MrBallen avoids reading scripts, instead internalizing facts to dramatize subjects' thoughts
John B. Allen (MrBallen) · From Navy SEAL To Viral Content Creator - MrBallen’s Insane Story · Sep 27, 2024 · at 46:45
MrBallen (John B. Allen) breaks down his personal recording process and storytelling approach on My First Million.
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“I have scripts that sit next to me, but, like, as my producer, who's right over here, will attest to, I'm not reading the script. It's a matter of producing a script that I can then, like, become a part of. I will begin espousing what people are thinking or what people could have been thinking or what could have been said in certain situations that I have no way of knowing.”
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More from John B. Allen (MrBallen)
MrBallen argues content creation is a meritocracy where anyone can go viral
“Ultimately content creation is a big meritocracy. You know, ultimately you can create content with no platform, no, no, no, no, nothing. And if you create the right thing at the right time, it's like a lottery ticket and it goes viral.”
MrBallen reached 7 million TikTok followers by posting three times daily
“And so I went into this feverish, like constantly telling stories on TikTok three a day for 30 days, and then was up to like seven million subscribers on TikTok and then shifted to YouTube and.”
MrBallen: CEO Nick Allen handles all operations while John Allen tells stories
“Nick does everything with the exception of telling the stories on camera. I'm like completely out of the loop with virtually everything else. I just, I sit down and tell stories and Nick, Nick is the guy for literally every other question in terms of like grow…”
MrBallen spent 26 hours per video while posting 3-5 times weekly
“It took me about 26 hours, give or take, to make one video in the first six months I was on YouTube, and I was doing anywhere from three to five videos a week.”
MrBallen says remembering his mortality eliminates fear of failure in big opportunities
“Anytime there's an opportunity, no matter how big, no matter how scary, no matter the opportunity to fail, I do actively think about the fact that like, bro, you're going to die. And it's going to happen. And it's going to be matter of fact.”
MrBallen's first viral TikTok video gained over 5 million views in hours
“And on a whim, I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna shoot a quick video, the 62nd, talk about the Dyatlov Pass. And so I film it in my hotel room and I leave my phone in the room because we're going down to the water park and I didn't have a way to waterp…”