Tag Archives: interviewing

advice, client relationships

What Don’t You Understand About Free Advertising?

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By Jake Poinier

Right before the holidays, I received a story assignment for a lifestyle magazine—which meant trying to reach sources right in the heart of the holidays, and which is always a bit tricky with vacations and understaffed offices.

One of the guys called me back when I was on the 9th hole of a golf course with my family. Another called me at 7 a.m. on a morning after we’d been out late, so I was a bit bleary-eyed. Nonetheless, both were helpful once we finally connected.

The third contact, not so much—and they’re important, because they’re in the magazine’s local area. I left a voicemail. I filled out a form on their website. I called again and reached the guy, who said “send an email with interview questions to my assistant,” which I dutifully did.

I heard nothing.

My editor gave me an extension to get the locals in. When I gave another call to the company, the guy reiterated EXACTLY what he’d said the first time about sending an email to his assistant, adding that he’s too busy to schedule an interview at a moment’s notice. When I mentioned that it wasn’t really at a moment’s notice since I’d indeed done so more than a week prior, he was unapologetic. But he did ask that I contact his assistant again to get on his schedule.

So I slinked back to my editor for another extension, and her response was classic: “What is it about free advertising that they’re so adverse to?”

I’ve never quite understood when a company has a chance for free editorial placement, and they make life difficult. Maybe they’re suspicious that it’s a disguised sales pitch. Perhaps they’re so successful they don’t need more business. I dunno.

What I do know is that, 24 hours and a voicemail and an email reminder later, I still haven’t heard back.

Have you taken the 2012 Freelance Forecast survey yet? Please do—and don’t forget to share it on your favorite social media and with your clients.

advice

Dealing With a Lousy Interview

zoom-h2Adam West, dressed as Batman, is running around a dock on my television screen, with a large cartoon stereotype explosive fizzing away in his hands. He wants to toss it before the inevitable explosion, but everywhere he turns there are ducks, nuns, kids on bikes. He looks at the camera and says, “Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb.”

The same logic applies to lousy interviews that you absolutely have to use to finish your writing work for the day. You know the ones I mean–self serving, bland, mono-syllabic. Worse than useless, as some might say.

So what do you do?

Continue reading Dealing With a Lousy Interview →

advice, featured

5 Steps to Guide an E-Mail Interview

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comp3_keyboardE-mail interviews are, for many, something to be avoided at all costs. The answers frequently return with nothing but self-serving crap that nobody wants to read.

How do you avoid getting such responses? Sometimes it’s inevitable no matter what you do, but an interviewer can at least try to pass on some guidelines to keep them from going totally mad when fielding the answers:

Continue reading 5 Steps to Guide an E-Mail Interview →

advice

Writing For New Markets

freelance writing

By Joe Wallace

If you feel daunted by the prospect of writing an article in an area you know little about, don’t let that lack of knowledge keep you from sending out query letters. Try doing a few interview pieces with some subject matter experts and let them do all the talking about the facts and figures of your new subject matter area.

This is one of the easiest ways to get up to speed on a new topic. Once you’ve done a couple of interviews you’ll have a much better feel for the subject and can talk with more authority on your own–especially if you ask the right questions in your interview. Here are a few of my own personal secrets Continue reading Writing For New Markets →

advice

The Art of the Interview–Seven Steps To Better Interviews

interview-tips

Interviewing for your freelance articles isn’t a science, it’s an art. There are plenty of landmines to avoid when you’re new to the interviewing game, but you don’t need a textbook-sized guide to help you get started. Take this advice and you’ll be far ahead of the game:

1. Don’t ask yes or no questions–giving a reluctant interviewee a chance to duck a detailed answer by simply saying “yes” or “no” leaves you hanging. Don’t ask “Are you FILL IN THE BLANK”. Instead,  try asking “WHY are you…”

2. If you slip up and ask a yes or no question, your follow up question should ALWAYS be “Why?”

3. The best answers usually come to questions that begin, “How does it feel to…”

4. When you get a self-serving answer, dig a little deeper. “To someone who doesn’t really understand the issues, can you explain what you mean a little more?”

5. There will always be interviewees who have prepped answers to anticipated questions. When they start reading off their internal cue cards, try following up with a zinger. “Well, I’m sure you know a lot of people expect you to say just that. What ELSE should they know?”

6. Beware prejudicial questions. “When did you stop beating your wife?” This line of questioning, jokes aside, is passive-aggressive and counter-productive, even in an investigative context.

7. Don’t glad-hand your interviewee or throw them easy ones. Ask intelligent questions and if you don’t have any research, don’t pretend you do. Instead, try saying “Explain the issues for those who aren’t up to speed yet.” The interviewee doesn’t have to know you’re talking about YOU.

resources

Interviewing Basics

If you tend to be nervous when interviewing people, here is a little bit of help. The tips come courtesy of Ken Metzler of the University of Oregon, and they’ll be of assistance to both the novice and the expert alike. Metzler breaks the interview down into ten stages, gives a pre-interview checklist and some advanced interviewing techinques and tips. It’s a super resource that can help reinforce good technique and give beginners somewhere to get started with solid information.