Exclusive Interview with James McAllister: How he runs 3 rapidly growing Companies

Hello guys, I welcome you to this week’s interview (The second interview this week). Today I would be interviewing an internet expert that runs 3 companies with his 9 years experience.

You want to know how he did it?

Let’s welcome James.

10 Interview Questions for James McAllister

Can you tell our readers about yourself and your blog?

Hello! My name is James McAllister, I have been running online businesses for 9 years now. Today, I run 3 rapidly-growing companies – two eCommerce brands, and my personal brand at JamesMcAllisterOnline.com, where I teach entrepreneurs how to build more money in their businesses, and find more fulfillment in their lives.

I accomplish this by sharing practical, actionable strategies that are proven to actually generate results, rather than only discussing theory. Through growing multiple companies to millions of dollars in sales, as well as coaching business owners in many different industries, I’ve gained a lot of insight into what works today, and what doesn’t.

I’m always excited to share my lessons through my blog, YouTube channel, and courses!

What do you think is the best strategy that worked well for you to get more traffic to your blog?

Repurposing. I aim for extensive distributions of all of my content. For the majority of blog articles I publish, I also repurpose it for video.

The audio from that video is stripped out and becomes available on all of the major podcast platforms. Key points are made into graphics or my ‘tip of the day’ posts that I share on social media. Every platform I publish on funnels people towards the others – leading to a larger and more engaged audience.

What was the most challenging moment in your blogging journey so far?

My most challenging moment came in 2016 when I lost all motivation to continue running my company. I had been taking care of a child that I had loved more than life itself and had desperately wanted to adopt. Sadly, it did not work out, and eventually she had to live somewhere else, where I could no longer see her.

It was by far the hardest thing I had ever gone through. I was in such a dark place, I feel fortunate to still be alive because I really did not think that I’d make it through. I was making a full-time living blogging at that point, but I no longer cared about anything.

My goals did not matter to me anymore. It took a long time before I was able to move forward again.

What are your best blogging tools?

My favorite tools are…

Hootsuite – for publishing on Twitter / Facebook.
Tailwind – for publishing on Instagram / Pinterest.
SEMRush – for keyword research and general SEO.
GetResponse – for email marketing.

A full list of tools I use to run my business can be found here.

Can you name some of your favorite bloggers and explain why they are your favorites?

I can’t really say that I have a single ‘favorite’ blogger. I like to believe that I have the potential to learn something from every person that I meet. I don’t think that there’s a single blogger that does everything right, including myself.

Instead, I like to ask myself some questions – what are this blogger’s key strengths and weaknesses? What experiences have they had that I haven’t? What are they better at than I am, and vice-versa? How can we work together to add value to the both of us?

This is why networking with other bloggers is so important, and you should look for opportunities to collaborate, rather than try and compete.
If I were to list out every blogger that I consider a favorite in some area, the list would become quite long!

How much time do you spend blogging?

I spend only 3 or so hours a week actually writing articles for my website. The rest of my time goes into business development, the creation of new productions, and marketing.

Depending on how much free time I have, this can range from 20 to 100 hours a week. My eCommerce companies are prioritized at the moment as I have a large team that depends on my presence – however, my personal brand is my passion, and I try to devote every spare moment I have to it.

Is blogging your profession or just a hobby?

Blogging is definitely my profession rather than a hobby – even my eCommerce brands generate a large portion of their sales through blogging.

What is the best advice you can give to someone starting a blog today?

Blogging must be treated as a business if you want to make money with it. This means that there needs to be a demand for the content you produce, and there need to be opportunities for money to be transacted somewhere.

Develop a solid plan for what content you’re going to produce, how you’re going to acquire traffic, and how it will ultimately lead to monetization.

What Link building strategy as worked well for you?

Networking. By making real, genuine connections with other marketers in your niche, you’ll find yourself receiving a stream of natural, high-quality backlinks – without ever asking for them.
Give value to other bloggers, and they will naturally reciprocate.

Which of your blog posts would you recommend for our readers (max 3)?

The following are essential articles that I feel every blogger could benefit from:

1. You Wouldn’t Believe How Blogging Has Transformed My Life
2. Don’t Become A ‘Blogger’ – Build A Personal Brand
3. Build Your Brand’s First 10,000 Fans With These Free Strategies

Bonus Question:

What is the first thing you would tell someone starting a Blog today?

Understand what you’re getting into, and be realistic about it. Most people don’t make money straight away, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re doing anything wrong. With content-based businesses, income tends to grow exponentially. In the beginning, you’ll be doing the most amount of work for the least amount of reward.

Stick with it, and keep learning in the process. Find a few experts that you really like, and go deep on their content. And remember to have fun! It’s far better to build a business you love slowly than to make a lot of money in a business you hate.

What do you think about our blog?

I like the blog here so far, and I look forward to seeing it grow. I think there’s a lot of potentials for it to blossom into something even more significant in the near future, and I’m excited to see it develop further!

Conclusion

We all need to thank James, he left no stone unturned. I was really impressed by how he managed to run 3 companies successfully.

Remember the first commandment? Take blogging like a business, and it would profit you like one.

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FOLAJOMI BALLO

I am a Digital Marketer, Blog Analyst. I help new Bloggers with powerful tips to grow their Blog Fast.

Read About me or Contact Me

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