Professional Bloggers Must Have Interviewing Skills

One of the things that I seem to continually tell my bloggers is to make sure they are interviewing people in their genre.  I am constantly reminding them that they can do some great things with their blog just by making the time to ask a few questions of the experts in their fields.  For example, if your blog is about parenting, make sure you contact someone in the industry, like mommies and daddies.  Perhaps get a few interviews on the same topic to present more than one point of view.  My friend Wendy Piersall, CEO of Sparkplugging, (pictured right at Blog World Expo being interviewed herself at the Blog Talk Radio booth) was all about the interviews while at Blog World Expo.  She interviewed everyone she came in contact with and got them on her digital Flip camera to view later.  She had lots of fodder that she could choose from.

One of the things this accomplishes is to provide you loads of content when you are caught staring at your computer screen wondering what you might possibly post about before the day is done.  I wish I had a few interviews left myself.

Interviews also accomplish another very cool thing for your blog, it helps you get noticed.  You get noticed not because you are talking to an expert in the field, although that is a great way to get noticed, but because that person will go out and let everyone he or she knows that they have been interviewed.  They may link to your blog post to let their readers know about the interview, or they may mention you on Twitter, or perhaps they will give someone the link at a cocktail party.  The ultimate goal is another reader, and even another person that is exposed to your blog and may subscribe to your feed or may return later to see what else you may have written.

Interviewing people is a great skill to learn.  Don’t be afraid to ask for that short Q&A, or that on-camera interview.  People love to be seen as someone that might have something important to say.  It can mean more readers for your blog and more links.  Nothing can be wrong with those benefits.  Now if I could just get Wendy to think what I have to say is important!

[photo via Wendy Piersall]