Learning Thru Peer Interviews

03/17/2005

Diva's, don't know about you, but when I tossed the tassGraduation_cap_1el on my graduation cap thoughts were school was over. Remember this childhood tune? No more classes. No more books No more teachers dirty looks.

On to the "real world!" Had not a clue that I was entering the "real school" of life-long learning.  About myself and what I enjoy sure. Also about keeping current with the newest strategies and trends in my profession. And that it would be an exciting part of my life!

Did you know that peer-to-peer interaction is one of the most powerful ways adults learn? We attend workshops, web seminars and now listen to podcasts. We're hungry for ideas that engage us and nudge our thinking in different directions. Authentic learning fuels our creativity and our enhances our imaginations.

We learn through the experiences and stories of our peers. Interviews are a wonderful format for this type of learning. By understanding how others handled situations we gain ideas and confidence that we can do it too. There are several talented bloggers who are providing valuable learning experiences for us marketers via their interview series.

I was honored this week to be part of Yvonne DiVita's, Lip-sticking, smart interviews. Yvonne's interviews have a sense of friends chatting over a cup of coffee or perhaps since today is St. Paddy's Day a Blarney Stone Sour might be in order! However, don't be fooled by the gracious tone, Yvonne's questions cut to the chase and provide important insights and often a few surprises about her guests too.

Jeffrey Hill, Voice of the Blog, has an wonderful series of interviews with small business owners. His blog is design to support his MBA dissertation on the attitudes and perceptions of small business bloggers with regard to the effectiveness of blogs as a marketing medium.

Of course, Anita Campbell's, Small Business Trends, interviews with small business owners has become a classic in the blogosphere.

Diva and divos I encourage you to tap into some of these excellent resources where you can stretch your thinking and perhaps borrow an idea or two that will take your brand or your business to the next level.

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Comments

Interviews are becoming a valuable way to not only get to 'know' the bloggers out there, but to learn about marketing, sales, management, and more. Interviews give folks insight into different mindsets...with each one, on all sorts of different blogs...we learn something new, something interesting, and get advice that usually comes with a pricetag! Thanks for joining the Smart Women Online today, Toby. It was fun and informative...and the green beer was especially tasty! :-)

Posted by: Yvonne DiVita on Mar 17, 2005 3:55:37 PM

It's a great way to learn, because Blogging is so new, it hasn't been institutionalized yet. Thank goodness.

Posted by: Alex on Mar 17, 2005 10:26:07 PM

Interviews with bloggers and other knowledgeable people helps everyone in so many ways. We all learn from one another by sharing what we know, and helping others by providing valuable information and ideas.

By working together, everyone wins.

Interviews are one of those winning ideas.

Posted by: Wayne Hurlbert on Mar 19, 2005 7:43:26 PM

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