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by Ann Smarty
on
Stings, doesn’t it?
Whenever a popular blog quotes an expert in your niche, you feel a little pang of envy.
And you can’t help thinking…
Why not me?
And it’s a good question.
Why did that person get asked for their opinion and not you?
After all, they’re no smarter than you. No more experienced than you. No more interesting than you.
But for some reason they received that call (or email or tweet) instead of you.
Which means they earned yet another mention on a popular blog, while you’re left feeling like a nobody.
And you start to wonder…
Why do the same small set of individuals crop up time and time again online?
Do they all belong to some secret experts club that gives them access to all the best opportunities?
And if so, how do you get to be a member?
Consider the following situation.
A popular blogger wants to interview a group of experts on a hot topic and publish the results on their blog.
Naturally, one of the first steps is to compile a list of people to ask for a quote or two. (The same list you’d love your name to be on).
Usually, the first people they add are those they know personally.
But after that, can you guess where they find names to fill out the list?
Other expert interviews.
That’s right, to have a good chance of being invited to participate in an expert interview, you need … to have participated in an expert interview somewhere else.
Somewhat frustrating, right?
When you first start a blog, how on earth do you break into that circle?
How do you overcome this frustrating catch-22 situation?
Don’t worry, there is a way.
But first, let’s take a look at exactly why becoming a featured expert is so powerful for you as a blogger.
Appearing as a featured expert in a group interview on a popular blog is one of the most efficient ways to raise your profile and gain authority online.
The following are just some of the benefits:
*Here’s a good example to prove my point: My good friend and partner Gerald Weber mentioned our site Viral Content Buzz in this interview, and that article is now the third most important source of referral traffic.
The expert round-up is one of the most common interview types, but they come in lots of different shapes and sizes.
Some blogs get really creative in the way they feature niche experts and their quotes, but the following are the major formats you’re likely to encounter:
But in practice, expert interviews are not limited to blogs. Other interview types include:
Twitter chats use hashtags to organize a public discussion on Twitter.
Twitter chats expand your reach dramatically because followers of all the chat participants are able to follow the conversation and contribute as well.
Also, Twitter chats are often covered elsewhere in the blogosphere, which results in even more mentions. (Here’s an example.)
Here’s a detailed article on how Twitter interviews work. For examples of regular Twitter chats, take a look at this calendar I created for the chats I often participate in. Here’s another calendar by Brian Fanzo @iSocialFanz.
Another way to boost your expert brand and mentions online is to get invited to a popular Google Hangout on Air (HOA).
The Hangout Events Community is a great place to discover a Google HOA show to participate in.
These are usually initiated by the interviewee: you post a separate thread on social media inviting people to ask you anything. Of course, it helps if you already have a bit of a following online.
In social media and marketing, the most popular AMAs are held on Reddit and Inbound.org.
In most cases, they are set up with the help and supervision of the community moderators, so before trying to create one, it’s best to visit a few AMAs and ask questions to get a better feel of how that works.
AMAs are awesome for brand recognition as well as for traffic. Here’s one I did on Reddit.
Podcast interviews get lots of coverage too.
Blog Talk Radio is the first obvious resource for making those important connections to get invited to podcasts. Webmaster Radio is another one to keep an eye on.
The most effective interview types for you will depend on your preferences and strengths. If you prefer speaking to writing, podcasts may work better for you. If you’re already active on Twitter, getting involved in a Twitter chat may be a natural choice.
But whichever type of interview you choose to experiment with, the million-dollar question is:
How can you score valuable interview opportunities if you don’t already have a track record of being interviewed?
Here’s a three-step strategy to land your first opportunities.
When you’re being considered as an invited expert, one of the first things an interviewer will do is check you out online, so you need to make sure your digital footprint (website, social media profiles, etc.) leaves a great impression.
Having a professional (but importantly, human) About me page is the first step to getting people who find you online to pitch you for interview opportunities.
I did a group interview asking some of my favorite personal branding experts how people can improve their on-site About Me page, which produced some of the following great suggestions:
In addition to your bio page, you should also make the most of your social media bios.
Twitter has a word limit, so you should be concise but detailed (without being spammy). Personally, I don’t like Twitter bios that contain only hashtags or list projects and interests.
(You could also try adding power words to your bio to help it stand out.)
Here are a few examples of professional Twitter bios you might emulate.
Rand Fishkin’s bio mentions his core interest and his professional motto:
Larry Kim’s bio lists his professional achievements:
Dr. Pete’s bio adds a touch of humor that makes it hard to miss:
Your LinkedIn bio should primarily highlight your professional experience. In my view, the more detailed here, the better.
Maria Elena Duron’s LinkedIn profile is a perfect example of LinkedIn personal branding done right. It’s detailed, clearly structured and summarizes her expertise brilliantly:
Google Plus has two places where you can talk about your expertise and experience:
You’ve whipped your various public profiles into shape so that they give the right impression to any bloggers or reporters who happen to stop by.
Unfortunately, that’s usually not enough to start the interview offers pouring in – you need to proactively go after them.
However, once you get some momentum going, and people see your quotes being featured around the web, the opportunities will start to find you.
That’s the rich getting richer money-making thing again. But to take advantage of it, you need to get the ball rolling first.
The following are some ways to do just that.
HARO (Help A Reporter Out) is an established platform that connects reporters to potential sources. Once registered, you receive emails twice a day listing people who are looking for quotes – and if you have the required expertise, you can respond.
Be aware that this service does present a couple of challenges:
These problems can be eased with an Excel spreadsheet. Record every request you respond to, and then once a month (or bi-weekly) revisit the relevant blogs to see if that topic has been covered (and whether your quote was used).
It does take a little effort, but knowing where you’ve been featured is important because you can help promote the piece for more exposure.
You can use a custom spreadsheet like the following to track HARO submissions (download a copy here):
To find out more about HARO, read this detailed tutorial. You can also learn about the different types of HARO requests and how to deal with each.
MyBlogU [Disclaimer: I am a co-founder] is another platform facilitating group interviews, which is geared toward blogging and community building.
You can browse existing interview requests, choose which ones you’d like to respond to and submit your answers.
It doesn’t require in-depth expertise on the listed topics as it’s more for collecting opinions rather than professional quotes.
I never thought of myself as an “expert”, but I now realise people want to hear what I think :)- must mean I *am* an expert #myblogu
— Phil Turner (@EP_pturner) August 14, 2014
MyBlogU is more time-efficient than HARO because it sends you an email when your answer is published, ignored or past its deadline, making it easier to follow up on your successes.
For a more complete list of options, try this list from Everything PR; just be aware that results may vary!
Twitter is my main source of news and trends in my industry. I wrote a detailed article on using TweetDeck to stay on top of my Twitter feed and mentions from other users, and the same search and tracking tips can be used to find the latest interview opportunities.
For instance, I’m using the following query to find interviews within my niche:
[marketing AND expert AND interview]
The great thing about TweetDeck is that you can set any column to send updates to your desktop, which means you can be among the first to reply to a public request.
If you want to experiment with different Twitter search queries and various keywords, I suggest using Cyfe (Freemium), the great social media dashboard where you can create different widgets with all kinds of Twitter search variations you are playing with:
One useful way to find opportunities is to watch other experts in your niche to see where they are being featured – these same blogs may love to feature you in a future interview.
Start with the names of a few influential people in your niche (or a neighboring niche) who’ve been included in prominent interviews and try to find other places they’ve been featured.
Searching Google for [“Author Name” interview] is one option. (You can also filter results to show you the most recent and fresh ones).
Another great tool is BuzzSumo, which lets you filter results by “interviews” and, more importantly, it allows you to “Save any search” to easily access it again and/or export any results to Excel.
I am using this tool to both search by author…
…and search by keyword to keep track of various opportunities in my industry:
For some sites, interviewing experts is the whole business model. That’s all they do, and it’s all their readers are interested in.
They’re easy to find too – just Google: “[topic] interviews” (for example “blogging interviews”).
However, that’s part of the problem. If they’re easy for you to find, they’re easy for other people in your niche too.
So it pays to think beyond your profession. Think about your original and personal experience, your unique perspectives or your unusual ways you’ve tackled problems in the past.
The following are some examples of sites that interview people fitting a particular profile:
Searching for these kinds of opportunities, you are likely to discover lots of ways for you to tell your story and position yourself as an expert.
The actual search terms will depend on your personal background and skills. For example, as someone who built a business while being a stay-at-home mom, I would use the following combination of search terms:
You can get even more creative by replacing the [(expert) interview] above with all kinds of related terms: , [insights], [ask an expert], [Twitter chat], etc.
The previous section should have given you lots of ideas on how to find bloggers who would be willing to interview you.
Now, let’s talk about how to approach – and land – any opportunities you may discover.
Landing an interview starts with letting the right people know that you’re willing to be interviewed.
I’d recommend kicking things off with an email. Whenever you feel like you could be a great fit for the expert interview, go ahead and email the blogger.
Opinion is divided on how to best reach out to a blogger or a publisher. Some PR pros will suggest being as detailed as you can, explaining your background and expertise upfront to convince the blogger why you are the perfect interviewee. Others recommend being brief and to the point, which is my preference.
The following are some best-practice tips based on my own experience of being on both sides of the equation (i.e., as someone pitching for interviews and receiving pitches from others):
Here’s an example pitch:
I’d like to nominate myself for your “Frugal living interview” series.
I advocate sustainable living all over the web, including my personal blog: www.myblog.com
Please let me know,
Ann
Use the following tips for using social media to maximize your chances of successful outreach:
Many bloggers, particularly those who do expert interviews on a regular basis, are constantly searching for original insights and unique stories. And in many cases, they will be happy to say yes to your pitch.
How you proceed with each opportunity will depend on the editorial specifics of each blog and the nature of the questions you receive.
Here are some rules of thumb I follow that you can use when responding to bloggers who want to interview you:
These practices have helped me get more exposure to my projects and my personal brand when I participate in blog interviews – yet they keep me from being self-promotional.
The most important thing to realize is that bloggers really want to hear from YOU; they want to tell YOUR story and show YOUR perspective.
So the best thing you can do is truly be yourself. Try to remember related anecdotes from your life experience (that relate to the questions) and be transparent about what you do and how you do it.
Talk from your experience; that’s the unique perspective the blogger wants to hear.
Despite the focus of this article, being featured is not actually the ultimate goal.
What matters more is the relationships you are building during the process.
So when you do get featured, make sure you follow up like a pro:
Once the buzz around the interview has settled, keep interacting with your new social media connections and grow those relationships.
So there you have it.
A rock-solid strategy for breaking into the inner circle of featured experts who dominate the blogosphere.
Mastering these steps might take a few weeks or months, but the rewards for those determined to break out of the orbit of anonymity are many.
As soon as you score your first high-profile interview – and see your name mentioned alongside the familiar experts in your niche – you’ll know the effort was worth it.
Each new interview creates more mentions, boosts recognition and builds your authority.
And before long you won’t need to search for opportunities at all – they will find you.
Because now you’ll be the envied, prominent expert in your niche.
Blogging, Content Marketing
Ann Smarty