Blogger Spotlight: James Preece

Targeted at both men and women, James Preece is a dating coach and expert who provides singles with useful advice on how they can master dating and confidence. Offering ‘how to’ tips on what men and women want from a relationship, and touching on various topics such as ‘how to tell if someone is flirting with you’, James aims to help readers turn their date into a relationship. In this spotlight, James Preece, who recently featured on our top ten relationships and dating blogs with his self-titled website chats to us about working on Briget Jones’s Baby, his experience of collaborating with big brands such as Disney, and being the author of a bestselling book.

Do you find that your blog increases the amount of interest in your Relationship Coaching? Yes, absolutely. People come to me to get useful advice from my relationship blog, but then many go on to book dating coaching sessions with me.

Do you consider social media an important tool in directing traffic toward your blog? It’s not just important – it’s essential! I use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share my posts and content. This brings in lots of new readers and allows companies to hire me for bigger projects.

How do you measure the impact and success of your website? I try and track the traffic that’s coming in so I can monitor trends. I also pay close attention to my keyword rankings too so I know what’s working and what isn’t. I can see how many people are signing up to my mailing list and I’m always changing the offer and wording on this to get better results.

Is there a piece of content you have particularly enjoyed working on for your blog? I recently worked with a PR company as the Dating Coach for the DVD release of “Bridget Jones’s Baby”. Part of this was to write bespoke content for single women over 40. I also ran a competition on my blog for people to win tickets to a special dating seminar. I really enjoyed doing this as it got me lots of exposure and interest in my blog.

How much planning, research and preparation do you need to execute your content marketing plan? This really depends on what I’m working on and how much time I have. I tend to spend a few days a couple of times each month researching keywords and news stories. I’ll then spend a few more days writing content based around this. Finally, I’ll schedule all my content in advance so once it’s all set up I can focus on other things. All it then takes is a little retweeting and reposting every now and again.

What has been your experience with working with PRs and marketers? It’s something I love doing as obviously I get paid well for this! I’ve been lucky enough to be hired by many large companies over the years including Disney, Universal Pictures, Lastminute.com and Ann Summers. It’s mostly fun if you can learn to manage expectations. Be clear about what you are offering and what the return will be, along with realistic timescales. If everything is set out in a contract, then there will be no misunderstandings.

What kinds of PRs or campaigns are you interested in working with in the future? I’m interested in anything that’s within my area of expertise. So this would be relationships, dating, dating apps, confidence, rapport building etc. This can be tied into a wide variety of different campaigns. Guest blogs are useful too if I get paid to write about a product or company. I don’t do free work anymore as I’m so busy, unless it’s to help a charity or support a start-up company who don’t yet have a marketing budget.

How do you keep your content fresh and up to date with current dating trends? I frequently look at what is happening in the dating world. There’s always new apps, sites and products coming out that they I test through my clients. I’m constantly reading and trying to innovate myself, so I’m always one step ahead. I also run regular dating events and dating seminars so I can talk to singles and find out what they are up to and trying themselves.

What has been the highlight of your career in the world of dating and relationship coaching? I won “Highly Commended” Dating Coach of the Year at the end of 2016 for the UK Dating Awards which was a big accomplishment. One of my books “I Will Make You Click” also reached number one on Amazon.com which was amazing. However, I also say that meeting my wife was the highlight as she’s my biggest qualification!