Better Blogging, Part 4: Resource Interview Types

While numbered lists and benefit explanations better any business blog, there are many more ways to gather information and present it to readers.  For example, ask an interviewee about their favorite books that deal with something related to your business.  Or, ask them for a review of a particular one that you have read as well.  Hopefully, you'll also have read some of these books they might name so that you can discuss the material in deeper detail - both to your benefit as a blogger with an eye out for facts and for the reader who may be interested in the subject, but has little time to read up on it (hence why she or he is reading your blog and not a book).  Hopefully, though, you won't have read (or even heard of) some of what the interviewee might mention; you can then add it to your "resource list" (again, both for your personal collection and for the reader you are writing to).

Speaking of gathering resources for yourself as well as for your readers, another way to frame an interesting blog post is to ask an interviewee about his own list of resources that pertain to your field.  This will inject fresh resources into your list; there are likely scores of lists online that all have the same or similar items.  Asking people for their own list, while won't completely avoid the problem of overlap, will broaden your resource horizons.  You can then present these to your readers in such a way that remains connected to your business.  This way, you're showing your readers that you are not myopic in view: you are knowledgeable about the subject matter (which will engendered trust) but you are not exclusive (remember, tooting one's own horn is a turn-off even in the business world).

Another angle to take with interview subjects is to ask them to use their knowledge, however limited, and predict three to five years into the future.  Ask interviewees to expand on the present trends they see in your business's particular field, then probe deeper to find out what they think about where they might go, or what they might mean for the future.  This can help you know what you should be paying attention to as a writer or blogger, and help your readers know what to look for, and how to be smart about using the current resources your business offers.  This interview style might best be utilized by interviewing multiple people - either a number of people well-versed in the same area or discipline, or a number of people from different aspects of your business - and providing a synthesis of viewpoints.

Better blogging for business will constantly be finding and producing new resources related to your particular field as well as using the new knowledge gained through these resources to make informed predictions about the future.  The best way bloggers get better at this is, of course, to ask other people who have expertise in your area.

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