I wrote yesterday about the power of interviewing people who are well known in your niche as a great way to create compelling content. That was a follow up article to the original one that I posted where I first suggested the idea as a topic.

Continuing that theme today, I want to answer the question - “Ok, I tried it but got a no or no response from everyone, now what?” Indeed, now what? Well the first thing is to go back to the drawing board and assess did you approach the right people and did you approach them in the right way.

If you honestly felt you did then the fallback from this is to produce a “Feature”. If the target of your interview is as truly well known as you believe then there will be plenty of information available about them online, so why not do your research and dig through all of that and construct a profile of them. Where they got their start, how they got to where they are now, famous quotes etc.

The two things this will give you, one, a great post that your readers will enjoy, especially if you do your homework properly and really dig for some interesting facts. Two, it gives you something to approach your target with a second time. Send them the link to your post, tell them you did a profile on them and you’d love to do a follow up interview with them. If nothing else you will get their interest.

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Ever wished you could get an A lister to comment on your blog?  Why not try a different route and get an interview with one of them?

Firstly think about the content of your blog, the main topic and find the people you most admire that write about your area of interest.

Then read as much as you can that they have written recently about that topic.  Think about whether you agree with everything they say and how you might have written things differently.  Check out where else they are commenting, this is relatively easy to do through the use of tools such as google alerts, yahoo pipes and other feed services that will trawl the web for you.

Having accumulated your knowledge base compile your list of questions.  Make a list of approx 10 questions, then choose the 5 best ones.  Talk them through with someone else, how do they sound out loud?  How difficult are they to answer, are they too vague to get a clear response?

Ok, so you have your research, you have your questions, now do the whole thing again for at least three other people, because chances are the first time you ask you will get a rejection, but don’t give up on the idea.

Once you have everything in place, email the idea to your first choice, explain what it is you want to do, tell them it is only 5 short questions and that you will happily send them a preview of the post before you post it if they wish.

The amount of traffic that this type of post, if properly executed, will drive to your blog is well worth the effort.

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