Interview Blogs on LinkedIn; Kill 2 Birds with One Stone

We need content to position ourselves as thought leaders and subject matter experts and we need to have more conversations with prospects. So, why not get both done with one activity… Interview Blogs.

Two Birds = Conversations with Prospects + Content

You are actually going to accomplish many things with the interview blog, including:

1. Engaging your prospects in a way that is not just selling your stuff.
2. Building relationships with them as thought leaders not prospects.
3. Having conversations where you can learn about successes, challenges and goals a “prospect” would not normally offer if it were a “sales call”.
4. Develop content that provides value and insights to your audience.
5. Expand your network as when you publish, you will be seen by your prospects’ audience, co-workers and connections.

Here are the steps:

1. Identify what your prospects care about.
2. Develop questions that your prospects can comment on in a way that will provide value to your clients and other prospects.
3. Use the Backdoor to connection to reach out, connect and request their participation in your upcoming blog.
4. Subject: Would you be open to sharing a quote for an article I am working on?
5. Message: XXX, As a prominent business leader in the (INDUSTRY OR AREA) I was hoping you could offer a quote that I can include in our next blog post on XXX challenges and how local companies have overcome them. If you are interested let me know and we can set up a brief call. Thank you in advance for your participation. XXX
6. When They Connect: XXX, Thank you for connecting with me, I am looking forward to your quote for my blog post. I have some time Monday morning and Thursday afternoon, please let me know what works best for a brief call. Feel free to email me directly X@X.com or call me at XXXXXXXXXX.
7. Write the blog and send each participant their quote to confirm that you captured their words correctly.
8. Publish a Post on LinkedIn and create a hyperlink on the interviewee’s name that links back to their LinkedIn profile.
9. Send each participant a link to the blog post thanking them again for their participation when it is published.
10. Share the blog post in your newsfeed, LInkedIn groups and twitter with@mentioning the participants. ex. NAME OF BLOG with powerful quotes from leading CEOS including @NAME1 and @NAME2 PASTE LINK

If you are looking to get double duty from your blog posts, Interview Blogs are by far the best way to accomplish your goals.