In my last post “The best and lasting network for Bloggers“, I was talking about the power of guest posting to promote your blog. But, I forgot to mention one very important point out there. What if you are just a new blogger or if you want to promote your new blog that has neither PR nor good reader base! Ok, it is very tough to find bloggers who would be interested to write in your blog in such a situation.

If you think you would develop your blog on other’s expense from day one – it won’t work unless you are a big shot. You must have some posts to outline your blog’s character and must forecast the potentials of a healthy growth. And you would need to sell this to the prospective blogger. You must remember that the blogger is smart enough in this field (otherwise you wouldn’t have contacted him or her at the first place) to understand your plan.

What would you do in such a situation?

Simply write to the blogger that you would like to publish his or her interview in your blog. You may even call him or her if you can find a contact number (this works like magic). Now, prepare a set of questions and send the mail as soon as he or she agrees to an interview. For example, you can ask him to write something about himself; his blogging career, achievements, how he or she markets the blog etc. Do not forget to ask for some tips for your readers.

I would put interviews much above guest posting in the hierarchy from promotional point of view. You are almost sure to get a link from that blogger’s “About Me” page. And he would do a lot to promote your post in his or her network. Won’t you do the same if someone publishes your interview in his or her blog!

You can also give it a fancy name like “Interview Friday” or “Blogger of the Month” and publish an interview on every Friday (if you can manage so many bloggers) or every month. Trust me – these fancy names sell.

Caution:

1. Every blogger is different so make some little twigs in your questionnaire – do not pass the same template to everyone.
2. Establish a relationship with that blogger by commenting in his blog for sometime before you approach him for an interview.
3. Don’t target really big bloggers – they are often too big to reply.