On Friday I admitted to skimming a lot of blog posts.
The ones that grab my attention and demand I read them in their entirety usually have one of the following:
- A title that makes me feel like I’ll miss something important if I don’t read the text. Which is why I totally agree with Author Media’s blog post, 6 Magic Words that Always Get Clicks.
- A highly engaging, highlighted snippet in the body of the text that beckons me to go back and read the entire thing
Today it’s time for another admission:
I almost never read interviews.
I don’t think I’m alone and here’s why:
Most of us in the blogging world know that if we want our blogs to be read, our posts have to be valuable for the reader.
Yet all too often, we throw that principle out the window when it comes to interviews.
Let’s step back for a moment and think about Twitter.
When you’re on Twitter, what makes you click on a link?
For me, it’s because something about that tiny teaser makes me a promise.
Something about that tiny teaser whispers, “This will be worth your time.”
I will learn something important or have a satisfying emotional experience.
I don’t think I’ve ever clicked on a link when the teaser is something like, “Get to know so-and-so” or “Check out this interview with such-and-such.”
UNLESS, I’m already a big fan of such-and-such.
Which begs the question:
Why do we do interviews?
If it’s to entertain the interviewee’s pre-established fan base, then okay. No worries. Ask fun, interesting questions to your heart’s content.
But if it’s to grow our readership and grow our interviewee’s fan base, then we need to rethink the way we approach interviews.
Before creating any questions, we should answer these first:
- Who are we interviewing?
- Who is our target audience?
- What is something valuable, important, or emotional this interviewee can give that audience?
Okay, so what happens if we’re the one answering the questions?
We can’t exactly dictate what questions the interviewer will ask us.
But we can control the way we approach our answers.
Before answering any questions, it helps to consider:
- What value do I have to offer?
- Is it possible to answer these questions in a way that gives this value to the reader?
Not only will this approach help us grow out readership and fan base, it will make our interviews easier to promote on social media sites.
Which are you more likely to click on?
A tweet that says:
“Check out this interview with Jane Doe!”
OR
“Learn how to increase your chances of landing a book deal!”
The first feels really self-promotiony (totally a word) and not at all interesting unless I’m already a huge fan of Jane Doe.
The second feels helpful. Valuable. Time worthy.
Let’s Talk: Do you tend to read, skim, or skip interviews? What makes you actually read one?
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