Diaries of a Webmaster Entry 8 - Of Reviews and Interviews Monday, 18 October 2010 11:28 Written by Allan Libby

So, you have your sparkling new website or blog. You are writing reviews on the stuff you love, in the hopes of someday making it big and living off of your work. While this is going to take some time and may not even happen, these are some things to think about as you write up your articles.

One of the things I have learned is that the people making or publishing your reviewed product love feedback. Whenever you write an article about a product, try and find the PR email for that company and send them a link to your review.  PR people love seeing their product name out on the internet; it’s basically free advertising for them.

At some point in your site’s lifetime you may want to start interviewing people to go along with your reviews. Achieving this is much easier than you may think. Most celebrities enjoy sitting down and talking to someone and most will grant you an audience (or a phone call or email). Do not be discouraged if they decline your request, sometimes people are just too busy.

My friend told me the number one rule for interviewing someone is to listen. Do not ask too many questions or interrupt their train of thought. Just listen to what they have to say; sometimes you may get more from your question than you had originally hoped.  The best interviews feel like the interviewer and interviewee are having a conversation; not just a question and answer session. Similar to reviews, the people being interviewed love it when you send them a link when you post it on your website.

Both reviews and interviews can help you with content for your website. Sending the links to the affected parties can also help generate more traffic to your site.  And who knows, you may be able to get some free stuff from them if they like your reviews and want you to review more things (don’t hold your breath on this one).