Nicosia, Cyprus
(Post updated March 22, 2021)
Do you feel confused about how to get interviewed for popular blogs?
I’ve been featured on a number of popular blogs over the years.
Some features were my guest posts, a few were mentions noting me and a Blogging from Paradise link but the majority of features were interviews. Scoring this range of features on popular blogs is not impossible. Nor do you land features solely because you seem lucky. I began Blogging From Paradise with a decent-sized friend network but carved out my:
- blog
- brand
- presence
through good old fashioned, smart work.
How to Get Interviewed by Popular Blogs
Being interviewed rocks because interviews:
- Establish your authority
- Make you a go-to person in your niche
- Spread the word for your brand
- Are quite fun to do
- Help you meet new blogging buddies
Gobble up interview requests. Be aggressive folks. In a nice way. I’m not blogging from paradise by accident. I realized that, as Robert Kiyosaki says, successful people build networks and everybody else looks for work.
Network Generously
Olivia the banana lady in Fiji may not do blogging interviews but she knows the power of networking. She owns no cell phone. Not sure if she even has a phone. She lives in a small village called Nagigi in Fiji.
Kelli and I went on one of her custom tours to Nagigi during our Fiji trip. She prepared lunch for us and we spent the afternoon at one of the most beautiful beaches on earth.
She has no cell phone. She has no website (although I’m sure you knew that), but, she told us that recently she did a tour with 20 people. TWENTY PEOPLE.
How does a woman who has no modern means of connecting with folks draw in 20 folks for her tour? Easy. She networks like a champion, in person.
Ask for “Olivia the banana lady” at the market in Savusavu. Everybody will know her because: she’s sociable, gregarious, she makes you feel warm, and she seizes every opportunity to connect with people, in person, 1 to 1, while at her market stall.
If Olivia can run a tour for 20 people without any modern means of marketing you can land interviews on popular blogs.
How can you do this?
Let Go Bad Professional Matches
As you grow, let go. Moving up in circles means you’ll let go some folks who aren’t growing at the same rate. Release poor matches. Make room for good matches. Score more interviews on blogs.
Some folks are simply no longer matches. If you release non-matches you create a vacuum sucking up good blogging matches.
Let go. Grow. Be free. Score a ton of authority interview requests.
Practical tips:
- ignore desperate pleas from relationships you’ve outgrown
- move into higher blogging circles by networking solely with pro bloggers from your niche
Release poor matches to let go energetic anchors. Connect with prospering matches to move higher in blogging circles. Be seen by blogging influencers. Score interviews on top blogs.
Create Long-Form Content
Authority bloggers interview bloggers who published detailed, long-form content regularly. Value attracts value. Pros perceive long-form content in an authority light.
Do a smash-up job each time you publish a blog post. Readers crave value. Bloggers on the prowl for folks to interview seek value. Publish thorough, valuable blog posts spanning 2,000 to 3,000 words or longer to deliver eye-catching value.
Basically, long-form posts carefully crafted tend to pop up on the radar screen of big dawg bloggers. Snag their attention with your dazzling content. Interview requests tend to follow.
Gobble Up Interview Requests
Gobble up opportunities for interviews. What happens next? You begin to give off a “PLEASE INTERVIEW ME” vibe which goes out to the Universe – that’s a lot of folks – and more folks will interview you.
Sit with fear arising as influential bloggers pitch you interview requests the first few times. I did mental gymnastics to get clear on knowing I was worthy to be interviewed by authority bloggers for sites like Forbes, Fox News and Entrepreneur. Sit with discomfort. Allow your ego to whine, kick and scream for a bit. Let ego tire itself out. Do the interviews. Keep gobbling up more interviews too, to be seen in more influential spots.
What you seize, multiplies. Seize interview requests. But do be picky on some level because you also need to turn down non matches.
Turn Down Non Matches
I know what you newbies may be thinking: beggars can’t be choosers. But you have a serious issue if you accept any interview request which comes down the pike. Accepting non matches wastes your time and also wastes your fellow blogger’s time.
This is kinda similar to tip #1 but I need to flesh this bad boy out a little bit more.
Saying “no” to or moving on from interview requests offered by bloggers with little to no followings lets you enjoy life-time offline. I appreciate every blogger who offers me an interview but I do not have enough time to fulfill all of these requests while enjoying my life of travel and personal growth. I let go non-matching requests to maintain a sense of balance between my work life and offline life.
Reject Interview Requests from Bloggers Outside of Your Niche
Imagine if a pet care blogger asks to interview you for their blog. How many pet care blog readers/fans will want to follow your blogging tips blog? Maybe a few, but why not focus on connecting with other blogging tips bloggers’ audiences?
I scan blogs before fulfilling an interview request. No comments, no social media shares, no branding, no party. No go. I do not have time and energy to do interviews for every blogger who pitches me. Knowing this, I filter requests to pinpoint established bloggers. New bloggers simply need to move higher in circles by blogging for the right way for a while before raising the eyebrows of pro bloggers.
Do a Good Job on Interviews
I do thorough interviews. I make each one count.
Either I make a massive impact to have a profound effect on someone or I mindlessly answer a few questions in either fewer words. Unless I am pressed for time I share at least a few deep thoughts concerning blogging and/or traveling.
Nothing shines through like your example.
I’m living the dream. I know this. Yet part of my dream life includes going above and beyond. I arrived here by over delivering in all that I do, and that includes over delivering on the interview front.
Go super in depth with your answers. Do a smashing job. Doing an excellent job opens the door for more interview requests.
Look at the interview as more of a guest post and less of an interview.
Most bloggers I know would be more than happy if you hijacked their blog for a post, with some seriously in-depth answers, because they crave value more than anything else.
More folks will read your thorough, thoughtful, detailed interview, and will ask to interview you, too.
Make it Personal
OK, let’s say I was asked the interview question:
“How do you attract return readers?”
What sounds better?
“Create really valuable blog posts to attract return readers.”
Or….
“Well John, I create three, 2500 to 3800 word blog posts weekly. I may blog about how Fijian fruit bats teach you to be a better blogger, or perhaps I’ll share how trashing 3400 blog posts from my old blog was my finest blogging moment.
I create massive value, but I tell stories too. I personalize the experience. I may share images of Kelli and I feeding rare and endangered squirrel monkeys in Quepos, Costa Rica, or I may just discuss my daily stories here in paradise, in Savusavu, Fiji.
Either way, I’m creating some serious value through an in-depth post, and I’m adding stories that no one in human history can replicate. That my friends, is how I attract return readers.”
You will be featured in relation to how much attention to detail you pay, to all that you do…..and you’ll be featured in relation to the quality of your blogger outreach campaign.
Tell your story in interviews. Nobody wants dry advice. Add flavor by sharing personal details from your life. Stand out with the one thing no other blogger can claim: your story.
I simply want to be genuine, authentic, and more than anything, I want to help interviewers know that I am looking them in the cyber eye with a smile through my name dropping/personalizing.
Be an Interview Comment Lounge Lizard
If someone interviewed me it’s only right that I stop in to respond to comments. I see an interview as I do a guest post; I’ve been given the keys to an awesome blog. I should handle that baby with care by responding to as many comments as possible.
Sunset, Savusavu Bay, Fiji
Responding to comments builds bonds between you, the interviewer and their audience.
Pop in once or twice daily to respond to comments on your interview post. Form bonds. Be a live body. Score more interviews on authority blogs.
If you care, more people will care about you and more folks will seek out your expert opinion.
Comment Comment Comment….
…on authority blogs.
Commenting builds bonds which lead to interview requests. Commenting also impresses new friends, or new acquaintances.
Share your genuine thoughts via blog comments. Be persistent in following your blog comment campaign. At the end of the day, bloggers tend to invite generous, skilled, social blogging buddies to share their thoughts via interviews. Following a genuine blog commenting campaign is a simple way to be social and to make blogging buddies.
Check In…i.e…Don’t Fall Asleep at the Wheel
I receive interview requests through:
- My About Me Page comments
- My emails
- My twitter @reply stream
- Other channels
Checking these channels frequently (i.e., daily on most days unless I’m traveling somewhere) helps me see the requests so I can review them and respond in a timely fashion.
Check your email, blog comments and social networking sites folks.
Be a live body.
Complete and Return Interviews in a Timely Fashion
I’m pretty quick on the draw.
Why?
It goes back to the vacuum thing. If you complete and email back interviews quickly the Universe will send you more authority blog interviews. It’s an energy thing.
Just one note; don’t rush your responses. Be thorough. Over deliver. Make completing interviews a priority to land more interviews on top blogs.
Persist
Top bloggers interview generous, patient, persistent bloggers who slowly but surely built up their blogging skill sets.
Why would anyone interview you? Bloggers want to pick the brains of skilled, successful bloggers with a wealth of wisdom to share. Developing serious blogging skills demands you persistently practice various aspects of blogging.
Figuring out how to get interviewed by popular blogs usually takes a long time because bloggers waste precious years looking for:
- shortcuts
- hacks
- overnight strategies
to score interviews on top blogs. Disappointment meets each of these bloggers because skills land interview requests. No one develops serious blogging skills via shortcuts, hacks or overnight strategies. Good things take time.
Conclusion
Getting interviews seems to be preceded by giving value, offering help and being persistent.
Make patience your blogging buzzword.
Interviews by top blogs will flow your way if you generously help people in strategic fashion.
Your Turn
What tips can you add to this list?
How do you land interviews on top blogs?
