Interviewing someone for your list should be a special event. I know that many marketers interview people regularly, but I like to only do it once each month so I can make a big deal out of what I am doing. This will work very well for you to monetize these calls. You must think about who you will interview, what you will be promoting both during and after the call, and what you will do with the interview after it is over.
When I was just starting out with my online business, no one knew who I was. When I decided to interview someone for my list – which was less than fifty people at this point – I had to ask people who would at least recognize my name. Those turned out to be the people I had taken classes with and had then become an affiliate for. No one taught me this marketing strategy, but looking back it was a wise one on my part. Now I recommend attending live events in order to connect with many people during a two or three day event. Many of them will be happy to give you an interview after meeting you in person.
I asked four people if I could interview them and three of them said yes. Later I found out that the fourth person simply did not have a current product to promote and chose to wait until later to be interviewed. I was extremely nervous and had to put my notes in those clear plastic page protectors so no one would hear me shaking them during the call. Each person was very patient with me and provided me with a list of questions to ask them. I rushed through the questions, but these were experienced marketers and they kept me talking for a full hour. On each call we discussed their programs and products and promoted one of them through my affiliate link. I made a few sales and was so excited to make some money.
Those early teleseminars, along with additional calls, became the basis for a ninety-seven dollar product I sold several months later. I continued to use that strategy for two more years and continued to make residual income. My interviewing skills improved, slowly but sure, and soon I was not nervous at all, no matter who I was interviewing.
I encourage you to find people in your niche that are willing to be interviewed. Plan to interview one person each month and present the call as a special guest interview. Always promote their latest product or course. Soon, people will be contacting you to see if you would like to interview them when they launch something new. As your list continues to grow you will make even more income using this marketing strategy.
Perfect timing, Connie, thanks! Needed this reminder exactly the minute it came through. Teleseminars are my next step. Great seeing you last week at SIMPLE.
Bruce Brown
http://31DaysBooks.com
Excellent post. And unlike many other techniques this works well for niches that don’t fit into the normal internet marketing umbrella.
Does this work in any niche Connie? If you aren’t teaching business tactics, but teach something like scrap booking or are an expert in Excel, would this still work?