How to interview industry experts (3 simple steps that will drive traffic and make you look good … real good!)

I call today’s idea the Exclusive Interview blog post.

This is a highly effective outreach strategy that involves working with other people in your industry. It involves you reaching out to top industry in influencers and including them in a Q&A style post on your own blog. It’s a great technique you can use to show your prospects that you know the right people. It’s also a chance for you to bring new traffic to your website.

So, here’s my 3-steps to creating an exclusive interview blog post:

1. Make a list of industry experts or partners that you’d love to get inside the head of, and interview on your blog. Look for people who have an active presence and following on social media, as when it comes time for sharing this post, they may well help out.
2. Once you have your list, start collecting email addresses using Clearbit. You can also check their social media profiles, their website, or their past company press releases.
3. Send out your request email. Make it brief. Introduce yourself and ask them if you could interview them for your blog. Pitch a topic. If they bite, follow up with your questions, or set up a time to talk to them.

Pro-Tip: Given this is this a great way to create helpful and engaging content, don’t just make it a one-off blogging strategy … instead, schedule this type of blog post to do once a month. Over time, you’ll create quite a resource that you could turn into an eBook or even published book.

That’s my 3-steps to creating a blog post that your prospects will love to read, and that will drive plenty of website traffic your way.

To help you bring this low-cost marketing idea to life, here’s some additional resources:

How to interview experts without looking like an idiot

An example of an expert interview blog post

Oh, and here’s the copy I use for my interview request email:

Hi [insert guest’s name] …

Can I interview you on [date and time] via Skype.

I’d like to interview you about how you built your amazing business, and post it to www.SmallBusinessBigMarketing.com, where over 370 successful business owners just like you have shared their story for others to benefit.

Here’s a sample of my work in this interview with The e Myth’s Michael Gerber.

Cheers …

Tim Reid

Host of The Small Business Big Marketing Show

Ranked #1 on iTunes & available on all Virgin Australia flights

As always, you’ll find more marketing inspiration in my popular marketing text The Boomerang Effect.

So, what have you got to lose?

WHYGTL