Over the past few years, I’ve done well over 100
interviews… often people wanting to create a recording
that they could use as a bonus when selling products or
building a list.
As I did more and more interviews, I noticed certain
areas that were problematic, and so I developed rules
to protect myself from inadvertently getting trapped
in a situation that was largely a waste of my time and
that of everyone involved.
You see, I place a fairly high value on my time. I have
clients that I bill as high as $800 per hour if they
want to consult with me. My rates are listed here:
http://WillieCrawford.com/mentoring.html
My rules are currently fairly simple and logical. They
are:
1) No more than 1 hour scheduled for the interview.
Often, I only schedule 1/2 hour and insist on sticking
to the scheduled time.
2) Pre-coordinate the topic to be discussed and ideally
the questions. If you don’t know what questions make the
most sense to ask, I have Q&A sheets prepare that I’ll
send you which suggest 15 or so question to ask me.
3) No new technology or downloading special software to
do the interview. I prefer straight Skype or telephone
interviews. I’ve downloaded all kinds of software
before that proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
4) I get to mention one of my products during the
interview. The interviewee is free to use an affiliate
link.
5) I get a copy of the interview. A lot of people doing
interviews have great ideas but don’t follow through,
so the recordings just languish and get no usage. If I
have a copy, at least I can repurpose that content. If
the interview is part of a product package, I won’t do
anything to devalue it.
6) We begin and end the interview on schedule. I often
have something else scheduled 5-10 minutes after the
scheduled end of our interview. Again, I place a fairly
high value on my time. I also was a military navigator…
I’d often fly a 5-6 hour route and then be over the
drop zone within 5 seconds of the scheduled time. I place
a very high value on punctuality!
7) Think leverage. How can doing the interview lead
to other things. How can the recordings be reused, etc.
There you have it… my basic rules for doing an
interview. Feel free to adopt similar rules 
Willie
http://WillieCrawford.com/helpdesk/
(the best way to contact me to arrange an interview)
Tags: Contacting Willie Crawford, granting interviews, interviewing Willie Crawford