An influencer interview is a win-win situation for both the interviewer and the interviewee. You can become the interviewee yourself and benefit in a number of ways. 

Key Communication Skills for Interviewing

• Being interviewed helps you frame yourself as an expert and builds credibility.
• Since your interviewer will share your interview content, this will help you extend your reach and gain new followers.
• When someone interviews you, you’ll also get great content and promotional material that you can use for your own online marketing.
• Once you start doing interviews and positioning yourself as an expert, this inevitably leads to more offers for interviews.

Preparing to be Interviewed

Before you get interviewed for the first time, it’s good to do a little preparation. You should think about how you want to position yourself as an expert in your field. What do you want to be known for? You may want to go over your particular strengths and the things you’re already known for.

Choose some things that make you unique or highlight your assets.

You may also want to choose specific topics on which you’re available for interviews. When you’re contacting people for interviews, or they’re contacting you, you’ll have these topics ready to pitch at the outset. This ensures helps you to be in control of the process

Finding Interview Opportunities

Although there may be individuals who contact you for interviews, you should also be proactive in going out and finding good interview opportunities. 

Identify blogs, magazines, podcasts, local TV or radio shows, and other places where an interview with you would be appropriate. Pitch your idea for an interview on one of your chosen topics to editors and producers. Explain who you are, your expertise, and the unique value that an interview with you would offer their audience. Also emphasize to the producer or editor that they would be gaining a valuable piece of content. 

One resource you can use is Help A Reporter Out. HARO is a sourcing service that connects experts to journalists. When a journalist needs an expert on a given topic, they can put a searchable query on HARO. As a source, you can search HARO for journalists looking for an expert in your field.

HARO is the biggest and most popular service such as this for English speakers, but there are others as well including ProfNet, MediaSpot.me and My Blog U.

You can also put on your website or other business pages that you’re available for interviews and include links to past interviews. In addition to putting out the call to potential interviewers, it also helps to show visitors to your site that you’re an expert in your field.

Tips for Being Interviewed

Ahead of the interview, ask the interviewer for topics they will cover and specific questions they will ask. Prepare for these questions with personal stories, examples, and facts and figures. 

As you start the interview, keep in mind the overall goal of the interview. Know what the interviewer wants so that you can give it to them and keep the interview on track. Answer questions with as much descriptive detail as possible. Tell stories, quote facts, and use industry jargon and keywords.

Be yourself in the interview. You should come across not only as knowledgeable but also as personable, sincere and genuine. Be expressive and effusive.