How Video Interviews Can Help Grow Your Blog

This guest post is by Torrey McGraw of Grind & Thrive.

For beginner and more advanced bloggers, one of the most important questions we must ask is, “How will my blog stand out in my niche?” With the ever-growing list of blogs that are created daily, this can be a difficult question to answer.

One way to set yourself apart is by incorporating video into your content strategy while others are primarily using written articles. It’s a wise move—according to the 2011 State of the Media report, over 140 million people watched online video in 2011. That number has been and will continue to trend up each year.

But let’s say you understand that, and you’re creating video posts on your blog. What else can you do with video to stay ahead of the pack?

Online video interviews can be just the thing to breathe life into old blogs and kickstart new ones. From the comfort of your own computer, you can converse with anyone anywhere with little to no inconvenience or cost. Then, you can work those conversations into compelling video interviews for your users to enjoy.

Here are five powerful ways online video interviews can help you grow your blog.

Getting on the radar of influencers in your niche is a great way to establish who you are and put your blog on the map. This can be done by asking influential people in your niche to allow you to interview them. With typical in-person interviews, it’s more difficult to secure because they may be in a different city, have a jam-packed schedule, or both. Either can make interviews unfeasible, especially if they aren’t familiar with you.

Conversely, the option of an online video interview is often more appealing. Essentially, you’re just asking them to sacrifice a few minutes sitting in front of their computer, rather than traveling to a specific location or totally rearranging their schedule.

I alluded to this earlier. Think about the websites and blogs in your niche. Chances are only a few (if any) are creating content via online video interviews. How great would it be to separate your brand from everyone else’s? Online video interviews may be your ticket to do that.

Online video interviewing gives you the opportunity to create compelling content. It is an awesome alternative to someone who wants to make a mark online, but lacks the writing skills or desire needed to create text articles. Or you may simply enjoy conversing with people, rather than emailing them the typical question-and-answer document that’s often reproduced on blogs. An online video interview will appeal to people who enjoy learning through an interactive conversation.

Of course you’re interested in growing your audience, right? My most popular interview to date is my conversation with Essence.com relationship blogger and professional matchmaker Paul Carrick Brunson. When he told his passionate online community of fans and followers to check out the interview, my site was flooded with people. Many subscribed to my site after our interview. Even to this day, he refers to our interview when asked how he got started as a matchmaker.

When that happens time and time again, you’ll see how easy it is grow your own passionate audience through guests promoting your interview.

Make interviews part of your content strategy, and over time you’ll interview several key people in your niche, and come to be known as a go-to site for personal insight.

Let’s say you blog about natural hair tips for women.  You can easily interview natural hair experts, natural hair stylists, and natural hair product creators on a regular basis. Over time, you’ll become a trusted resource because you’ve created a valuable resource on the topic of natural hair. People will begin to trust you because you’re providing awesome content from the best and brightest people in your industry.  The end result is you establishing credibility with your community and your peers.

If the idea of online video interviews intrigues you, it’s quick and inexpensive to get started, and you won’t need much equipment:

So there you have it: everything you need to get started conducting online video interviews. Give it a shot and have some fun!

Do you think adding online video interviews to your content mix can help you grow your blog? Let us know in the comments.

Torrey McGraw is the host of Grind & Thrive, a webshow featuring candid one-on-one conversations with today’s trendsetters sharing lessons from their roads to success. Say hi to Torrey on Twitter.