The Email I Use To Land Top Interviews

Posted on Sep 15, 2009 - 12:03 PM PST

Note: This is posted on a semi-private part of Mixergy. Based on your comments, I might add more details and post it on the main part of the site.

At the end of a talk that I gave at Wordcamp LA about video blogging, I told the audience that I'd show them the email I use to get all the great interviews on Mixergy.com. Here it is with a few notes.

The 3-part layout I use

Line 1: A single sentence that clearly asks what I want.

Line 2: A sentence or two explaining what I do and what this interview is about.

Line 3: A link to a past interview so they can see a sample of my work.

A sample of the email

Hi Seth Godin:

Can I interview you via video Skype on Tuesday, Sept 1 @ 11 AM Pacific?

This is for Mixergy.com, where I interview entrepreneurs about how they launch and grow their businesses. I'd like to interview you about how you built Squidoo.com.

You can see a sample of my work in this interview with Gregg Spiridellis:

http://mixergy.com/jibjab-history-gregg-spiridellis

Andrew Warner
Founder, Mixergy.com

Who you should start interviewing

- Your first interviews should be with people you know and have been curious to learn more about. They're more likely to agree to an interview and more likely to understand when things go wrong.

- Your next set of interviews should be with people who speak at local events. Look for speakers who are getting their careers going and are looking to raise their profiles and get more speaking opportunities.

- When you're ready to move on to celebrities in your space, aim for the ones who are known for doing interviews with new people. If you've been reading blogs in your space, you'll see them interviewed there.

Tips for making your email work

- I keep it short. You're going to want to say more about your work and why you want this interview. Don't. Long emails are a burden. Let your site's about page speak on your behalf.

- Have a well-written about page on your site. I've found that most interviewees read mine before they do the interview.

- Don't offer to give them anything in return. Don't offer to help them sell tons of books, drive more traffic to their sites, or make them into celebrities. You probably don't have enough sway to do any of those things. Trust that people will want to do interviews with you because they believe in your work and/or like to help people and/or want the Google hit that your interview will give them.

What equipment you need

Don't stress over the equipment. Really. At first, you could probably just make a call, take good notes, and write up a blog post based on your conversation.

Having said that, since you probably want to know what I use, here's my list.

Skype to call my interviewee

ecamm to record the conversation

ScreenFlow to record a backup of the conversation and to edit the video

Blue Snowball mic to eliminate the hum and background noise from my audio

iSight (built into my computer) to capture my video

CamTwist

Give me your feedback

- I'm constantly improving. If you see something I can do better, tell me.

- What else would you like to know? Based on your comments, I'll add details to this and post it on Mixergy.com

- Who are you planning to interview?

Andrew Warner

Founder, Mixergy.com

Jason @ forty2fifty.com

Andrew... Much appreciated. I just finished sending off an email interview to Kevin Martin, lead singer for the amazing rock band Candlebox. I really look forward to starting some video interviews and blogs.

Thanks for all your help

MichelleVandepas

Andrew- Thanks for sharing this post with me. I can see my emails have just been too long! Expect a e-mail from me requesting an interview sometime soon.

Anders

Great help!

swiftcrm

dude you F'n rock - I love the directness of your work.

wesleyasbell

What do you put as your subject line?

Joanne

Please elaborate on the recording part.

Skype to call my interviewee
Is this just to save on the cost of a call? Or does Skype record? If so, what does it record?

ecamm to record the conversation
So do you call the person on Skype because you can then record the session using ecamm?

ScreenFlow to record a backup of the conversation and to edit the video
So you're recording the interviewee again as a backup? Which recorded version do you import into ScreenFlow to edit the final product?

Blue Snowball mic to eliminate the hum and background noise from my audio
Why do you have hum and noise from your audio? Where do you place the mic? Do you turn off your computer mike then?

iSight (built into my computer) to capture my video
So this is the only video of you during the conversation, right? Doesn't this also capture your voice through the Snowball?

CamTwist
What is this?

----------------------------------------------------
This is all completely new to me, so it would be helpful if you could elaborate on the steps you take in recording a show. Also, many of us own PCs. Do you think purchasing a Mac is warranted or do you know if PC software alternatives?

Thanks a lot for any help.

Andrew Warner

Skype is ONLY to make the call. I do it because it's the easiest way to get people on video. And yes, it happens to be free.

ecamm is what I use to record. It works with Skype. Click over to their site for details.

ScreenFlow is used as a backup. Right. I don't import anything into it. I use it to record. Then I can edit any video I want with it.

Blue SnowBall is a replacement for the mic in my computer. Any other mic is either too expensive or has a hum. Try recording with another mic and you'll see what I mean.

iSight captures video and the Blue SnowBall captures audio.

CamTwist might be too advanced for you now. Plus it requires a Mac.

I don't think you have to have a Mac to do video interviews. I bought one because it makes video easier to record, rout and edit.

Jim

I’m still a bit confused. If you use ecamm to record the audio conversation and screenflow to backup the audio conversation, it suggests to me that you’re stripping out the screenflow audio and replacing it by importing the audio from ecamm into screenflow—yet you don’t import anything. Won’t screenflow capture the audio conversation just fine and isn’t ecamm used to make a backup?

Your presentation at WordcampLA was excellent--thanks.

Jim

bonnietanaka

Andrew ... thanks for posting this info... great and 2 the point.
Bonnie

bonnietanaka

Andrew... thanks so much for sending this..... very 2 the point!

thanks
Bonnie T.

Tim Bourquin

Direct, to the point, and no fluff. I like it!

Andrew Warner

I used to include a lot of links to past interviews as a way of
proving that I was worth talking to. It never helped.

Andrew Warner
(sent from my mobile)

Andrew Warner

I used to include a lot of links to past interviews as a way of
proving that I was worth talking to. It never helped.

Andrew Warner
(sent from my mobile)

Olivia

Awesome outline. Really like how you broke it down and then help people strategize who they should contact for interviews at first. I've learned a lot from you about removing email 'fluff' and stating what I need upfront. Good point about having your About Page do the work for you.

Thanks for this,
Olivia