a great post! Now I feel like interviewing someone… but who?
Ilana-Davita´s last blog ..Window Shopping in Saint-Tropez
Ilana-Davita, I bet there are so many people in your life that we would find interesting. Since you write about Jewish topics, how about a local Jewish leader? Or even the corner grocer! Another teacher of business English in France? Or someone you know in Hong Kong?
Hey Leora, what a FABULOUS follow-up to our interview.
This really is all about helping one another be the best we can be.
Now I’m looking forward to more and more interviews to come . . . I loved writing and thinking about your 5 lessons learned. That is the kind of “real life” experience that is so meaningful and valuable.
Shari Weiss´s last blog ..Friends Become Good Clients via Social Web
Love how we can learn from each other, by interviews, blog posts and comments. You do inspire, Shari. Thanks.
[...] after I had read Leora’s post about blog interviews and her words of encouragement in the comments, an idea for a new feature on this blog began to [...]
Great post Leora, I often feature women in business on my blog and have played around with different interview questions as I go along. Your tips have been very helpful!
Tamyka Washington´s last blog ..How to Create Connections to Expand Your Social Media
Tamyka, glad you found this post useful. I look forward to reading more of your women in business interviews (I just subscribed to your feed).
Thanks Leora!
Tamyka Washington´s last blog ..Creating a Community Around Your Business
Another strategy is to bring in guest bloggers to your site. This can be a powerful and mutually beneficial relationship for all parties involved.
K. Smith´s last blog ..The American Dream – Can You Reach it on Your Own?