Tap on your mailing list to create great interviews

An excellent way to generate valuable information for your clients is to interview an expert.

But where do you get the questions to ask them?

If you have a mailing list, this should be your first port of call.

People on my list often get an email asking them to submit any questions they may have for an expert I’m going to interview.

In response, I regularly get dozens, and sometimes more than a hundred responses, which form the basis of a great interview.

The “ask my list” method works for three reasons.

First of all, it makes interview preparation “a breeze.” All I really have to do is prioritize the questions and ask them. It is a simple question and answer format.

Second, because I know that some questions were more common than others, I know in which areas of the interview I have to expand my questioning.

Third, I know that the product I create from the interview will have a ready audience. The late great copywriter Gary Halbert once said that finding the “hungry crowd” is the most important thing in marketing. By having my mailing list generate the questions, I know I am satisfying that hunger.

So the next time you do an audio interview and have questions to ask, check out your mailing list.

They will tell you what you should be asking. They will give you ideas on where to ask. And you will know how to market that interview, once you have it.