We’ve talked about different monetization strategies in general but with dwindling advertising budgets and companies focusing more and more on performance-based advertising, these four are the way to go if you want to make serious money from your football site.

This is part one of a four part series where we cover each of these topics in more detail and show you how to target your audience to get them to spend money with you. For this article I asked Russell Wall, Soccerlens’ resident betting expert, to tell us more about the different type of football fans that are attracted to betting and how to target each group individually.

You can divide the football betting audience into three types - the newbie, the semi-regular and the veteran.

The Newbie

His reason for gambling is due to a couple of factors, most importantly he has money he’s willing to spend on gambling. The new bettor will most definitely look for the free betting offers (promo codes, etc) to get him going. That’s why this group is a bit easier to hit. They’ll literally go where the best promotions are and bet there. Once they lose their money (and they will), they’ll look for the next best promotion to get them going again.

Free money is king to this bettor, and that’s why you’ll see the most popular betting promotions focusing on this segment - easy come, easy go, lather, rinse and repeat.

What makes them so great

So long as we have good promotions they’ll flock like bees to honey. It’s just a matter of giving this group new promotions on a monthly or every two month basis to keep them opening new accounts. They have little to no knowledge of money management, so I’d say it’ll take them about a week or so to lose it all and add more money to their account.

What makes them not-so-great

They’re usually skint and don’t bring in much when opening an account. Other than that this is probably the easiest group to hit.

Anyone who helps new bettors to learn how to make money is also likely to get them to start putting more money into their betting account.

The Semi-regular

This is usually someone who’s bet before, won big and is now looking to make another run. That initial run is the equivalent to getting your first high and then trying to recreate it again. I’ll tell you that only the best will ever be able to do that. They tend to place bigger bets and have a semi-good knowledge of money management.

However, once they get on a losing streak they’ll tend to chase their tail and make some bad bets that end up draining their account. These bettors still look for promotions but, at the same time, also look for good lines. They’re now spending more money and want to have a low vig if they make a large punt.

What makes them so great

They put more in their account and that ends up looking good for the affiliate if they’re opening up a new account. To attract and keep them you’ll need to find a bookmaker that offers good promotions and is fairly reputable - they’ve been around the block a bit and are more choosy when it comes to selecting offers.

What makes them no-so-great

Not much. These are the bettors that we should really target if we want to get this formula right. They spend more and have a tendency to follow good lines and decent promotions. The only problem is that if they find a good book to bet at, chances are then pretty poor that they’ll switch and open an account somewhere else.

The Veteran

Toughest group to get as they usually always have a book in place. They look for the best lines and nothing else. I am in this category and can tell you that once you learn money management and patience, it can be near impossible to get rid of these guys! I can tell you that I wouldn’t be arsed if someone asked me to move books unless they offered me amazing lines couldn’t get anywhere else.

It doesn’t make sense to bet large if a book has inflated lines that don’t go in your favour.

What makes them so great

If you can land one based on quality lines, there’s a good chance he’ll open a very big account.

What makes them no-so-great

Promotions mean absolutely nothing, and in this game that’s what bookmakers use to lure bettors in. You’ll need a strong brand and a solid reputation, along with some great promotions, to reel one of the veterans in.

I hope this helps you do better in your efforts to make money from football betting. If you have any questions let us know in the comments, and remember to subscribe to our rss feed so that you can keep up to date with the latest advice from Football Media.

Written by Russell Wall, introduction by Ahmed Bilal.

Yesterday I received an email saying that Setanta had paused all their online marketing acitivity as a result of their uncertain future. I posted this on twitter and some people questioned the source, so here is the email (sent to the Subside Sports affiliate list on AffiliateWindow.com).

Dear All,

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this causes and thank you for your loyalty and cooperation.”

Does this mean they’re closer to ‘failure’? Of course not, but someone somewhere has obviously made the decision to cut costs as much as possible (remember, Setanta were unable to pay SPL clubs recently) and it’s filtered down to online advertising as well.

For the SPL’s sake, for Setanta’s sake and for their customers’ sake, I hope they pull through and find the investment they need.

To be honest, when it comes to blogging about football, my first and foremost motivation has always been ‘just talking to friends about football’, but I’ve been lucky enough to have built a decent business around that motivation. I’ve seen many good football bloggers build kickass blogs over the last 3 years, but I’ve also seen some very good people fail despite their best efforts because they didn’t know what to do.

It doesn’t have to be that way. You can, and you should, get help when needed (provided that you’re willing to follow the advice given to you).

Soccerlens and Football Media have done well, but I know I could be doing more to improve them. If you’re like me and you want to improve your blog (football, personal or otherwise), I recommend that you do the following:

1. Start with a SWOT analysis for your blog. Learn how to do it here.

2. Sign up for Darren Rowse’s 31 Days To Build A Better Blog Challenge. ProBlogger.net - Darren Rowse’s blog - is the #1 blog about blogging and has been the #1 blog about blogging for the last 3-4 years. I’ve written a lot about blogging in my days at Performancing but Darren is an excellent teacher, and it pays to learn from him.

Darren, in his own words, on the 31 Days Challenge:

What is the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge?

The idea behind this is simply to have a group of bloggers setting aside 31 days of their time to work at improving their blogs - a little each day. While we all want to have better blogs sometimes it becomes one of those things that we’re going to do…. one day.

I personally find that I improve (in all areas of my life) when I’m more intentional and set aside a specific time to make the improvements. That’s what this project is about.

Go ahead, sign up for the 31 Days Challenge. It starts on April 6th (Monday), and goes for 31 days. You are GUARANTEED to improve your blog in all aspects if you do a little bit, every day, to follow Darren’s tips.

Best of all? No strings attached - the sign up is via email, it’s free, and you can bail out any time you want (ideally at the end of the 31 Days and not during them).

I’ll be following the Challenge - I might know a bit about blogging but it never hurts to get outside professional advice and motivation to ‘get to work’.

Sign up for the 31 Days To Build A Better Blog Challenge here.

• Dirty Tackle
• Soccerlens (This shirt was sent out to Soccerlens readers as a Christmas present last year).
• Studs Up

Both Dirty Tackle and Studs Up have set up shop with WhoAreYaDesigns.com, while Soccerlens went with Subside Sports.

I talked at length about making money blogging about football but the harsh reality is that the way most football bloggers blog is a) for fun, not for money and b) not at all conducive to selling betting, tickets or live online football subscriptions.

While Studs Up potentially stands to make a lot of money if it gets syndicated by a magazine or a newspaper (here’s hoping…) and Dirty Tackle is an entertaining / offbeat blog, there’s little on both sites that will drive incoming readers to buying anything.

In other words, putting up a big-ass bet365 banner on your site does NOT work (unless you’re being paid in CPM, but that’s a different story). And while I like the work DT are doing, it’s hard to believe that, in their current incarnation and given the current economy, they’ll sell much advertising.

So if you can’t sell tickets or betting or ads, what do you do?

CPM or banner ads - through our Football Media network we use a combination of Adjug, TribalFusion, YardBarker and private ad deals. Soccerlens also has an ad deal with Perform, and we’ve tried every network out there from AdsDaq to Gunggo and Burst Media.

For football, CPM deals were always low, but they really took a hit with the recession. Popup / Popunder ads still do well, but can be annoying to the reader, so be careful with them (we don’t use them on our sites).

Products - Shirts are obvious, whether they are kits or tshirts, but you also have a whole range of shoes and other football accessories. You can try your hand at weird footballing merchandise and football gifts if you’re interested.

Products Part 2 - Football tickets, subscriptions for watching football (on TV, through ‘paid’ broadband sites or streams) and free betting offers are the most popular and most lucrative segments for a reason - they convert (when they convert) really well for site owners.

Product / Site Reviews - At Soccerlens we used to earn a fair side-income for doing paid site / product reviews when we started out. It’s a roundabout way of ’selling links’, but when done right you get paid, your site doesn’t get penalised and the reviewee gets link juice. Everybody benefits. Here are some sample reviews.

Selling Links - If you’re going to give a link out to SoccerPro in exchange for a free shirt that’s fine. But if you give out a site-wide link to a casino site, that’s just asking for trouble.

There’s a way to sell (and buy) links without getting caught - but usually I’d recommend against it.

Video Ads - something I’ll be talking in more detail in the near future - but for now, get started with UnrulyMedia and Network N3 - you’ll thank me if you haven’t.

Other options - affiliate programs through Amazon, Ebay and CJ (Commission Junction) have worked well for people in certain niches, and so has selling leads (through services like Toluna).

Dynamic Text Links - Programs like Vibrant Media. A decent side income but slightly annoying.

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned AdSense. I have a love-hate relationship with AdSense. I love it because in the right niche, it’s a simple, steady source of income. I hate it because it pays very, very poorly in football. It’s fine if you use it as a ‘last resource’ option when nothing else works, but it’s not going to make you money the way the above options will, at least in football, unless you’re a) writing about something very specific, like football equipment and b) are catering exclusively to a US / UK audience.

And speaking of audiences, attract and nurture UK-based traffic because your site’s revenues depend on it. US traffic will do well too, but nothing converts as well as UK traffic (for shirts, betting, tickets, CPM ads, etc etc). It’s the curse of football - the same way that tech and celebrity gossip advertisers pay millions for US traffic, football advertisers are the same with UK traffic (without the millions, unfortunately).

I’ll talk in detail about one or more of these advertising options in the near future. If you’ve got any feedback / stories to share, let us know.

Part of these efforts has been the evolution of ‘marketing strategies’ targeting football bloggers. The underlying principle is sound - football bloggers often have loyal audiences who trust their opinion, they are opinion makers and thought leaders. Fans (a consumer) will trust the blogger (a fellow football fan) more than they will trust an advertiser, so why not get the blogger to pimp your products for you?

In many cases this has worked out well. Retailers like SoccerPro (disclaimer: Soccerlens.com recommends several SoccerPro-retailed products at their football shirts blog), Getting Personal and Kiki James offer free product samples for review, and as long as the reviewer is objective about their product evaluation it’s an ethical and effective way to market your product.

Most advertisers usually have an affiliate program and by offering bloggers a chance to make money, they’re offering value in exchange for . Sure - in many cases bloggers are unaware how difficult it can be send through paying customers (especially when it comes to betting), but since the advertiser doesn’t make money if you don’t, it’s a relatively balanced deal.

At the end of the day, a blogger’s following - their blog’s community - is a valuable commodity and advertisers recognise this and try to reward this accordingly.

In some cases however, football bloggers get taken for a ride. Over the last year online advertising agencies, on behalf of major brands like Nike and Adidas, have offered bloggers ‘exclusive’ content or access to content before it gets promoted through traditional media. The content is usually good and worthy of sharing, so this isn’t a criticism of what they’re pushing.

However, consider this: here you have media agencies charging their clients big money to promote these campaigns online, promotion that they get done for free through bloggers like you and me. Your passion for the sport and your loyalty to a brand (Nike, Adidas, etc) is being exploited leveraged for the financial gain of an advertising agency, people who are the financial equivalent of football agents.

Not all advertisers and media companies are bad - take Online Media Relations (an online marketing company) as an example. OMR provide value to bloggers in the shape of content in exchange for links. Now you might not like giving out links to Betfair or some other betting client, and you might not like the quality or tone of the content on offer. However, OMR are still providing you with something that you can use, something of value.

It’s not about posting about the new football shoe from Adidas or the Nike Five initiative for free - I’d post articles about them regardless. But if you’re going to profit from my hard work of building up a football blog that gets tens of thousands of readers every day, which is what media agencies do when they have us post articles for their clients to meet their ‘links’ or ‘blog mentions’ quota, the least you can do is compensate me for that hard work.

In the short term, things won’t change. Football bloggers are both naive and doing this for the love of football, and such value considerations may not be their first concern when they get an email offering them an ‘exclusive’ sneak-peak at content that was already previewed by major publications before-hand and is due to be promoted full scale the next day.

In the long run however, things need to change. Football bloggers work bloody hard to create a loyal readership, and to have that exploited by mainstream advertisers is unfair. Even sponsored posts, allowing for the negative press they get, make their intentions clear from the start (exposure in exchange for compensation).

Money may be an uncomfortable topic in football for some, but regardless of whether you write about football for money or for fun, your hard work should not be open for other peoples’ profit if you’re not making any in the process.

In the past they’ve come after 101GreatGoals.com, Soccerlens.com, SoccerNews.com and RedRants.com, just to name a few. This time they went after our friends TheOffside.com (read more here). There are a few interesting aspects (from a footballing and legal perspective) that are worth sharing here.

For starters, there’s the obvious - NetResult not lawyers - they are an online copyright protection agency (there’s a difference!) hired by Football Data Co Ltd, which in turn is hired by the UK football leagues (FA Premier League, the Football League, the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League), who in turn have the clubs making decisions as a collective. To think that the Premier League is the big bully and that clubs will gladly let you use their logo on your website is extremely naive - a minority may allow it in rare cases but by and large football clubs have business people in charge of making these decisions and they know that their logo, their brand, has a certain commercial value and they’re not going to give it up for free when they are making money through their respective leagues by selling rights for usage of that brand.

In short, NetResult is DIRECTLY representing the interests of Arsenal FC (some Arsenal blogs have been asked by Arsenal.com personnel to remove all logos), Manchester United FC (I’ve had manutd.com personnel contact Soccerlens about unauthorised usage of their crest), Liverpool FC (who are trying to register as trademark the liverbird image on their crest), Chelsea FC - all down to Watford, Barnsley and relegation-threatened League Two clubs.

Secondly, from my understanding of intellectual property rights and how they apply in US and UK, fair use is interpreted differently depending on which side of the pond you’re on. In the US, you have more wiggle room to use, say, a partial fixture list, player images from Getty or club logos as part of your news coverage than you do in the UK. Now the letter that the TheOffside have reprinted has this to say:

I, Jack Xxxxxx, as a representative of NetResult hereby digitally sign this e-mail message under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America with the additional statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the notice is accurate.

Again, I’m not a lawyer, but if NetResult are asking TheOffside to remove the logos while submitting themselves to US laws, TheOffside stands a good chance of arguing against and winning the case for fair use of the logos, provided that they can prove that their usage is part of their news reporting for informational purposes only and not for commercial gain.

You can read more about the fair use doctrine and its application under the US Copyright Law here. Judging logo use under the four points mentioned here, since The Offside is using the logos as identification of site sections (informational) and because their usage of the logos does not have a negative impact on the value of the brand (in terms of what the clubs / Premier League can charge for commercial usage of those logos), The Offside does not need to remove the logos.

Daryl, Chris and Laurie may not have high-paid lawyers but I imagine that the parent company BootsnAll definitely does, so it’s worth pursuing. What do you say Sean?

And while we’re on the subject, fair use would not apply to fixtures (their usage is commercial if you’re getting search traffic for them and you’re displaying ads on your site, while making them publicly available on every site means that the media houses they sell the fixture lists to wouldn’t pay as much to buy the rights, thus reducing the value of the copyrighted work).

Further Reading:

• Premier League’s Lawyers Come After The Offside (The Offside)
• Fair Use Doctrine (US)
• Fair Use / Fair Dealing Fact Sheet (UK)
• The Premier League act like prats (Studs Up)
• The Premier League threaten The Offside (101 GG)
• Premier League sues YouTube, no more free football videos? (2007)
• Premier League vs YouTube - a misguided attack on the wrong target (2007)
• Premier League TV , Premier League Online and Football Fans

Here is our 6-step plan for 2009 and beyond (with some details removed for privacy) - I hope this helps you too.

1. Diversify Outside Football: If you have just one leg to stand on, sooner or later you’re going to stumble and fall. As individuals, as bloggers and as companies, it pays to have a second, third and fourth stream of income. To be honest it’s an advantage entrepreneurs have over regular salaried folks and if you’ve been blogging about football all this time, it’s time to find something else to blog about (or find a second / third job).

   In addition, there are two excellent reasons (beyond financial stability) to diversify outside football: One, it gives you a better perspective on how well or how poorly your football business is doing and two, it allows you an extra source of investment into your business (and as we discuss in #5, you’re going no where fast without investment).

2. Consolidate Inside Football: Do a realistic check of what the most popular topics are for your readers and focus on them. On a personal note, I would like to cover the MLS on Soccerlens but that doesn’t always prove viable considering that a) the audience is mostly interested in European football and b) MLS itself demands considerably less interest than, say, the English Championship. If your US readers want Premier League football, who are you to argue?
3. Become a Super Affiliate: The easy way to ‘make money’ from football blogging has been to put up a blog on Blogspot, slap on some AdSense and start churning out content in the hope that a) NewsNow will pick you up and b) you’ll get enough hits to make some money to buy Beckham’s #32 Milan shirt in January.

   That’s also the lazy and least effective way to do things.

   Learn about affiliate marketing. Learn how you can make money from recommending products and services in football (kits, shoes, tickets, betting, tv subscriptions, etc). The biggest profit margins (if you know what to do and how to do it) are in selling your own products and barring that, in selling other people’s stuff as an affiliate.

4. Google, not NewsNow, is your best friend: The single biggest advantage that Google has over NewsNow is that you can get much better results (i.e. more traffic) by putting in less time (i.e. fewer articles). For example, this article on live football was written only once, yet it gets regular traffic from search engines every day. On the other hand, when you write about today’s latest transfer rumour involving Manchester City, it will only get you traffic from NewsNow today (and probably tomorrow) but not much more beyond that.

   Don’t get me wrong - NewsNow is great for getting new readers, exposing your site to a UK audience, getting traffic, etc etc. But there’s a trade-off between what you’re doing now and the results you’re getting from your efforts. NewsNow’s biggest failing is that it’s all about NOW and relies on you writing every day to produce results and bring in new readers. With Google (or search in general), you only write once (and promote a few times).

5. Invest or Die: Invest time and money in your best people and your most popular features / sections on your site. Remember that regardless of what your barometer for success is (Arseblog or BBC), you’re behind in the race and the ones at the top are working at light-speed to increase their advantage over the competition. To catch them, you need to either change the rules of the game (i.e. compete on a front where the industry leaders don’t have a clear advantage) or invest heavily to bridge the gap as quickly and as effectively as you can.

   One approach requires you to invest time, people and money (as well as to take risks). The other approach requires you to invest money, people and take certain risks. Either way you’re going to have to move fast and you’ll have to invest (time, money, manpower, etc), or you’ll never get where you’re going.

6. Change The Rules: Traditional methods of making money from football is to write about the latest news. That’s not going to work in a depressed economy with low ad budgets so you need to find your niche as an expert on something other than ‘latest’ news. Similarly, the most popular method of delivering content to readers has so far been the traditional blogging platform (Blogger / WordPress), the news aggregator platform (NewsNow / Google News) and RSS. That’s not going to give you an advantage because you’re competing with hundreds of other blogs and forums, the two (or three) best news aggregators and hundreds of RSS feeds when trying to get readers’ attention.

   If you’ve got the money (and the will to spend all of it), go for competing the traditional way. If you’re on a budget like us, find new angles to acquire readers and essentially make yourself invaluable to your readers (e.g. eufootball.biz and their coverage of football business news). Learn how the industry is changing, how technology is impacting the way we interact with the world of football, reach five years into the future and implement those strategies today.

I hope this article helps you in growing your football blog / business, and if you have any questions or feedback, use the comment form below or get in touch via email.

Don’t take my word for it - AFC and CONCACAF have already shown a willingness to cooperate with the Premier League, and the African and Australian head footballing associations were already on PL’s side, giving the Premier League unprecedented leverage in the world of football second only to that of FIFA (read ‘The Money Wars‘ for more on this subject).

Barclays, with it’s new Arab shareholders, are now in a stronger position to sponsor the Premier League (who won’t mention conflict of interest when it’s a question of millions and billions) and there is enough competition in the TV arena for the EPL to demand a better deal than the current one. And if all else fails, there’s always the option of ‘Premier League TV’, an idea as outlandish and as impossible as the European Super League and nothing more than a phantom stick to scare the TV companies with.

The Premier League is one thing - as the industry leader they are more immune to financial shocks than other, smaller players - several football clubs are finding it increasingly hard to compete with debt and even basic day-to-day operations and transfers being difficult to finance for owners.

West Ham and Newcastle United are officially on sale, not just because their owners aren’t liked by the fans but also because the owners do not have the financial ability to take the club higher up the league table. Portsmouth has let its best players and manager go in exchange for money to finance their debt. Manchester United are looking for a new shirt sponsor. Chelsea have blocked all transfers for January. Liverpool are finding it hard to refinance their debt and their troubles in getting funding for a new stadium are well documented.

And that’s the top of the pile - imagine what life must be like for clubs in the lower leagues and in leagues outside England, especially those outside Europe where historically revenue from football has been lesser than what one sees in European football.

FIFA may sell the TV rights for the 2010 World Cup for billions and Barcelona may be investing in a new franchise in the MLS, but when clubs cannot pay wages and when fans - not just in England but around the world - stop going to matches because they have no jobs with which to buy tickets with - the masses that support football and are as much a part of the fabric of the beautiful game as the top clubs will suffer.

Americans take a lot of pride in the strength of small businesses in their country and how, over the last 50 years or so, small businesses have been the single largest job creation force in the country. Small businesses are also more vulnerable to financial shocks and when a worldwide financial crunch happens it’s the small entrepreneur, the small business owner working off a loan or running a tight ship in a niche market, who’s going to suffer the most.

The difference between big and small is clear - barring a few exceptions, the big companies / clubs are more equipped to survive a financial crisis than smaller players / clubs.

And this is EXACTLY what’s happening in the world of football news and football blogging.

While the top dogs in football news reporting can survive despite cutting costs thanks to high demand, the smaller players are finding it much harder to stay afloat and as the crisis worsens in 2009 people will find it almost impossible to find good advertising deals, good paying gigs and overall harder to find money-making and revenue-generating opportunities in online football.

In the last six months I’ve seen dozens of bloggers laid off from both their blogging gigs and their day jobs, I’ve seen prominent blog networks pull out of deals because their funding didn’t materialise, I’ve seen ad networks fold and/or renege on contracts because they had no advertisers to support their efforts - it’s not a pretty picture and it’s getting worse. For anyone (like Football Media) whose primary source of income was football and football blogging, the current situation will mean serious changes in how they move forward in 2009 and beyond.

As things stand, the awards are getting mainstream media coverage and they’re bound to get bigger and better next year.

Also, you might have noticed that Football Media is now sporting a new (and quite minimalistic) design, we’re going to be improving upon it in the coming months but all suggestions / feedback is welcome.

There are some announcements to make regarding the network and some new sites coming in, I’ll make a post about it next week. For now, if you’re interested in being a part of Football Media, get in touch.

1. The Initial Approach

Be specific in your request: When you approach your target and/or their media relations representative, provide a detailed plan. “I would like to interview your goalkeeping coach to discuss daily training regimens, his previous playing career, how he evaluates players, along with the role of fitness and nutrition at your club. I anticipate 12 to 15 questions.”

Building upon past interviews to gain credibility: If you have not done business with them before, it is helpful to show examples of your work. Not in the manner of name-dropping; however, to present how you do the job of interviewing.

Express a genuine interest to promote them with your audience: You need to show what you can do for them, and not how they would benefit you or your client. This might be exposure to a new demographic or niche. Or offers of introductions to potential contacts that might assist them in the future.

2. Purpose of the Interview

To inform and educate your audience: You don’t write for yourself or your client. You have to provide your readers with compelling reasons why they should take their valuable time to evaluate the story in front of them.

To promote the interviewee in the best possible manner: I will discuss this more in Section 3; however, the basic goal is to present your interview subject in the best possible light to your audience.

To ask questions which elicit favorable responses that are not seen elsewhere. “There are old pilots and bold pilots. There are no old bold pilots.” Perhaps the same can be said about interviewers. You are judged upon the quality of your questions, and how well they draw out the desired responses. Audiences in the new media have many options. You need to provide them with reasons not to visit your competition.

To promote your client and their business or website/blog. The client commissions you for your special skills in the interviewing process. You need to promote them with the interviewee and/or their public relations (PR) apparatus. Much like with your audience, you need to provide reasons why they should invest time with you and your client.

To create more credibility for you, the interviewee, and the client. The famous American Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, David Halberstam, once said, “You are who you interview.” Interviews present a unique opportunity to build more credibility and showcase your talents. Done properly, the process also does the same things for the interviewee and the client.

3. Interviewer’s Mindset

Serve and promote your client with the interviewee and/or their representatives. You represent your client in the process. Your behavior and attitude in the project reflects upon your client, their business, and anything associated with them. Especially in social media, a favorable impression may yield immediate and residual dividends.

Treat the interviewee as a client. This relates to the second item in the purpose section. Having this perspective makes you view the whole process differently. Years ago, I worked as a technical writer and software tester. When the company was taken over, I was asked to lead a testing group. It was a new role for me, and I had to train others how to test software. One of the challenges was to teach them how to interact with the programmers. “Treat them like a client.” One team member said “They work here like I do. Why are they different?” “Because they create the product and our jobs.” During an interview, a client focus can yield significant benefits. As a freelancer, without the interviewee, you have no potential fee.

Develop rapport with the interviewee. This is not a job interview or witness stand scenario where you should exert pressure, apply psychological ploys, or try to make them look bad. “Do the job in the interview,” while usually a strategy demonstrated by a job applicant, is a good mantra to follow in this case.

Lose your ego and develop a thicker skin. It is not about you. Repeat. It is not about you. Pretend you are the invisible man or woman in the interviewing process. Like a good referee, you are not the protagonist in the game. It also helps to brush off perceived slights and/or rude behavior. Especially when you interview famous or arrogant people. Your job is to deliver the gig. You are not on their level and most likely never will be. But you have the opportunity to show them how a professional does their job. Most of us respect others who do their jobs well.

Know your audience. The client pays you, but without an audience or targeting their needs, your reach will be limited. They can reward or punish you. Especially in the new media, negative comments can have a lingering effect. But so do positive ones, or emailed links of your work to friends and contacts of your audience.

4. Background Research

Learn about your subject matter and the individual. As the respected investigative journalist, Andrew Jennings, told me last month, “Google does not replace shoe leather.” Some of the best advice all of us could expect to receive. Use the Internet, but also develop other information and research sources about the subject at hand, along with the interviewee.

Read and listen to their other interviews. This provides you with a look into their character and personality. Study what others asked them and how they responded. Learn how you can present them differently.

Gauge and anticipate their temperament to frame your questions. If you can find a video clip with your interviewee, all the better. But even lacking that, by studying their previous interviews, you can glean useful information that we will discuss in the next point.

Learn what excites or angers them (questions to ask and avoid). You can ask the wrong question. Much of that occurs when you don’t prepare properly. If you see what drives them, what is their passion, it will help you frame the questions better. Note which questions or topics anger or irritate them.

Decide how to progress (See Section 8, Types of New Media Interviews).

5. Importance of an Introduction

Don’t assume your audience knows who they are or their C.V. You have to provide a proper introduction. When the President of the USA walks into a room, someone always announces him.

The promotional value of the introduction can not be overemphasized. It shows good faith and the willingness to promote the interviewee to your audience. It enables the interviewee to see that you have a genuine interest in their career.

Create a bridge of rapport with the audience and the interviewee by providing more than is seen in other places. A detailed introduction both informs and prepares the audience for the discussion.

6. Questions

How to begin: Start slowly and build rapport. Structure the discussion with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

What to ask: Your research should determine what is unique about this person, along with the areas that your target audience would like to learn more about. As we discussed in Section 4, research teaches you areas to focus upon, and others to avoid with a particular person.

What not to ask: One of my first interviews was with Mick Hoban of SoccerSolutions. “If you ask the wrong question, I probably won’t proceed.” Learn what might be the wrong question, and avoid it. Sometimes, you may have to ask directly before the interview which areas are untouchable. Other times, your research will clarify the matter. When in doubt, leave it out.

Types of questions: Open ended versus close ended. Confrontational versus a calmer approach. The more detailed your question, the more detailed the potential response may be. Avoid questions that require a brief response (Yes or No). Remember that honey attracts more bees than pesticide. Most interviewers would be advised not to treat the interviewee in a hostile manner. Remember, your job is to also promote them in a favorable light. In the Internet age, most of us already know about their foibles.

Length of questions: Shorter work better, but focus on detail and quality. Be unique. Try to draw out the interviewee if they seem reticent or reluctant to provide detailed responses.

Number of questions (tailoring) and based upon agreed length of the interview. According to Readingsoft.com, 150 spoken words per minute and 200 reading words per minute are average benchmarks. Which works out to about 90 seconds to 2 minutes per response.

Follow up questions: Depends on time and how the person responds to earlier questions. Sometimes, your later questions will be answered earlier in the interview. Other times, you might add one to follow up a point in more detail.

How to end: Ask their advice to share with your audience. It enables them to put their personal touch on the discussion, and to end the interview on a positive note.

7. Tailoring Principle

Someone with significant media exposure has an advantage. Their talking points and vast experience make them more assertive in the process. Don’t take it personally if they appear to avoid your questions. But try to anticipate their behavior by tailoring your questions that produce sound bite responses.

Some are not used to interviews, are cautious, and need to be directed. Even after significant preparation, your guest may not cooperate fully with the interview process. In these cases, focus on the areas where they seem more comfortable. Five good responses is better than fifteen vague ones.

Some aren’t used to interviews outside of their native language. Especially in North America, don’t assume that the whole world speaks English as their native tongue. Regardless of your locale, learn another language. Even a few phrases in the interviewee’s language will be appreciated, and also create mutual empathy. Offer to provide an interpreter, or translate the questions ahead of time. You should strive to make the interviewee comfortable.

Coaches and other subject matter experts, given the opportunity, like to explain their craft in great detail. In those cases, fewer questions with more detail might work better. Or ask for more time to enable them to properly present their expertise.

Structure the interview for the agreed amount of time or number of questions. This is especially important in a live format. For example, a podcast (which I will discuss in Section 8). But if they tell you “30 minutes” or “12 questions maximum,” respect their wishes.

8. Types of New Media Interviews

Email format: Positive (+) and Negative (-)

+ No transcription of the responses saves a lot of time.
+ Works better for non-local projects.
+ More efficient for both parties because there is less immediate pressure.
+ More organized process and less time invested by the interviewer.

- Impersonal in nature.
- Requires the interviewee to expend significant effort and time.
- May require several follow-ups to complete the project.
- Interviewee has more control over the process.

Taped and transcribed (Speedwriting/shorthand for brief interviews): Traditional format (+ and -)

+ More professional.
+ Many interviewees are used to and expect this format.
+ Allows you to speak with them on the phone or meet in person.
+ For shorter interviews, shorthand or speedwriting techniques could be used.
+ To ensure accuracy, the interviewee and/or their representative can review the transcript.

- Transcription adds significant time to the project:

At 150 spoken words a minute, a 30 minute discussion would produce about 4500 words to transcribe (some people speak faster). At an accurate typing speed of 60 WPM, it would take you 75 minutes to produce that word count. That doesn’t include the time involved to ensure accuracy, readability, and to listen over passages that are more technical in nature. Remember, transcription is a skill. Perhaps it would be wise to budget one hour for every 5 minutes of audio if you do it yourself. (With the hope that your speed and accuracy increase with experience). According to Franklin-Square.com, budget about 4 times the length of the audio file for a professional transcription. For example, 1 hour of audio would take 4 hours at their billing rate.

- Hiring a transcriber (with topic matter experience) is more efficient but reduces your fee.
- A misquote is more likely with this format. One wrong word or sentence could change the tenor of an answer and/or the entire interview.

Podcast format (+ and -)

+ Added value for your client.
+ A more personal approach.
+ New media audiences are receptive and are able to put a voice behind the words.
+ Usually, a transcript would be additional or not required.

- Professional equipment is usually required.
- Presentation training is necessary for a professional exchange.
- The “live” format can create unique challenges.
- A media savvy interviewee will have a distinct advantage over you.

Videocast format (+ and -)

+ The highest potential value for all parties.
+ The most professional presentation tool in the new media.
+ Increased reach due to viral marketing.
+ Increased interview fee due to a higher value for your client.

- Requires purchasing or renting professional video equipment.
- Requires professional presentation skills and/or a proper taping environment.
- Requires a videographer which reduces your fee. (Or could be an argument to charge more).
- Anything less than a high quality presentation will be interpreted in a negative fashion.

Providing a transcript before the discussion (+ and -)

+ Allows the interviewee to prepare properly.
+ Shows your own preparation for the project.
+ Enables them to correct or suggest things ahead of time.

- Locks you into a very structured discussion.
- Provides the other party(s) with your game plan.
- Provides the other party(s) with the chance to surprise you during the discussion.
- If you ask an unauthorized question, it might create significant fallout.

9. Importance of Follow up

Courtesy: Sometimes, this is a forgotten skill in the Internet age. The interviewee is a guest. They are providing you with a gig, along with opportunities for future work based upon their experience with you.

Appropriate gratitude: Thank them properly. A client focus gives you an advantage here. Offer to promote them in your network. Try to build bridges of mutual benefit for the future.

Involve your client in the process: They also need to show appreciation once the interview has been completed and published.

10. Analysis

Grade the interview. Both of yourself and the interviewee.

Ask for feedback and/or study comments made on the article thread.

How can you improve your performance? Should you have asked fewer or more questions? Compared to other interviews, did this person provide you with more or less information?

Be receptive to criticism from the client, the interviewee, and/or the PR person involved.

Your next interview will be your best interview.

Your Experiences

What have been your own experiences with interviews, and what advice could you share? How could interviewers do a better job in the new media?

Steve Amoia is the author and editor of the World Football Commentaries blog. He has written for AC Cugini Scuola Calcio, Football Media, Keeper Skool, and Soccerlens.

He can be contacted at info@sanstefano.com and his writing portfolio can be found at www.sanstefano.com.