About the Episode:
In today’s episode, we’re talking to Jory MacKay, an award-winning writer, and editor who’s been behind some of best content I’ve ever read for publications like Fast Company, LifeHacker, Business Insider and more.
When I say Jory is one of the most talented writers I’ve ever personally had the pleasure of working with, I could not be more serious.
Over the past couple of years, Jory and I have taken on several content marketing clients together (on the side of our day jobs). He regularly publishes insanely well-written articles for our clients… often in excess of 5,000 words or more—and I help out on the promotion side of things while sourcing new deals for us.
Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Jory originally studied writing and journalism before beginning to work with startups like Crew, Unsplash, RescueTime and more.
In Today’s Episode, We Talk About:
[02:29] How I met Jory.
03:01 When he got interested in writing.
[04:37] How going to journalism school influenced his writing career.
[07:25] Advice for anyone looking to develop their writing skills.
[09:18] How habits play a role for him.
[11:28] How he manages his time.
[14:40] What his creative process looks like.
[17:05] What to focus on when you write long-form content.
19:36 Tools he uses for keyword research.
26:39 His number one piece of advice for anyone looking to build a writing business.
28:44 The best investment he’s made in order to grow his business.
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Interesting and useful info, writing steps for great content!
Thanks for listening, Tibs!
Hey Ryan,
Great podcast, as Jory suggested in the beginning of the interview he suggested to reach out to other people in the space. So in an effort to follow his advice, I thought I would reach out to you. 4 years ago I rented my website, two years ago. I put it online, and….. posted 3-4 post in the past two years, and when I switch from HostGator to Blue host last fall I lost all my post, and even then it was more of a rant than good content. I also was and still am trying to identify my nitch. It takes me about a week to write research, write a draft, and re-read, edit before I post (When I’m not taking classes).
In addition, working a full-time job (in Afghanistan) going to school full time (MBA), I struggle with creating content. I seem very slow, as just typing this message has taken me 30 minutes. Aside from the time, I struggle with limiting self-doubt as I failed English both in High School and College, but I have always wanted to be a good communicator, but I have found I’m okay at doing the Military thing. However, there seems to be an unfulfilled desire that will not go away. I am waiting for the military to send me to broadcast journalism school, and after listening to this podcast, I think my love for business, self-development, and entrepreneurship might be useful to help start-up companies and entrepreneurs better communicate there ideas to investors after completing my MBA.
Anyway, thought I would reach out to you and connect with you. You have SO much content on your site it will take me a while to consume, but until I hear back from you in addition to my readings for class, I plenty of content to consume. Any suggestions on good classes that is a step by step instruction on learning how to go from a blinking cursor to 9-10,000 word past like your 101 Essential Online Business Tools I’ve Used to Start a Profitable Website! Based on my last post that would take me 6 months to produce.
So, here’s to building my network… as suggested.
Jason
Keep up the good work, my man! Seriously, my best advice to you is to just keep reading a lot—and writing even more. The more you can write and just give yourself focused blocks of time to sit down and write without any specific goal or pressure around the deliverable, the more you’ll start to find your own voice and style over time. Don’t force writing about topics you’re not personally interested in either, give yourself the opportunity to explore topics you care about.
I’m happy to help out however I can! Keep in touch, and there are a few courses that might be useful around honing your writing craft in these two articles:
https://www.ryrob.com/online-business-courses/
https://www.ryrob.com/blogging-courses/