Thursday’s profit tip for authors

Authors comfortable interviewing experts in their field enjoy a major advantage over their competitors. These interviews can create valuable content for web marketing, years of back-end profits, and establish new relationships. Here are 7 tips I learned while conducting over 50 Published & Profitable author interviews and over 250 additional author interviews for Jay Conrad Levinson’s Guerrilla Marketing Association.

1. Begin with a plan. Begin with an outline, or a mind map, like the one above, for both your expert interview program as a whole, and for each interview. Start by identifying the specific reasons you have chosen each expert guest. Then, identify a specific goal for each interview. Always prepare your questions in advance. Click here to download a printable PDF of the map.
2. Always record your interviews. This frees you from the need to take notes during the interview. The sound of typing can be a distraction during the call, and, if your handwriting is like mine, you may have trouble deciphering it later.
3. Conduct your interviews as teleseminars. You and your guest will be far more animated if you know there are listeners–even if they are just 1 or 2 callers on the line. Invite their comments and questions. Caller questions and comments often bring up new perspectives and suggest new topics.
4. Segment your interviews. Divide your interview into segments. Begin with an introduction. This should not only describe your guest’s background, but should stress the relevance of the interview. Then, set the stage for the interview with a few brief questions about the guest’s background. Then, organize your questions into 3 or 4 major segments, each focusing on a broad topic. Conclude by asking your guest for to provide a “big idea” summary, ask your guest if there have any questions they hoped you would answer, and open the line to questions from callers.
5. Provide your guest experts with the questions in advance. Invite them to comment or suggest additional questions. This boosts their comfort level and allows them to begin to organize their thoughts.
6. Promote and follow-up. Promote your teleseminar interviews well in advance of when they take place. List them in your website calendar, prepare press releases, and discuss your goals for the interview in your blog. After the interview, prepare one, or more, blog posts about topics discussed during the interview.
7. Recycle and repurpose. Each interview creates numerous profit opportunities. Not only can you charge callers to attend the interviews, but you can sell access to the interviews on the Internet, and you can sell CDs of the interviews. You can also sell the interview transcripts–plus use quotes from the interviews in future articles, books, and e-books.

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Resource. Published & Profitable members have access to dozens of maps of nonfiction books and a growing list of MindManager templates for writers.

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