Tag Archive for: blogging tips

8 ways blogging is like bicycling

Bicycling is my favorite summer exercise. The more I bike, the more I’m struck by the similarities between bicycling and blogging.

1. It gets easier with practice

Falling off and skinning my knees when I learned to ride a two-wheeler was no fun. But after a while, I stopped falling and I covered every mile with greater ease.

In a similar way, blogging gets easier as you practice more. Like figuring out where to place your weight to stay upright on your bike, you develop a sense of the proper balance among your blog’s components. As you pedal with less effort, you also write with less effort.

2. It’s easier to follow trails

I’m a fan of bicycle trails like the Minuteman or Nashua River Rail Trails. Following a path that’s paved and marked with signs is less stressful than navigating the Boston area’s road maze, having to make decisions at every corner.

As a blogger, you’ll find it easier to follow well-marked writing paths. For example, a list post follows a simple structure:

  1. Introduction of your theme
  2. A numbered list of points addressing your theme
  3. Conclusion or call to action

I’ve described more models in the following posts:

3. Shorter is easier

It’s easier for me to cover five miles than 50 miles on my bike. Still a five-mile ride is so short that it’s unsatisfying. I like to cover at least fifteen miles on a ride.

Shorter is easier for bloggers, too. That’s why I recommend a length of 250 to 400 words for beginning bloggers. I typically run about 400 to 600 words. But just as I occasionally stretch myself in a long bike ride, I sometimes write longer. Most people will struggle to say something significant in less than 250 words unless they’re using a nontraditional form, such as a podcast, video, or infographic.

4. Visual appeal matters

Some of my favorite bike trails follow rivers, offering plants, wildlife, and water to delight my eyes.

Visuals—photos and other imagesare important to blog posts, too. They help attract the attention of readers. They also illustrate your points, aiding your readers’ understanding.

Sometimes the visuals of a bike ride and a blog post overlap. I’ve written some blog posts, such as “Focus your blog post or lose your readers,” inspired by bike rides and illustrated by photos taken on those rides.

5. A buddy helps

I almost always bicycle with my husband. We enjoy exploring new areas together. He pushes me to bike farther than I would go on my own. He’s also my mechanic, fixing problems I can’t tackle alone.

A blogger can benefit from two kinds of buddies, in my opinion.

First, a buddy can encourage you, as I described in “How a blogging buddy can help your financial planning or investment blog” and “Blogging buddies: Financial bloggers’ secret weapons.”

Second, a virtual assistant or more technically skilled helper can manage challenges you can’t—or don’t want—to handle, as I described in “9 Ways a Virtual Assistant Can Streamline Your Financial Advisor Blogging” on Michael Kitces’ blog.

6. Sometimes you wipe out

I still remember wiping out my bicycle in the Provincetown dunes on Cape Cod. It was my first time using hand brakes. I was used to a one-speed bike on which I stopped myself by pedaling backwards. That didn’t help me as I gathered speed riding downhill. I gained my last—I hope—skinned knee of my adult years.

As a blogger, you’ll make mistakes. They’ll be less physically painful, but they’ll still sting. For example, one time I scheduled two blog posts on the same day. Other times, I’ve written posts for which I had high hopes, but they failed to attract the attention I desired. However, just as I learned to use my bike’s hand brakes, I’ve become more skillful at blogging. You will, too.

7. Good equipment and precautions help

My bicycling became more enjoyable when I upgraded from a bike with lever gears and dropped handlebars that forced me to hunch over. Now I only ride bikes with dial gears and straight handlebars. It’s so much more comfortable.

My helmet isn’t as comfortable. However, I wear it on every ride for protection.

For your blogging comfort, find a platform, such as WordPress, that’s suited to your level of technical expertise. You may also find my book, Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients, helpful.

For protection, make sure that you follow best practices for website security. If you allow comments on your blog, consider getting help from an anti-spam plugin. I’ve had a good experience with the Anti-spam plug-in, which has replaced Akismet for me.

8. It helps to share the load

A well-prepared cyclist carries a heavy load. It might include a pump, spare tube, a lock, tools, and extra water. It adds up.On bike with backpack

I’m lucky that my husband carries the extras in his backpack. My load is light—just whatever I carry in the bag strapped around my waist.

In blogging, it also helps to share the load with others. That might mean recruiting other people to post on your blog. You might use guest bloggers. Or, you can recruit other members of your firm to participate in a group blog.

Sharing the load with other bloggers eases your burden, assuming that they’re reliable. Just as I’d be disappointed if my husband left his tire repair kit at home, you won’t like it if your fellow contributors let you down. I’ve written about how to keep a group blog going in “How to manage a group blog: Financial advisor edition.” When it works well, it’s wonderful.

For me, the joy of bicycling comes from savoring each experience. I hope you find the same satisfaction with blogging.

Credit sources fairly in your financial blog posts

You want to do the right thing when you find an interesting idea, statistic, or quote that you use on your blog. That means crediting your source. How much information must you provide?

Citation rules for blogs aren’t as clear as for books, where sources such as The Chicago Manual of Style lay out rules. I’ve developed suggestions for you based on my experience, Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes: Your Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content, and other resources.

1. Figure out if you’re entitled to quote the material.

Copyright and the concept of “fair use” govern your rights. The guidelines are murky. One key idea is that if you use the “heart” of the work, you’re in trouble, as explained in the “Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used” on the University of Minnesota’s “Copyright Information and Resources” page.

You’ll find more “fair use” tips and resources in “Legal danger for financial bloggers: Two misconceptions, three resources, one suggestion.” Some sources may have their own guidelines, as discussed in “Are you crediting your OECD data properly?

In another example, Hubspot asks that you limit quotes on your website to “no more than 75 words. This is to prevent duplicate content issues that would impact both our own organic search rankings and the other website’s,” according to Corey Eridon’s “How to Cite Sources & Not Steal People’s Content on the Internet.”

2. Name and link to your source.

At a minimum, you should name the publication or resource that’s the source of your information, whether it’s a blog, newspaper, conference presentation, or something else. Some people minimize the information, saying something like “according to The New York Times.”

I like to go further than that, naming the article and, possibly, the author.

3. Link to the source.

It’s courtesy to link to the source you’re crediting, assuming it’s available online. If your compliance professionals are uneasy about links, then make sure you follow the advice in my next tip.

4. Provide enough information for your readers to find the source on their own.

I’ve struggled with how much information to put in a citation. Then I read the suggestion in Everybody Writes that you should provide “enough information about the author and the work that someone could easily find it if the original link breaks.” Ann Handley made this suggestion in Everybody Writes’ chapter on content curation, “Curate Ethically.” I think it should apply to citations in blog posts in addition to content curation.

Handley also warns readers against linking to other people’s content using nofollow links—links that deprive the author of the linked material of a boost to their search ranking. I agree. It isn’t fair.

Providing enough information might mean giving a link to “Susan Weiner’s post, ‘How a blogging buddy can help your financial planning or investment blog’” instead of “Susan Weiner’s blog.”

Strike the right balance in giving credit to your sources!

A smart, fair strategy will boost your credibility.

 

Disclosure: If you click on the Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I link only to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Writing tip: Make your point like The Wall Street Journal

“Water is hot and diet soda is not.” An introductory sentence like this will stick with the reader of your article, blog post, or investment commentary. It grabbed my attention when I read “Soft Drinks Hit 10th Year of Decline” by Mike Esterl in The Wall Street Journal.

Why this sentence works

This sentence works because it briefly sums up the article. Short sentences are easier for your reader’s brain to absorb.

I also like the rhyming of “hot” and “not.” It makes the sentence more memorable than “Water is trending up, while diet soda declines.”

How to write your short sentence

Writing short, catchy sentences like this is easier said than done. A dollop of inspiration helps.

However, if you’re short on inspiration, try the following techniques to find your sentence:

  1. Walk away from the page. Sometimes letting your piece marinate in your mind for a day or two helps you find inspiration.
  2. Freewrite. Take 15 minutes to write whatever comes into your head as you think about your article topic. Review what you’ve written, looking for a short, catchy summary.
  3. Draw a mind map of your topic. The visual nature of a mind map may help you to develop a fresh perspective on your topic. Don’t know how to create a mind map? I give step-by-step instructions in Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

Once you’ve found your first sentence, look at shortening it and making it punchier. Take the flab out by deleting unnecessary words. Replace Latinate words with simpler words.

More writing lessons from this article

Esterl’s soft drinks article gave me more ideas for your writing. Consider using his overall article structure, which I see as the following:

  1. Lead sentence
  2. Supporting statistics for the lead sentence—water first, soft drinks second—the same order as in the lead sentence
  3. More information about the main point of the article—the decline of soft drinks
  4. Related information that’s less critical to the main point—the rise in water’s popularity

This isn’t the only structure that’ll work. It’s just one option for organizing your article in a reader-friendly way.

By the way, Esterl’s writing abides by the advice I give “Financial writers, lead with your message, not your source.” I hope you’ll do the same.

Have you succeeded in creating catchy lead sentences? Please share your favorite lead sentence in the comments.

Image courtesy of Theeradech Sanin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Work smarter, not harder, on your blog

You’re a busy professional. You don’t have unlimited time to devote to your investment or financial planning blog. However, if you’re blogging without a strategy or plan, you’re wasting time. Advance preparation, as I explain below, will allow you to work smarter, not harder, on your blog.

Step 1. Know your goals.

Do as I say, not as I do, when it comes to blogging. I wasted time on two earlier blogs until I found my focus in helping financial marketing professionals learn to write better.

You’ll achieve better results if you start by identifying your target audience and your topic areas. Both should align with your business focus. For example, if you offer financial planning to divorced women in their fifties or older, don’t write blog posts for millennials about how to start saving in a Roth IRA account.

Step 2. Pick the right blogging frequency

Consistency counts when you blog. Your clients won’t be impressed if you blog twice a day for one month, quarterly for a year, and then sporadically thereafter. They’ll worry that you bring the same lack of commitment to your main business, as I discussed in “Woody Allen’s wisdom for successful financial bloggers.”

Pick a posting frequency that you can stick with. Not sure how often you can post? Create a cache of posts that aren’t time-sensitive before you go public with your blog.

Step 3. Develop a process

When you develop a repeatable process for your blog, you’ll invest less energy in creating each post. This is why my book, Financial Blogging: How To Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients gives you step-by-step instructions for the following topics:

  1. Brainstorming ideas
  2. Organizing your thoughts before you write
  3. Writing your first draft
  4. Making “big picture” edits
  5. Making smaller edits

The book also discusses compliance, marketing, and time management.

After you develop a process that works for you, your blog posts will take shape more quickly and easily.

Step 4. Learn your blogging personality

Different approaches to blogging work best for different people. Pay attention to what works best for you, so you can do more of those things.

For example, some people enjoy writing to a detailed editorial calendar, as I described in “How to manage a group blog: Financial advisor edition.” But that approach would be like torture for me. I need some inspiration to write.

I’ve identified some techniques that work well for me. For example

Don’t force yourself to use techniques you don’t enjoy—especially when better alternatives exist.

Step 5. Get help

You don’t have to do it all yourself. For example, Sheri Iannetta Cupo of Sage Advisory Group, LLC uses the help of Wendy Vissar to create customized images for her blog, as explained in “Boost your blog with original photos: The SAGE Advisory example.” Rick Kahler of Kahler Financial uses an editor. You can use my Financial Blogging book as a source of ideas for how to overcome common challenges for bloggers.

I’m not a big fan of hiring a ghost blogger. You’ll do better by letting your personality shine through in something you’ve written. You can adapt your posts to suit your skills and preferences. For example, you can write very short, opinionated pieces. Or you can create podcasts or videos.

If you’re determined to use content written by others, check out the resources in “Ready-to-use content for financial advisors.”

It’s rare for me to take on ghost-blogging outside of ongoing relationships with larger companies. However, you can hire me to critique one of your blog posts so you can learn to improve future posts.

What are YOUR best tips?

I’d like to see your best tips for working smarter, not harder, on your blog.

Write your lousy first draft!

I’m a big believer in organizing your thoughts before you start writing. However, please don’t wait until your thoughts are perfectly organized to start your first draft. Waiting for perfection means you may never write anything. On the other hand, a lousy first draft can be a great starting point.

A Margaret Atwood quote recently reminded me of the importance of starting to write.

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.

Do what you can to organize your thoughts first. You may write an outline, mull over ideas in your head, or draw a mind map, a technique that I explain in Financial Blogging: How To Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients. Do what you can, but then move on.

The great thing about a draft—even a lousy first draft—is that it gives you material that you can fix. Also, the act of writing helps you to process your information. It’ll give you a better idea of what you’re trying to say.

Once you’ve drafted your piece—whether it’s as short as a tweet or as long as a white paper—you can analyze it. Look first at the big picture, as I describe in ”5 steps for rewriting your investment commentary.” Once you’ve fixed those issues, you can dig into the details.

If editing isn’t your strength, consider hiring an editor, like Sheri Fitts of ShoeFitts Marketing. When Sheri and I spoke on her “Women Rocking Wall Street” podcast, she told me that she sends her drafts to an editor. That’s a great use of outsourcing.

If you can’t afford an editor, ask a colleague, family member, or friend for feedback. Don’t let your desire for perfection stop you from writing. Start your draft today!

 

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How to beat blog burnout

Have you ever felt tired of blogging? Thought about giving up your blog? I have. There was a month when I hated all of my new posts and felt enthusiasm about no potential topics. My energy had been flagging for awhile. I say this because “blog burnout” flashed into my head when I saw this statue on Michelangelo’s tomb in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.Sculpture on Michelangelo's tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce

I pulled myself out of my slump. Perhaps you, too, can beat your blogging blahs with the techniques I share below.

1. Reexamine why you’re blogging

Take a new look at why you’re blogging. If your business has changed, perhaps your blog is no longer worthwhile. Consider dropping it. It felt liberating to considering dropping my blog as part of my goal-setting process.

However, that positive feeling turned to horror, as I considered losing my readers and my chance to express myself on topics about which I feel strongly. My readers and my passion for clear, effective communications are reasons why I continue to blog.

2. Ask if your blog builds your business

Can you see how blogging contributes directly or indirectly to your bottom line? It may be rare for clients to say, “I picked you because of your blog.” However, your blog makes you easier to find online. It also helps prospects to get comfortable with you before you ever meet them. Your blog also helps you connect with and educate  clients, prospects, and referral sources.

These are some of the measures I mulled over as I thought about my blog. I also thought about how my blog feeds my e-newsletter and helps to differentiate my social media feed from that of people who rely on curating other people’s content. My blog leads indirectly to new business. That’s another reason to keep it.

3. Consider ways to ease your burden

If you want to keep your blog, but you’re losing your oomph, consider cutting the time you spend on it. Options include

  • Taking a break or posting less frequently
  • Getting co-workers to contribute, if you work at a multi-person firm—I’ve discussed this in “How to manage a group blog: Financial advisor edition.”
  • Inviting guests to contribute to your blog
  • Republishing old posts, taking the time to update them prior to republication

I’ve enjoyed contributions by my guest bloggers. I’ve also updated and republished one old post, “Seven tips for slogging through blogging: Lessons from the Blogathon.” I may do that again.

4. Find fresh inspiration

You need fresh ideas to regain enthusiasm for your blog. Ironically, getting out of my office is one of the best ways for me to do this, as I’ve explained in “Museums can inspire your blog posts.” As I mentioned above, this post was partly inspired by a visit to Florence, Italy, and partly by searching for lessons in my own struggle.

I look everywhere for inspiration. Sometimes I find it in something as simple as a photograph, as I explained in “Photo + Mind Map = Blog Inspiration.” Other people’s blog posts and books can also inspire. Plus, there are the ideas in my book, Financial Blogging: How To Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

What’s your best tip?

My list of slump-breaking tips isn’t complete. What has worked for you? I’d like to learn.

Blog topics: Break the 3-S rule on your blog

This rule is made to be broken, I thought when I read about the “3-S rule” of Marella Agnelli, wife of Fiat’s Gianni Agnelli in “Marella & Me” in The New York Times Style Magazine (Sept. 28, 2014). According to Marella, you should never discuss in public the three Ss of sogni (dreams), salute (health), or soldi (money).

Discussing dreams is taboo? That surprised me. Regardless of your thoughts about the appropriateness of these topics for face-to-face chitchat with strangers, I think you’ll agree that they’re suitable for discussion with clients—and on your blog.

Here are some blog post ideas for financial advisors that relate to each of the three Ss.

Sogni, dreams

Everybody has dreams for what they’d like to achieve during their lives. If your blog can help people to identify or attain dreams, that’s powerful.

Here are some potential blog topics related to dreams:

  • How I achieved my dream—and you can, too
  • 4 ways to save enough money to travel to your dream destination
  • Identify your ideal occupation following these steps
  • The most powerful technique for creating an ideal retirement

Salute, health

Health is a serious concern for many clients. Even if they’re healthy now, they can expect to spend a big chunk of their retirement savings on health care costs. Here are some potential blog post topics related to health care:

  • How much will you spend on health care in retirement?
  • Estate planning techniques to help a family member with a chronic health condition
  • Why you need a health care proxy now
  • How much disability insurance do you need?

Soldi, money

Money is a big topic, so let’s focus on money taboos.

  • Why you should discuss money with your children
  • 3 reasons to cut your kids out of your will
  • Why you shouldn’t focus solely on saving for retirement
  • 3 great reasons to borrow from your 401(k) plan

Your topic ideas?

If you have great blog post ideas related to the three Ss, please share them.

Financial advisor blogging Q&A: Michael J. Evans

Michael J. Evans of The Cogent Advisor in Chicago is the latest participant in my Q&A series with financial advisors who blog. Advisor Tim Maurer suggested Michael for this series, saying via Twitter, “@CogentAdvisor stands out as a recovering commodities trader serving traders through evidence-based investing.”

I was interested to learn how Michael manages the burden of regular blogging by mixing his own substantive posts with a strategy of highlighting other people’s content with his quick takes on that content. This is a technique more blogging advisors should consider.

If you enjoy this Q&A, check out others in this series, which started with a Q&A with Michael Kitces.

Q. When did you start your blog?

A. The Cogent Advisor Cogent Conversation blog grew out of my monthly e-newsletter. Clients and prospects had mentioned how much they enjoyed the educational information I was sharing in our monthly newsletters, and urged me to write a blog post and share insights more often. My first post was in March 2012.

Q. How has your blog brought you new business or improved your existing client relationships?

A. It’s been an interesting and unfolding experience! I started to blog to further my passion and mission to educate investors in an additional forum. As I started to post ideas targeted to my niche of financial professionals and other high-end professionals, I found I was being contacted by followers from wider circles about a variety of subjects ranging from wealth management to money challenges in their relationships and more. While I appreciate the business connections, I’ve also enjoyed serving as a connector among intelligent and inquisitive people. Some of them have become clients, but all of them help me think and grow as a wealth advisor and a person.

In terms of specific business growth results, I’ve heard many anecdotes from clients who have shared specific posts with others they believed might benefit. I’ve also heard from prospects who have accessed the blog to learn more about me and my firm’s culture. By combining blog posts with related supporting tweets, LinkedIn announcements, and periodic e-newsletter “best of” distributions, our overall social media presence continues to develop as well.

In a report we compiled last year-end, our LinkedIn connections and e-newsletter open rates remained relatively consistent in 2013, but we found our Twitter followers and LinkedIn impressions were up 27.0% and 4.5%, respectively, between Q3 and Q4 2013. It’s admittedly difficult to directly connect specific social media stats with client growth. However, given the blogging benefits described above and the general health of our firm, we’re convinced that our blog plays an important and integral role in our overall business development efforts. Besides, it’s fun!

Q. What blogging techniques or topics have most helped your business?

A. My mission is to educate successful professionals to build durable wealth. Everything in my blog relates to sharing content that my readers can use to enhance the quality of their lives and to Free Their Wealth for Something More®. To be effective and efficient with our mission, we aim to produce one more substantive Cogent-authored post each month (which is then republished in our e-newsletter), and then regularly serve as a “content curator,” by sharing others’ posts along with our brief take on them.

I try not to sell anything on my blog. If I do my job and produce or share others’ ideas that help readers visualize a better future for themselves and their families, I’ve accomplished my goal. I’m convinced that the business development will flow naturally from there as I share my Cogent content.

Q. What are three of your favorite—or most effective—blog posts? Provide the titles, URLs and a comment about why you included them.

  1. As an educator, I love it when I can write a post and elicit a response that creates an “Ah ha!” moment in the reader’s mind. For example, our recent post, “The Triple-Action Power of Donor-Advised Funds,” helps successful individuals consider how a donor-advised fund may enable them to best fulfill their charitable intents. How great that I can reach out to readers and help them advance a cause that matters to them.
  2. I also have teamed up with The BAM Alliance, whose experts share my passion for promoting financial understanding. One of my recent shared posts came from BAM’s Director of Personal Finance Tim Maurer: “Tim Maurer on College Spending: Planning vs. Procrastinating.” Sharing a lucid explanation of an intimidating but important subject like saving for your children’s higher education is just great for me.
  3. A subject vital to a family’s wealth but often overlooked is the critical need to balance one’s investment risks with the related risks a high-end professional may be taking in his or her career. I took on this subject in this post: “From 65 to Zero in 10 Seconds: Managing Your Human Capital Risk” and also as an article in the Spring 2014 Inside Advantage, a trade journal.

Q. What’s your best tip for advisors who blog?

A. Write from the heart, on ideas of relevance to your audience (which assumes you have identified who your audience is)! It enhances the quality of your readers’ lives, positions you as a subject matter expert, and makes the effort more enjoyable and personally rewarding – financially and emotionally.

It’s okay to blog about your company–sometimes

While a business blog should focus on its clients, it’s okay to write about your company sometimes. After all, your clients and prospects want to know that they can trust you. I was reminded of this when reading the “identity content” section of Born to Blog: Building Your Blog for Personal and Business Success One Post at a Time.

“Identity content should explain your company’s values and standards,” write authors Mark W. Schaefer and Stanford A. Smith. Getting concrete, they suggest that you “Use identity content to explain policies that guide your decision-making process. Identify the policies that your customers may encounter and explain the reasoning behind them.” For example, an investment manager might explain her preference for active over passive management. Or, an advisor could go into how he builds a financial plan.

The authors made me wonder if I have enough identity content on my blog. The only post that explicitly addresses my process is “How I ghostwrite your financial white paper.”

On the other hand, my many posts about writing give readers a good sense of the values that drive my writing. You, too, may find that sharing your values in your posts lessens the need to blog specifically about your corporate values.

Is this book for you?

I wanted to love this book, but I couldn’t. I had a hard time finding content that made me say, “Yes, I must do that.”

Perhaps this book is best for the person who’s thinking about starting a blog. It will help you decide whether blogging can work for you. It’ll also give you some ideas about where to start. Established bloggers will have a harder time finding value in this book.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from McGraw-Hill in return for agreeing to write about it. If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers.

If you click on an Amazon link in this post and then buy something, I will receive a small commission. I only link to books in which I find some value for my blog’s readers. – See more at: http://investmentwriting.com/index.php?s=amazon#sthash.D1YjcRwr.dpuf

Blogging question: Can my researcher do interviews?

My blog readers sometimes ask questions that could help you. For example,  a reader asked me about having an assistant help her with research for a blog post.

Can my assistant interview people for my blog posts?

Here’s what my reader asked. I’ve removed information that might identify the questioner.

I’d love your opinion on something. I have a gal helping me with my blog. She will be giving me an outline of points for an article about what they are looking for in a specific service. Then I will complete the writing. My question: Will I be shooting myself in the foot if I ask her to do one or two phone interviews with these folks? Any idea what the etiquette is here? Will they be wanting to hear from me directly if I don’t know them?

My answer: It depends.

Here’s what I said:

It depends how you position her interviews. If you position her as a good researcher who’ll ensure their thoughts are conveyed accurately, that could work.

Actually, I think they may be more concerned about the following issues:

  • How will your blog post benefit them? What are your monthly unique visit statistics or other metrics that reflect your influence? Will you provide links to their websites so they get a little link love? Will your post help them because they can use it to educate people who contact them?
  • Will you give them the opportunity to check that their thoughts are communicated accurately? While journalists don’t do this, it’s not unusual for bloggers to do this.

 Your opinion?

Have you ever had an assistant interview a source for your blog? How did you handle it? Did it work for you?