Creating Content

March 30, 2020 by James McAllister 4 Comments

7 Lessons I Learned Recording My First Podcast With A Guest

Note: Listen to this post instead using the audio player below, and consider subscribing on your favorite podcast player!

I recently tried out something that I’ve been putting off for months.

Something I made countless excuses to avoid, out of my own personal fears and insecurities – recording an hour long podcast episode, on the spot, without much preparation.

It was incredibly eye-opening, and I learned a lot. Seeing as this was a type of content that I had never really created before, I wasn’t entirely sure how things would pan out.

Podcasting is going to continue to rise in the coming years, and as entrepreneurs I think it’s important that we take advantage of audio content. Because of that, I wanted to share the personal lessons I learned – both to help you get off the ground faster, and avoid some of the mistakes I made during this first recording.

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November 4, 2019 by James McAllister 4 Comments

You Can’t Survive With A Website Alone

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You Can’t Survive With A Website Alone

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The world has changed a lot in the last 10 years.

Technology has evolved, and so has the way that we spend our time. For the majority of people today, the way we spend our day-to-day lives (at least, outside of work) is quite a bit different than they were in the very recent past.

As our daily habits and actions change, so has the way we purchase products and services.

Companies who have been in business for decades or longer are falling left and right, primarily for one core reason:

They fail to adapt with the changing world.

10 years ago, it was possible to make a killing online with only a simple WordPress blog. If your content was good enough, people would take the time to stay updated and read each and every post you published, almost religiously.

If your goal is to achieve massive levels of success online, unfortunately this is no longer possible for most people.

If you want to really form a connection with people, you have to go beyond your own site – publishing content for many platforms, rather than just one.

Let’s look over this a little bit more deeply, and discuss some strategies you can utilize to build a larger, more engaged audience far more easily creating a strategy that will still be relevant throughout the 2020’s.

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November 1, 2019 by James McAllister 4 Comments

How To Be A More Productive Writer – 12 Tips To Improve Writing Speed

Note: Listen to this post instead using the audio player below, and consider subscribing on your favorite podcast player!

How much would your business change if you were able to double or triple the speed in which you write your content?

When it comes down to writing, we all know that quality is what truly matters. Our writing has to be good, or else it won’t retain readers for very long.

At the same time, we all have a limited amount of time each day in order to get things done. When you’re able to write more quickly, you’re literally creating time for yourself – time that can be spent either writing even more content, or focusing on some other area of your business that needs attention.

Whether you’re a blogger, video creator, author, copywriter, or someone else entirely, there are a number of creative writing hacks that can help you to improve your writing speed.

Let’s look over some of my top writing tips to help you write more productively!

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October 22, 2019 by James McAllister 4 Comments

This Long-Term Content Strategy Offers An Unbeatable ROI

Note: Listen to this post instead using the audio player below, and consider subscribing on your favorite podcast player!

When content marketing is done right, it can be one of the most powerful marketing channels available.

Good content marketing can offer a return that far exceeds most other marketing spend, both in the short and the long-term.

Content has the power to drive visibility and awareness to your brand years after its initial publication, and continue making money for you around the clock.

After all, each piece of content can act as an entrance door for your brand, making consumers aware of what you have to offer and naturally moving them closer and closer to a sale.

The potential is insane.

The real power of content marketing however, comes when you can begin utilizing these benefits at scale – releasing more and more content that all works together in a system, each piece building each other up.

By developing a framework that fosters this long-term growth, you ensure that each piece of content that you release continues to build up your brand. Permanently.

In this article, let’s go over how you can create a content marketing strategy that continues to work for you, and build your brand over the long-term. These strategies aren’t specific to any one platform. They’ll work whether you’re utilizing blogging, YouTube, podcasting, social media, something else entirely, or a combination of all of these.

Let’s get to it!

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June 25, 2019 by James McAllister 14 Comments

Don’t Become A ‘Blogger’ – Build A Personal Brand

Note: Listen to this post instead using the audio player below, and consider subscribing on your favorite podcast player!

Is blogging dying?

Is it still worth starting a blog today?

Will blogs soon become a distant thing of the past?

You’d be surprised how often questions like these are asked. As a matter of fact, people have been wondering if we’re approaching the end every single year, without fail. Since blogging first entered the mainstream, people have predicted its demise.

The answer however, is not so clear.

It hinges entirely as what we actually consider to be blogging. In one set of circumstances, a new blogger will never get off the ground. In another, their blog can take them to unimaginable successes.

The difference? How you position yourself in the marketplace.

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May 30, 2016 by James McAllister 9 Comments

Blogging: Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick Two.

How many times have you had someone try to sell you the ‘magic formula’ that would instantly take your blog to massive success?

How many gurus have you landed into that sell the dream, tricking you into believing that online success is as easy as buying their (ridiculously priced) program?

Unfortunately, you can’t have it all.

When it comes down to achieving blogging success, it comes down to this:

You can have it good, you can have it fast, or you can have it cheap – but you can only have two of the three.

This means any way you go about it, you have to make choices, and you have to make sacrifices.

Let’s over each one of these combinations so you can decide which will fit your style the best. [Read more…]

May 16, 2016 by James McAllister 4 Comments

Define What You Truly Want From Blogging

Why are you reading this post right now?

What are you hoping to gain?

Why did you hop on your computer today? What are you doing now that is going to have a lasting impact on your life? Do these actions align with your true goals?

I’ve had a lot of thinking to do in recent lengths about my future. Another company of mine has taken off, and it looks like in terms of profit it’s going to end up doing far better than my blog ever has (which is saying a lot, because James McAllister Online sales have been growing drastically as well.)

So why am I still here?

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April 25, 2016 by James McAllister 9 Comments

Exit Strategies For Bloggers – Work Less, Earn More

It’s nice to think that we’ll all be here blogging away forever, but the sad reality is that this likely won’t be the case.

Priorities and desires change. Life events spring up that require our attention. Perhaps new entrepreneurial opportunities arise, and will become a better use of your time.

No matter how successful we become, we will all only have 24 hours in a day to dedicate towards those things in life that our important to us.

Therefore, I think it’s important to keep an exit strategy in mind for your business – even if you don’t think you’ll ever end up using it.

Bear in mind this doesn’t mean you have to quit completely – you can begin making your exit slowly and gradually, and you never have to go all the way.

However, unless you want to keep working this same amount until you die, you’ve got to prepare for it.

Let’s look over our options. [Read more…]

April 11, 2016 by James McAllister 23 Comments

7 Ways To Stand Out And Become A Memorable Blogger

More than 2 million new blog posts are published each day.

Let me say that again: more than 2 million blog posts are published each day!

2 million. That is more than 83,000 an hour, 1,388 a minute, or 23 every second. That’s a lot of freaking blog posts!

To keep your visitors coming back to your website again and again, it is vital that you are memorable in some way. You need your visitors thinking about you and your blog while they are away, eager to come back and read your next post.

In order to do that, you need to stand out and become memorable in your reader’s minds. While most bloggers blend in with the millions of others out there, it is fortunately not difficult to stand out and become a memorable blogger. Nor it is hard to create a memorable blog. By following these 7 techniques, I assure you that you’ll be on the minds of your readers far more often than you ever have been before. [Read more…]

December 21, 2015 by James McAllister 2 Comments

7 Universal Life Lessons That Blogging Has Taught Me

When you decide to do something big, it has a serious impact on your life. It changes who you are, and the lessons you learn from such a huge experience become invaluable to you.

When I started blogging all of those years ago, I had no idea what I truly had in store for me. I have changed so much as a person, and I have no doubt that I would not be the person I am today if I had never began this journey.

As I’ve taken time to reflect on this year, I’ve realized that there is a lot blogging has taught me about life – very important lessons that are universal to all of us as human beings.

While you read through this list, I want you to really think about the lessons I share with you. Think about how they’ve arose in your lifetime. Tie them to your own unique experiences. We are all different individuals, and some of these will pop out to you more than others. Some will become more apparent in the future.

Understand the significance of these 7 truths, and you will find much more success in both your professional and your personal life. [Read more…]