Skype has become an important tool in the entrepreneur space. It allows us to be able to connect with others who are around the corner or on the other side of the world. Having that face-to-face contact is invaluable, particularly for those of us who work from home. However Skype has more utility for authorpreneurs than just another meeting with a client. You can also use Skype to record an interview for your next book.

There are many reasons why you may want to record an interview when you are writing a book:

1. Background Research: It is not unusual for a health and wellness entrepreneur to seek first-hand resources to back up claims they are making in a book. One of the best ways to do that is to record an interview with an expert. For example, if you are a health coach who works with women who want to balance their hormones, you may want to interview an endocrinologist, a gynecologist, or even other women who are experiencing hormonal imbalance.
2. Transcribe Interviews into a Book: It has become popular for entrepreneurs to do interviews with other successful entrepreneurs, transcribe the interviews, and turn that information into a book. This may be especially attractive to those of you who would rather talk a book out as opposed to writing it from scratch. To get started, simply think of a potential title like Health Coach Success Tips, Secrets of Successful Yogis: How to Create a Profitable Yoga Studio, or 10 Women Entrepreneurs Share their Views on Work/Life Balance. Once you have your book idea, do your research to find out if anyone has written a similar book. If a similar book has been written, ask yourself if you can provide new or different information on the topic or if you need to go back to the drawing board.Then make a list of potential interviewees, contact them, and make a schedule of interviews.
3. Offer Interviews as a Bonus to Your Book: I am currently working on creating an online membership program for women with fibroids. One of the bonuses I have included are 2 interviews I conducted for my second book on the topic. Why do this? I think it gives people a nice, behind the scenes look into what you, as an author, are doing. Think about when you buy your favorite movie on DVD and it includes deleted scenes or interviews with the cast. People love those extra pieces that make them feel closer to you.

If you haven’t already done so, you must first download Skype onto your computer in order to get started. Skype is a free tool that is available for both Mac and Windows users. Once you have downloaded Skype on your laptop, then you can download an additional app that will allow you to record your conversations. There is one tool for Mac users and another tool for PC users.

Mac Users Download Ecamm to Record Skype Interviews

If you are a Mac user, then you simply want to download Ecamm. At the time of writing this blog post, the cost is only one payment of $29.95 — and they do offer a free trial. It’s super easy to use. I use it for my podcast interviews which gives me much higher quality sound than using a free conference call option.

Windows Users Download Pamela to Record Skype Interviews

If you use Windows, then Pamela for Skype is what you want to download. At the time of writing this blog post, the cost is less than $17 — and they do offer a free trial. I am not a Windows user, so I cannot personally attest to how well it works. However I know many other podcasters who use it regularly and say it works well.

Are you using interviews as part of your health book writing or health blogging process? What challenges are you having in your interviews?