Successful Blog

Steal This Growth Idea: The Power Of Group Expert Interviews for Your Blog

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By Jessy Troy

The Power Of Group Expert Interviews for Your Blog

Lately, there have been a lot of groups interviews showing up around the web, Transcripts, email group discussions, Google Hangouts on Air footage… everyone wants to put together influencer round-ups on their blog, and it is no wonder.

These mastermind roundups have become a primary way to produce high quality content, and offer something truly valuable to the user.

The problem many people have is that they don’t know how to go about getting an expert to take part in an interview, especially if their blog is not yet huge enough. Pitching to someone who already has a full schedule may seem nearly impossible. Perhaps you have even tried, but never managed to land the opportunity that you so badly wanted.

MyBlogU, the absolutely free community of bloggers I’ve been using for several months now to feature and get features in expert interviews, has you covered on that front.

 

Group Interview Feature

Group Interview Feature

Rather than having you contact experts, the Group Interview feature takes you to where they already are. You ask your question of people within your industry, and they answer. Since they are already there to connect, and are interested in both sharing and taking part in the creation of content, you are guaranteed results every time you post a question.

Not only that, but you are able to get multiple quotes from various sources, and bind them together into a group interview transcript. It is much faster, easier to organize, and doesn’t require all of the planning usually needed to find a good time or chance to bring people together for a discussion.

Building Your Reputation

Once you start publishing these interviews, you will notice a jump in your own reputation because you are producing and promoting quality content, with established names attached from your industry, you are going to get more attention. With this attention comes a chance to connect with other influential people in your niche.

This can lead to what? More interviews! It is a great way to climb up the ladder and produce more and more popular content while offering a really helpful resource for those who are reading it. Who doesn’t want tips from those who are already successful, and have had to work their way up to the top?

I don’t suggest publishing only interviews on your blog! Too much of anything could become harmful as you risk losing your voice! But making it a regular colums (once a month or once a season depending on your editorial calendar intencity) covering hot trends is a great idea!

Brainstorming With The Pros

Another great feature is the brainstorming tool. MyBlogU allows you to put ideas out onto the site, and get feedback from others who are a part of the community. If you feel uncertain of an idea, just want some opinions on what should be included, or even want to bounce off of someone else to generate more ideas for future content, this is the place for you.

You can also help to influence the others in the community. Offer your own feedback on their ideas, and let them know what you would personally like to red. Share insights from your followers and what you have learned through your target audience. Build yourself as an authority, and soon people will want to interview you!

Conclusion

MyBlogU is a great tool that allows users to join a community of like minded individuals. While there you can take advantage of their expertise, and create unique group interviews that will provide you with excellent content.

Try it for yourself!

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the site except for I am a member.

Example interview from the screenshot can be found here. Here are more examples from MyBlogU and their members.

Featured image via Flickr CC: aboutmodafinil.com

Author’s Bio: Jessy Troy is a creative writer and editor at Social Media Sun. She Tweets as @JessyTroy.

A spoonful of sugar for your next blog post

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In every job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job’s a game

And ev’ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It’s very clear to see that

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way ~Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins

I’m not saying that your blog content is medicine, but if it’s useful information for your audience, there’s no harm in adding a bit of sugar to make it go down easily.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

3 Tips for Gathering User-Generated Content To Write A Blog Post

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By Dorien Morin-van Dam

Creating content is a tough task, especially since everything you want to write about has already been written about. It’s tough to be original, isn’t it? In recent months I’ve seen a surge in articles being written about user-generated content and how to create it. I have also spotted more and more articles written with user-generated content.

river flowing through farmland aerial shot

There are many social media platforms that lend themselves perfectly for sharing user-generated content; two very well known visual platforms come to mind first. The first one is Pinterest and the second platform is Instagram.

On Pinterest, people re-pin pretty pictures other people pinned before them – 80% of pins are re-pins. On Instagram, using re-post apps, people can easily find and share other peoples pictures, too!

But what about written content? Can we use text-based user-generated content?

A perfect example of written user-generated content is, of course, quotes! Who hasn’t seen and shared quotes on social media? I know I have. It would be a stretch to write a whole blog post just with quotes (it has been done), but I am here to suggest several other techniques that may help you seek out user-generated content.

Here are my 3 tips for writing a blog post simply by asking the right people!

1. Ask your fans.

One way I use my Facebook audience, for example, is to give them two or three words and let them free-associate with those. I often get great ideas for blog posts based on their answers. It shows what is foremost on their minds. I also ask questions on Twitter, but since my audience is greater and more diverse, it has not been as effective for me as asking my Facebook fans.

2. Ask the experts in your circles of influence.

You can do this via email or dedicated Facebook group. Those would be my first choices as I recommend you reach out to each individual privately, and of course, offer to link to them once your write your blog post. Here are some ideas on how to crowdsource content from the experts:

  • You can give each of them the same question (or hypothetical) situation to answer in their own way.
  • You can ask them to give you real life questions (sourced from their audience) about a specific topic you provide i.e Pinterest, LinkedIn profile, Twitter Cards.
  • You can ask them for a solution to a problem you are having. If you ask five experts you will be sure to get five different solutions.
  • You can ask for an interview from an expert. Whether you have created a set series of questions, or you make it up as you go, interviewing someone in your industry, a leader, is a great way to get user-generated content. You will be using their words, their thoughts, to write your blog.

3. Ask your peers.

Your peers are the people in your industry, your co-workers, your fellow bloggers and entrepreneurs. I love involving them and asking them questions or get input from them on a certain topic. People also love to be quoted.

If you go to your peers for a quote, at least they will be aware your are writing something that mentions them and will look for your article to be published.

Alternatively, you could read a series of articles written by your peers and take quotes, and link back of course, highlighting their take on issues.

Your Turn:

• Have you used any of these techniques to get content for your blog?

• Do you enjoy reading these types of blog posts?

• Can you think of other ways to gather user-generated content?

Author’s Bio: Dorien Morin-van Dam is owner and social media marketer at More In Media, a social media consultancy in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dorien provides social media consulting, management, training and education; she is passionate about teaching social media to small business owners. She services clients all over the USA and has worked in many different industries as well as with several NPO’s. In her spare time, Dorien manages four kids, three dogs and a husband. She runs marathons and loves to bake, travel and read.

Photo Credit: eutoxeres via Compfight cc