subject: Use Interviews To Brand Yourself [print this page] Why would you have yourself interviewed for your business website? Because you HAVE a website, and if clients/customers are curious enough to click on your website, they are probably curious enough to listen to your story.
What is your story? Whatever is most interesting and most likely to lead clients/customers into using your wonderful services or products.
Who is going to tell your companys story? You (or your business partner or your key employee) can do a great job telling your companys story if you have the right quality of presentation to create a compelling reason for clients/customers to sit still and experience it.
Is this a marketing tool? Yes, it adds the emotional power of audio marketing to your marketing tool chest. Will clients/customers sit still and listen if I simply dazzle them with my best sales pitch? Some will, but most wont. Hard sell is a turn off for many people, especially the younger generations.
What else can be done? Well, one emerging format that has yielded promising results happens to be a business interview format that goes on your website as a podcast. If its done right, by a professional, it sounds just like a radio interview and it positions you as an expert in your field or maybe even imparts a celebrity aura around you and your name. If done right, a business interview can easily build your credibility and instills trust in you as an expert in your field. Hows that for achieving the branding you deserve?
Where the heck would I start? Start with finding a professional that YOU trust. Find someone who knows how to bring the best out of a business interview subject. Someone like the trusted TV-news anchor that you watch. OK, can you afford them? Would they even participate in promoting your business in this way? No? Well, how about getting a person who sounds just like a national news anchor?
You say that you dont know how to get a hold of somebody like that, but you found a buddy who will interview you for free? Congratulations, you certainly know how to save money. Now go online and find an interview done by non-professionals. How long did you sit still for that interview? Were you truly motivated to follow through and purchase that product or service?
It's time to get real. A business interview with a professional, who sounds like he or she belongs on national radio, does a great deal to elevate your persona as an expert in your field. You know that in order to get a job done right, you need the right tool. No, dont get a tool find the right instrument that can help your story truly sing. Otherwise, you end up wasting time and money, or even doing damage to your brand. As you know, damaging your brand image can endanger your revenue or your business investment.
In order to improve your brand image, hire the skilled. What other skills should you search for in an interviewer, other than voice quality? The ability to ask the right questions, to be able to smoothly deviate from the script, (when beneficial to your story) and follow an interesting thread of conversation. The interviewer should be experienced enough to know when you need to repeat an answer, or expand it, or condense it, or to insert a personal story, or maybe to help you visualize the person to whom you're talking. Those skills come from someone who has done a lot of successful interviews.
What would we talk about? How would they know what to ask me? Well, thats why they should do a PRE-INTERVIEW so they know all the good stuff and you are both on the same page. In fact, they have a fresh outside perspective on your company and your products or services so they might even come up with a few new pages for you to consider talking about.
What about the actual recording of your Story Interview? The good news: You don't even have to be interviewed in person. But, the professionals you hire should have their own studio so that your interview can be recorded with a high-quality phone patch to maximize the clarity of your recorded words. Just because it may be convenient for you, doesn't mean you should use a cellular phone to conduct your interview. You really should use a landline and a decent telephone, or possibly use Skype on your computer.
When you are recorded, even if you're on the phone, be sure you're in a quiet setting.
Where and when would be the best chance to be uninterrupted and not distracted by business calls or employees coming in with questions? OK, maybe you can be relaxed and undisturbed at home. What about your small children or pets? You'll want to avoid distractions and extraneous noises. A room with a minimum of hard surfaces is best. Think the opposite of your tiled bathroom. Cushy furniture, drapes and carpet will all help to deaden the sound of a room and make you sound more professional. Strange as it may sound, if you could be comfortable speaking on the phone in a closet full of hanging clothes, it would give you the sound you want.
You should only have your interview recorded when you are rested and prepared, not frazzled and fumbling. You want your best foot forward, right? You dont want to sound like you are reading from a script, but you know how the mind can pull tricks on you when you forget to say important points. Devote some quality time IN ADVANCE in order to focus on writing down the points you need to get across to customers or clients. Put yourself in their shoes. Then arrange those papers out in front of you with enough space and good light so your eyes can easily scan the points while you are being asked questions over the phone. Remember, sounding natural and conversational is much more compelling to the listener than reading a script. Mistakes can always be edited out for the final production.
Pressure? Certainly notif you hire professionals who have their own studio and a sound engineer who edits out the long pauses and flubs. So, you can relax and take your time to gather your precious thoughts and deliver your nuggets of wisdomat your own pace.
Want to re-arrange the order of the Q & A? No problem. A sound engineer can even seamlessly insert music and sound effects in order to make your interview sound like the big deal it really is. And you get to hear your podcast and have corrections made BEFORE it gets loaded onto your web site or on YouTube. Their business is to make you sound good. No pressure.
Any more questions? To find out more about the business use of story interviews, go to http://www.story-interview.com
