Writing an article to promote a product or service is often as simple as sitting down and writing a review about what you’re pitching. But in order to give your readers a little different take on things, try writing an interview article.

An interview article is one where you talk to someone about the product or service, ask them questions, and then write the article based on their answers.

One of the big advantages of this type of article is that you don’t have to be an expert on the subject — you just have to find someone who is. In essence, you’re piggy-backing on someone else’s knowledge. For normal article writing I recommend that you stick with subjects about which you have some personal knowledge. Otherwise you’re doing a disservice to your readers by giving them information that’s wrong or very shallow.

The interview article is the exception to that rule — and it opens up so many markets that you might be shut out of otherwise.

You might be thinking it’s hard to find an expert, but you don’t have to go to the top of the pile — if you’re doing articles on golf you don’t have to interview Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. (Of course, if you have the opportunity, go for it!)

Instead, the golf pro at the local course or country club knows more about golf than most people — and someone like that is very approachable. Offer them lunch or a drink and that’s probably all it will take.

Hint: If you take lessons from someone like that they’re MUCH more likely to agree to an interview!

Here’s one of the coolest things about doing an interview article — when you interview someone you’re not going to ask them one question and be done — you’re going to quiz them for as long as you’re able. Which means you’re going to end up with enough raw content for several articles, not just one.

When you do get ready to write the article you’ll have to decide whether to write it as a Q&A (Question and Answer) piece or as a “regular” article. If you don’t do it as a Q&A piece I’d still suggest mentioning the informatiom came from a conversation with John Doe, Golf Pro at the XYZ Club. That will add credibility to the article.

No matter whether you’re interviewing a local dog trainer, an organic gardener, or a competitive martial artist, writing an interview article is a great way to get free traffic in a niche where you’re merely an observer.