This is part of the behind-the-scenes section of Mixergy, which I call etc.

The question

I got this Tweet from Mixergy fan, Kyle Nowlin:

I was inspired by your work & created ClevelandStartup.com. Have a few intvs queued up. Any advice, tools, u have would b gr8ly appreciated.

My advice

Don’t get lost in the technology. Your audience won’t care about it and you’ll be tempted to care too much about it.

To prepare for my interview with Jerry Colonna, I listened to an interview that Dan Putt did with him on some kind of conference calling line that had a record option. The first thing I heard was the DING! that let me know someone was on the call. Then I hard the two of them chat. Then the interview started and audio quality was just okay.

But you know what? It was a great interview. Not only didn’t I mind that the technology behind the interview wasn’t perfect, I thought it actually helped. It made the interview feel more intimate and real.

When you do online interviews, it’s tempting to try to compete with video quality we’re used to seeing on CNN or on the best video blogs, but it’s unnecessary. Ze Frank caught the world’s attention using a simple web cam. Gary Vaynerchuk still edits using the same iMovie app that kids have on their Macs. And I use ScreenFlow to edit, a program meant for screen capture.

Go with what you have. Don’t get lost in the technology. It’s about the ideas the person you’re interviewing. In time, the technology will improve and you’ll naturally progress to better tools. But when you start, start simply.