The Food Blogger Pro Podcast
Welcome to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast, hosted by Bjork Ostrom from Pinch of Yum! Our goal is to help you create a beautiful, functional, and profitable blog. We interview successful food bloggers and industry experts in an effort to surface strategies that can help you more efficiently grow and monetize your site. You'll learn about recipe SEO, food photography, plugins, monetization, traffic, and more. New episodes every Tuesday! Learn more at foodbloggerpro.com/podcast
Tue, April 08, 2025
Diversifying Income Series: Membership Sites with Adam Sobel
Generating recurring revenue through membership sites, the power of community, and how to scale your business with multiple income streams. ----- Welcome to episode 513 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adam Sobel. Diversifying Income Series: Membership Sites with Adam Sobel In this week’s episode, Adam Sobel of Cinnamon Snail shares his journey from owning a restaurant to launching successful online cooking classes after the pandemic. He reveals how building a loyal community was key to his growth, along with using content marketing, lead magnets, and split testing to attract and convert customers. Adam also dives into how paid ads and staying adaptable in the digital world have been essential to his success. It doesn’t stop there! Adam will also talk about scaling his business with multiple income streams, including membership programs and free offers, while automating key processes to generate steady revenue. Tune in for actionable insights on growing your business in today’s digital age! Three episode takeaways: From Restaurant to Online Success: After the pandemic hit, Adam made a big shift from owning a restaurant to teaching cooking classes online. He quickly realized that building a strong community and customer loyalty was key to his growth. Smart Digital Strategies: Content marketing, lead magnets, and split testing became game-changers for Adam. He also dives into how paid ads and constantly adapting to the digital world have been crucial for attracting and converting customers. Scaling with Multiple Income Streams: By offering membership programs and leveraging free offers, Adam’s been able to create a steady stream of revenue. Automation has also helped simplify his business, making it easier to generate income while focusing on what matters most. Resources: Cinnamon Snail Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Kit SamCart ClickFunnels ThriveCart The Ad Lab Method course by Josh Coffy The Ecommerce Alley podcast Facebook’s Advantage+ shopping campaigns Gillian Perkins’s podcast: Work Less, Earn More Russell Brunson’s podcast, The Russell Brunson Show Mighty Networks Circle Follow Adam on <a hr
Tue, April 01, 2025
How to Balance Creativity and Consistency in Blogging
Balancing creativity and consistency, maximizing productivity, and navigating food trends with RIz Asad from Chocolates and Chai. ----- Welcome to episode 512 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rizwan Asad from Chocolates and Chai. How to Balance Creativity and Consistency in Blogging This week, we’re chatting with Riz from Chocolates and Chai, who shares some amazing insights on balancing creativity with monetization. It can feel like a compromise when you’re trying to make money from your blog, but Riz breaks down how ad revenue, affiliate marketing, and licensing can actually work together with your content without sacrificing quality! Riz also drops some valuable tips on staying efficient and consistent in your content creation. You’ll also hear him talk about how jumping on popular topics, like viral TikTok recipes, can really up your visibility and engagement. Lastly, we dive into the importance of finding your niche — understanding who your audience is and carving out a space that’s uniquely yours is the key to long-term success while staying true to your creative passion. You won’t want to miss this episode! Three episode takeaways: Balancing Creativity and Consistency: Finding the sweet spot between staying true to your creative vision and consistently putting out content is essential for long-term success. Building trust with your audience while keeping things fresh and true to your style is key here! Maximizing Productivity: If you’re juggling a full-time job or managing the pressures of blogging, Riz has been there and says that batching tasks and minimizing distractions can significantly boost your efficiency. Staying organized will help you keep the content flowing without burning out! Navigating Trends and Monetization: Keeping an eye on trends, like those on TikTok, can help boost your content’s visibility. And while monetizing a blog can feel tricky or like you’re compromising your creativity, finding a balance that allows you to make money while staying true to what you love doing is possible. Resources: Riz’s food blog, Chocolates and Chai How to Read a Recipe Post from Chocolates and Chai EOS — Entrepreneurial Operating System Dubai Chocolate Bar from Chocolates and Chai Fluffy Chocolate Pancakes from Chocolates and Chai Google Year in Search 2023 Instagram Reel Google Year in Sea
Tue, March 25, 2025
The Cost of Content and Why Carla Lalli Music left YouTube
Finding success as a personal brand, balancing creative work with financial sustainability, and leaving YouTube for Substack with Carla Lalli Music. ----- Welcome to episode 511 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Carla Lalli Music. The Cost of Content and Why Carla Lalli Music left YouTube Carla Lalli Music has been a fixture of food media for the last 15 years, including six years as the Food Director of Bon Appetit. You might also know Carla from her incredibly popular YouTube series, Carla’s Cooking Show, her two cookbooks (with a third one in the works!), or her Substack newsletter, Food Processing. In this interview, Carla dives into her recent viral Substack post about her decision to leave YouTube, including her transparent breakdown of the costs of creating content on YouTube (spoiler alert: she was losing money). Carla also explains more about why she doesn’t create recipes for SEO and how she uses connection with her audience as her north star when making business decisions. Three episode takeaways: How to find success as a personal brand — Carla has created a business rooted in her personal brand and exceptional and reliable recipes rather than focusing on SEO. She prioritizes authentic connection with her audience, entertainment value, and community over crafting content purely for algorithmic success, a strategy that she is hopeful will help her recipes and content stand out in the age of AI. The challenges of balancing creative work with financial sustainability — Despite the joy she (initially) found when making YouTube videos for her channel and a team she loved collaborating with, the financial reality of her video production costs ($3500 per video) and the declining and limited revenue from Google ads led Carla to reevaluate her place on the platform. In addition, the tight production schedule required to produce four high-quality recipe videos a month left Carla with little bandwidth to create content for Substack or her upcoming cookbook. How to recognize when something is no longer serving you or your business — After producing 177 full-length episodes for Carla’s Cooking Show, Carla’s decision to step away from YouTube was ultimately a choice based on finances, psychological toll, limited bandwidth, and diminishing returns. Carla and Bjork discuss the sustainability of content creation on platforms like YouTube and how creators have to analyze what is moving the needle in their business and, ultimately, what kind of creator they want to be. Resources: Carla Lalli Music Food Processing Bon Appetit Omega <a href= "https://carlalallimusic.substack.com/p/the-true-costs
Tue, March 18, 2025
Publishing a Fan Cookbook for A Court of Thorns and Roses with Chelsea Cole
Reinventing your brand, transitioning from self-publishing to traditional publishing, and developing a cookbook for a fan base with Chelsea Cole from A Duck's Oven. ----- Welcome to episode 510 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we are welcoming back Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven. Publishing a Fan Cookbook for A Court of Thorns and Roses This is Chelsea’s third (!!!) appearance on the podcast and we’re thrilled to have her back. In her previous two interviews, she has shared her wisdom on self-publishing and creating content within her sous-vide niche. But today she is back on the podcast with a bit of a 180 — to discuss her first traditionally published cookbook in a totally different niche — a fan cookbook for the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. In this interview, Bjork and Chelsea discuss cookbook publishing and how it can be a part of your overall business strategy. Chelsea also shares how she chose the subject matter for her new cookbook and what it was like to write and develop a cookbook for a (very devoted) fan base, all while giving birth to and raising her first child! Chelsea also explains more about the royalty structure for cookbooks, how cookbooks can be a source of passive income for food creators, and how she is thinking about her current reinvention as a food creator. Three episode takeaways: How to negotiate your cookbook contract — Chelsea is no stranger to publishing cookbooks, but this was her first go-around in the traditional publishing space. She worked with a great agent and has lots of insights into how to negotiate your payments as an author (including negotiating the photography, the advance, the royalty structure, etc.). How to approach testing new ideas with your audience — Before the launch of A Feast of Thorns and Roses, Chelsea shared recipes in a specific, small niche (sous vide). In this interview, she shares how she approached this new venture with her audience, how it has reignited her love for recipe development, and how to use your audience when exploring new types of content. The pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing — Chelsea has literally written a course on self-publishing and knows the process backward and forward. She shares the advantages and disadvantages of each (speed, control, marketing, etc.) and provides insider knowledge to both sides of the publishing world for those looking to make a similar decision. Resources: A Duck’s Oven A Feast of Thorns and Roses: The Unofficial Cookbook of a Court of Thorns and Roses 187: How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook wi
Tue, March 11, 2025
Creating Reader-First Content and Growing to 800,000 Monthly Page Views with Elena Davis
Prioritizing providing authentic value to your readers, updating old content, and choosing the right marketing channels for your content with Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena. ----- Welcome to episode 509 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena. Creating Reader-First Content and Growing to 800,000 Monthly Page Views with Elena Davis We are so excited to welcome back Elena Davis to the podcast this week. When we first chatted with Elena in 2022, she had just hit 100,000 page views and qualified for Mediavine. Three years later, Elena’s site, Cucina by Elena, gets over 800,000 monthly page views! But her journey to get there has not been without it’s challenges. In this interview, Elena catches us up on the last few years of her business — including a major traffic decline in 2023 (and how she recovered from it) and how her mindset around her business, and the value she provides to her community, has changed. Three episode takeaways: The importance of updating content — After hitting a traffic plateau in September 2023, Elena realized that some of her older content wasn’t serving her audience (or Google!) anymore. Instead of leaving it stagnant, she began steadily auditing her old blog posts. Elena speaks to the importance of continually evaluating the value of your content and knowing when to take action to improve your site. Her approach was key to her traffic growth and helped her bounce back better than before. How to choose the right marketing channels for your food blog — When it comes to marketing, knowing which channels work for your brand is everything. Elena relies on email marketing, Pinterest, and Instagram (especially Reels) to drive traffic, engage her audience, and build brand loyalty. Prioritizing providing value to your readers — Elena has a really wonderful perspective on creating content that serves your readers above all else. She shares more about how she guides readers through her blog, how she helps them achieve their goals, and how that mindset has changed her business. Resources: Cucina by Elena 372: How Elena Davis Went From 20k to 100k+ Monthly Pageviews and Got Accepted Into Mediavine TopHatRank Clariti Traditional Panettone Recipe Kit Manychat Grocer’s List Pinch of Yum Simply Recipes </
Tue, March 04, 2025
How Britney-Brown Chamberlain Grew Her Food Blog to a $20K/month Business
Understanding active passive income, creating authentic content, and navigating brand partnerships with Britney-Brown Chamberlain from Britney Breaks Bread. ----- Welcome to episode 508 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Britney Brown-Chamberlain from Britney Breaks Bread . How Britney-Brown Chamberlain Grew Her Food Blog to a $20K/month Business This week’s podcast features Britney Brown-Chamberlain of Britney Breaks Bread, who shares her inspiring journey from a $200/month blog to a $20,000/month business. Britney discusses the strategic approach to “active passive income,” offering practical advice on SEO, trend analysis, and maximizing online revenue. Britney also dives into the power of authenticity and how it plays a huge role in building a loyal following. She shares her social media strategies, how she balances creating content she loves with what her audience craves, and the importance of high-quality content that reflects her unique style. Plus, she goes beyond blogging and talk cookbooks (yep, she wrote one!), brand partnerships, and the difference between marketing content vs. a physical product. Be sure to tune in to learn more about how to take your blog to the next level! Three episode takeaways: How Britney Went From $200 to $20k: Britney shares her journey from a $200/month side project to a $20,000/month business, highlighting the importance of strategic planning and execution. She discusses the concept of “active passive income” and how it has fueled her success, along with practical tips for SEO, keyword research, and capitalizing on seasonal trends. The Power of Authenticity: Britney emphasizes the critical role of authentic content creation in building a loyal audience. She also explores the importance of social media marketing, email list building, and fostering genuine engagement to expand reach and cultivate a thriving community. Going Beyond the Blog: Beyond blogging, Britney discusses her experiences with writing a cookbook, navigating brand partnerships, and the nuances of product versus content marketing. She’ll also dive into the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Resources: Britney Breaks Bread Sweet Tea and Thyme Media Wyse Top Hat Rank Episode 360 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: How Eden Westbrook Shifted Her Mindset and Became a Full-Time Food Blogger Interview with Eden and Arson 11:10 Febr
Tue, February 25, 2025
Key Strategies for Taking Your Blog Full-Time with Alexandra Shytsman from The New Baguette
Building a full-time business as a food creator over the course of eight years, understanding your 'why,' and meeting your goals with Alexandra Shytsman from The New Baguette. ----- Welcome to episode 507 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alexandra Shytsman from The New Baguette. Key Strategies for Taking Your Blog Full-Time In this podcast episode, Alexandra shares the ins and outs of becoming a full-time food creator and her reflections on what she would have done differently to meet her goals more quickly if she had the chance to start over. Alexandra breaks down the strategies and decisions that have moved the needle over the years — from projecting expenses and investing in courses or audits to building a community of fellow food creators and batching your time. It’s a really practical and inspiring episode for beginner food bloggers looking to take your food blog to the next level! Three episode takeaways: Understanding your “why” — Alexandra speaks to the importance of defining your “why” as an entrepreneur to help provide clarity and direction for your business and to ensure that your time and efforts align with your core goals. Surround yourself with a supportive community — As a Ukrainian immigrant, Alexandra has had to navigate the challenge of pursuing a career path that breaks the mold of the more “traditional” jobs that her family might have chosen for her. She stresses the importance of having a supportive network of fellow food creators who understand the unique challenges of building a business in this space. How to overcome the fear of taking your food blog full-time — Alexandra reflects on the early years of her career as a food creator and what she would do differently now. She breaks down how she knew when she was ready to reduce her freelance work and commit to her site full-time and shares the advice she would give to beginner food bloggers waiting to make the leap. Resources: The New Baguette Mediavine QuickBooks Monarch Start with why – Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound 390: Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator with Karishma Pradhan Home Cooking Collective Curbly Notion Media Wyse Cooking with Keywords <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/podcast/fbp-re
Tue, February 18, 2025
How to Grow Your Audience as a Food Creator on Reddit
Understanding Reddit's community dynamics, Reddit posting strategies, and how to maintain a work-life balance with Jacqueline Schell. ----- Welcome to episode 506 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jacqueline Schell from Crafty Cookbook . How to Grow Your Audience as a Food Creator on Reddit In this episode, Jacqueline Schell from Crafty Cookbook talks all about how to navigate the world of content creation on Reddit and how to connect with like-minded people by engaging with established communities. Jacqueline also shares why authenticity is essential (Redditors are all about genuine content!), but balancing that with strategic posting can help boost your visibility. And if you struggle with time management at all, we’ve got you covered — Jacqueline will talk about how conducting time audits, setting aside dedicated time for side projects, and using mobile tools can keep you productive without burning out. Whether you’re posting on Reddit or balancing a busy content creation schedule, Jacqueline’s advice will help you stay on track and organized! Don’t miss out on this episode for practical tips on growing your online presence and keeping your workflow efficient. ✨ Three episode takeaways: Reddit’s Unique Community Dynamics: Reddit offers a unique space for content creation, but understanding Subreddit rules, community norms, and moderator roles is key. Engaging with established communities can give you valuable feedback and help grow your presence. Authenticity & Strategy Matter: Redditors appreciate personal, authentic posts, so focus on being genuine with your content. At the same time, keep in mind that strategic posting can boost visibility, and securing a subreddit name can be a smart branding move. Maintaing a Work-Life Balance as a Content Creator: Time management is crucial for content creators. Conducting time audits, scheduling side projects, and utilizing mobile tools can help you stay productive and maintain a work-life balance. Resources: Jacqueline’s blog, Crafty Cookbook Reddit The r/food subreddit The r/JapaneseFood subreddit, which Jacqueline helps moderate! The r/sushi subreddit, which Jacqueline also helps moderate! The r/soup subreddit Clariti The r/smoking subreddit The r/BBQ subreddit Harvest time tra
Tue, February 11, 2025
Maximizing Affiliate Revenue with Deep Linking
Using deep links, understanding your audience's behavior, and tracking links with Scott Allan from URLgenius. ----- Welcome to episode 505 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Scott Allan from URLgenius . Maximizing Affiliate Revenue with Deep Linking Ever wondered how to squeeze every last drop of revenue from your affiliate links? In this week’s episode, Scott Allan from URLgenius reveals how deep linking can boost affiliate sales by preventing commission losses, especially on mobile and social platforms like TikTok. It’s a game-changer for driving conversions and preventing missed opportunities. Scott also discusses the importance of understanding your audience’s app behavior to tailor your affiliate strategy, plus the power of testing and tracking links to optimize revenue. Tools like URLgenius make it easy to track, test, and tweak your links for better results — small adjustments can lead to big boosts in income! Don’t miss this episode packed with actionable tips! Three episode takeaways: Deep Linking is a Game Changer for Affiliate Sales: Using deep links in your content (especially on mobile and social media) can boost conversions and prevent lost affiliate commissions. This is key for ensuring you’re not missing out on sales, especially when users are on apps like TikTok or mobile shopping platforms. Understanding Your Audience & Their App Behavior is Crucial: Knowing how your audience shops — whether they’re on mobile or desktop, and what apps they use — can help you tailor your affiliate strategy. Influencers and creators, especially, need to be aware of app usage to maximize sales and engagement. Testing and Tracking Links to Optimize Revenue: Regularly testing different link strategies and using tools like URLgenius to track and optimize your affiliate links can help you understand what works and adjust for better results. Small tweaks can lead to bigger revenue boosts! Resources: Submit your questions for Bjork for an upcoming podcast episode here ! URLgenius Amazon Associates Program Walmart Target Linktree TikTok Shop Email URLgenius and let them know you’re coming from the Food Blogger Pro podcast for an extended free trial! Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group <
Tue, February 04, 2025
From 1K to 250K: The Instagram Growth Strategy That Transformed Joy to the Food
Using data to navigate helpful content updates and drive social media success and taking your blog full-time with Mika Kinney from Joy to the Food. ----- Welcome to episode 504 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mika Kinney from Joy to the Food. From 1K to 250K: The Instagram Growth Strategy That Transformed Joy to the Food Mika and her husband Dan launched their food blog, Joy to the Food, in 2021 with the goal of building a successful brand and business. Just a few years later, Mika has left her full-time job as a civil engineer, they’ve qualified for Raptive, and their Instagram following has soared to over 250,000. In this interview, Mika reveals the exact strategies that fueled her rapid growth—from 1,000 to 250,000 followers on Instagram in just one year. She also shares how they’ve weathered the recent Helpful Content Updates and come out stronger, plus how she leverages analytics to drive key decisions. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone eager to supercharge their social media strategy in 2025 or seeking affirmation that they, too, can transform their food blog into a full-time career with the right approach. Three episode takeaways: The importance of diving into analytics — Mika’s engineering background is evident in her Instagram and SEO strategies. She explains her process for navigating Instagram analytics and how she uses the data to drive content decisions (including niching down to protein recipes with protein powder) and to predict which types of content will achieve certain business goals. How to go from 1,000 to 250,000 Instagram followers in one year — Mika walks listeners through her Instagram strategy, including the importance of consistent daily posts and her strategy for posting Reels that fall into four “buckets” — for reach, for growing an audience, for existing followers, and for outbound clicks/sales. Mika highlights key elements like trending audio, video duration, text overlays, and optimized captions with keywords. How to recover from Helpful Content Updates – After the September 2023 HCU caused a steep drop in page views for Joy to the Food (from 80,000 to 3,000!), Mika and Dan turned things around by doubling down on high-quality, niched-down content. They focused on site improvements, refined keyword research, and stayed adaptable, ultimately recovering and growing beyond their previous traffic levels. Resources: Joy to the Food RankIQ ManyChat Grocers List Joy to the Food High Protein Meal Plans Substack Follow Mika on <a href= "htt
Tue, January 28, 2025
Finance Mini-Series: Smart Money Habits for Bloggers with Ansley Beutler
Treating your blog like a business, choosing a business structure, and growing your income with Ansley Beutler ----- Welcome to episode 503 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ansley Beutler from Peach Perfect Financials — this is the fourth and final episode of our finance mini-series! Finance Mini-Series: Smart Money Habits for Bloggers with Ansley Beutler In this episode, Ansley spills the tea on all things finances – from the nitty-gritty of bookkeeping and taxes to smart ways to grow your income. She’ll talk about why it’s crucial to treat your blog like a real business, how to keep track of all your expenses, and some common money mistakes bloggers make. She’ll also chat through some awesome tax deductions you might not know about (ahem, business meals), the pros and cons of different business structures, and how to invest your hard-earned cash. This episode is packed with financial wisdom that every blogger needs to hear, so you won’t want to miss this one! Three episode takeaways: Smart Financial Management is Key for Bloggers: From understanding expenses (like groceries for recipe testing) to separating personal and business finances, keeping your books in check is crucial. Regular bookkeeping helps prevent tax time stress and makes things easier down the road. Don’t Get Discouraged: Building a successful blog takes time. Don’t get discouraged if you’re not raking in the cash immediately. Focus on creating great content and building your audience and things will start to pick up! Diversify Your Income Streams: Affiliate marketing is booming! Consider exploring different ways to make money, like selling your own products or offering online courses. Diversifying your income streams will make your business more stable and less reliant on any one source. Resources: Peach Perfect Financials Follow Peach Perfect Financials on Instagram QuickBooks FreshBooks Amazon Associates Program American Deposit Management Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Siftr and Clariti . Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started <a href= "htt
Thu, January 23, 2025
Finance Mini-Series: How to Become a Sponsor Magnet with Justin Moore
Navigating brand partnerships, tips and tricks for negotiating collaborations, and understanding your worth with Justin Moore. ----- Welcome to episode 502 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Justin Moore from Creator Wizard . How to Become a Sponsor Magnet with Justin Moore In this episode, Justin dives deep into the world of brand partnerships and shares his proven approach to securing long-term sponsorships. He walks us through his Sponsorship Wheel framework, which helps creators craft customized proposals that align with brand goals and foster genuine, lasting relationships. It’s not just about pitching for a quick deal — the name of the game here is creating a foundation for ongoing collaboration that benefits both parties. Justin also stresses that negotiation should feel like a conversation, not a one-sided transaction. Understanding what both you and the brand are looking for and being flexible with pricing can pave the way for new opportunities! He highlights the importance of knowing your worth, crafting a standout media kit, and getting creative with your pitch to secure better deals. By mastering these skills, creators can turn sponsorships into a steady revenue stream while building strong, meaningful brand connections. Three episode takeaways: Optimizing Brand Partnerships: Justin’s journey into sponsorships shows the importance of building genuine relationships with brands. His ‘Sponsorship Wheel’ framework helps creators customize proposals, align with brand goals, and ultimately drive long-term collaborations. Negotiation is a Conversation, Not a Transaction : Effective negotiations go beyond price — it’s about understanding each other’s goals. Tailoring your pitch based on a brand’s needs and being flexible with pricing can unlock new opportunities. Know Your Worth and Be Creative: Creators often undervalue themselves, but a strong media kit, clear communication, and creative packaging can help you stand out. With the right approach, you can secure better deals and leverage sponsorships for ongoing revenue. Resources: Creator Wizard Justin’s new book, The Sponsor Magnet The Green Industry podcast hosted by Paul Jamison Follow Creator Wizard on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by <a href= "https://cookiefinance.co/
Tue, January 21, 2025
From Side Hustle to Full-Time Food Blogger with Amina Al-Saigh
Monetizing a food blog, building a brand, and implementing systems and strategies with Amina Al-Saigh from Hungry Paprikas. ----- Welcome to episode 501 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Amina Al-Saigh from Hungry Paprikas, where she shares recipes from across the Middle East with an authentic Arab voice. From Side Hustle to Full-Time Food Blogger In this interview, Amina shares her journey from starting out as a food content creator on Instagram while working full-time as an engineer to today as a full-time food creator with a brand new cookbook (Souk To Table). Amina explains how she balanced her food blog with her full-time job in the early days, the importance of her niche in attracting brand partnerships, and the qualities that made her a desirable partner for brands, even when she had a small following. Bjork and Amina also chat about the strategy of incremental stacking when adding tasks and processes to your workload and how workflow changes when you take your food blog from side hustle to full-time. This is a really inspiring interview for anyone, but especially those currently balancing a food blog with a full-time job. Three episode takeaways: Growing and monetizing on Instagram versus a blog — Amina shares when and why she decided to start her website in addition to her Instagram (which now has almost 200,000 followers) and how she qualified for Mediavine within a year. She also explains what it was like to start monetizing her site with ads, and how it compared to when she first started making money from brand partenrships with her Instagram account. Incorporating systems and processes into your business — Before becoming a full-time food blogger, Amina worked as an engineer. And her background as an engineer is ever-present in the systems and processes she has incorporated into her business to make her life easier and work more efficient. Amina shares her processes and tips for organizing your workflow, from content scheduling to photography and editing to collaboration with her team. Making progress while letting go of perfection — Success looks different for every creator, but Amina believes that if you continue to show up every day, prioritize learning, trust your gut, and let go of perfection, every food blogger will be able to reach their goals. Resources: Hungry Paprikas Mediavine Asana Airtable Lightroom Foodie Digital Food Network CBC Creator Community <
Thu, January 16, 2025
Finance Mini-Series: The Smart Creator’s Guide to Taxes with Nate Coughran
Setting up an LLC, claiming unique deductions, and deciding on when to hire a tax professional with Nate Coughran from Cookie Finance. ----- Welcome to episode 500 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This is the second episode of our finance mini-series, and we’re excited for Bjork to sit down with Nate Coughran from Cookie Finance . Finance Mini-Series: The Smart Creator’s Guide to Taxes with Nate Coughran In our latest episode, Nate Coughran from Cookie Finance shares key tips for getting your finances on track as a creator. First off, setting up an LLC can protect your personal assets and reduce audit risk. Nate also recommends keeping separate bank accounts for your business—this makes tracking your money way easier and less stressful. When it comes to taxes, creators can claim unique deductions, but it’s important to find the right balance. Nate emphasizes staying on top of your bookkeeping throughout the year to avoid end-of-year stress. And if you’re making over $75K, it’s worth hiring a pro to ensure your tax strategy is solid and you’re setting aside enough for taxes. It’s all about staying ahead and keeping things simple! Three episode takeaways: Financial Setup for Creators: Creators should consider forming an LLC to protect personal assets and reduce audit risk. Keeping separate bank accounts for business transactions and tracking finances regularly helps you stay on top of your money Tax Strategy & Deductions: Creators can often claim unique deductions that traditional businesses can’t. However, to avoid end-of-year stress, it’s important to balance aggressive and conservative deductions and be proactive with bookkeeping throughout the year. Know When to Get Professional Help: DIY bookkeeping works for smaller incomes, but if you’re making over $75K, it’s worth hiring a professional. Also, setting aside money for taxes is key to avoiding surprises and ensuring accurate tax reporting. Resources: Cookie Finance Wells Fargo Chase Capital One Mercury Gusto QuickBooks Xero Follow Cookie Finance on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored
Tue, January 14, 2025
Leveraging 3 Million TikTok Followers to Launch a Product with Dana Hasson
Launching a cookie starter kit product, growing a TikTok following to 3 million followers, and networking with Dana Hasson. ----- Welcome to episode 499 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Dana Hasson, an entrepreneur, content creator, self-taught baker, and founder of Homemade Ish. Leveraging 3 Million TikTok Followers to Launch a Product Dana Hasson has spent the last decade building her business — reaching over 3 million followers on TikTok and launching her first physical product, Homemade Ish Cookie Starter Kits. In this interview, Dana explains how (and why) she transitioned from beauty and fashion content to food content and how she balanced networking and creating in the early days of building her brand. Bjork and Dana also discuss the process of launching a physical product, including how she is pairing the brand with her existing content and leveraging her huge social media following. Three episode takeaways: Why consistency is the secret to success on social media — Dana shares more about how she grew her TikTok following to over 3 million followers and explains why she thinks posting consistently (5x/day, every single day, for over a year!) was the key to her success. How to launch a physical product — Dana recently launched Homemade Ish, her line of Starter Cookie Kits. Learn how she built her team behind the product, developed a scalable recipe for her cookies (hint: it requires a food scientist!), and everything else you need to consider when developing a product. The importance of a season of quiet hustle — Dana shares more about the early days of building her brand, when she focused on learning, networking, and understanding the industry — as she first started posting on social media. Resources: Dana’s website Homemade Ish Chiara Ferragni Addison Rae How Faith Christensen Grew Her TikTok and Instagram Platforms to 2.5 Million Followers Good Girl Snacks Kit Maximizing the Impact of Your Email List with Nathan Barry from Kit Follow Dana on Instagram and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by <a href= "http://s
Thu, January 09, 2025
Finance Mini-Series: Investing in Your Business with Megan Porta
Investing in Yourself and your Business, managing seasons of burnout, and the importance of time tracking with Megan Porta. ----- Welcome to episode 498 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Megan Porta from Eat Blog Talk and Pip and Ebby. Investing in Your Business You might recognize Megan Porta from her podcast, Eat Blog Talk (chances are, if you listen to this podcast, you also listen to hers)! Megan has also been a food blogger herself for over 14 years at Pip and Ebby and knows a lot about balancing her time between her many areas of focus. In this podcast interview, Bjork and Megan chat about all things investing as an entrepreneur. Megan shares her strategies for making decisions about investments, how to invest in yourself, how to invest in your business in the early stages, and how investing in yourself and your business can help you overcome plateaus and avoid burnout. Three episode takeaways: How to invest in your business (when you don’t have any money to do so) —Bjork and Megan chat about how to approach investing in your business when you’re in the early stages and hesitant to spend the money and how to make decisions about investments. How to get started investing in your business — Megan suggests starting by time tracking and reflecting on the current pain points in your business. You can then begin your investment journey by investing in solutions to remove those pain points. How to get through seasons of burnout — Investing in your business (and yourself) is a critical component of avoiding and overcoming plateaus, burnout, or even quitting. Megan shares more about her personal journey with this and her strategies for managing seasons of burnout as an entrepreneur. Resources: Pip and Ebby Eat Blog Talk Easy Breakfast Ideas 101 Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire Big Band Software Riverside Intentional Spark 045: How to Use Facebook Ads to Reach the Right People with Tony Rulli from IntentionalSpark.com Clariti Nathan Barry Kit Toggl Hard Seasons and Wild Hearts<
Tue, January 07, 2025
How to Reclaim Your Time and Find Your Focus
Mastering time management, outsourcing, and creating a vision for your life with Jaimee Campanella. ----- Welcome to episode 497 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jaimee Campanella . How to Reclaim Your Time and Find Your Focus In this episode, Jaimee Campanella gets real about the time management struggles bloggers and entrepreneurs face. She shares her journey of finding the balance between work and family and how being intentional with your time is a game-changer. From doing a time audit to figuring out how to prioritize tasks, Jaimee explains how you can stay on track without burning out and make time for what really matters. Jaimee also talks about creating a joyful structure for your business, knowing when to outsource, and why documenting processes is key for sustainability. It’s all about blending creativity with structure so that you can stay productive without losing your passion. If you’re ready to break free from the time scarcity trap and create a work-life balance that actually works, this episode will be right up your alley! Three episode takeaways: Time Management Starts with Intentionality: A clear vision for your life can help you you structure your time around what truly matters. Jaimee’s advice: setting realistic expectations and prioritizing tasks based on interest and importance can help you prevent burnout and make your time feel more rewarding! Outsource Wisely, but Don’t Rush: Outsourcing tasks can free up valuable time, but timing is everything. Make sure it aligns with your goals and comes after you’ve figured out where your time is really going. A time audit is a great first step! Creativity and Structure Can Coexist: Building a structured approach to managing your time doesn’t come at the expense of your creative flow. With the right processes in place and a good team, you can have both productivity and passion without feeling overwhelmed. Resources: The Jaimee Campanella Company Things Asana Episode 165 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: Getting Things Done with David Allen Kit Follow Jaimee on Instagram and Other platform - facebook, youtube, tiktok, whatever seems most important for them Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti . L
Tue, December 31, 2024
FBP Rewind: Brainstorming Content Ideas with Ranking Potential and Writing Great Blog Posts with Ashley Segura
Developing a content strategy and writing blog posts that will get traffic to your blog with Ashley Segura from TopHatRank. ----- Welcome to episode 496 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're rewinding back to one of our favorite episodes with Ashley Segura from TopHatRank and TopHatContent! As bloggers, our goal is to create content that our readers find valuable. But even more, we want to create content that people are actually searching for. And that’s what we’re chatting about today with Ashley from TopHatRank and TopHatContent! She’s an expert when it comes to content marketing, and she’s sharing some of her best advice for creators in this episode — everything from how to come up with great content ideas to what an ideal blog post structure looks like. It was a really great interview, and we know you’ll have so many takeaways to apply to your own content strategy after listening. We hope you enjoy it! Three episode takeaways: Content Strategy & Audits: Ashley talks about how she got into content marketing and why content audits are essential for improving website performance. She shares tips on when to republish, delete, or noindex old posts to keep your content fresh and effective! Creating & Structuring Content: From brainstorming blog post ideas with ranking potential to structuring posts for maximum impact, Ashley shares her process for crafting content that resonates with both users and search engines. Understanding the User Journey: You'll learn about the importance of backlinks and how understanding the user journey can help drive engagement and improve SEO performance. Resources: TopHatRank TopHatContent TopHatSocial Tastemaker Conference Semrush BuzzSumo Slickstream 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You SEO for Bloggers Webinars Semrush’s Topic Research Tool AnswerThePublic Yoast SEO <
Tue, December 24, 2024
FBP Rewind: How to Increase Your Organic Traffic with Keyword Research with Aleka Shunk
Getting started with keyword research, finding the right keyword research tool, and tracking your keywords with Aleka Shunk from Cooking With Keywords. ----- Welcome to episode 495 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're rewinding back to one of our favorite episodes with Aleka Shunk from Cooking With Keywords! How to Increase Your Organic Traffic with Keyword Research Since launching her course, Cooking With Keywords, Aleka has taught countless students about the ins and outs of keyword research, and in this week's podcast episode, she’s sharing her best tips to develop a strong keyword research strategy. You’ll learn what keywords and modifiers are, how to get started with keyword research, what tools you should use, and more. Whether you’re just diving into keyword research for the first time or you’re a seasoned pro, we know you’ll have so many takeaways from this conversation. Enjoy! Three episode takeaways: How keyword research works: Aleka walks listeners through the keyword research process and explains what keywords and modifiers are, what the different phases of keyword research look like, how to get started with keyword research, and more. The keyword research tools Aleka recommends: There are so many different tools on the market for SEO and keyword research, it can feel impossible to choose. Aleka shares her go-to tools for keyword research and the pros/cons of various tools. Why it's important to analyze and track your keywords: The keyword research process doesn't end when you hit 'publish' — it's just beginning! Aleka explains why it is so important to continue analyzing, tracking, and optimizing your keywords in order to see the most benefits from keyword research. Resources: Cooking With Keywords Get 10% off any Cooking With Keywords course or coaching service (available for FBP members only) Aleka’s Get-Together Keysearch Semrush Ahrefs Keywords Everywhere Keyword Surfer <l
Tue, December 17, 2024
The Secret to Building a Family Business and Reaching 2 Million Pageviews
Navigating business ownership with family members, establishing ownership of responsibilities, and creating genuine content with Echo and Erica Blickenstaff. ----- Welcome to episode 494 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Echo and Erica Blickenstaff from the food blog Favorite Family Recipes. The Secret to Building a Family Business and Reaching 2 Million Pageviews In this episode, Echo and Erica dive into the ups and downs of running a family business. The key to their success? Dividing responsibilities and playing to each other’s strengths. After struggling with everyone doing everything (hello, burnout!), they sat down to figure out who would take on what. Once that was sorted, it was like a weight was lifted, and they were able to dive deeper into their areas of expertise. They also talk about the challenges of growing a business while staying true to your roots. After taking a hit from Google’s algorithm updates, they realized the importance of diversifying their revenue streams and not relying too much on search traffic. With 2 million monthly page views (!!!) and a focus on authentic, family-driven content, they’ve learned to balance growth with staying genuine. Whether you’re running a family business or just trying to keep things organized, this episode is full of actionable tips and inspiring insights! Three episode takeaways: Dividing Responsibilities for Success: Working with family can make decision-making tricky, but once the three sisters divided up their responsibilities based on each person’s strengths and weaknesses, everything fell into place. It helped them work more efficiently and allowed everyone to dive deeper into their areas of expertise. Navigating the Business Roles: Inspired by the E Myth framework, they identified who best fit the roles of the entrepreneur, manager, and technician in their business. Understanding these roles helped them streamline operations and keep the business running smoothly. Adapting and Staying Authentic: After being impacted by Google’s Helpful Content Update, they’ve been focusing on diversifying their revenue streams and staying true to their roots by creating authentic, family-focused content that AI can’t replicate. Resources: Favorite Family Recipes The E Myth: Why Most Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber Slicing Pie by Mike Moyer The EOS business framework The Minne Stuga Snackdive <a href="https://clarit
Tue, December 10, 2024
Creating Viral Food Content on Social Media with Kimberly Espinel
Balancing business strategy with your passion, storytelling on social media, and listening to your audience with Kimberly Espinel, author of How To Make Your Food Famous. ----- Welcome to episode 493 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kimberly Espinel, food photographer and author of How To Make Your Food Famous. Creating Viral Food Content on Social Media We are excited to welcome Kimberly back to the podcast to discuss her new book, How To Make Your Food Famous, and her strategies for building a successful career as a food creator, especially in today’s ever-evolving social media landscape. Kimberly discusses how she made the leap from her job as a social worker specializing in adoption to working for herself as a freelance food photographer, starting with brand partnerships and scaling her business along the way. She emphasizes the importance of listening to your audience — paying attention to what resonates with them and shaping your offerings around their needs — and shares her formula for creating viral food content. Episode takeaways: How to balance business strategy while staying true to your passion —Kimberly reflects on how she navigates changes in Instagram’s algorithm and features, focusing on what makes her happiest—whether that’s photography or video — while still seeing growth on her account. Kimberly’s secret formula for creating viral food content — She explains why her strategies are more timeless than they may seem, stressing the power of consistency in content creation. Kimberly also shares the commonalities she has observed among creators who were able to grow their accounts on social media. The common traits among successful creators on social media — Authenticity, vulnerability, personality, and storytelling are all essential for those looking to grow their platforms in the next decade. If you can master one platform, nail your messaging, and build a community, the skills you build will carry you through to the next phase of your business. Resources: The Little Plantation 314: Creative Food Photography – How Kimberly Espinel Teaches and Inspires Food Photographers How To Make Your Food Famous: A Masterclass in Sharing Your Food Online Korean Vegan Eat Capture Share Podcast Follow Kimberly on Instagram <a href= "
Tue, December 03, 2024
The Art of SEO with Stephan Spencer
The staying power of SEO, experimenting with different SEO tactics, and how to create content that resonates with your audience. ----- Welcome to episode 492 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Stephan Spencer. The Art of SEO with Stephan Spencer In this episode, Stephan Spencer, author of The Art of SEO , breaks down why SEO is still as important as ever, even with AI changing the search landscape. While AI may shift how we search, SEO remains the backbone of the internet. Stephan encourages listeners to stay focused on their SEO goals, keep investing in strategies that work, and adapt to the evolving world of search. You’ll also hear Stephan talk about the power of experimentation. Don’t be afraid to tweak things like title tags and test different tactics—whether it’s a boost or a drop, tracking results is key and tools like Google Search Console, SEMRush, and Ahrefs can help you monitor performance and refine your strategy. Lastly, you’ll learn about the importance of creating content that resonates with your audience—Google rewards authentic, helpful content, so the more personal and valuable your content is, the better it’ll perform in search. Three episode takeaways: SEO Still Reigns Supreme: Despite the rise of AI, SEO isn’t going anywhere. AI may change how we search, but SEO has been the backbone of the internet for decades. Keep investing in it, stay focused on your goals, and create your own reality in the world of search. Experiment and Track Results: Don’t be afraid to experiment with SEO tactics (like changing title tags). You may see a boost—or a drop—but you can always course-correct. Stephan also talks about how you can use tools like Google Search Console, Analytics, Ahrefs, or SEMRush to track your results and optimize your strategy. Create Content That Connects: Focus on crafting comprehensive content that meets your audience’s needs and expectations. Personal stories and experiences matter, too! Google’s E-E-A-T metric rewards real, human experiences, so the more authentic and valuable your content, the better it’ll perform. Resources: Stephan’s website Stephan’s podcast: Marketing Speak Episode 465 of the Marketing Speak podcast: Monetize Your Content with Bjork Ostrom Get Yourself Optimized (Stephan’s new site!) The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization by Stephan Spencer The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your In
Tue, November 26, 2024
Writing Standout Recipes and Navigating AI as a Food Creator
Mastering recipe development in a competitive market and adapting to AI as a food creator with Raeanne Sarazen, author of The Complete Recipe Writing Guide: Mastering Recipe Development, Writing, Testing, Nutrition Analysis, and Food Styling. ----- Welcome to episode 491 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Raeanne Sarazen. Writing Standout Recipes and Navigating AI as a Food Creator Raeanne Sarzen wrote the book on recipes… literally. In 2023, Raeanne published The Complete Recipe Writing Guide: Mastering Recipe Development, Writing, Testing, Nutrition Analysis, and Food Styling. How did she get to be the expert in recipe writing? Raeanne is a Registered Dietitian and a classically trained chef who has worked in hospitals as a clinical dietitian, restaurant kitchens, in food publishing as a writer, editor, and test kitchen professional), and as a culinary nutrition consultant. So yes, she knows a thing or two about developing, writing, testing, and perfecting recipes! In this interview, Bjork and Raeanna discuss the recipe development process, how food publishing has changed over the years, what it takes to write a great recipe, and how food creators can stand out online, especially in a world with AI. Three episode takeaways: What makes a really good recipe?: Raeanne argues that the quality of the recipe differentiates really successful food creators from the rest of the pack. In this interview, she walks listeners through the recipe development process, shares her tips for writing a user-friendly recipe, and discusses the importance of recipe testing. How to adapt to AI as a food creator: Raeanne shares her thoughts on artificially generated recipes – in short, they’re not tested, devoid of personality, and written without personality or critical thinking. Bjork and Raeanne also discuss how you can use AI when developing recipes and writing content. How to differentiate yourself as a recipe developer: Let’s face it — food blogging is a competitive space. But Raeanne believes that if you create accurate, concise, easy-to-follow recipes that solve the problems of your readers and infuse your content with your distinct voice, you can still build a successful career as a food creator. Resources: Raeannesarazen.com The Complete Recipe Writing Guide A Couple Cooks Budget Bytes Follow Raeanne on LinkedIn and Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group <
Tue, November 19, 2024
Give to Grow with Mo Bunnell
Cultivating and nurturing relationships, the power of reciprocity, and the role relationships play in growing your business. ----- Welcome to episode 490 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mo Bunnell from Bunnell Idea Group about his new book, Give to Grow . Give to Grow with Mo Bunnell In this week’s episode, we’re excited to share Mo's incredible journey from the world of actuaries to the vibrant realm of entrepreneurship. Mo dives deep into how he transitioned from crunching numbers to building a thriving business, discovering that the real magic lies in forging genuine connections. He emphasizes that generosity and relationship-building are key ingredients for success, and you'll definitely want to hear his insights! Mo also explores the power of reciprocity in fostering meaningful relationships. He shares practical tips on making clear, trustworthy offers that can open doors to high-value connections, even if you’re starting from scratch. Whether you have a long list of contacts or are just beginning, Mo’s advice on tracking opportunities and nurturing relationships will inspire you to take proactive steps toward collaboration and growth. Don’t miss this chance to learn how to elevate your networking game! Three episode takeaways: From Actuary to Entrepreneur : Mo shares his journey from crunching numbers as an actuary to diving headfirst into entrepreneurship. Along the way, he discovered the magic of relationship-building, emphasizing how generosity and genuine connections can lead to success. The Power of Reciprocity : You'll learn how Mo taps into the science of reciprocity to foster meaningful relationships. He stresses the importance of making clear, trustworthy offers to brands and prioritizing high-value connections that can drive your business forward. Cultivating Relationships : Discover Mo’s practical tips for nurturing connections and generating leads—even if you start with no contacts! He encourages listeners to keep track of opportunities and relationships, showing that proactive engagement can exponentially grow trust and collaboration over time. Resources: <ul class="wp-
Tue, November 12, 2024
Evolving Your Brand: When and How to Sell Products as a Food Creator
Mastering product development and sales, prioritizing problem-solving for your audience, and overcoming perfectionism with Jillian Leslie from MiloTree. ----- Welcome to episode 489 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jillian Leslie from The Blogger Genius Podcast and MiloTree. Evolving Your Brand: When and How to Sell Products as a Food Creator In this week’s podcast episode, Jillian Leslie explains everything you need to know about selling a product as a food creator. Bjork and Jillian discuss the strategy behind developing a product and the importance of leaning into problem-solving for your audience. Jillian also walks listeners through how to get started selling products, how to scale products and generate recurring revenue, and how to overcome perfectionism within your business. Three episode takeaways: Prioritize problem-solving for your audience — As recipe developers, we’re always looking to solve problems for our readers. Whether you’re developing quick and easy recipes for busy families or vegan recipes for readers hoping to make a lifestyle change, problem-solving is at the center of what we do. Jillian makes the point that the same mentality should apply to developing products to sell and that the more you can market a product as a solution, the more success you’ll have. The importance of testing and iteration — Research, testing, and iteration are essential to growing any business, including developing and selling products. Jillian also explains her theory that creators should start by producing B- work and then refine their product from that point. In this interview, she goes into detail about this theory and talks more about how to prevent perfectionism from holding you back. When to transition into paid content—Many content creators struggle with transitioning from providing free content to putting some content behind a paywall. Bjork and Jillian discuss more about overcoming this barrier and how to know when the time is right for you to create your first product (and how to scale your products). Resources: The Blogger Genius Podcast MiloTree 095: How Embracing the Mess Propelled a Career with Jillian Tohber Leslie from MiloTree Clariti Catch My Party TJ Therrien Rainbow Plant Life 452: YouTube, Meal Plans, and Business Growth with Nisha Vora <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-war-of-art-brea
Tue, November 05, 2024
Differentiating Your Content in a Crowded Market with Brian Watson
Prioritizing your blog, freeing yourself from metrics, and building a digital cookbook with Brian Watson from Thee Burger Dude. ----- Welcome to episode 488 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Brian Watson from Thee Burger Dude . Differentiating Your Content in a Crowded Market with Brian Watson In this week's episode, Brian Watson from Thee Burger Dude shares his inspiring journey from posting on Instagram to building a successful blog on WordPress. He'll reveal his secrets to standing out in a crowded digital landscape — including tips on simplifying your content creation process, focusing on versatile recipes, and the power of blogging and why it remains a vital tool for content creators. Plus, he'll debunk the myth of chasing numbers and encourage you to be gentle to yourself to prioritize your mental well-being. Whether you're a seasoned blogger or just starting out, this episode is packed with practical advice to help you grow your audience and build a sustainable online business! Three episode takeaways: Brian's Content Creation Journey: You'll hear about how Brian got his start on Instagram and eventually made the leap to YouTube. He dives into the early days of his content creation and how he built a successful blog on WordPress after initially trying out Wix, emphasizing the flexibility WordPress offers for monetization. Discover the Power of Blogging: He highlights why blogging remains a crucial part of his success, serving as his main source of income, while platforms like Instagram serve as more of a bonus. He encourages content creators on TikTok and Instagram to consider starting their own blogs for a more stable and personalized space that they fully control. Making Your Content Stand Out: You'll hear Brian talk about how to differentiate your brand in a crowded space, including tips on simplifying photography setups and focusing on multifunctional recipes that can be used across various dishes. Plus, he offers valuable advice for new bloggers: don’t get caught up in the numbers and embrace a mindset that prioritizes mental well-being and self-compassion! Resources: Thee Burger Dude Tiffy Cooks: How I Transitioned from 9–5 to FT Food Blogger Episode 392 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: How Pinch of Yum’s 1.1 Million Follower Instagram Account Got Hacked (and Recovered!) Joe’s Vegan Food Gram <a href= "https://w
Tue, October 29, 2024
Actionable Steps to Shape a Successful Brand with Katie Trant
Creating a brand to withstand algorithm changes, going beyond branding basics, and how your brand can influence your business strategy. ----- Welcome to episode 487 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Katie Trant from Foodie Brand Lab and Hey Nutrition Lady. Actionable Steps to Shape a Successful Brand There has been a lot of buzz around the importance of building a strong brand as a food creator. Amidst the volatility of search algorithms and the rise of AI, food bloggers are looking for a way to stand out and build a loyal following. Enter, Katie Trant! She has a Masters in Nutrition and started her own food site, Hey Nutrition Lady, back in 2010. She also works full-time at brand and business consultancies helping big companies define their brand. So you might say she was well-positioned to start Foodie Brand Lab to help food bloggers (like you!) refine their brand strategy. In this interview, Bjork and Katie discuss everything you need to know about brand: what it is, why it matters, how to define your brand, and how it can influence your business strategy. Katie also provides actionable steps to start building a stronger brand to help you stand out in the crowded space of food blogging. 3 episode takeaways: What is a brand? A brand is much more than a logo, color scheme, design, or font. It includes such things as brand personality, tone of voice, brand position, brand purpose, and brand values. Your niche is part of your brand, but your brand has the potential to be even more impactful in your success than a niche. A strong brand can withstand algorithm changes: It has never been more important to have a brand as a food blogger. Katie discusses how to shape the perception of your brand, and why brand matters so much in the current digital landscape. Actionable steps to go from search traffic to direct traffic: Katie walks listeners through several thought exercises (like whether you have a traditional or personal brand) and concrete steps that they can take to start building a better brand. Resources: Foodie Brand Lab Hey Nutrition Lady Pinch of Yum Magnolia Kate Spade 424: The Future of Content Creation (and Protection) in a World of AI with Paul Bannister from Raptive 467: Pinterest Strategy in 2024 Q&A with Kate Ahl Dave Ramsey 1000 True Fans <a href= "https://www.instagram.
Tue, October 22, 2024
Building Brand Relationships that Last with Chris Pieta
Working with brands, communicating with clients, and staying organized with Chris Pieta from Creative Biz Launch. ----- Welcome to episode 486 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chris Pieta from Creative Biz Launch. Building Brand Relationships that Last with Chris Pieta In this week’s episode, Chris highlights the value of narrowing your focus. By clearly defining what you offer and identifying your ideal client, you can transform your outreach efforts. When you zero in on how to help them achieve their goals, your messaging becomes much more impactful! Chris will also talk about the power of personal connections (consider hopping on a call instead of just firing off emails)—it’s all about building relationships! Plus, he'll share how using a CRM can streamline your processes and keep your emails from landing in spam. With a solid onboarding system, you’ll make the transition smooth for new clients. Be sure to tune in for these tips to supercharge your business! Three episode takeaways: Narrow Down Your Niche: Chris emphasizes the importance of knowing exactly what you’re selling, your ideal client, and how you can help them achieve their dream outcome. This will help you tailor your outreach and messaging to resonate with the right people! Reach Out Strategically and Nurture Relationships: When it comes to working with brands, you’ll want to lean on the power of clear communication and strategic outreach. Hop on a call with a client rather than exchanging emails—this personal touch can help you better understand your client’s needs and pave the way for a successful collaboration. You’ll also learn how you can use cold outreach to connect with potential clients and the different phases of a discovery call. Streamline Your Process with Systems: A CRM can be a game-changer for managing leads, tracking interactions, and automating tasks. Chris also emphasizes the importance of setting up proper email infrastructure to prevent your emails from going to spam and creating a clear onboarding process to ensure a smooth transition for new clients! Resources: Creative Biz Launch The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss Gary Vaynerchuk Folk CRM Notion GoHighLevel Close Dan Martell Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Food Blogger Pro Cour
Tue, October 15, 2024
Achieving Quiet Success as a Six-Figure Food Creator with Elizabeth Emery
Prioritizing passive income, overcoming burnout, and rediscovering joy as a food blogger with Elizabeth Emery from Vancouver with Love. ----- Welcome to episode 485 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Elizabeth Emery from Vancouver with Love. Achieving Quiet Success as a Six-Figure Food Creator Food blogging can be a dream job — hey, we wouldn’t have started Food Blogger Pro if we didn’t believe that! But it also requires a lot of hustle, perseverance, and uncertainty. Elizabeth Emery first started Vancouver with Love in 2015 as a side hustle and took her site full-time in 2018. By 2021, she was feeling completely burnt out. That year ended up being a pivotal moment in her career. To overcome her burnout, she met with a business coach and adjusted the parts of her business that she wasn’t happy with. Once she made significant changes to her business and income streams, she rediscovered the joy of content creation, and her business started growing along with these changes. Elizabeth is now making a six-figure income from her business, and she shares all the details about her journey in this great interview! Three Episode takeaways: How to overcome burnout: Between working on her blog for 6+ years, the pandemic, and unreliable income, Elizabeth found herself completely burned out running her food blog. She was desperate for a change but knew that she could still love her job with a few tweaks. In this interview, she explains the process of working with a business coach to find more joy and flexibility in her career. Why ‘quiet success’ is underrated: Elizabeth has 30,000 followers on Instagram, no book deal (yet!), and isn’t on TV. And you don’t need any of those things to build a career as a successful food creator! It isn’t the right time for Elizabeth to pursue those goals, and she shares more about why those metrics of success aren’t for everyone. How to prioritize passive income: Elizabeth has been very intentional in the growth of her business and in adjusting her sources of revenue to increase her passive income. In this episode, you’ll learn how she makes a six-figure income from her business between ad revenue, sponsored content, and freelance recipe development. Resources: Vancouver with Love Pinch of Yum Meal Plans Full Focus Jen Carrington Your Simple & Spacious Business Letters From a Hopeful Creative <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/books/designing-your-new-work-life-how-to-thrive-and-change-and-find-happiness-and-a-new-freedom-at-wo
Tue, October 08, 2024
The Importance of Building Community with A Couple Cooks
Balancing passion, building a sustainable business, and predicting the future of food blogging with Alex and Sonja Overhiser from A Couple Cooks. ----- Welcome to episode 484 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alex and Sonja Overhiser from A Couple Cooks. The Importance of Building Community with A Couple Cooks Alex and Sonja first started blogging at A Couple Cooks over 14 years ago and have navigated countless changes in the food blogging landscape over the years. In this interview, they share the things that kept them going before they achieved success with their business and the importance of having an accountability partner in the early days. They also discuss more about key decisions they’ve made in their business: why they’ve chosen not to build a team, why they don’t prioritize Instagram, and how they pivoted their cookbook strategy after initial rejections. Bjork, Alex, and Sonja have been friends for over a decade, and it’s a pleasure to hear them catching up as people who have been around the block in this industry. Episode takeaways: Balancing passion and business: Alex and Sonja have learned a lot in the 14 years that they’ve been running A Couple Cooks, including the delicate balance between their passion for sharing recipes with their community and the reality that their site is also their livelihood. In this interview, they share more about how they run a successful business while still making space for creativity and joy. Developing a giftable cookbook: Alex and Sonja are publishing their second cookbook, A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together, this fall, but it wasn’t a linear path to getting this cookbook published. After their first cookbook proposal was rejected by publishers, they went back to the drawing board and developed a new proposal for a “giftable cookbook” that was accepted by the first editor they approached! Having the ability to pivot: With the growth of AI and the uncertainty of Google algorithm updates, it is more important than ever to build an experience and community as a creator. Alex and Sonja discuss this shift, including why they’re focusing more on email marketing, as well as their predictions for the content creation landscape over the next year. Resources: A Couple Cooks 178: Life, Podcasting, Blogging, and Cookbook Writing with Sonja and Alex Overhiser Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Ten Thousand Hours by Macklemore 365: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People wi
Tue, October 01, 2024
How to Thrive in the Creator Economy and Build Successful Brand Partnerships
Legitimizing the creator economy and working with brands with Chandice Probst and Abbey Rodriguez from Tastemaker Conference ----- Welcome to episode 483 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chandice Probst and Abbey Rodriguez from Tastemaker Conference. How to Thrive in the Creator Economy and Build Successful Brand Partnerships Chandice and Abbey have been on the front lines of the food content creation revolution, watching the industry evolve from bloggers to influencers and creators. Now, they’re dedicated to proving that being a food creator is a serious business, not just a hobby. Tune in as they discuss the power of community and how embracing an abundance mindset can open doors to new opportunities. You won’t want to miss this inspiring conversation that could transform the way you approach your creative business! Three episode takeaways: Legitimizing the Creator Economy: Chandice and Abbey argue that being a [food] creator is a real business, not just a hobby. They’ve seen the food blogging industry evolve over the years and are working hard to decentralize the food creator business model. Building Your Brand Takes Work: Getting brand partnerships isn’t as easy as it might seem. It requires a strategic approach, including creating a sponsorship deck, reaching out to brands directly, and even leveraging AI to find potential partners! Collaboration Over Competition: The key to success in the creator economy is often collaboration. Abbey and Chandice emphasize the importance of building a supportive community and leaning into the abundance mentality over the scarcity mentality. Resources: Tastemaker Conference | FBP members get $100 off with code FBP100 through this link from October 15th - October 22nd. Tastemaker sponsorship referral program Tastemaker affiliate program Tastemaker Collaborative FYPM (rates brand partnership deals) Tastemaker brand pricing calculator Tastemaker brand education webinars Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials Follow Tastemaker on <a href= "@tastemakerconfe
Fri, September 27, 2024
How to Build a Thriving Membership Site
Building community, providing exclusive value, and streamlining membership sites with Jen Matichuk from Memberful. ----- Welcome to episode 482 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jen Matichuk from Memberful —this is the third and final episode of our Memberful mini-series! How to Build a Thriving Membership Site In this week’s episode of our podcast, we’re diving deep into the power of community for your membership site! Join Jen as she shares her insights on how to foster genuine connections with your audience and ensure they feel valued and engaged. Discover how to deliver exclusive content that truly resonates—think behind-the-scenes access and in-depth tutorials that keep your members coming back for more. Plus, Jen highlights some of Memberful’s essential tools that can streamline your site management and allow you to focus on building meaningful relationships with your audience. You won’t want to miss this episode! Three episode takeaways: Build a Community Around Your Content: A strong community can be a powerful asset for your membership site. Encourage engagement, provide exclusive content, and create a space where your members can connect with each other. Offer Value Beyond Your Free Content: To justify the cost of a membership, provide exclusive content and benefits that your free audience can’t access. This could include behind-the-scenes content, in-depth tutorials, or access to a private community. Use the Right Tools to Streamline Your Membership Site: Tools like Memberful can help you manage your membership site, from creating tiers to facilitating payments. By using the right tools, you can save time and focus on building your community. Resources: Memberful Rhett and Link Mythical Society The Perfect Loaf community Wistia JWPlayer Jacques Pépin Foundation The Bittman Project Workweek Lunch Little Spoon Farm (ad-free experience!) Molly Baz Connect with Jen via email email Follow Jen on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook
Tue, September 24, 2024
Maximizing the Impact of Your Email List with Nathan Barry from Kit
Leveraging email lists, boosting revenue, and building relationships with Nathan Barry. ----- Welcome to episode 481 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nathan Barry from ConvertKit, soon-to-be Kit. Maximizing the Impact of Your Email List Nathan Barry started ConvertKit back in 2013 and has grown his company into a multi-million dollar business with over 30,000 creators that use the platform. We are happy to welcome Nathan back to the podcast to chat about how he has grown his business, email marketing strategy, and the transition from ConvertKit to Kit. As algorithms change and search traffic becomes increasingly unpredictable, it’s a great time to double down on your email list. Capturing your audience from both site traffic and your social accounts and building an ongoing relationship with that audience is a great way to diversify your income streams and protect the future of your business. This podcast episode dives into the importance of optimizing your emails for the reader, consistency, and driving revenue with your emails. Three episode takeaways: Strategies for Increasing Email List Sign-ups : When something goes viral on social media, how do you make sure you’re capturing that audience? Nathan and Bjork discuss the importance of optimizing links in your social media profiles, lead magnets, and other tips for growing your email list. How Your Email List Can Increase Your Revenue : With the (slow) demise of third-party cookies, creators need to be more… creative with providing more relevant ads to their readers. If you’re working with an ad network, your email list can be an incredibly valuable resource for serving targeted ads to your users (thereby maximizing your ad revenue). The Magic of Flywheels : Nathan explains how and why to apply the concept of flywheels, which emphasizes attracting, engaging, and delighting your community, to your business. He also makes a case for why you should focus on repeating what is working for your business (rather than chasing the next new thing). Resources: ConvertKit NathanBarry.com Follow Nathan on X Raptive The Elliott Homestead The Flexible Dieting Lifestyle Bonnie Christine Jenna Kutcher’s Instagram post Mediavine Clarit
Thu, September 19, 2024
The Secret to Generating Recurring Revenue with Bjork Ostrom
The power of recurring revenue and breaking down key metrics for running a membership site with Bjork Ostrom ----- Welcome to episode 480 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, we’re excited to air the second episode of our mini-series with Memberful, in which Bjork discusses the ins and outs of membership sites and the power of recurring revenue. The Secret to Generating Recurring Revenue with Bjork Ostrom Tired of chasing after millions of followers? In this week’s podcast, Bjork spills the beans on how you can build a thriving business with just a small but dedicated community. He discusses the power of recurring revenue and how that can translate into stability for your business. He also breaks down some key business metrics that can help you track your progress and make smart decisions. Let’s face it: Building a sustainable business isn’t about getting everyone on board. It’s about finding your tribe and serving them really well. This episode is a must-listen if you’re looking to grow your business in a more sustainable way! Three episode takeaways: You Don’t Need Millions of Followers: It’s a common misconception that you need millions of followers or subscribers to build a successful and profitable business. The reality is that even a small, dedicated community can be enough! By focusing on quality over quantity and building strong relationships with your audience, you can create a sustainable income stream that allows you to thrive. Recurring Revenue is Key to Stability: One of the biggest advantages of membership sites is the predictable income they generate through subscription fees. This recurring revenue provides a stable foundation for your business, allowing you to focus on growth and improvement without constantly chasing new opportunities. Unlike one-time sales or advertising revenue, which can fluctuate, membership fees offer a reliable source of income. Understand Your Business Metrics: To make informed decisions and evaluate the health of your business, it’s essential to track key metrics such as MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue), churn rate, customer lifetime value, and customer acquisition cost. These metrics can help you understand your business’s performance, identify areas for improvement, and make strategic decisions. Resources: Memberful Episode 45 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast: How to Use Facebook Ads to Reach the Right People with Tony Rulli from IntentionalSpark.com QuietLight Episode 32 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast: Buying & Selling Webs
Tue, September 17, 2024
The Art of Cookbook Publishing with Danielle Walker
Publishing a cookbook, fostering a community, and creating a work-life balance with Danielle Walker ----- Welcome to episode 479 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Walker. The Art of Cookbook Publishing with Danielle Walker Danielle’s journey to becoming a cookbook author is anything but ordinary! From a chance encounter with a publisher to releasing her seventh (!!!) cookbook, “Make It Easy,” she’s learned so many valuable lessons along the way that have propelled her into the successful cookbook author she is today. In this episode, Danielle shares her insights on building a strong community, understanding your audience, and prioritizing mental health and work-life balance. You’ll discover how these strategies have helped her create successful cookbooks and maintain a fulfilling career. For aspiring cookbook authors and anyone looking to build a successful online community, this episode is for you! In this episode, you’ll learn: The unconventional path to cookbook publishing: Early on in her journey, Danielle had a publisher reach out to her to work on a cookbook, and this unexpected opportunity led her to the world of cookbook writing. She’s learned so much along the way and shares some valuable lessons from her early experiences in this episode — from the necessity of advance payments to the importance of hiring an agent. The importance of building a community: Danielle used Kajabi and Substack to connect more deeply with her audience and gather valuable feedback for her cookbook. By fostering a sense of community, she was able to better understand her readers’ needs and preferences and shape the content she created for them. Prioritizing mental health and work-life balance: Danielle discusses how important it was for her to take a step back to reevaluate her work to ensure she brought value to her community and have a better relationship with her work. You’ll learn about how she’s been able to find a healthy balance between her professional and personal life — no easy feat! Resources: Danielle Walker’s website Against All Grain Episode 443 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast: Why David Lebovitz Switched from Blogging to Substack Danielle’s latest cookbook, Make It Easy 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly Meals Made Simple by Danielle Walker (her first cookbook!) Episode 191 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: Building a Better Bio with
Tue, September 10, 2024
A Common Problem with Food Blogs (and How to Fix It)
Income diversification, monetization strategies, and memberships with Bjork Ostrom ----- Welcome to episode 478 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, we’re launching the first episode of our three-episode mini-series with Memberful , in which our very own Bjork Ostrom talks about the power of community, income diversification, and memberships. How to Address This Common Food Blogging Mistake Let's face it: most food bloggers are stuck in a rut when it comes to making money. They're relying on one source of income (usually ads), and that's a bit of a risky game. If Google or Pinterest decides to change their algorithms, your traffic and income could take a nosedive. So, what's the solution? Diversification! Instead of squeezing the same old orange, look for other juicy options. Affiliate marketing and sponsored content can be great ways to boost your income, but if you're looking to bring in recurring income, you may want to consider membership sites. They let you build on what you're already good at: creating awesome content and connecting with your audience. We hope you enjoy this episode — be sure to tune in to the second part of the mini-series next week! In this episode, you’ll learn: Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Relying solely on ad revenue can be risky, especially if your traffic sources change. Diversify your income streams. Explore options like affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and memberships to create a more stable business. Build a strong business foundation. Focus on creating valuable content, engaging with your audience, and building relationships to support sustainable income. Resources: Memberful 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly Ewen Finser’s newsletter: Niche Media Publishing Food Blogger Pro Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Memberful. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, o
Tue, September 03, 2024
Leveraging Reddit as a Traffic Source
Diversifying your traffic sources, the power of community, and using Reddit as a growth hack with Ewen Finser ----- Welcome to episode 477 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser from Venture 4th Media. Leveraging Reddit as a Traffic Source In this episode, Bjork sits down with Ewen Finser to discuss the evolving landscape of digital content creation. With algorithm changes impacting traffic, Ewen emphasizes the importance of diversifying your audience reach beyond Google. He shares insights on building a strong presence on platforms like Reddit, while also highlighting the power of community-building as a cornerstone for long-term success. Ewen also delves into the art of platform-specific content creation. He explains how understanding and catering to the unique preferences of each platform is essential for maximizing your impact. Get ready to gain valuable insights into expanding your online reach and building a sustainable digital business! In this episode, you’ll learn: Diversify Your Traffic : With algorithm updates and the rise of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, it’s time to start looking for an alternative recipe for your traffic. Building a strong presence on other platforms can be a game-changer as you find new ways to reach your audience and ensure your content is where they are. The Power of Community : The real key to success is building a loyal community and providing them with information that will actually help them. Platforms like Reddit (which Google is starting to treat as a publisher!) offer a unique opportunity to connect with your audience on a deeper level. By providing value, being authentic, and engaging with your community, you can create a sustainable business that’s less reliant on Google’s ever-changing rules. Master the Art of Platform-Specific Content : Every platform is different. What works on Instagram won’t necessarily work on Reddit so in order to succeed, you’ll need to tailor your content to each platform. It’s about understanding your audience and giving them what they want, where they want it. By mastering this, you can maximize your reach and impact. Resources: Venture 4th Media Reddit Leverage Course Niche Media Publishing Follow Ewen on X and LinkedIn Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by <a href= "https://yoast.com/
Tue, August 27, 2024
Advanced SEO Q&A with Casey Markee
Creating effective category pages, navigating keyword research, and balancing SEO with creativity with Casey Markee from Media Wyse. ----- Welcome to episode 476 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Casey Markee from Media Wyse. Advanced SEO Q&A with Casey Markee This is the third and final episode of our Summer Membership Spotlight, in which we have been sharing a piece of content that is normally exclusive to Food Blogger Pro members here on the podcast. We are finishing the series with a replay of our Advanced SEO Live Q&A with Casey Markee! Food Blogger Pro members submitted many questions all about SEO — Helpful Content Updates, SEO best practices, topic clusters, AI, and more! We hope you learn a lot from this Q&A (we always do!) and that you enjoyed this special series on the podcast. In this episode, you'll learn about: SEO Survival Guide: Get the latest scoop on Google's cookie changes and how to optimize your content for search engines, even after the Helpful Content Update. You'll hear more about keyword research tools and strategies that will help you rank higher. Recipe Creation and SEO Balance: Learn how to create delicious recipes that will both satisfy your cravings and rank well in search results. Casey will discuss building strong topic clusters and how you can leverage recipe roundups to boost your SEO. Leveraging AI for SEO: Discover ChatGPT's potential for SEO and how to use it effectively to improve your content strategy. Get the resources for this episode at foodbloggerpro.com/476. Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership .
Tue, August 20, 2024
Grow Your Email List and Connect with your Audience with Allea Grummert
Growing your email list, connecting with your audience, and working with sponsors with Allea Grummert from Duett ----- Welcome to episode 475 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Allea Grummert from Duett. Grow Your Email List and Connect with your Audience with Allea Grummert Email marketing expert Allea Grummert founded her agency, Duett, in 2018 with the goal of helping content creators improve their email marketing. She’s been an invaluable resource for the Food Blogger Pro and Pinch of Yum teams and is also an industry expert in the Food Blogger Pro community, so you may have seen her around the forum! In this episode, Allea spills the tea on growing your email list and building deeper connections with your audience. She'll also talk about why email is a must-have for content creators and how to turn it into a profitable asset. From crafting irresistible welcome sequences to landing brand sponsorships, Allea shares her proven strategies for email success. Get ready to level up your email game! In this episode, you’ll learn about: Email is Your Secret Weapon: Learn why email should be a top priority for any content creator or publisher. Discover how to grow your email list, create compelling welcome sequences, and use chat marketing tools like ManyChat to boost your blog traffic. Connect and Convert: Uncover the power of email in building genuine connections with your readers. Allea talks more about her email philosophy and how you can leverage email to humanize your brand, increase engagement, and turn subscribers into paying customers. Automate, Monetize, and Thrive: Discover time-saving strategies for automating your email sequences and maximizing your email list's potential. Learn how to generate income through sponsored emails and ad networks while maintaining creative freedom. Resources: Duett Alexandra’s Kitchen Interact Episode 277 of the Tax Smart Real Estate Investors Podcast: Growing A Multi-Million Dollar Empire & Real Estate’s Role with Sam Parr Tax Smart Real Estate Investors Podcast The Hustle Sam’s List Hampton Hubslife Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle <a href= "https://
Tue, August 13, 2024
How Caroline Chambers Grew Her Substack Newsletter Into a 7-Figure Business
Running the #1 Food & Drink Newsletter on Substack, pivoting from freelance recipe development to creating your own content, and writing two cookbooks with Caroline Chambers from What To Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking. ----- Welcome to episode 474 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Caroline Chambers. How Caroline Chambers Grew Her Substack Newsletter Into a 7-Figure Business Caroline Chambers is not (and does not identify as) a food blogger. But she does happen to write the #1 Food & Drink newsletter on Substack with one of the most loyal communities around (myself included!). In this interview, Bjork and Caroline chat more about Caroline’s early days running her own catering business, how she transitioned into freelance recipe development, and then eventually took the leap into starting her Substack newsletter. She shares her strategies for growing her following, converting subscribers to paid subscribers, providing value to her readers, and why she shares more than just food on her platforms. Oh, AND, she shares the details about her brand-new cookbook (What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking). In this episode, you’ll learn about: From Catering to Cookbooks: Caroline shares her journey from running a catering business to becoming a bestselling cookbook author (with another cookbook coming out called What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking coming out on August 13th!). You'll hear about how she built a massive following and turned her passion for food into a thriving business. Building a Newsletter Empire: Discover how Caroline turned her Substack newsletter into a 7-figure business, the strategies she used to grow her subscriber base, and her mindset on converting subscribers to paid members. Balancing Growth and Well-being: Caroline opens up about the challenges of managing a large following and the importance of building a strong team. She'll talk about how she maintains her passion for cooking amidst the pressures of running a successful business. Resources: What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking Caroline Chambers thai-ish steak & noodle salad Pinch of Yum smitten kitchen Barefoot Contessa Woodbridge wines Melissa Clark’s column on The New York Times Chronicle Books <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Just-Married-Newlyweds-Caroline-Chambers/d
Tue, August 06, 2024
Future-Proofing Your Content with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe
Diversifying your traffic sources, building your email list, and the tools to help you build your audience with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe ----- Welcome to episode 473 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe from NerdPress. Future-Proofing Your Content with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe We were so thrilled to have Bjork sit down with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe for this episode! Andrew is the CEO of NerdPress and one of our Food Blogger Pro experts, so you may have seen him around the forum breaking down all things WordPress for our members! Colin Devroe is also on the NerdPress team—he's a Senior Product Manager currently working on SaveThis and Hubbub, NerdPress's very own social sharing plugin (previously Grow Social Pro and Social Pug before that). This episode has been an affirmation for us all that to keep your content flourishing, you'll want to dig deep to build a community and form lasting relationships with your readers. We hope you enjoy the episode as much as we did! In this episode, you’ll learn about: Diversifying Your Traffic Sources: The landscape of social media is constantly evolving — while giants like Meta (Facebook, Instagram) hold significant power, it's crucial to look beyond them. You'll learn about the rise of the "fediverse," an open-source network allowing users to move between social platforms and take their content and followers with them, as well as the importance of diversifying your traffic sources and exploring emerging platforms to future-proof your content strategy. Build Lasting Connections with Your Audience: Growing a loyal email list is critical to building strong reader relationships. This episode emphasizes the importance of consistent communication and providing valuable content to your subscribers. The power of community is much stronger than you think and can help you and your content remain stable in the long run! Maximize Traffic and Community Through Strategic Tools: You'll hear about how various tools like Hubbub (their very own social sharing plugin), SaveThis (a tool within Hubbub Pro), and Flipboard can help you grow your audience — and your email list — while still providing value to your readers! Resources: NerdPress Hubbub Pro Hubbub Lite (free to use) SaveThis by Hubbub Flipboard Recap of Fediverse Webinar for Creators and Curators by Flipboard <a href="https://kk.
Tue, July 30, 2024
Coaching Call: Increasing Search Traffic, Determining What to Prioritize, and Strategizing for Business Growth with Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes
Auditing their website, strategizing to increase search traffic, and diversifying revenue sources with Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes. ----- Welcome to episode 472 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes. Coaching Call: Increasing Search Traffic, Determining What to Prioritize, and Strategizing for Business Growth with Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes This is a super special episode of the podcast, as it is part 2 (of 3) of our Summer Membership Spotlight. As part of this special podcast series, we are sharing a piece of content that is normally exclusive to Food Blogger Pro members here on the podcast on the last Tuesday of the month. This month we are excited to share an audio version of a Coaching Call! Every month, Bjork does a Coaching Call with a Food Blogger Pro member to go over three (or more!) questions that they have about their blog, social media, or business. This Coaching Call is with the delightful Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes! We’re so excited to share this Coaching Call with you and hope you’ll tune in next month for our last membership spotlight episode of the summer! In this episode, you’ll learn about: Building a Massive Following Fast: Cam and Sarah share their secrets to skyrocketing their Instagram following to over 1.1 million in just a few years (!!). You'll hear about how their backgrounds in video and nutrition fueled their success. Monetizing Your Platform: Discover how Cam and Sarah generate income from their platform and their plans for future revenue streams. Get ready to learn how they've created a successful website that launched in August and qualified for Raptive by September! Growing Your Online Business: Learn valuable tips on building a strong community, crafting engaging content for both social media and your blog, and boosting your search engine visibility. Bjork will also answer the questions Cam and Sarah submitted beforehand about increasing traffic and what to prioritize in their business for maximum revenue growth. Resources: plantbaes The Ultimate Plant-Based Cookbook Food Rules by Michael Pollan Wix Pinch of Yum Income Reports Raptive NerdPress Ahrefs Clariti Budget Bytes </l
Tue, July 23, 2024
Unlocking Success through Strategic Goal-Planning, Partnerships, and Providing Services with Matthew Gartland
Offering services, building partnerships, and goal-planning with Matthew Gartland from SPI Media ----- Unlocking Success through Strategic Goal-Planning, Partnerships, and Providing Services with Matthew Gartland Welcome to episode 471 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matthew Gartland from SPI Media. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Lidey Heuck . To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Matthew Gartland started his creative agency Winning Edits in 2011 to support author entrepreneurs. He eventually merged companies with Pat Flynn to found what is now known as SPI Media. Today, SPI Media is a thriving community of online entrepreneurs who have come together to build their online businesses through a treasure trove of educational content, an engaging community, and training experiences. In this episode, Matthew talks about how strategic goal-planning, community, and providing services can help budding entrepreneurs unlock success and grow their audience. You won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn about: Turning Your Skills into Side Hustle Superpowers: You already have superpowers (aka awesome skills)! Matthew talks about how to lean into skills you already have to create solutions to real-life problems for clients and build a fulfilling career on your own terms! Quality is King (or Queen) : Solving problems is great, but doing it with amazing service sets you apart. Matthew shares how prioritizing top-notch quality can help you set your business apart from the competition. Community & Goals: Your Recipe for Success : Building a business isn’t just about showing up and hoping for the best. Matthew reveals the importance of strategic goal-setting and creating a roadmap for success. He’ll also discuss the power of community – how fostering connections with other entrepreneurs and building strategic partnerships can accelerate your growth. Resources: SPI Media Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich Episode 53 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: Pat Flynn’s Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly Shopify <a href="https://basecamp.c
Tue, July 16, 2024
How Working as Ina Garten's Assistant Kicked Off Lidey Heuck's Career as a Food Creator and Cookbook Author
Contributing recipes to NYT Cooking, avoiding the comparison trap, and working with the Barefoot Contessa with Lidey Heuck. ----- Welcome to episode 470 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lidey Heuck. How Working as Ina Garten’s Assistant Kicked Off Lidey Heuck’s Career as a Food Creator and Cookbook Author Lidey’s first job out of college was as Ina Garten’s assistant — yes, you read that right! After 7 years working as part of the Barefoot Contessa team, Lidey has gone on to grow her own business as a food creator. She is a recipe contributor to New York Times Cooking, runs her own food blog, and recently published her first cookbook, Cooking in Real Life. In this interview, she shares more about her experience working at Barefoot Contessa, how she balances creating content for different platforms, what it’s like to contribute to NYT Cooking, why she might want to open a brick-and-mortar shop, and so much more. This is an enjoyable listen that will get you thinking about the many different routes a career path as a food creator can take. Hope you enjoy this fun episode as much as we did! In this episode, you’ll learn about: Building a Food Career Through Unconventional Paths: Lidey's story proves you don't need a perfect path to land your dream food gig. Working for Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa!) launched her career, showing there's magic in unexpected opportunities! Growth Through Diverse Food Experiences: You'll hear about how her time at Barefoot Contessa was just the beginning. She went on to conquer TV shows, big publications, and everything in between. Get ready for some serious food world inspiration! Lidey's Recipe for Success (and How She Balances Her Projects): Lidey's a total rockstar, churning out recipes for her blog, cookbooks, and even the New York Times! We'll uncover her secrets for creating killer content across different platforms and keeping her sanity while doing it. Plus, a peek into what a typical day looks like for this busy bee (and maybe some recipe development tips!). Resources: Lidey Likes Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day (a Cookbook) Barefoot Contessa Snackdive The Lost Kitchen <a hr
Tue, July 09, 2024
469: How Erin Collins Went from 25,000 to 250,000 Instagram Followers While Self-Publishing a Cookbook
Outsourcing tasks, growing a social media following, and self-publishing a cookbook with Erin Collins from Meaningful Eats. ----- Welcome to episode 469 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Erin Collins from Meaningful Eats. How Erin Collins Went from 25,000 to 250,000 Instagram Followers While Self-Publishing a Cookbook Erin started her blog, Meaningful Eats, in 2012. Since then, she has self-published a cookbook (another one is coming out soon!), grown her site to 1 million monthly page views, and gained over 275,000 Instagram followers. In this interview, Erin talks about how she achieves a work-life balance by delegating tasks and how being aware of her “zone of genius” allows her to focus on what she’s most passionate about. She also discusses how she committed to growing her Instagram following by honing in on her audience’s needs. She self-published her cookbook “Gluten-Free Cookies, Brownies, and Bars” last fall and generated over $100,000 in revenue in the first nine months! It was great to hear about her process of self-publishing a cookbook. We can’t wait for you to dive in to hear more about her story! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she balances parenthood and blogging (hint: weekly family meetings are key!) How she uses timed constrictions to be more intentional with her time How she prioritizes her work during seasons of limited time How outsourcing tasks allows her to achieve a work-life balance How to leverage your zone of genius (and being aware of your zones of competence and incompetence) for your blog How she grew her Instagram following from 25,000 to 250,000 How she decided to make the shift to quality over quantity How incorporating various series (12 GF cookies for Christmas) into her Instagram strategy drove engagement How she uses chat marketing tools like ManyChat to deliver content Why she decided to self-publish her cookbook (which saw almost $100,000 in revenue in the first 9 months!) and how she went about it. The cost breakdown of self-publishing a cookbook: working with a printing company, shipping, etc. How she’s looking to make the shift to connect with her audience and include more income streams Her number one tip for food bloggers who are just starting out (spoiler: it’s to focus on one thing at a time) Resources: Meaningful Eats Erin’s cookbook “Gluten-Free Cookies, Brownies, and Bars” Episode 365 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron <a href= "https://www.a
Tue, July 02, 2024
Breaking into the Private Chef Industry and Sharing What You’re in Pursuit of with Celebrity Chef Kenneth Temple
Becoming a private chef, prioritizing projects, and sharing your aspirations with others with Kenneth Temple. ----- Welcome to episode 468 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews celebrity chef and food blogger Kenneth Temple. Breaking into the Private Chef Industry and Sharing What You’re in Pursuit of with Celebrity Chef Kenneth Temple Kenneth Temple started his food blog in 2017 and has been a private chef since 2009 so he’s got a lot of great insights to share with us in this interview. He now finds himself cooking for NFL, MLB, NBA players, and Grammy artists. On the blog side, he qualified for Mediavine in November of 2023—a huge milestone! In this interview, Kenneth and Bjork discuss how he broke into the private chef industry, landed his first celebrity client, and why he chose to go down this route over working in a restaurant. They also talk about the importance of putting yourself out there and sharing your aspirations with others and the power of word-of-mouth marketing. They also chat about what blogging as a chef looks like and how he had to adjust his strategy after learning about SEO and searchability. Even if your goal isn’t to pursue a career as a private chef, we find Kenneth’s advice on managing your time and promoting yourself extremely valuable and think you will too. We hope you enjoy the episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Kenneth’s background as a private chef and why he chose this path over working in a restaurant. How he was able to land a private chef gig with an NBA player from the New Orleans Hornets. How he went about pricing his work. How he prioritizes his time due to the seasonality of his work and what his day-to-day looks like now. How he maintains a professional relationship with his clients. Tips for those looking to break into the private chef industry. How he grew his network by sharing what he was in pursuit of (and why you should do the same!). How he used his knowledge as a private chef to create a 21-day meal prep challenge to help his clients with weight loss. How he got into food blogging in 2017 and blogged as a chef (and what that means exactly!). How he learned about searchability and adjusted his blogging strategy. What his experience was like as he grew his site and got accepted to Mediavine. The pros and cons of working in realms that were 1:1 and 1:infinite. How he saves time and stays productive by batching recipes. How he chose to de-prioritize certain projects because he realized they weren’t solving problems for his audience. How he’s now looking for pursuits that will allow him to solve problems. Resources: Kenneth Temple Meiko and the Dish <a href=
Tue, June 25, 2024
Pinterest Strategy in 2024 Q&A with Kate Ahl
Strategizing for growth, pivoting to Pinterest as an alternative to SEO, and branding on Pinterest with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media. ----- Welcome to episode 467 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media. Pinterest Strategy in 2024 This is a super special episode of the podcast, as it kicks off what we are calling our Summer Membership Spotlight. Over the next three months (June, July, and August) we will be sharing a piece of content that is normally exclusive to Food Blogger Pro members here on the podcast. We are starting with a replay of our Pinterest Live Q&A with Kate Ahl! This Q&A originally aired in April. Food Blogger Pro members submitted lots of great questions all about Pinterest strategy — branding, pinning strategy, types of pins, you name it. We’re so excited to share this Q&A with you (it’s a really informative one!) and hope you’ll tune in for our other membership spotlight episodes throughout the summer. In this episode, you’ll learn: What constitutes a “fresh pin.” Whether hashtags still relevant on Pinterest. The differences in performance between video and static pins. How many pins you should create for each blog post. Kate’s favorite scheduling tools and how to approach hidden pins. What outsourcing the management of your Pinterest account looks like. When you might start to see growth on Pinterest. The importance of branding when creating Pins. How to audit your Pinterest boards. Resources: Simple Pin Media Pinterest Predicts Tailwind Follow Kate on Instagram , Pinterest , and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Memberful. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.
Tue, June 18, 2024
How to Respond to the Recent Google Updates with Ann Smarty
Why SEO is about more than building traffic, how to think more holistically about your SEO strategy, and the importance of community with Ann Smarty. ----- Welcome to episode 466 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ann Smarty from Smarty Marketing. How to Respond to the Recent Google Updates Ann Smarty has been working in the SEO industry for over 20 years, and she has lots of expertise to share with us in this interview! Bjork and Ann chat about the current state of SEO, including a deep dive into the impact of the recent Google Helpful Content Updates. They also discuss the history of backlinks with SEO and how to approach link-building as a content creator (and why it’s more about community than you might think). Ann has a really great perspective on the importance of developing a holistic SEO strategy and why diversifying your income and traffic sources matters now, more than ever. Don’t miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: About the current state of SEO (is it as bad as it feels?!). Who was most impacted by the recent Helpful Content Updates. Why backlinks seem to have protected sites during these Google updates. More about the ‘backlink controversy’ in the SEO industry. How to approach link-building as a content creator. Why building a community and saying “yes” is so important in this SEO environment. What you should do to strategically take advantage of traffic when you have it (to prepare for when you lose it). The importance of diversifying your traffic and income sources. Resources: Smarty Marketing Moz SparkToro Google SearchLiaison Pinch of Yum Search Engine Journal Tax Smart Real Estate Investors Podcast Memberful Skool Follow Ann on Facebook , Linkedin , and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/work-wi
Fri, June 14, 2024
Tiny Bites: Don’t Lose Your Universal Analytics Data
Welcome to Tiny Bites from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ben Holland from Clariti about the upcoming deletion of Universal Analytics data — and what you need to do about it. Get the resources for this episode a foodbloggerpro.com/podcast/tiny-bites-universal-analytics-data.
Tue, June 11, 2024
Creating a Subscription Platform for Your Food Blog with Jen Matichuk
Monetizing through a membership as a food creator, choosing a subscription platform, and marketing a membership to your community with Jen Matichuk from Memberful. ----- Welcome to episode 465 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jen Matichuk. Creating a Subscription Platform for Your Food Blog Are you tired of brand partnerships or navigating the Google algorithm? Have you ever considered starting a membership for your community? Then you won’t want to miss this podcast episode with Jen Matichuk from Memberful. And yes, Memberful is a podcast sponsor, but this episode isn’t sponsored by them! We were just really excited to have an honest conversation about what it looks like to create a membership as a food creator, and how you might go about doing it, and Jen is the perfect person to cover this topic. In this episode, Bjork and Jen chat about how to determine if a membership is the right option for your business, how to choose a subscription platform, how to predict if a subscription model will be successful for you, how to market content behind a paywall, and more! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Jen’s career and how she ended up in her current role at Memberful. The details behind the membership that Jen started with Rhett & Link. The importance of researching and communicating with your audience before creating any new format of digital content. How to choose a membership/subscription platform. The behind-the-scenes of how and why Molly Baz came to start her membership site with Memberful. How to play the numbers game to predict how successful a membership might be for you. How to determine the price point and pricing structure for your membership. How to shift your mindset around marketing a product that you made. How to approach transitioning some of your content behind a paywall. Resources: Memberful Rhett & Link Mythical Society Patreon Rooster Teeth Substack Molly Baz Wonderly Jo Club Discord Connect with Jen via email Connect with Jen on LinkedIn or Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook
Tue, June 04, 2024
How Email and High-Quality Content Helped Jason Norris Reach Millions of Monthly Pageviews with Recipe Teacher
Evolving your business to fit your audience's needs, assembling a team of recipe developers, and growing an email list from 1,000 to 75,000 subscribers with Jason Norris from Recipe Teacher. ----- Welcome to episode 464 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jason Norris from Recipe Teacher. How Email and High-Quality Content Helped Jason Norris Reach Millions of Monthly Pageviews with Recipe Teacher Jason Norris has gone on quite a journey with his site, Recipe Teacher. From trying to sell the site for $1000, to growing a site that reaches millions of monthly pageviews and is worth well over a million dollars. In this interview, Jason shares more about the growth of his site, how he has built a team of recipe developers, his approach to SEO, and more. He also explains how he grew his email list from 1,000 to over 75,000 subscribers by working with our friend Allea at Duett and, in the process, learned that many of his readers are seniors! Jason’s journey to success is a really fun one to hear about, and one that we know will inspire many of you to keep plugging along. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he went from trying to sell his site (Recipe Teacher) for $1000 (with no offers!) to building the same site to be worth over a million dollars. How he developed and sold his first website — WindyCityFishing (and his second website)! The origin story of Recipe Teacher (and how the Instant Pot changed his life). The importance of evolving your business and being adaptable. When he first felt like he had made Recipe Teacher successful, and what it felt like when he first qualified for Raptive and saw his earnings skyrocket. How he has grown his team of recipe developers. Why he has been focusing on updating old recipes. When he decided to take Recipe Teacher full-time. His approach to SEO and keyword research. Why he prioritizes outsourcing certain aspects of this business. How he grew his email list from 1,000 to 75,000 subscribers in 3 years. How focusing on email marketing helped Jason learn more about his site’s demographics (spoiler alert: he has a huge audience of seniors!). Resources: Recipe Teacher WindyCityFishing Flippa Quiet Light 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light 159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Raptive</a
Tue, May 28, 2024
How a Love of SEO and Entrepreneurship Helped Shaunda Necole Grow Three Successful Websites and Hit 1 Million Monthly Pageviews
Leaning into the science of SEO, committing to a niche, and dividing attention between three websites and businesses. ----- Welcome to episode 463 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shaunda Necole from The Soul Food Pot. How a Love of SEO and Entrepreneurship Helped Shaunda Necole Grow Three Successful Websites and Hit 1 Million Monthly Pageviews Shaunda Necole has a true passion for being an entrepreneur — from her first business owning a cheerleading product company to today, running three websites, a food tour of Las Vegas, writing books, and more. In this interview, she shares more about her love of SEO and keyword research and how her SEO strategy has changed in light of Google’s recent Helpful Content Updates. She also explains how she divides her time between her three websites (a food blog, a travel website, and her personal site), in addition to her SEO consulting, Las Vegas food tours, and upcoming travel book. In a time where SEO can feel really unpredictable, Shaunda’s perspective and approach to SEO is one we all need to hear (and she clearly knows what she’s doing — her food blog hits 1 million monthly pageviews during the holiday season)! We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Shaunda first got interested in SEO via Pinterest. How she first started out as an entrepreneur in the cheerleading product space. How she went from cheerleading products to MacKenzie-Childs to the food space. More about how she started with brand partnerships (and why she brought on a manager). Why (and how) she transitioned from brand partnerships to SEO. How she has committed to her niche (Southern soul food) over the years. Why she enjoys keyword research and SEO for her site. How she divides her attention between her three websites. Why she syndicates content from her travel website to MSN (hint: backlinks!). How content syndication with MSN works (plugin, canonical links, ad profit sharing, appeasing Google, and more). Her favorite keyword research tool and how that has changed since the recent Helpful Content Updates (HCUs). How she is updating and republishing content to recover from the HCU. The importance of being “well-rounded.” Resources: The Soul Food Pot Shaunda Necole White & Sable Wix MacKenzie-Childs 406: Monetization Strategies in the Influencer Industry with Brittany Hennessy <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/books/influencer-building-your-p
Tue, May 21, 2024
Monetizing Three Blogs, Outsourcing Tasks, and Self-Publishing a Cookbook with Julie Evink from Julie's Eats & Treats
Building three blogs in different niches, growing a team and building a community, and diversifying traffic sources with Julie Evink from Julie's Eats & Treats. ----- Welcome to episode 462 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Julie Evink from Julie’s Eats & Treats. Monetizing Three Blogs, Outsourcing Tasks, and Self-Publishing a Cookbook Julie started her first blog, Julie’s Eats & Treats, back in 2010. Since that time she has taken her site full-time, started two other blogs, grown a team, and is self-publishing a cookbook! In this interview, Julie shares more about growing her blog and how that experience changed her approach to her other two sites. She also chats about outsourcing tasks, how she hires team members, and what she thinks is working really well in her businesses currently. Her cookbook is being released on May 21, so we also get to hear about the process of self-publishing a cookbook. It’s always fun to hear about the journey of someone who has been blogging for as long as Julie has (14+ years!) and we know you’ll enjoy this interview as much as we did. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about the origin story of Julie’s three blogs. What she learned from her first blog (Julie’s Eats & Treats) in 2010 and later applied to her second blog (Gimme Some Grilling) in 2018. How monetization differs between her niches. How she has built her team over the years (and why she likes having part-time employees). What her day-to-day workflow looks like. Her advice for making food blogging as a career less lonely. What she thinks is working well in her businesses these days (hint: passive income!). How she has diversified her traffic sources (and why that matters to her). The importance of growing an email list. The process of self-publishing a cookbook (including the workflow and initial investment). Resources: Julie’s Eats & Treats Gimme Some Grilling Kids Activity Guide Asana Julie’s Eats & Treats Cookbook: Easy, Family-Friendly Recipes from a Midwestern Mom Shopify Tastes Better from Scratch Inherit Co Follow Julie on Facebook and Instagram . Join
Tue, May 14, 2024
Building a Career as a Photographer and Storytelling Through Visuals with Alanna O'Neil
Developing a photography portfolio, growing a career in photography, and the importance of telling a story through your photographs with Alanna O'Neil. ----- Welcome to episode 461 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alanna O’Neil. Building a Career as a Photographer and Storytelling Through Visuals Alanna O’Neil has been a photographer for almost as long as she can remember. Despite starting her career in fashion, she took a risk and moved to Hawaii to start a career as a photographer, and hasn’t looked back. In this interview, Alanna shares more about building a career as a freelance photographer, developing your skills as a photographer, building a portfolio, and the importance of storytelling through visuals. She has an incredibly calming and inspiring energy, and this interview will give you a lot to think about as an entrepreneur, creative, and photographer. Don’t miss it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Alanna first got into photography (spoiler: it involves a horse barn and a dark room in her childhood home)! How she makes time and space to make big life decisions (like moving to Hawaii and changing careers). How she started her career in food photography. How she built her photography portfolio and why working for free is underrated. More about the program she is developing for new photographers. Her actionable tips within business, mindset, and photography for someone trying to build a photography business. Her recommendations for improving your photography. Why you should think about telling a story with your food photos. How she minimizes comparing herself to other creators. Resources: Alanna O’Neil Pinch of Yum Humans of New York Two Huge Chocolate Chip Cookies The Gap and the Gain Follow Alanna on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Memberful. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbl
Tue, May 07, 2024
How Yasmin Henley Recommitted to Her Blog and Grew to 85,000 Monthly Sessions
Getting removed from Mediavine, leaning into social media as a traffic driver, and rebuilding to 85,000 monthly sessions with Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful. ----- Welcome to episode 460 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful. How Yasmin Henley Recommitted to Her Blog and Grew to 85,000 Monthly Sessions Yasmin started By the Forkful (her second blog) in 2019 and quickly qualified for Mediavine. But, as often happens, life got in the way when she had her daughter and went back to work full-time. After taking a step back and being removed from Mediavine, Yasmin has worked hard to bring her site back to life. In the last year she has built the traffic on her site back up to 85,000 monthly sessions and is once again part of an ad network! In this interview she shares more about her process for growing site traffic, the role of social media in driving traffic to her site, and how she balances her full-time job, family, and blog. We loved this interview with Yasmin — she’s an open book and her honesty is so refreshing and helpful for anyone building a business! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she initially qualified for Mediavine after starting her blog in 2019. Why she neglected her site for 1–2 years (hint: sometimes life gets in the way) and was removed from Mediavine. How a viral TikTok video inspired her to reinvest in her blog. How she built the traffic back up on her site (to 85,000 sessions last month!). How she has grown her social media followings at the same time. How she balances her blog with her full-time job and family. Her current strategy on Facebook (which is a major traffic driver for her). Why updating older content is one of the most valuable things she does for her business. What advice she would give to her past self when she was removed from her ad network. Resources: By the Forkful Mediavine Y Combinator Follow Yasmin on Instagram and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.
Tue, April 30, 2024
How Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone Diversified Her Business and Found Work-Life Balance
Balancing a business and home-schooling 8 children, building a team, and diversifying your business to different platforms with Lisa Bass. ----- Welcome to episode 459 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone. How Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone Diversified Her Business and Found Work-Life Balance Lisa Bass first started her site, Farmhouse on Boone, in 2016. Since then, she has diversified her brand to include a podcast, YouTube channel, courses, and more (all while raising 8 children)! In this podcast interview, Bjork and Lisa talk about balancing her business with her family life, and how she has built a team to support her business over the years. Lisa also chats about how each arm of her business ranks in terms of income, and why she continues to prioritize YouTube. Lisa has been one of our most-requested podcast guests and we’re so happy to have her join us! Hope you enjoy the episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Lisa’s journey from starting her site in 2016 (and growing her site to have multiple millions of monthly pageviews). What she attributes her success to. How she balances her business and home-schooling her 8 (!!!) children. How she has built her team over the years and what the workflow within her business looks like. How her different platforms (blog, social media, podcast, YouTube) fit into her income. Why she continues to prioritize creating content for YouTube. What her strategy around creating YouTube content is (and how she’s improved it over the years). What she would do if she was just starting Farmhouse on Boone today. What tools she uses to run her business. Resources: Farmhouse on Boone Simple Farmhouse Life Raptive MrBeast Mark Rober True Native Media Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor) Trello Slack Final Cut Pro Epidemic Sound Teachable EasyWebinar ConvertKit Follow Lisa on Instagram , <a href="https://www.facebook.com/farmhouseonboone
Tue, April 23, 2024
SEO Tips from a Food Blogger Who Works Full-time at an SEO Agency with Marley Braunlich
Balancing a full-time job in the SEO industry with running a food blog, managing burnout, and applying SEO best practices to your site with Marley Braunlich from Baked Abundance. ----- Welcome to episode 458 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Marley Braunlich from Baked Abundance. SEO Tips from a Food Blogger Who Works Full-time at an SEO Agency Marley Braunlich started working full-time at an SEO agency shortly after launching her food blog, Baked Abundance. In this interview, she shares more about balancing a full-time job and a side hustle (especially when they’re both in the same industry!) and how she manages burnout. Marley also explains what tips and tricks she has learned from her full-time job and how she has worked to optimize her site for search engines and build domain authority. If you want to increase your site traffic (who isn’t?!) without losing the aspects of food blogging that bring you joy, you won’t want to miss this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Marley’s full-time job at an SEO agency and how it has impacted her food blog. The tools that Marley learned about through her job and now uses for her site. How she balances a full-time job and blog in the same industry. How she manages burnout and adjusts her content strategy with a full-time job and a side hustle. What she has learned from coaching calls with other food bloggers. The patterns she has noticed amongst blogs that have seen the greatest success at her SEO agency. How she has worked to build her domain authority and increased backlinks. Resources: Baked Abundance Semrush Detailed SEO Extension Detailed Q3: Analysing The SEO Playbook of Digital Goliaths In-Depth, Every Quarter Mediavine Feast Eat More Cake by Candice Broken Oven Baking 100 Days of Real Food Connectively Featuring HARO Follow Marley on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with u
Tue, April 16, 2024
How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog with Parker Thornburg
Acquiring an existing food blog, navigating traffic drops, and reimagining a site to make it your own with Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious. ----- Welcome to episode 457 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious. How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog Starting a food blog or business is hard work. It can take months (years!) of determination, practice, and consistency before you start to see results. So what if you just… skipped ahead?! That’s exactly what Parker Thornburg and his business partner did when they acquired the existing food blog, Foodness Gracious. But just because the site was up and running (with thousands of recipes!) doesn’t mean the transition has been an easy or seamless one. In this interview, Parker shares more about the process of acquiring a site, what the transition has been like, how they’ve navigated hiring and traffic drops, and have started to come out the other side. Whether or not you’re thinking about acquiring a site (or selling your own), there are lots of great lessons to be learned for anyone! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Parker’s professional background (including time at Yahoo and a start-up). Why Parker decided to acquire an existing food blog. About the process of acquiring a site and using a brokerage site. What factors to consider when acquiring a site (including calculating potential profits). How they hired their team and what the early days of the site looked like after acquisition (including lots of lessons learned). How Parker and his business partner have navigated traffic drops since acquiring their site. The importance of consistency and habits when trying something new. How he balances his full-time job, family life, and growing Foodness Gracious. What he wants the legacy of this site to be. Resources: Foodness Gracious Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game QuietLight Empire Flippers 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light 159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Mediavine beehiiv Maray <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/boo
Tue, April 09, 2024
Monetizing, Diversifying, and Leaning Into Pinterest and Email with Chelsea Clarke
Navigating the creator landscape, improving the value of your site, and the importance of diversifying with Chelsea Clarke. ----- Welcome to episode 456 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Clarke from Her Paper Route. Monetizing, Diversifying, and Leaning Into Pinterest and Email We are thrilled to welcome back Chelsea Clarke to the podcast this week. Chelsea is an expert at all things monetizing, buying, selling, and optimizing sites and she shares lots of that expertise in this interview. Bjork and Chelsea chat about the current state of the industry for online creators, and how the slew of recent Google algorithm updates have impacted the industry. Chelsea also shares how she has reacted to these changes with her sites (hint: it includes Pinterest, video, and email marketing). Chelsea also explains more about how buying and selling websites works, and how you can make your own site more valuable for yourself (and for potential investors)! In this episode, you’ll learn: Chelsea’s view on the current “state of the industry” for creators. A recap of all of the recent Google algorithm updates. Her recommendations for diversifying traffic sources (remember Pinterest?). Why to prioritize building a community around your brand. Why Pinterest is such a valuable traffic source (and how to get started with Pinterest SEO). What the future of search might look like. How she has strategically grown her email list and approaches the marketing funnel on her site. How to make your site more valuable (both for yourself and/or if you ever planning on selling your site). How she approaches buying and selling sites. Resources: Her Paper Route 297: Blog Flipping – Developing, Monetizing, and Selling Websites with Chelsea Clarke Google on Helpful Content Raptive Google Seach Liason on Twitter Pinterest The Simple Pin Podcast Pinteresting Strategies 2.0 by Carly Campbell Blogging Like We Mean It TikTok Niche Investor Epic Gardening Follow Chelsea on I
Tue, April 02, 2024
Creating Your Own Products and Adding a Revenue Stream with Barbara Hobart
Developing your own product line, diversifying income streams, and increasing brand awareness with Barbara Hobart. ----- Welcome to episode 455 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Barbara Hobart. Creating Your Own Products and Adding a Revenue Stream Barbara Hobart is a television writer and producer who also happens to work with food bloggers and other entrepreneurs to identify, create, and manufacture custom products. In this interview, Bjork and Barbara chat about why food creators might consider selling their own products to generate new revenue streams and increase brand awareness. They walk through all of Barbara’s recommendations for how to develop, manufacture, and distribute a product, and what kinds of products tend to perform well for food creators. We always love to chat about diversifying income streams on the podcast, and this is a great episode to get you thinking about how you might do that! Don’t miss it. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about her background as a television writer and producer in Hollywood and how she (accidentally!) got started creating products. The importance of diversifying income as a creator. How someone should know if they’re ready to build a physical product and/or a brand that sells products as a digital creator. Her recommendations for how to easily create, manufacture, and ship a product. Products that food creators might consider selling (and how to get started). The difference between white-labeling something and creating a custom product. What to know about food safety, insurance, and the importance of due diligence when selling your own food products. Why selling your own products can help you control your bottom line. Resources: BarbaraHobart.com 430: Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network with Nathan Barry ConvertKit Primal Kitchen Shopify Pinch of Yum Nom Nom Paleo Spice Blends Best Ever Backdrops Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and CultivateWP. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here .<
Tue, March 26, 2024
Catherine Zhang on Being a Netflix Star and the Power of Social Media
Balancing two blogs, social media, and two dessert shops, using trends and viral videos to drive blog traffic, and winning a baking competition on Netflix with Catherine Zhang. ----- Welcome to episode 454 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Catherine Zhang. Catherine Zhang on Being a Netflix Star and the Power of Social Media Catherine Zhang has quite a resume: she was on (and won) NETFLIX’s Zumbo’s Just Desserts season 2, runs two food blogs, has over 1 million followers between Instagram and TikTok, and owns Kurepu Crepes — a dessert shop with locations in Perth and Sydney. She also happens to have a Bachelor of Science majoring in Food and Nutrition Science, and spent two years working in pastry kitchens. Safe to say, she has had tremendous success as a creator over the last few years. In this podcast interview, Bjork and Catherine chat about her professional journey, how she balances her businesses, and the power of social media. It is a really fun and inspiring interview — Catherine is so intentional about everything she does for her businesses and will definitely leave you with a lot to think about. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Catherine’s professional journey (including opening two brick-and-mortar dessert shops, being on a Netflix show, and growing her Instagram following to 500,000+ followers). How she first started creating content online. How she applied for (and won!) the Netflix baking show, and how it impacted her online presence. How she balances her blog, social media accounts, and dessert shops (Kurepu Crepes). How she manages and maintains her blog (which gets 350,000+ monthly pageviews). Why she decided to start a second food blog (Dimsimlim) with her business partner (and how they qualified for Raptive within one week). How she uses social media, trends, and viral videos to drive blog traffic. What she’s learned about the process of building a team and running a brick-and-mortar business. Resources: Catherine Zhang NETFLIX’s Zumbo’s Just Desserts Pinch of Yum Snackdive crumbl Dimsimlim Raptive Kurepu Crepes dimsimlim on Instagram Follow Catherine on Instagram and TikTok <a href= "https://www.
Tue, March 19, 2024
Balancing a Full-time Job and Your Food Blog with Vincent DelGiudice
Transitioning careers, deciding not to take your blog full-time, and using your blog as a business card with Vincent DelGiudice from Always From Scratch. ----- Welcome to episode 453 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Vincent DelGiudice from Always From Scratch. Balancing a Full-time Job and Your Food Blog We first met Vinny when he joined Bjork for a Coaching Call in 2023. He is on the podcast this week to chat more about his career journey — including how he made the leap from working as a full-time speech-language pathologist to where he is now. Vinny started his blog, Always From Scratch, in 2019 and has had lots of success in that short amount of time — including qualifying for Mediavine and reaching over 100,000 followers on Instagram. While he contemplated taking his site full-time last year, he has since decided to hold off and shares more about his decision-making process in this interview. Vinny and Bjork chat about balancing a full-time job with your blog, how you can use your blog as a “business card” for other job opportunities, and how to create a work-life that fills your cup. In this episode, you’ll learn: What’s changed since Vinny’s Coaching Call with Bjork in the last 6 months. Why Vinny decided not to take his blog full-time (yet!). How he used his blog and Instagram account to get himself a full-time job in this industry. How he balances his full-time job, his blog, and his family. How to mentally justify the early days of blogging, when you’re spending lots of time on something without yet making an income. How qualifying for Mediavine and reaching 100,000+ followers on Instagram changed his mindset. What advice he has for someone looking to make the transition into running their blog full-time. How to approach your work tasks to make help you be “gas tank full.” Resources: Always From Scratch Food Blogger Pro Coaching Calls Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One Designing Your New Work Life Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life The War of Art Follow
Tue, March 12, 2024
YouTube, Meal Plans, and Business Growth with Nisha Vora
Creating content for YouTube, developing meal plans for your community, and strategizing for growing your brand with Nisha Vora from Rainbow Plant Life. Welcome to episode 452 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nisha Vora from Rainbow Plant Life. YouTube, Meal Plans, and Business Growth Nisha Vora (who just so happens to be the YouTube Expert on Food Blogger Pro!) is back on the podcast this week to chat about all things YouTube, business growth, and meal plans! Bjork and Nisha kick off the conversation with a deep dive into YouTube — YouTube shorts, longer-form videos, monetization on the platform, and more. Nisha also recently launched Meal Plans by Rainbow Plant Life and shares more about the process of developing and marketing the meal plans, and what the future of Rainbow Plant Life might look like! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she prioritizes creating content for her different platforms (blog, YouTube, newsletter, and social media). How her income varies between platforms. Her current strategy around YouTube Shorts vs. long-form videos (and how monetizing differs between the two). How she developed her meal plans product. Why surveying her audience played such an important role in the development of her meal plans. What meal plans version 2.0 might look like. How she tested and promoted her meal plans. How she continues to improve her skills as a content creator. How she balances creating content and managing the business side of Rainbow Plant Life. How she has grown the Rainbow Plant Life team. Resources: Rainbow Plant Life 302: Growth Strategies – Growing Your Brand on YouTube and Beyond with Nisha Vora Digiday Meal Plans by Rainbow Plant Life ConvertKit Eisenhower Matrix Follow Nisha on Instagram and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Memberful and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure
Tue, March 05, 2024
Staying True to Yourself as a Content Creator with Katie Higgins from Chocolate Covered Katie
Navigating the evolution of online content creation, balancing SEO with creating content you love, and defining success for you with Katie Higgins from Chocolate Covered Katie. ----- Welcome to episode 451 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Katie Higgins from Chocolate Covered Katie. Staying True to Yourself as a Content Creator Katie first started creating content online in 2006 and has been making a living from her food blog, Chocolate Covered Katie for a long time. In her first podcast interview (!!!) Katie shares openly about navigating the online content creation space for almost 20 years and how she has stayed true to herself throughout that time. Katie has been very intentional about running her business in a way that prioritizes doing the things she loves — creating recipes, SEO, photography, FOOD, and letting go of the things she doesn’t — video, sponsored content, Instagram. She has a really refreshing perspective on what success looks like and how she navigates imposter syndrome in the industry. We’ve been longtime followers of Katie and enjoyed getting a peek behind the scenes of her brand! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she first started creating content on the internet (on Xanga!). How she started monetizing her site. How she has persevered through all of the iterations of what it looks like to publish content online. Why she prioritizes the parts of food blogging she likes (i.e. SEO) and doesn’t worry about the things that she doesn’t (i.e. video). How she balances SEO with creating content she loves. What success looks like for her right now (and how she deals with imposter syndrome). Why she is working to make the user experience better on her site. Why she’s chosen not to do sponsored content for her blog or social media accounts. Resources: Chocolate Covered Katie Pinterest Semrush Vivid Vision Follow Katie on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and CultivateWP. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started at foodbloggerpro.com/work-with-us. If you have any comments, questions
Tue, February 27, 2024
Planning for Extended Time Away from Your Food Blog with Jessica Hylton Leckie
Delegating tasks, batching content, and planning ahead with Jessica Hylton Leckie from Jessica in the Kitchen. ----- Welcome to episode 450 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jessica Hylton Leckie from Jessica in the Kitchen. Planning for Extended Time Away from Your Food Blog Jessica first started her blog 10 years ago when she was in school pursuing a law degree. Since that time, she has continued to scale her business and now receives 1–2 million pageviews each month. While pregnant with her first child, Jessica knew that she wanted to take some time away from her business to focus on being a mom. In the process, she developed a strategy for planning extended time away from your food blog and social media accounts, without losing any of the momentum she had worked so hard to build. Whether you’re hoping to take a maternity/paternity leave, need time away to support a family member or loved one, or just need a break from being an entrepreneur, this is an incredibly valuable episode all about the importance of planning ahead, delegating, and learning to let go. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she transitioned from her baking business to her food blog (all while in law school)! How she scaled her brand to 1–2 million monthly pageviews and over 1 million followers across her social media accounts. How (and why) she decided to leave her career in law to pursue her career as a food creator. How she planned ahead on her blog and social media for her year-long maternity leave. Why she found it valuable to outsource certain tasks and work “on” her business instead of working “in” her business. How she approaches delegating work. Resources: Jessica in the Kitchen Moz The Tipping Point The E Myth Revisited Follow Jessica on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti, Memberful, and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to
Tue, February 20, 2024
Monetizing Through Bread, Courses, and a Food Blog with Matthew Duffy
Diversifying income streams, working as a private celebrity chef, and scaling his food blog from 6,000 to 45,000 monthly page views in 5 months with Matthew Duffy. ----- Welcome to episode 449 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matthew Duffy. Monetizing Through Bread, Courses, and a Food Blog We first got to know Matthew when he joined Bjork for a 2-hour-long marathon Coaching Call as a Food Blogger Pro member. He started his career in food as a professional chef in Michelin-starred restaurants before becoming a private chef to a slew of celebrities. Since that time, Matthew has become an online food creator with his courses, social media accounts, and food blog (while also baking lots of bread and panettone on the side). Since his Coaching Call last fall, Matthew has kept the FBP team updated on his progress with his site (spoiler alert: there has been a lot of progress!). One major win? His site traffic has grown from 6,000 monthly pageviews to over 45,000 in just 5 months! In this interview, Matthew shares more about his professional background, why he decided to start sharing content on social media and his blog, more about his different streams of income, and lots more. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Matthew’s background as a professional, celebrity, and private chef. Why he started teaching about bread. How he transitioned his career into the online space and prioritized Instagram. How he has built his brand and business online while also growing his bakery business. Why he decided to work with a brand management agency. About his different streams of income (in-person and online classes, selling bread, AdSense, and affiliate marketing). How he scaled from 6,000 monthly pageviews to 45,000 in 5 months. Why he and his wife are focusing on the blog right now. Resources: MatthewJamesDuffy.com Food Blogger Pro Coaching Calls Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman Matty Matheson on Instagram Teachable Mijune Pak Follow Matthew on Instagram , YouTube , and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Tue, February 13, 2024
How Faith Christensen Grew Her TikTok and Instagram Platforms to 2.5 Million Followers
Using trending audio on TikTok, navigating the social media algorithms, and creating video content with Faith Christensen from Faith's Fresh. ----- Welcome to episode 448 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Faith Christensen. How Faith Christensen Grew Her TikTok and Instagram Platforms to 2.5 Million Followers Faith first started posting food content to Instagram and TikTok when she was in 2019 when she learned she was intolerant to gluten and dairy. Since that time, she has taken her career as a food creator full-time and grown her social media accounts to over 2.5 million followers (!!!). In this interview, Bjork and Faith talk about Faith’s strategy for creating video content, how she uses trending audio, her tips for navigating the algorithms, and why she decided to work with a management agency to support her with brand partnerships. If you’re looking to up your game on TikTok or Instagram this year, you won’t want to skip this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Faith grew her social accounts to over 2.5 million followers. More about how she uses trending audio on TikTok. About her process for creating video content on Instagram and/or TikTok. How she approaches reposting content between platforms. Her thoughts on navigating the algorithms on social media. The importance of changing camera angles when filming videos for TikTok. Why she exclusively edits on her phone. How she uses analytics to shape her strategy on TikTok and Instagram. Why she decided to work with a management agency. Resources: Follow Faith on Instagram , TikTok , and YouTube Capcut Digital Brand Architects Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Memberful and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership .
Tue, February 06, 2024
447: How to Diversify Your Traffic and Income with Ewen Finser
Approaching risk as an entrepreneur, diversifying your income, and learning more about the changes in the world of search with Ewen Finser. ----- Welcome to episode 447 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser. How to Diversify Your Traffic and Income The last few years have brought big changes to the online content creation world — AI, Google algorithm changes, you name it! As an entrepreneur, these changes can feel overwhelming, discouraging, and even scary. So… what can you do about it? That’s why we asked Ewen Finser back on the podcast! He knows a lot about the importance of diversifying your business — from traffic sources to income and everything in between. Bjork and Ewen chat about how to diversify your traffic income, how to approach risk, and different strategies and tools for managing your finances. Don’t miss this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: About some of the changes happening in the world of search. More about search generative experience on Google. How to approach risk on search, email, and social media platforms to help create a stable foundation for your business. How to think about the income you’re creating from your business as an investor. The importance of diversifying your income. How to approach scaling your business and managing risk. About Ewen’s favorite tools and apps for money management. Resources: Venture 4th Media 243: Best-in-Class Content – Keyword Research, Creating Value, and Authority with Ewen Finser Tiny Bites: Understanding and Reacting to Google Algorithm Updates Niche Media Publishing Google September 2023 Helpful Content Update – Changes To The Algorithm Future PLC 443: Why David Lebovitz Switched from Blogging to Substack MarketBeat Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine Mercury LiveOakBank TreasuryDirect Wealthfront <a href="https://americandeposits.co
Tue, January 30, 2024
How to Position Yourself as an Expert with Erin Jeanne McDowell
Promoting your work, creating multiple forms of content for different platforms, and positioning yourself as an expert with Erin Jeanne McDowell. ----- Welcome to episode 446 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Erin Jeanne McDowell. How to Position Yourself as an Expert Erin Jeanne McDowell is a cookbook author, food blogger, and video creator who brings lots of joy to everyone who follows along with her. In this interview, Bjork and Erin discuss her career journey so far, and how it all started with her love of writing. Erin discusses her approach to creating multiple forms of content for her many platforms, including how she balances creating video content for Food52 and her own YouTube channel. She has come to be one of the leading experts on baking in the online space and you’ll learn lots of her secrets in this great interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Erin’s entrepreneurial journey as a food creator started. The importance of prompts in writing. How she has approached the promotion of her cookbooks. Her strategy for creating multiple forms of content (without getting too overwhelmed). What it is like creating content for Food52 vs. her brand. How she thinks about her schedule and productivity. How she has become the ultimate expert in baking as a content creator. Resources: Erin Jeanne McDowell Food52 Snackdive Bake It Up a Notch! on Food52 Real Baking with Rose The Book on Pie Pillars of Productivity Savory Baking The Fearless Baker Happy Baking Follow Erin on Instagram and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti, Memberful, and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any c
Tue, January 23, 2024
Zero-Based Dream Building for Content Creators with Bjork Ostrom
Pursuing zero-based dream building, being intentional about educating yourself, and focusing on yourself and the needs of your audience with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 445 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have a solo episode with Bjork! Zero-Based Dream Building for Content Creators In this solo episode, Bjork is chatting all about the concept of zero-based dream building. He discusses why you might want to try this strategy when thinking about growing your business and following your dreams, as well as how to go about zero-based dream building. Bjork goes through a step-by-step process of zero-based dream building, which should help you as you’re thinking about setting goals for your business and for personal growth! It’s a short but sweet, thought-provoking episode — the perfect listen as we head into 2024. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to approach ‘zero-based dream building.’ The importance of staying in your own lane when building your dream (i.e. business). Why you should focus on yourself (how you like to communicate and what you’d like to be an expert in). Why you should focus on the needs of your audience during this process. How to pursue getting a tiny bit better every day at a medium and a topic. How to be intentional about how you educate yourself. Resources: Readwise Reader Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Cultivate WP. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership .
Tue, January 16, 2024
Overcoming Fear, Judgment, Imposter Syndrome, and Perfection as an Entrepreneur with Sally Zimney
Leveraging the power of your voice, overcoming mental barriers to trying new things, and tackling imposter syndrome with Sally Zimney. ----- Welcome to episode 444 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally Zimney. Overcoming Fear, Judgment, Imposter Syndrome, and Perfection as an Entrepreneur Have you ever felt a sense of fear, judgment, imposter syndrome, or a need for perfection as a food creator? Assuming this is a rhetorical question because… who hasn’t?! That’s why we asked Sally Zimney to join us on the podcast — she’s a professional speaker with a Master’s Degree in Persuasion (!!). In this interview, Bjork and Sally talk about the power of speaking and why it’s so important as an entrepreneur. Sally explains how to overcome the mental barriers that might be holding you back from trying something new. It’s a really inspiring and thought-provoking interview — we hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Sally’s professional journey (and how it overlapped with Bjork’s)! The importance of finding your professional ‘playground.’ How Sally empowers people to leverage the power of speaking. How she defines “speaking” (spoiler alert: you don’t need to be an extrovert to be a speaker). How to overcome fear, judgment, imposter syndrome, and perfection when it comes to trying new things. How and why AI might impact our desire for human connection and imperfection. Resources: Sally Z. Youth Frontiers The War of Art Extreme Ownership Speaking Story Follow Sally on Instagram and LinkedIn Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors by going to foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at <a href= "https://ww
Thu, January 11, 2024
Tiny Bites: The Corporate Transparency Act and What You Need to Know
Welcome to Tiny Bites from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from LISS Legal all about the new Corporate Transparency Act. Get the resources for this episode at foodbloggerpro.com/tiny-bites-corporate-transparency-act. ----- If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.
Tue, January 09, 2024
Why David Lebovitz Switched from Blogging to Substack
Working as a food creator for 25+ years, transitioning from food blogging to Substack, and future-proofing your content against AI with David Lebovitz. ----- Welcome to episode 443 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews David Lebovitz. Why David Lebovitz Switched from Blogging to Substack (and How he Quadrupled his Income) David Lebovitz is a pastry chef, cookbook author, and OG food blogger (he first started his blog in 1999!). He has witnessed every new platform, algorithm update, and trend in the last 25 years and is still one of the most successful food creators in the business. In this interview, Bjork and David chat about David’s recent pivot from food blogging to his Substack newsletter. David shares what he loves about Substack, what he misses about blogging, and how he has had so much success with his newsletter. We are big fans of David (and his sense of humor!) and know you’ll love this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of adapting or adopting as a creator. All about David’s journey through food blogging. Why David stopped blogging and switched to Substack (and what he misses about blogging). How and why he started doing Instagram Lives (and more about his success with them). How he approaches free vs. paid content on Substack. The meaning and importance of various metrics (like engagement) as a food creator. What it’s like to be a food blogger in France. What he would do differently if he were starting out as a food creator now. His thoughts on AI in the food blogging space and future-proofing against AI. Resources: DavidLebovitz.com 129: Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz Baking Yesteryear Substack Simply Recipes David’s Podcast Saveur Magazine’s Blog Awards Drinking French 1000 True Fans L’Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home Smitten Kitchen Dianne
Tue, January 02, 2024
442: How Eric King Took easygayoven Full-Time by Diversifying His Income Streams
Diversifying income streams, leaning into your voice, and navigating algorithms with Eric King from easygayoven. ----- Welcome to episode 442 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Eric King from easygayoven. How Eric King Took easygayoven Full-Time by Diversifying His Income Streams This podcast episode is chock-full of pearls of wisdom — there is really no other way to describe it! Eric has been running easygayoven full-time for just over two years, but you would think it had been much longer with all of the knowledge he has to share. Eric shares about the beginning of his career in journalism and social media and how it influenced his strategy for easygayoven. He also explains how he took his site full-time by diversifying his income streams (and what he’d do differently). Bjork and Eric also chat about brand partnerships, Substack, storytelling, and so much more in this wide-ranging interview. It’s just a joy to listen to! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Eric’s professional background at TED Conferences and how it impacted easygayoven. The importance of capturing someone’s attention in the first 3 seconds of a video on social media (and how to do that!). How he combines the visual and written aspects of storytelling on social media and his blog. Why he wants to share more than just the recipes on his site (and why it prompted him to start a Substack newsletter). Why he focuses on both sentiment and analytics when measuring the success of this content. How he protects his mental health in this profession. How he balanced working full-time with starting easygayoven (and how he took his blog full-time). What his first few brand partnerships looked like (including one with Netflix Family!). Why he turned to Substack as a means to diversify his income. How he has navigated the ebbs and flows of brand partnerships. Resources: easygayoven Substack Serious Eats ConvertKit Mailchimp Patreon beehiiv Eric on Substack Follow Eric on Instagram and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Tue, December 26, 2023
441: FBP Rewind — Blogging with a Full-Time Job – How Focusing on SEO Led to $2,000 Monthly Earnings with Cree Carraway
Focusing on SEO rather than social media, implementing keyword research, and sharing content authentically with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss. ----- Welcome to episode 441 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss, which was part of our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series. How Focusing on SEO Led to $2,000 Monthly Earnings For today’s FBP Rewind episode, we’re bringing back our February 2022 interview with Cree Carraway. From sharing content on her blog to working her full-time job to raising her family, Cree has a lot on her plate (both literally and figuratively!) all the time. In this episode, you’ll hear how she strategically focused on SEO to increase her traffic and join an ad network, how she started doing keyword research, and what the impact of earning an income from her blog has been on her life. It’s an inspiring conversation that will encourage you to reflect and make progress on your own goals. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Cree decided to launch her blog When she decided to really focus on growing her blog’s traffic What business lessons she has learned over the years Why she decided to focus on SEO rather than social media What it felt like to start earning money from her blog How she started doing keyword research How she balances her blog with her full-time job How she narrowed her blog’s focus and started sharing content more authentically How she’s been strategically growing her email list Resources: Cooking With Bliss Mediavine SEO for Food Blogs course – available for FBP members! FBP Podcast Episodes with Casey Markee Keysearch Semrush Cooking With Keywords The Defined Dish Follow Cree on Instagram and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and CultivateWP. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorshi
Tue, December 19, 2023
FBP Rewind — Blogging with a Full-Time Job – Optimizing Your Time with David Crowley
Connecting with your community, being strategic with your time when blogging, and hiring the right people with David Crowley from Cooking Chat. ----- Welcome to episode 440 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with David Crowley from Cooking Chat, which was part of our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series. Blogging with a Full-Time Job For today’s FBP Rewind episode, we’re bringing back our February 2022 interview with David Crowley from Cooking Chat! In addition to sharing hundreds of recipes with wine pairings on his blog Cooking Chat, David also runs Social Capital Inc., a non-profit organization that strengthens communities by connecting diverse individuals through civic engagement initiatives. In this episode, you’ll hear how David has found balance with his work over time, why he’s been focusing so much on republishing old content recently, and what he’s looking forward to next with his blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: What David does for his full-time job How he got into food blogging How he’s found balance with his work over time Why he’s been focusing on republishing old content recently What specifically he updates when republishing content What he’s currently struggling with when it comes to blogging Why it’s so important to document your processes How to find the right people to hire Resources: Social Capital Inc. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Cooking Chat 261: Managing Sponsored Content – How to Work With Brands with Bruno Bornsztein 159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Gentleman’s Gazette Wayback Machine Tasty Food Photography eBook Curbly Clariti NerdPress Foodie Pro Theme Mediavine Your World-Class Assistant Loom Google Drive <a href= "https://www.eosworldwide.com/hubfs/EOS-Delegate-and-Elevate.p
Tue, December 12, 2023
Developing a Content Strategy to Stand Out From The Crowd with Joe Pulizzi
The importance of finding your niche, building an audience, and crafting a content marketing strategy with Joe Pulizzi. ----- Welcome to episode 439 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Joe Pulizzi. Developing a Content Strategy to Stand Out From The Crowd Joe Pulizzi knows a lot about content marketing and has been an entrepreneur in this space for over a decade. And this week on the podcast he joins us to share all of his tips and tricks for differentiating yourself in the crowd as a food creator! Bjork and Joe discuss the importance of finding your niche as a creator and how you should approach creating content as you grow your business. They also chat about building trust with your audience, and why it is such a critical aspect of content marketing. This episode is the perfect deep-dive into content strategy as you start brainstorming your content calendar for the new year — don’t miss it! In this episode, you’ll learn: What ‘content marketing’ means in 2023 and how it differs from advertising. The importance of differentiating yourself and delivering consistent content. Why you need to find your niche. Why you should build your audience before you consider selling a product or service (and how to figure out what to sell). What content tilt is and why you should apply it to your content strategy. Why exit planning is important for every entrepreneur. More about Joe’s professional journey. Resources: Follow the podcast on Apple Joepulizzi.com Content Inc This Old Marketing Content Marketing Institute Red Bull Media House Simple Pin Media AG1 MrBeast The Billion Dollar Creator ConvertKit Content Inc. Orange Effect Foundation The Will to Die The Tilt CEX 415: How and Why To Self-Publish a Cookbook with Matt Briel from Lulu <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/grou
Thu, December 07, 2023
Tiny Bites: How Can Food Creators Succeed in a World with AI?
Welcome to Tiny Bites from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeff Coyle from MarketMuse about creating content and SEO in a world with AI. ----- It's hard to believe that technologies like ChatGPT and Bard have only been available for the last year. AI is constantly evolving and, with it, our understanding of how it will impact content creation. It's easy to feel helpless with the growth of AI technologies — is there a world in which food creators can succeed against AI? That's why we've asked Jeff Coyle to join us on the podcast. He's here to discuss the impact of AI on online content creation and what you can do to protect yourself and your business against the competition from AI. How to create AI-proof content If you’re providing consistent value with your content, if you’ve built trust with your brand, and you've illustrated your expertise, you’re at an advantage in a world with generative content. In other words, the tools you would use to stand out amongst all the other chocolate chip recipes in the world are very similar to those you’ll need to stand out against AI. When you're creating content: Avoid being generic. Include your voice and personality. Include tips for ingredient substitutions. Highlight potential mistakes to avoid in the recipe. Include high-quality photographs and step-by-step videos. By including these features in your content, you're providing a unique value and sharing expertise that (at least right now) AI can't replicate. Part of this equation is ensuring that you're positioning yourself as an expert on your site ( E-E-A-T , anyone?). Jeff predicts that with the growth of AI, we'll see a shift towards the true expertise of the individual creating the content and a shift away from mass-producing content. Lean into that! Learn more: Mar
Tue, December 05, 2023
Balancing Lifestyle and Recipe Content with Remy Park from Veggiekins
Creating a brand aesthetic, sharing lifestyle content, and prioritizing brand partnerships with Remy Park from Veggiekins. ----- Welcome to episode 438 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Remy Park. Balancing Lifestyle and Recipe Content Remy’s journey to food blogging started as a means of overcoming her history of disordered eating and addiction by sharing a diary-like view into her favorite recipes and lifestyle. Many years later, her blog, Veggiekins, is now her full-time job. Remy is a pro at balancing sharing lifestyle and recipe content on her various social media platforms and blog, and she explains more about her strategy for repurposing content in this interview. She also shares how she filters what she shares with her followers and how she handles negativity online. Last but not least, Remy gives her advice for creating a uniform brand aesthetic in her photographs and on her site. It’s a wide-reaching and inspiring interview — grab your headphones! In this episode, you’ll learn: Remy’s journey to veganism and how it changed her life and provided a purpose for her blog. What her day-to-day workflow looks like, and how she approaches outsourcing her work. How she thinks about documenting her life and sharing lifestyle content on social media. How she balances creating and repurposing content for multiple platforms. Why she prioritizes brand partnerships and how she maintains relationships with brands. How she creates an aesthetic and consistent visual look for her brand. How she deals with negativity on social media. More about the process of writing her cookbook. Resources: Veggiekins 384: How Toni Okamoto Runs Two Food Blogs and Grew Her Email List to Over 80,000 Subscribers Sesame, Soy, Spice Pre-order Follow Remy on Instagram and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro
Tue, November 28, 2023
How Grief, a Diagnosis with MS, and Biracial Background Shaped Marta Rivera Diaz's Career as a Food Creator
Finding your voice as a creator, understanding cultural appropriation, and cultivating gratitude with Marta Rivera Diaz from Sense and Edibility. ----- Welcome to episode 437 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Marta Rivera Diaz from Sense and Edibility. How Grief, a Diagnosis with MS, and Biracial Background Shaped Marta Rivera Diaz’s Career as a Food Creator Every once in a while on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, we have an episode that feels like “required listening” for food creators. This is one of them! Bjork and Marta have a really thoughtful and moving conversation about the importance of finding your voice as a food creator and presenting your authentic self to your followers and community. Marta grew up as a child of two active-duty airmen and as a biracial individual (she is half-Black and half-Puerto Rican). She was also diagnosed with MS in her early thirties. All of these experiences have shaped her as a person and as a creator. She speaks beautifully about the effects of her background on her personality and her work, and why it is so important to her to share recipes that reflect her heritage. It’s a perfect episode for the week after Thanksgiving, as we all reflect on what we’re grateful for in our personal and professional lives. Don’t miss it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Marta’s background impacted how she presents herself to the world (and why she’s working to change that). How she found her voice and true self as a creator. More about her culinary background and how she came to create Sense and Edibility. How her diagnosis with MS in her early thirties changed the trajectory of her career. How her seasons of grief shaped her approach to cooking and creating. What D, E, I, A (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) is and how it relates to the food blogging community. The difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. What advice Marta would give to her younger self. Resources: Sense and Edibility The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts The Gap and the Gain Follow Marta on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Cu
Tue, November 21, 2023
How to Find Success on Pinterest in 2024 with Kate Ahl
Understanding the Pinterest algorithm, focusing on user engagement, and hiring out the management of your Pinterest account with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media. ----- Welcome to episode 436 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media. How to Find Success on Pinterest in 2024 This is Kate’s sixth (!!!) episode on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast because she is our go-to resource when it comes to all things Pinterest. And there have been a lot of changes to Pinterest in recent years! Kate is here to explain those changes (sunsetting Idea Pins, evolving algorithms, and the rise of video) and more in this interview. She also shares more about how her team at Simple Pin Media manages Pinterest accounts for food creators (including Pinch of Yum) and what success looks like on Pinterest. If you’re confused about Pinterest strategy (who isn’t?!) and/or need some motivation to get back into posting on the platform, this is the interview for you! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Pinterest has changed in recent years (hint: video! algorithm!). Why you need to focus on user engagement when planning your Pinterest content. How the Pinterest algorithm has evolved. How to think about brand partnerships on Pinterest. Why Idea Pins are no longer a thing (and what the new format looks like). How to repurpose Instagram or YouTube content for Pinterest. What success looks like for Simple Pin Media when managing a Pinterest account (like Pinch of Yum’s). How to track Pinterest analytics in GA4. How to hire out the management of your Pinterest account. Resources: Simple Pin Media HerPaperRoute Rhodium Weekend The Simple Pin Podcast Pinterest Investor Overview Detailed Follow Kate on Instagram , Facebook , and LinkedIn Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for intervie
Tue, November 14, 2023
Prioritizing Recipe Testing and Purpose in Food Blogging with Michelle Cehn from World of Vegan
Running a mission-driven food blog, balancing business with purpose, and creating a recipe-testing process with Michelle Cehn from World of Vegan. ----- Welcome to episode 435 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Michelle Cehn from World of Vegan. Prioritizing Recipe Testing and Purpose in Food Blogging Michelle has been blogging for a long time (she even has the @vegan handle on Instagram!) and has been passionate about animal rights and vegan cooking from the get-go. But her approach to sharing that mission with her readers has evolved over the years, and she explains more about why in this interview. Michelle also shares more about how she balances the aspects of her job that bring her joy and a sense of purpose with the business and financial side of running a food blog. Last but certainly not least, Michelle and Bjork chat about the recipe testing process that Michelle has used for her cookbook and for her blog, and how she recruits volunteers to help test each of her recipes. In this episode, you’ll learn: How and why Michelle started a vegan blog and how her approach to sharing vegan recipes has changed over the years. How Michelle and Toni Okamato monetized their sites with meal plans. How she balances a mission-driven and profit-driven approach to her business. What the recipe testing process at World of Vegan looks like. About the recipe testing process (with over 75 volunteers!) for Michelle’s cookbook. The exact questions Michelle asks her recipe testers for each recipe. Resources: World of Vegan 384: How Toni Okamoto Runs Two Food Blogs and Grew Her Email List to Over 80,000 Subscribers Plant Based on a Budget Plant Based on a Budget Meal Plans The Plant-Powered People Podcast The Friendly Vegan Cookbook Follow Michelle on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group This episode is sponsored by Cultivate WP and Clariti. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions f
Thu, November 09, 2023
Tiny Bites: Understanding and Reacting to Google Algorithm Updates
Welcome to Tiny Bites from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser from Venture 4th Media about the recent Google algorithm updates. ----- Google has been… very busy in Q3 and Q4 of 2023. If the updates feel nonstop, it’s because they have been: Core Update at the end of August/early September Helpful Content Update in September Spam Update in October Core Update in October Another Core Update in November Some of these updates may impact your site traffic positively, some may impact your site traffic negatively, and some may have no real impact. But every update tends to cause some unease for online creators. So what can you do about them? What exactly is the Google algorithm and why is it updated? The Google algorithm is essentially how Google indexes and categorizes all of the content that is published online. You can also think of it as Google’s ever-changing thesis on what constitutes ‘good’ or ‘valuable’ content. Updates occur in response to new information Google has, tweaks to what they think is valuable, and/or how they measure or evaluate content. The algorithm is constantly changing and evolving. As Ewen mentions in the interview, Google released their most recent Helpful Content Update and used AI to determine if entire sites were helpful or not helpful (while previous updates tended to be on a post-by-post basis). If a certain percentage of your content is deemed unhelpful, your content will be deprioritized in the algorithm. This update did not include rewarding helpful sites, but rather penalizing unhelpful sites. How should you approach the Google algorithm updates? The #1 thing you can do to anticipate and respond to Google algorithm updates is to focus on creating high-quality, user-first content. There will be ebbs and flows with every Google update — know that if your traffic goes down with one update, it might go up with the next update. Because of this, it’s important to avoid huge course corrections after updates. But what if your site was negatively impacted and you can’t figure out why? Ewen has noticed a few takeaways from the recent Google algorithm updates that might explain why: Older sites tend to perform better. Market leaders tend to perform better. User experience with display ads may play a role. Topical relevance ma
Tue, November 07, 2023
Navigating Google Algorithm Updates, Leaning into Email Marketing, and Running Three Food Blogs with Taryn Scarfone from Joy Filled Eats
Growing three food blogs as a family, organizing retreats for food bloggers, and leveling up your email marketing strategy with Taryn Scarfone from Joy Filled Eats. ----- Welcome to episode 434 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Taryn Scarfone from Joy Filled Eats. Navigating Google Algorithm Updates, Leaning into Email Marketing, and Running Three Food Blogs Taryn started Joy Filled Eats eight years ago and has recently started two additional food blogs, one with her 14-year-old daughter and one with her husband. With each new blog, her approach has become more intentional and strategic — and has seen more rapid success as a result. In this interview, Taryn shares more about how she manages the responsibilities of three food blogs. She also speaks to the effects of recent Google Algorithm updates and why she has prioritized email marketing for Joy Filled Eats. Taryn has also hosted a mastermind group for food bloggers, as well as an in-person retreat with fellow food creators. She explains the process of organizing both, in case you feel inspired to do the same! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she came to have three food blogs and why she enjoys running these sites with her family. What it’s like to juggle the responsibilities for all three sites. How they grew A Grill for All Season to 150,000 monthly pageviews. How her sites have been affected by Google Algorithm updates and how they recover from updates in which the sites are negatively impacted. More about Google Discover and how it can affect site traffic. How she organized a retreat and a mastermind group for food bloggers. How she leveled up her email marketing strategy and grew her email list to 40,000+ subscribers. Resources: Joy Filled Eats A Grill for All Seasons Baking Me Hungry Google Discover 430: Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network with Nathan Barry Sidetracked Sarah Raptive Evolving Table It is a Keeper Email Crush by Matt Molen ConvertKit LiveIntent 201: Email Marketing for Bloggers with Matt Molen Follow Taryn
Tue, October 31, 2023
Transitioning from the Corporate World to Full-time Creator with Zhen Zhou from Greedy Girl Gourmet
Solving a problem for your readers, monetizing and scaling a food blog, and creating a community of creators with Zhen Zhou from Greedy Girl Gourmet. ----- Welcome to episode 433 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Zhen Zhou from Greedy Girl Gourmet. Transitioning from the Corporate World to Full-time Creator We first got to know Zhen when she joined Bjork for a Coaching Call on Food Blogger Pro back in July, and we loved that conversation so much we wanted to bring her on the podcast! In this interview, Zhen shares more about her journey from working in the corporate world to working full-time as a content creator. She shares her strategy for monetizing from the early days of blogging up until now, and how she has diversified her income. Zhen is also working to create a community of food bloggers through her Facebook group (Connecting Bloggers) and is very transparent with the steps she’s taken to find success as a creator. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Zhen’s Coaching Call with Bjork (lessons learned, takeaways, etc.). Why she started a Facebook group to connect food bloggers. The differences between her corporate job and her current role as a creator, and how she made the leap out of the corporate world. What the monetization of her site has looked like over recent years. The things that were most helpful for her to implement when trying to replace her corporate income with blogging. How she diversified her income. What her plans for scaling and diversifying her business look like (keeping in mind changes to third-party cookies and AI). Her best advice for beginning food bloggers. Resources: Greedy Girl Gourmet Food Blogger Pro Coaching Calls Mediavine Food Bloggers Central Connecting Bloggers Y Combinator Basecamp 18 Ways to Make Money From Your Food Blog in 2023 RhodiumWeekend Interbrand Chat GPT Bard Substack The Woks of Life Follow Zhen on <a href= "https://www.in
Tue, October 24, 2023
Creating a Community of Food Bloggers with Morgan Peaceman from Nomaste Hungry
Evolving your content strategy as a creator, building a village of food creators, and managing outreach to brands with Morgan Peaceman from Nomaste Hungry. ----- Welcome to episode 432 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Morgan Peaceman from Nomaste Hungry. Creating a Community of Food Bloggers Food blogging (or any career as an online creator or entrepreneur) can sometimes feel like a lonely space. But Morgan Peaceman is working to change that! Morgan started her blog back in 2018 and has been cultivating a food blogging village ever since. She is extremely intentional about reaching out to fellow food bloggers and like-minded brands to build her community. She has seen increased success since growing her community, which she attributes to sharing resources, experiences, and contacts with other food creators. In this episode, Morgan talks more about how she has the confidence to reach out to other creators and brands, and why she thinks it’s so important to do so. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to create a community of like-minded food bloggers. About the early days of Nomaste Hungry and how her content stategy has changed over the years. Her advice for reaching out to connect with other food creators. How to be more confident when reaching out to brands for partnerships. How she tracks and manages her communications and follow-ups with brands. Resources: Nomaste Hungry A Couple Cooks Folk App Salesforce Superhuman Boomerang Follow Morgan on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Businessese and Clariti. Learn more about our sponsors by going to foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, October 17, 2023
The Highs and Lows of Being a Food Creator for Over a Decade with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food
Starting a membership site, managing slow periods as an entrepreneur, and shifting your mindset around success with Lauren Toyota from hot for food. ----- Welcome to episode 431 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food. The Highs and Lows of Being a Food Creator for Over a Decade Lauren Toyota has been blogging for almost ten years and has had tremendous success during the past decade — two cookbooks, 450,000 subscribers on YouTube, and qualifying for Raptive. But all of these high points have been balanced by some professional lows, especially since the pandemic and becoming a mother. Lauren is incredibly honest in this interview about the current “slow” period of her business, and how her mindset has changed around her business goals recently. She openly shares her struggles, and how she views the future of hot for food. As part of the future of hot for food is Lauren’s membership (EAT IT). Lauren walks listeners through the process of starting a membership and why she enjoys creating that type of content so much. This is a raw, transparent, brutally honest interview that we know will resonate with many of you! In this episode, you’ll learn: What’s changed (and what’s stayed the same) since Bjork and Lauren last chatted on the podcast in 2016. The different experiences Lauren had writing and marketing her two cookbooks. How her business and mindset have changed over the last decade (especially due to the pandemic and becoming a mother). What the future of hot for food might look like. Why she decided to start a membership (EAT IT) on her website and what the process has looked like. How she’s approaching creating content and growing her audience on YouTube. Resources: Hot for Food 079: How Finding a Unique Niche Led to YouTube Success with Lauren Toyota from Hot For Food Hot for Food Vegan Comfort Classics: 101 Recipes to Feed Your Face hot for food all day: easy recipes to level up your vegan meals The Iced Coffee Hour 1000 True Fans EAT IT by hot for food MemberPress The Getaway Co. Follow Lauren on <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/hotforfo
Tue, October 10, 2023
Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network with Nathan Barry
Getting started with ConvertKit's Creator Network, collaborating with other creators to accelerate growth, and monetizing your email list with Nathan Barry. ----- Welcome to episode 430 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nathan Barry from ConvertKit. Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network Nathan Barry is back on the podcast this week to chat about all things email marketing and strategic business growth. ConvertKit recently started the Creator Network and Nathan is here to explain what it is, as well as how food creators can use it to grow their email lists. Nathan walks listeners through how to get started with the Creator Network and shares compelling case studies about how creators have strategically utilized the Creator Network as part of their business models. This is a great episode for anyone looking to diversify their income streams in a new way. We think you’ll leave this episode feeling inspired to try something new and with a fresh perspective on sharing your content. In this episode, you’ll learn: How ConvertKit has changed over the years and what it offers to creators. How email should fit into your marketing model. Why ConvertKit started the Creator Network (and more about how it works). How to get started with the Creator Network. Tips for optimizing your profile on the Creator Network. How to use the Creator Network strategically to optimize growth for your email list. How to collaborate with other creators within the Creator Network. More about ConvertKit’s acquisition of SparkLoop and how to monetize through SparkLoop. About flywheels and how the concept applies to business. Resources: ConvertKit 140: From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry Follow Nathan on Twitter James Clear: The 3–2–1 Newsletter Sahil Bloom: Curiosity Chronicle Ryan Holiday: Reading List Susan Cain: The Kindred Letters Lamberts Lately The Perfect Loaf 393: How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog with Maurizio Leo SparkLoop Morning Brew The Skimm Th
Tue, October 03, 2023
Tips for Styling, Editing, and Monetizing Food Photography with Rachel Korinek
Shooting multiple recipes in one day, styling ‘hard to style’ foods, and reaching out to brands for partnerships with Rachel Korinek from Two Loves Studio. ----- Welcome to episode 429 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rachel Korinek from Two Loves Studio. Tips for Styling, Editing, and Monetizing Food Photography Food photography can be overwhelming, no matter if you’re a beginner or if you’ve been blogging for a decade! Luckily we have Rachel Korinek to help walk us through the tips and tricks that make food photography and editing just a little bit easier. In this podcast episode, Bjork and Rachel chat about Rachel’s journey as an entrepreneur, and how her definition of success has changed over the years. She also shares her strategies for shooting multiple recipes in one day, and how she prepares in advance for her food photography days. She also has lots of valuable advice about styling foods that aren’t photogenic (meatloaf, anyone?). The episode ends with a series of listener questions about phone photography, editing, and background props — it’s a good one! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Rachel got into a career in food photography and the different stages of her business. What the seasons of success and the seasons of reinvention have looked like for her business. How she tackles shooting multiple recipes in one day. How she sets herself up for success before big photography days. Her recommendations for growing your team to help with efficiency with photography. Some of the common mistakes she sees food photographers make with food styling. Her tips for styling ‘hard to style’ foods. Why she primarily shoots with artificial lighting these days and the tools she recommends. How she approaches reaching out to brands for partnerships. The three core edits she recommends for editing photographs. Her recommendations for background props. Tips for using your phone for food photography. Resources: Two Loves Studio 154: 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek Backlinko The Pez Outlaw The Legend of Cocaine Island Rachel’s Simple (Yet Beautiful) Artificial Light for Food Photography YouTube Tutorial Adobe Lightroom Capture One Follow Rachel on <a href= "https://www.
Thu, September 28, 2023
Tiny Bites: How to Customize GA4 to be More Like UA
Welcome to Tiny Bites from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! In this episode of Tiny Bites, Bjork interviews Alison Bechdol from Digital-ade about GA4 data models and how to change yours if your data isn’t looking quite right. As of July 1, 2023 Google Analytics 4, or GA4, is the default property within Google Analytics. There is a steep (and, it seems, long) learning curve to using GA4, especially because GA4 uses and collects data completely differently than Universal Analytics (or UA) did. New metrics, new language, new data… it’s a lot to familiarize yourself with! In this podcast interview (our first episode of Tiny Bites!), Bjork chats with Alison Bechdol (who is also the Google Analytics Expert here at Food Blogger Pro) about some tips and trips that will make this transition from UA to GA4 a little easier. Resources: Google Looker Studio 363: What Bloggers Need to Know About Google Analytics 4 with Alison Bechdol Digital-ade The Insite Co Head over to foodbloggerpro.com/podcast to find the full episode shownotes! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, September 26, 2023
How to Diversify Your Income with a Meal Planning Membership App with Liam Smith from MealPro App
Surveying your audience, Identifying pain points in your community, and starting a meal planning membership app as a food creator with Liam Smith from MealPro App. ----- Welcome to episode 428 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Liam Smith from the MealPro App. How to Diversify Your Income with a Meal Planning Membership App If you’ve been listening to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast for any length of time, you know how important it is to diversify your income as a food blogger. And one of the ways that you might consider doing that is by starting a meal planning membership app! Liam Smith founded the MealPro App as a white-label meal planning app to allow food creators to easily (and affordably) personalize an app for their community. Bjork and Liam chat about the process of developing the app, how food bloggers can monetize through the app, and the importance of surveying your community to better meet their needs. In this episode, you’ll learn: About Liam’s background in tech. What inspired him to develop his own meal planning app (the MealPro App). What no-code tools are and how we use them. All about his low-risk process for developing, testing, and marketing the app. How food creators might use the MealPro App to create a membership community. How to identify the problems or pain points your community needs help solving. The importance of surveying your audience to help refine your content strategy. What it looks like to start a membership through the MealPro App. How to monetize within the MealPro App (and how much money you might expect to make). Resources: MealPro App BBC Good Food The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss Upwork Webflow Bubble Y Combinator Mind the Product: How I Built an App Without Writing a Line of Code Fiverr MealPro App Masterclass ConvertKit ChatGPT WP Recipe Maker Teachable <a href="https://k
Tue, September 19, 2023
Why Diversifying Your Website Traffic Matters with Arman Liew from The Big Man's World
Blogging with a global audience, diversifying website traffic sources, and tailoring content depending on the platform with Arman Liew from The Big Man's World. ----- Welcome to episode 427 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Arman Liew from The Big Man’s World. Why Diversifying Your Website Traffic Matters Arman has been blogging for almost ten years now and has a really fresh perspective on everything from sponsored content to social media. He is really honest about some of the struggles he’s faced with blogging over the years (fickle algorithms, anyone?) and how those have led to a very strategic and intentional approach to his site nowadays. Arman also shares more about what it’s like to be a food blogger in Australia, and why he’s chosen to prioritize an American audience with his content. It’s a really entertaining and thought-provoking interview — don’t miss it! In this episode, you’ll learn: About the early days of The Big Man’s World. How Arman was able to leave his full-time job to work on his blog. What strategies Arman found to be the most effective in growing his site. How he reached out to brands for sponsored content and decided what to charge. About how he put all his eggs in the Pinterest basket — and how he has recovered from that. How he transitioned from prioritizing Pinterest traffic to SEO. The importance of diversifying your traffic sources. How he tailors his content and voice depending on the platform. How he grew his team. Why he prioritizes an American audience despite blogging from Australia. What he’s most excited about with his business right now. Resources: The Big Man’s World Wayback Machine Pinterest Pinch of Yum NerdPress Raptive Atlassian Envato Follow Arman on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podca
Tue, September 12, 2023
Social Media Deep Dive: Threads, X, and AI with Andrea Balogun
Developing a social media strategy, avoiding overwhelm, and navigating new tools and trends in the social media space with Andrea Balogun. ----- Welcome to episode 426 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrea Balogun from Balogun Strategy & Design. Social Media Deep Dive: Threads, X, and AI Social media is constantly changing — new algorithms, new platforms, new trends. It’s hard to keep up and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. But luckily we have Andrea Balogun to help walk us through it all! Andrea’s back on the podcast to talk about the hot topics in social media right now. She explains more about the Threads app and why food creators might consider adding it to their social media strategy. Andrea also imparts her wisdom around crafting a social media strategy and being intentional about how you create content for social media to avoid burnout. Andrea and Bjork also chat about new tools and AI in the social media space and how to incorporate them into your workflow. If you’re on social media as a content creator, this is a must-listen! In this episode, you’ll learn: About the work Andrea does at Balogun Strategy & Design. What Threads is and how food creators can use it. Why you might want to activate your Threads account sooner rather than later. The kinds of topics that perform well on Threads and/or Twitter/X. How to develop a social media strategy to avoid getting overwhelmed. How to approach creating content for social media. About new tools in the social media space that can make your life easier. How to use AI tools in your social media content creation. Resources: Balogun Strategy & Design The Food Blogger Pro Podcast 329: Social Media Strategy – Creating a Content Plan, Growing Your Following, and Diversifying Your Platforms with Andrea Balogun Threads @StripMallGuy @ViperChill Full Focus LifeScore Assessment Buffer Klap Dumme OpusClip Notion ChatGPT Bard Follow Andrea on Instagram and Fac
Tue, September 05, 2023
Thriving within a Niche and Creating Your Dream Job with Amy Palanjian from Yummy Toddler Food.
Blogging within a narrow niche, diversifying your income streams, and growing your team with Amy Palanjian from Yummy Toddler Food. ----- Welcome to episode 425 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amy Palanjian. Thriving within a Niche and Creating Your Dream Job Amy Palanjian first started her blog, Yummy Toddler Food, in 2014. Since then, she has been incredibly intentional about every aspect of her business, from her content strategy and becoming an authority in her niche, to diversifying income streams and email marketing. In this interview, Bjork and Amy chat about all of these aspects of her business, and how she has worked to create a role for herself at Yummy Toddler Food that looks as close as possible to her dream job. It’s a must-listen episode for anyone thinking about picking a niche, and how to grow your business within that niche. In this episode, you’ll learn: About Amy’s career journey, from working in magazines to starting Yummy Toddler Food in 2014. What skills and knowledge Amy uses towards food blogging from her decade in the magazine industry. How she has built her affiliate marketing strategy. What it’s like to blog within a narrow niche. How she strategized to diversify her income streams. Why she decided to transition from selling ebooks to selling a printed cookbook. How and why she outsourced certain tasks in her business. The process that she used to organize all of her business-related files. How she built her job description to reflect what she actually enjoys doing. Her approach to email marketing, and why she uses both Substack and ConvertKit. Her strategy for growing her email list. Why she chose to work with a manager for her sponsored content. Resources: Yummy Toddler Food Squarespace WordPress Pinch of Yum Yummy Toddler Food eBooks and Cookbook Emily Perron The Food Blogger Pro Podcast #286: Build Your Team – How to Write an Eye-Catching Job Listing and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron The Food Blogger Pro Podcast #365: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron Google Workspace Substack ConvertKit <a href="https://w
Tue, August 29, 2023
The Future of Content Creation (and Protection) in a World of AI with Paul Bannister from Raptive
Analyzing how AI could disrupt the world of digital content creation, strategizing for the future of food blogging, and understanding Raptive's initiatives to protect online content. ----- Welcome to episode 424 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Bannister from Raptive. The Future of Content Creation (and Protection) in a World of AI It’s hard to keep up with AI, as the technology, legislation, and our understanding of it, are rapidly evolving. As content creators, it’s imperative that we stay as informed as possible to understand how AI will alter the future of food blogging, and what we need to do now to stay ahead of these changes. And that’s why Paul Bannister is back on the podcast this week! Bjork and Paul discuss how AI tools are currently using existing content, like recipes from food blogs, and how online search might change in the coming years. They share actionable steps you can take to protect your content, and how you might want to change your content and business strategy in a world of AI. This episode is a must-listen for anyone in the content creation space. In this episode, you’ll learn: How AI has the power to disrupt the world of content creation and SEO. What Generative AI is. How AI tools use existing online content (like recipes). How AI might change online search and search traffic patterns. What the path forward for content creators looks like. How to prevent the GPTBot from crawling your site. What you can do to protect your content moving forward. How to approach balancing SEO vs. creating content in your own unique voice that connects with your audience. The importance of diversifying traffic sources. Resources: Raptive ChatGPT Bard Midjourney Runway Stable Diffusion Reddit will begin charging for access to its API OpenAI GPTBot Yoast How to prevent GPTBot from crawling your site 091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO Raptive’s AI Open Letter The Washington Post: Inside t
Tue, August 22, 2023
How Liz and Lauren Allen Built a Food Blog with 11 Million Monthly Pageviews
Educating their audience about data privacy, prioritizing annual goal setting, and building a team with Liz and Lauren Allen from Tastes Better from Scratch. ----- Welcome to episode 423 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lauren and Liz Allen from Tastes Better from Scratch. Building a Food Blog with 11 Million Monthly Pageviews Twin sisters Liz and Lauren Allen started Tastes Better from Scratch in 2009 and have been working together on the blog ever since. They are incredibly strategic about every aspect of their business, from hiring and content creation to data privacy and goal setting. In this interview, Bjork chats with Liz and Lauren about how they’ve expanded their business over the years and worked to maintain the huge growth they saw in 2020 that skyrocketed their pageviews from 5 to 11 million per month. They are also open and honest about their plans for the future of Tastes Better from Scratch in a world with AI and changing data privacy laws. If you’re looking for new ways to think about growing your business while leaning into your strengths, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: About the origin story of Tastes Better from Scratch. How they went from 5 million monthly pageviews to 11 million monthly pageviews in 2020, and how they’ve maintained that growth since then. Their approach to updating and republishing content. What tools they use to analyze how their content is performing. How they plan their content calendars. What the Tastes Better from Scratch team looks like, and how they decide to outsource a task. How they create processes for their business. How they develop their annual plans and goals for the business. What they think the future of food blogging looks like (AI, data privacy, digital advertising, etc.). Why they’re prioritizing email marketing right now. What they think the most important skills are in their current roles. Resources: Tastes Better from Scratch Semrush Google Analytics Google Search Console Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert Loom Slack Monday.com Bard Tastes Better from Scratch Meal Plans <a href="htt
Tue, August 15, 2023
Why Success as a Food Blogger Isn't Linear with Liz and Paul Madsen from Zardyplants
Reinvesting in your business, working together as a couple, and prioritizing video with Liz and Paul Madsen from Zardyplants. ----- Welcome to episode 422 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Liz and Paul Madsen from Zardyplants. Why Success as a Food Blogger Isn’t Linear Liz and Paul Madsen started Zardyplants in 2018 as a way to share their favorite plant-based comfort food recipes with readers. Over the last five years, they’ve worked together to grow the site (and Paul now works full-time for their business)! Liz and Paul share about the early days of Zardyplants, and how their processes and business have changed over the years. They have really practical advice about the importance of reinvesting in your business, being strategic around the types of recipes you create, and what to prioritize as a beginner blogger. This is a particularly valuable episode for beginner bloggers but is also a great listen for any content creator trying to define what success looks like for you and your brand. In this episode, you’ll learn: About the early stages of Zardyplants, and what it was like starting a blog as a couple. How they’ve balanced working full-time with the blog over the years. What the division of labor is like between Liz and Paul. The benefits of having a side hustle. How and why Liz and Paul have transitioned the type of recipes they’re creating over the years. How they approach keyword research. What growth on Instagram has looked like for Zardyplants. About their photography and videography equipment set-up. Why they chose to prioritize video as part of their growth strategy. Their history with, and strategy around, sponsored content. The importance of reinvesting in your business, and what they would recommend paying a premium for as a beginner. What advice they’d give to beginner bloggers. Resources: Zardyplants What success looks like Intercom Raptive Google AdSense KeySearch Ahrefs Semrush Canon EOS 80D Aputure at B&H Photo Video Canon EOS R5 C Mi
Tue, August 08, 2023
Scaling Three Food Blogs and Tips for Hiring a Virtual Assistant with Cheryl Malik
Growing and diversifying your business, managing your time efficiently, and hiring team members. ----- Welcome to episode 421 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cheryl Malik from 40Aprons. Scaling Three Food Blogs and Tips for Hiring a Virtual Assistant Cheryl first started food blogging in 2009, and now runs three different food blogs, in addition to an agency that matches food bloggers with virtual assistants. In this interview, Bjork and Cheryl chat about growing and diversifying her business over the years and how she manages her time efficiently while running all of her different businesses. She also shares recommendations for hiring team members, and how to effectively onboard new team members. It’s a really practical episode that will give you lots of advice for thinking strategically about growing your team and your business. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Cheryl’s food blogging journey from 2009 to the present. Why she decided to start three different food blogs. How she has grown her team, and why she started a business to help match food bloggers with virtual assistants. What the revenue streams look like amongst her different businesses. Her recommendations for successfully adding someone to your team and the onboarding process. What it’s like to work with Cheryl’s 40A agency to hire a virtual assistant. The difference between hiring a team member or contractor and working with an agency to find a virtual assistant. How she manages her time (and is more efficient) by batching her days. Resources: 40Aprons Easy Healthy Recipes Cheap Cheap Eats 40A Pinch of Yum’s Traffic and Income Reports Whole30 Upwork Asana ClickUp Follow Cheryl on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn mor
Tue, August 01, 2023
ChatGPT, Substack, and the Changing Landscape of Food Writing with Dianne Jacob
Testing ChatGPT's recipe writing skills, transitioning from a blog to a Substack newsletter, and discussing the future of food writing with Dianne Jacob from Will Write for Food. ----- Welcome to episode 420 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Dianne Jacob. ChatGPT, Substack, and the Changing Landscape of Food Writing Dianne Jacob has been an expert in the food writing space for twenty years (she literally wrote the book on it!). We were happy to welcome her back to the podcast to chat about the changing landscape of food writing. In this interview, Bjork and Dianne discuss how AI might alter the food blogging space, and how food bloggers can best position themselves to adapt to these changes. Dianne also shares more about her Substack newsletter, and why she prefers writing for her Substack newsletter to blogging. Both Bjork and Dianne have been in the food writing space for decades now, and it’s fascinating to hear them discuss what they think the future of food blogging might look like. Don’t miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: About Dianne’s professional background in food writing. How the food writing space has changed over the last 20 years. How AI (or machine learning) is changing the food writing space. What she learned from testing ChatGPT’s recipe writing skills. What recipe attribution currently looks like for ChatGPT and Bard. Why your voice matters more than ever in the food blogging space. Why she transitioned from writing a blog to having a Substack newsletter. What she likes about being a content creator on Substack (spoiler alert: no need for SEO!). How Bjork and Dianne think the food blogging space will change in the coming years. Resources: Dianne Jacob… will write for food Dianne on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast in 2015 and in 2021 Will Write for Food by Dianne Jacob ChatGPT Bard Sally’s Baking Recipes The Kitchn Preppy Kitchen Substack David Lebovitz Jeremiah Tower’s Out of the Oven</
Tue, July 25, 2023
Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging with Anne Mauney
Balancing lifestyle and SEO-friendly posts, outsourcing tasks that don't bring you joy, and diversifying income streams with Anne Mauney from fANNEtastic Food. ----- Welcome to episode 419 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anne Mauney from fANNEtastic Food. Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging Anne Mauney has been running her blog for over 14 years now and, as you might imagine, her life has changed considerably during that time. Since starting her blog, Anne has become a Registered Dietitian with a Masters in Public Health, has gotten married, and had two children. In addition to all of those big life changes, she has witnessed the rise of social media and SEO, and weathered the huge changes in the food blogging landscape. In this candid conversation, Bjork and Anne chat about navigating life and blog changes and balancing parenthood with running a business. Anne shares more about her changing income streams over the years, and why outsourcing certain tasks that don’t bring her joy has allowed her to continue blogging after all these years. It’s a super valuable episode no matter where you are in your blogging journey! In this episode, you’ll learn: About how food blogging has changed since Anne started her blog in 2009. How she has had to reinvent herself and her blog over the years to stay current. How she balances lifestyle posts and SEO-friendly posts in her blogging schedule. Why she prioritizes outsourcing the tasks that don’t bring her joy, and how she has built her team. What her approach to keyword research is. How she has juggled childcare and blogging responsibilities over the years. What she would change, and what she would keep the same, from the last 14 years of blogging. How she incorporates her nutrition private practice into her business. More about the breakdown of her income sources at various points in her blogging journey, and how she diversifies her income streams. Resources: fANNEtastic Food Kath Eats Real Food Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life The E Myth Revisited Follow Anne on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by
Tue, July 18, 2023
Navigating the Changing Landscape of Technology in Food Blogging with Lauren Gray
Understanding plugins, the future of custom themes, and WordPress Site Editor with Lauren Gray from Once Coupled. ----- Welcome to episode 418 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lauren Gray from Once Coupled. Navigating the Changing Landscape of Technology in Food Blogging Lauren is the Founder and Director of Development at Once Coupled, a small development agency that works with food bloggers and other online publishers. She also happens to be the Web Development Expert here at Food Blogger Pro and is truly an expert on all things themes, plugins, and WordPress. And that’s exactly what Bjork and Lauren are chatting about in today’s podcast episode! They cover a lot of ground, from Site Editor and Block Editor to custom themes and technical debt. If you’re curious about making changes to your website, updating your theme, or looking to add specific functionalities to your site, this is an interview you won’t want to miss! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Lauren does at Once Coupled and how they support food bloggers. How Once Coupled’s services and offerings have changed over the years to reflect the changing landscape of food blogging. What Site Editor in WordPress is, how it works, and how it changes things for publishers and developers. What WordPress Blocks (and the Block Editor) are. The pros and cons of using Site Editor vs. a custom theme right now. Lauren’s recommendations for how beginner food bloggers should progress through their website journey. What technical debt is, and why you need to keep it in mind when building your website. The purpose of, and future plans for, Once Coupled’s plugins company, Small Plugins. The functionality of the Dynamic Connector plugin from Small Plugins. Resources: Once Coupled The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Episode 122: Site Speed in a Mobile-First World with Lauren Gray Nerdpress Bill Erickson The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Episode 236: Themes – Performance-Focused Designs with Bill Erickson Squarespace Webflow Wix Genesis Theme iMark Interactive Upwork Media Wyse Feas
Tue, July 11, 2023
Why Ann Baum Built a Recipe-Sharing App to Drive Traffic to Food Blogs
Brainstorming, building, and marketing an app and WordPress plugin for saving online recipes and sharing them with friends. ----- Welcome to episode 417 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ann Baum from Spillt. Building a Recipe-Sharing App to Drive Traffic to Food Blogs Food creators are no strangers to recipe-sharing sites and social media apps; many of us have love-hate relationships with some of them! Sisters Ann and Maddie Baum knew that there was a better way to save and share online recipes — so they built it! Over the past several years, Ann and Maddie created Spillt, an app and WordPress plugin that allows users to save online recipes and share them with friends on the app, all while driving traffic and star ratings back to the food bloggers themselves! Bjork and Ann talk about Ann’s career journey from working at Facebook to building the app, and take a peak behind-the-scenes at the creation of Spillt. Ann shares more about working with food bloggers to create the app, and why they wanted to prioritize food bloggers in the functionality of the app. It’s a really informative episode and one you won’t want to miss! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Spillt is, and how food creators can use it to drive traffic and star ratings to their recipes. More about Ann’s career path from working at Facebook to developing the Spillt app. Why Ann and her sister, Maddie, decided to build Spillt, and what market gap they hope to fill. What product development for Spillt looked like. Why they built Spillt in a way that prioritizes the needs of food bloggers. The difference between a content algorithm and a social algorithm, and why that difference mattered in the creation of Spillt. The plans for monetization on Spillt in the future. What user growth has looked like on Spillt so far. Resources: Spillt Tastemaker Conference Pinch of Yum Goodreads Slack Booked Up: Ben Smith on Traffic Clariti Follow Spillt on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Once Coupled, the development agency behind the brand Small Plugins. To get a 70% discount on ALL (current and future) Small Plugins plugins, get early access to test new plugins, and vote on ideas for the next plugin, go to <a href= "http
Wed, July 05, 2023
Preserving Family Recipes with a Food Blog with Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life
Documenting family recipes, managing a food blog as a family of four, and writing a James Beard-nominated cookbook with Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life. ----- Welcome to episode 416 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life. Preserving Family Recipes with a Food Blog For Sarah and Kaitlin Leung, their food blog, The Woks of Life, is a family affair. They have run the blog with their parents, Judy and Bill, for over ten years, and now they all work together full-time! Bjork chats with Sarah and Kaitlin about the early days of The Woks of Life, including why they started documenting their family’s Chinese recipes, and how they grew their site while working full-time. Sarah and Kaitlin share more about the division of labor when running a food blog as a family, and what they’ve learned over the last ten years of blogging. They have a really unique perspective on food blogging, and it’s a can’t-miss episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about being nominated for a James Beard Award for their cookbook. The origin story of The Woks of Life back in 2013. Why they wanted to preserve and document their family’s Chinese recipes on the blog. What the division of labor looks like amongst the four family members behind The Woks of Life. How they transitioned to running their blog full-time, and the changes they made during that time that were most beneficial for the growth of the blog. How the skills from their previous jobs translate to running the blog. What international site traffic looks like for Woks of Life, and how it affects RPMs. What advice they would give to beginner bloggers. Resources: The Woks of Life The Woks of Life Cookbook Clarkson Potter Pinch of Yum Chinese Ingredients Glossary Google AdSense Raptive The Go-Giver Optin Monster WeChat Designing Your Life <a href= "https://books
Tue, June 27, 2023
How and Why To Self-Publish a Cookbook with Matt Briel from Lulu
Insights on the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing, details on the financial and non-financial benefits of publishing a cookbook, and what it takes to be successful when self-publishing a cookbook with Matt Briel from Lulu. ----- Welcome to episode 415 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matt Briel from Lulu Press. How and Why To Self-Publish a Cookbook Have you ever dreamed of writing a cookbook? Are you intimidated by the process of finding a publisher? Or are you just curious why a food blogger might want to write a cookbook? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this podcast episode is for you! Matt Briel is an entrepreneur and the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Lulu.com, a print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. Bjork and Matt chat about the differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing, why you might want to consider self-publishing a cookbook, and how to be successful when self-publishing content. It’s a super informative episode that will give you a lot to think about when it comes to cookbooks! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Matt’s background and how he came to be interested in publishing. What marketing looks like for Lulu and why they prioritize helping creators sell more books. The differences between print-on-demand and offset printing in the publishing world. Why print-on-demand is a more ecologically friendly option. What the print-on-demand process looks like from start to finish for a cookbook. What it takes to successfully self-publishing a cookbook, and who you need on your team. What a success story looks like for creators who self-published their cookbooks. How self-publishing a cookbook can help you diversify your income streams. The non-financial benefits of publishing a cookbook. What to do if you’re curious to learn more about self-publishing a cookbook. Resources: Lulu Disney World is Awesome Podcast Simon & Schuster Shopify Fiverr 99designs Upwork The Peachie Spoon Lauren Fit Foodie Tiny Home, Big Flava Lulu’s Resources <a href="https://www.youtube.com/
Tue, June 20, 2023
How Kyleigh Sage Combines Brand Work and Ad Revenue to Make $10,000-$15,000 a Month
Blogging While Working Full-Time, Pitching Brands, and Determining Your Rates with Kyleigh Sage from Barley & Sage ----- Welcome to episode 414 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kyleigh Sage from Barley & Sage. Combining Brand Work and Ad Revenue to Make $10,000-$15,000 a Month There are lots of different opportunities for food content creators to make money. And one of the most common ways is by partnering with brands! In this interview, Bjork and Kyleigh chat about partnering with brands on sponsored content and freelance work (even when you don’t have a large social media following), including how to effectively pitch to brands and negotiate your contracts. Kyleigh is honest and transparent about her strategies for working with brands and how she navigates pricing her work. It’s clear that she is passionate about helping other food bloggers find success, and you won’t want to miss this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: About Kyleigh’s professional background and journey to starting her food blog in 2019. How she strategically approached her first year of blogging while still working full-time. More about how she first started partnering with brands on sponsored content and freelance work. How she combines brand work and ad revenue to make $10,000-$15,000 a month. How an SEO audit transformed how she approached her blog and helped her qualify for Mediavine. How she recommends calculating your rates when working with brands. How to effectively pitch your work to brands and network with PR agencies. What she recommends for maintaining good relationships with brands and PR agencies. What she would repeat, and what she would change from her food blogging journey so far. Resources: Barley & Sage Mediavine Media Wyse Substack Pricing Guide for Food Photography Barley & Sage Resources Follow Kyleigh on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com<
Tue, June 13, 2023
Lessons in Burnout, Persistence, and Creativity after Ten Years of Food Blogging with Maggie Zhu
Growing a food blog while working full-time, outsourcing tasks for your business, and limiting burnout with Maggie Zhu from Omnivore's Cookbook. ----- Welcome to episode 413 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Maggie Zhu from Omnivore’s Cookbook. Lessons in Burnout, Persistence, and Creativity after Ten Years of Food Blogging Maggie Zhu has been running Omnivore’s Cookbook, a food blog all about modern Chinese cooking, for over ten years. That’s a very long time in internet years! She’s had incredible success growing her site during this time and just recently wrote her first cookbook. But this success didn’t come without some struggle. Maggie has navigated intense periods of burnout over the last ten years and has learned that outsourcing and prioritizing her creativity are key to helping her overcome these phases. This interview is honest, raw, and thought-provoking, and we really hope it resonates with you as much as it did with us! In this episode, you’ll learn: About how Maggie got started as a food blogger over 10 years ago. What it was like for her to work a full-time job while growing her food blog. What her goals are for her blog, and how she works through the comparison trap. How she limits burnout after blogging for 10+ years. Why she prioritizes outsourcing certain tasks for her business, and how she determines what to outsource. Where she finds people to join her team. How she approaches creating Chinese recipes for a Western audience. Why it’s important for her to find a creative outlet outside of her blog. What advice she has for someone in the early stages of food blogging. Resources: Omnivore’s Cookbook Pinch of Yum’s Income Reports WP Engine Big Scoots Chinese Homestyle Cookbook by Maggie Zhu Upwork We Study Billionaires: Wealth and Health with Jason Karp Follow Maggie on Instagram , Facebook , and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clar
Tue, June 06, 2023
How to Support Your Mental Health as a Content Creator with Sherry Walling
Navigating grief, managing anxiety, and prioritizing your physical health with Sherry Walling from ZenFounder. ----- Welcome to episode 412 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sherry Walling, a clinical psychologist and founder of ZenFounder. How to Support Your Mental Health as a Content Creator Sherry Walling is back on the podcast today to talk about something we should all be discussing more — the mental health of entrepreneurs. If you have a career as a content creator, it can be difficult to separate your personal life from your professional life. It can also be lonely to run your own business. Not to mention the challenges of sharing parts of your life on social media! All this to say that entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges when it comes to mental health, and this powerful episode with Sherry is one you won’t want to miss. She shares more about the habits you can incorporate into your life to better manage anxiety, stress, and grief, and prioritize your emotional and physical well-being. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Sherry started a public conversation around the mental health of entrepreneurs. The first steps to take when your mental health is suffering. Why it’s important to prioritize your well-being. The habits that entrepreneurs can incorporate into their lives to take care of their mental health. The practices Sherry incorporates into her life to support her physical and emotional health (including the trapeze!). The benefits and detriments of technology for our mental health. How to live your life in a way that honors your soul. How Sherry navigated seasons of grief, and the lessons she learned from those times. What content creators can do to support their mental health. How to separate your personal from your professional life, and why that matters. Why it’s important for creators to have a hobby. Resources: ZenFounder ZenFounder Podcast Sherry’s previous episode of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Headspace Full Focus The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together: How to Run Your Business Without Letting it Run You Gear Junkie We Study Billionaires: Wealth & Healthy with Jason Karp Touching Two Worlds <a href="https://unt
Tue, May 30, 2023
Working with Brands and Knowing What Your Work is Worth with Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White
Running a business as a couple, working with brands, and creating content for your audience. ----- Welcome to episode 411 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White from Orchids + Sweet Tea about how they work together to run two businesses, partner with brands, and create content with their audience in mind. Working with Brands and Knowing What Your Work is Worth We’re really excited to share this week’s conversation with Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White. They’re the creators behind the food blog Orchids + Sweet Tea, and the production company, Brooklyn Sweet Tea Productions. In this episode, you’ll hear all about the evolution of their businesses, how they negotiate with brands, and more about their experience as black creators in the food blogging space. It’s a really inspiring episode with tons of actionable takeaways, and we can’t wait for you to give it a listen! In this episode, you’ll learn: How and why Shanika and Darnell started Orchids + Sweet Tea, and why they decided to start a production company, too. How they made the leap from food photography to videography. Shanika’s workflow and equipment set-up for photography and shooting video. What the division of labor looks like between Shanika and Darnell. How Darnell’s background in programming translated to videography, and how he got started filming recipe videos. How Shanika determines and structures pricing when working with brands for sponsored content and/or video production. How they divide their time between their different businesses and goals. What advice Shanika and Darnell have for food bloggers wanting to start working with brands. How they navigated and persevered through the early stages of blogging, and how they found a balance between personalization and optimization. More about the experience of being black creators in the food and wellness space. How Shanika creates content with her audience in mind. What advice Shanika and Darnell would give to their past selves when they were just starting Orchids + Sweet Tea. Resources: Orchids + Sweet Tea Brooklyn Sweet Tea Productions Orchids & Sweet Tea: Plant-Forward Recipes with Jamaican Flavor & Southern Charm The Guardian: Hungry Planet: What the World Eats - in pictures Parker Walbeck Productions Follow Shanika and Darnell on Ins
Tue, May 23, 2023
AI, Third-Party Cookies, and Changes in Video Advertising Standards with Paul Bannister from Raptive
Navigating the changing landscape of video advertising, adapting to a future with AI, and understanding the removal of third-party cookies with Paul Bannister ----- Welcome to episode 410 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Bannister from Raptive. AI, Third-Party Cookies, and Changes in Video Advertising Standards If it feels like the last few years have come with a lot of changes in the online world, that’s because there have been tons of changes. We’re talking ChatGPT and AI, the removal of third-party cookies, the rapid growth of video, and more. Luckily, our guest on the podcast today is just the person to break down these big changes and explain how it all relates to content creators. Bjork is chatting with Paul Bannister, the CSO and co-founder of Raptive (formerly AdThrive and CafeMedia) about all of these buzzy topics. Whether you’re hoping to qualify for Raptive in the future, are already a Raptive creator, or are just curious about all of the tech news in the online space, this is a really informative listen! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about the beginning of Paul’s career founding Online Gaming Review in 1995. How he approaches big changes in the online space. What third-party cookies are, how they relate to digital advertising, and what you need to know about the removal of third-party cookies from Google. What’s next for advertisers after the removal of third-party cookies. How ChatGPT and AI are changing the world of content creation. How the transition from UA to GA4 will change Raptive’s eligibility criteria. About why he believes “video is the future” and how the advertising space is changing to reflect that. The difference between in-stream, out-stream, and accompanying content video ads. More about the new standards for video advertising. How Raptive is evolving to help content creators diversify their income streams. Resources: Paul’s previous episodes on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast here and here Raptive formerly known as AdThrive and CafeMedia Dotdash Meredith ChatGPT Pinch of Yum’s 20 Minute Healthy Chicken Parmesan Bard Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost Raptive’s Eligibility Criteria
Tue, May 16, 2023
Legal Hot Topics: AI, Privacy Policies, and Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss
Insights on dark ads and whitelisting, updates on privacy legislation, and details about how AI is impacting contracts with Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal. ----- Welcome to episode 409 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal. AI, Privacy Policies, and Sponsored Content The legal side of food blogging can be stressful, overwhelming, and complicated. Most food bloggers don’t get into the business because of their passion for contracts and privacy policies! But that’s why we have experts like Danielle to help us navigate these issues. In this week’s podcast episode, Danielle is back on the podcast (this is her 9th episode!) to chat about legal hot topics in 2023. Danielle breaks down updates in privacy legislation, and the impact of AI on contracts and confidentiality, and explains more about whitelisting and dark ads. Danielle is a master at explaining tricky topics in a straightforward (and entertaining!) way, and this episode is a must-listen for any business owner! In this episode, you’ll learn: How and why Danielle helps food bloggers and digital creators with the legal side of their businesses. Everything you need to know about dark ads and whitelisting, and the differences between the two. More about how AI is impacting contracts and brand deals. What you need to know when it comes to AI, confidentiality, contracts, and privacy policies. Details about updates in privacy legislation and privacy policies. About deletion requests, and how to approach them. More about the services Danielle’s businesses (LISS Legal and Businessese) offer. Resources: LISS Legal Businessese Pinch of Yum ChatGPT Netlist Wins $303 Million in Patent Damages From Samsung Raptive Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership</
Tue, May 09, 2023
How a Diagnosis with a Chronic Illness Transformed Helena Murphy’s Career in Food Photography
Investing in education, self-publishing a cookbook, and shaping a career in food photography following a diagnosis with a chronic illness with Helena Murphy. ----- Welcome to episode 408 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Helena Murphy from Helena Rose Photography. Food Photography, Self-Publishing, and Chronic Illness Advocacy One of the best parts of working as a food creator is that you have the ability to determine exactly what your career looks like. By prioritizing your interests and diversifying your income streams, you can shape what your day-to-day work consists of to meet your needs! And that’s exactly what Bjork is chatting about with Helena Murphy in today’s podcast episode. Helena shares her journey from corporate marketing to freelance product and food photography, and how her diagnosis with Crohn’s disease influenced both her personal, and professional life. Helena is an incredible photographer and has self-published both a magazine and a cookbook. She has a really inspiring story, and we’re excited to share this interview with you! In this episode, you’ll learn: All about Helena’s career journey, and how she left her corporate job to start a freelance career. How she invested in education to improve her photography and editing skills. What advice she has for people looking to take the leap into photography as a career. How she determined what she wanted her business to look like and diversified her income streams. More about the process of self-publishing her cookbook. Her diagnosis with Crohn’s disease, and how it led her to create a cookbook to help others with the same diagnosis. How her chronic illness has impacted how she views and operates her business. Why she chose to use a print-on-demand service for her cookbook, and what the process looked like. How she uses photography and aesthetics to convey a message and mood to her readers. Resources: Helena Rose Photography Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Capture One This American Life Lightroom Magic Course Beth Kirby ChatGPT The Multi-Hyphen Life: Work Less, Create More, and Design a Life That Works for You by Emma Gannon Ctrl Alt Del
Tue, May 02, 2023
How Core Web Vitals and Image Size Impact Search Ranking with Andrew Wilder
Optimizing your website for Core Web Vitals, following best practices for images, and learning more about Google's Ranking Factors with Andrew Wilder from NerdPress. ----- Welcome to episode 407 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrew Wilder from NerdPress. How Core Web Vitals and Image Size Impact Search Ranking Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the nitty gritty tech side of running a food blog? Well then, this week’s podcast episode is for you. Bjork is chatting with Andrew Wilder, our WordPress Support Expert , and the Founder and CEO of NerdPress. In this episode, Andrew takes a deep dive into Core Web Vitals and explains how they’re calculated, and why it’s important to optimize your site with Core Web Vitals in mind. They also discuss the best practices for blog image sizes, including the best method for compressing your images, and frequently asked questions about Featured Images. Andrew is a frequent flyer guest on the podcast for a reason — he is super knowledgeable, and can teach us all about the tech side of blogging that many of us struggle with! If that sounds like you, you won’t want to miss this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: All about Andrew’s journey of starting and growing NerdPress as a business. Why it’s important for creators to pay attention to Core Web Vitals. More about Google’s Ranking Factors (and how they relate to Core Web Vitals). Everything you need to know about Core Web Vitals, including how they’re calculated and how to optimize for Core Web Vitals. What Google Search Console is, and how to set it up. The process for optimizing and compressing the images on your site. The difference between .jpeg, .png, and .webp, and when to use them. Best practices for sizing and cropping your Featured Images. More about working with Andrew and the NerdPress team. Resources: Andrew’s episodes on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast NerdPress International Food Bloggers Conference Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report The Feast Plugin WP Rocket Perfmatters PageSpeed Insights 339: Tech Check-In – The Best Plugins and Tools for Food Bloggers in 2022 with Andrew Wilder <a href="h
Tue, April 25, 2023
Monetization Strategies in the Influencer Industry with Brittany Hennessy
Navigating the influencer industry as a food creator, working with brands, and building a more profitable business. ----- Welcome to episode 406 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Brittany Hennessy from Carbon August about influencer marketing. Monetization Strategies in the Influencer Industry Do you consider yourself to be an influencer? As a food creator, whether or not you have a large social media following, you are definitely influencing your audience. And today’s guest is the expert when it comes to all things influencer. In this episode, Bjork is chatting with Brittany Hennessy, an author, and pioneer in the influencer industry. They discuss her career path, experiences working at a media company, and why creators are more important than ever in the marketing space. It’s a thought-provoking episode that will help you think more critically about your strengths as a content creator, and how to build a stronger, more profitable business. In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Brittany’s career path and how she got started in the influencer industry. What it’s like to work at a media company like Hearst. Why creators are more important than ever in the marketing space. Whether you’re an endorser, entertainer, or educator as a creator, and what the metrics for success look like for each. Her advice for when you should build vs. monetize. Why she thinks that social media followers and email subscribers are the most important relationships to build. Why you should ask yourself “Is this good for my brand, is this good for my business, and/or does this make me happy?” when making decisions regarding what you share. How to approach affiliate marketing on a food blog. When and why you should consider working with an agency. More about Brittany’s book (Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media). Resources: I Faked My Grandpa To The Top of Fashion Week Horizon Media Hearst Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media Collective Voice Magnolia Wirecutter Travis Scott Skims Striped Spatula The Casper Blog
Tue, April 18, 2023
How Keyword Research, Resilience, and Resourcefulness Helped Casey Rooney Make a Six-Figure Income in Two Years
Focusing on keyword research, creating a workflow, and monetizing your blog. ----- Welcome to episode 405 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Casey Rooney from Get On My Plate. Keyword Research, Resilience, and Resourcefulness As food bloggers, it can be easy to feel like you need to be doing everything to succeed. If you’re not writing blog posts every day, killing it on social media, partnering with brands, etc., you won’t ever achieve your goals. But that is not true. And Casey Rooney is the perfect illustration of that! She started her food blog, Get On My Plate, in 2021, and has had incredible success growing her site over the last two years. She has leaned into her passion for SEO and content creation and made a six-figure income in 2022. In this episode, Casey shares more about her workflow, keyword research process, and why she doesn’t focus on social media. It’s a really refreshing and inspiring episode, and we’re excited to share it with you! In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Casey’s background as a teacher and her journey to starting her food blog in 2021. How she was able to grow her blog and monetize to make a six-figure income within two years. Why she stopped focusing on social media, and instead emphasized content creation and SEO. How her passion for content creation, teaching, and business shaped her approach to her blog. What she thinks the necessary skills are for any food blogger. All about her workflow for content creation. Her strategy for publishing Google Web Stories and what benefits she sees from them. What her process for keyword research looks like. How she optimizes and updates older blog posts. What the future of Get On My Plate looks like, and how Casey is diversifying her income. Resources: Get On My Plate Xanga TopHatRank TED: Grit: the power of passion and perseverance - Angela Lee Duckworth Monday.com BiggerPockets A Better Life with Brandon Turner Canva KeySearch RankIQ 1:1 Blog Coaching with Casey Follow Casey on Instagram Join t
Tue, April 11, 2023
Habits for Creators: A Gratitude Practice for Your Business
Incorporating gratitude into your routines, shielding yourself from the negative, and brainstorming what you're grateful for at work. ----- Welcome to episode 404 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is wrapping up his mini-series on habits with a discussion on the habit of gratitude. A Gratitude Practice for Your Business In this solo mini-series, Bjork has covered four habits that he recommends creators incorporate into their routines. So far, Bjork has covered the importance of a monthly review, the habit of continual learning, and the habit of who. In today’s episode, Bjork chats about the habit of gratitude in both your personal, and professional life. If you don’t already have a gratitude practice in your life, this episode is just what you need to get started — practical tips, resources, and more. We hope you enjoy the last episode of our habits mini-series. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week! In this episode, you’ll learn: How to build a habit of gratitude in your personal life. Why a gratitude practice can be beneficial for your business. Practical strategies for incorporating gratitude into your routines. How to focus on gratitude and shield yourself from the negative. Prompts for brainstorming what you’re grateful for in your work. Resources: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Episode 124: How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas The Five Minute Journal Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 04, 2023
Habits for Creators: Building the Habit of Who
Creating a personal board of directors, determining who your experts are, and asking "who can help me with this?" ----- Welcome to episode 403 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have the third episode in our series on habits for creators, all about the habit of who. Building the Habit of Who Do you ever feel like you need to be an expert in everything you do, both in your personal and professional life? If so, you’re not alone, and today’s episode is for YOU. In the third episode of Bjork’s mini-series on habits, he is chatting all about the importance of surrounding yourself with trusted experts who can help you with specific aspects of your life and business. You’ll learn more about creating a personal board of directors, determining who your experts are, and why you need to be asking “who can help with this?”. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you should ask yourself the question “who can help me with this?” How to introduce the filtering mechanism of “who” into your business. Why you should consider building out a personal board of directors. The kinds of experts to surround yourself with in the food blogging space. How to find a mix of advisors from the digital, personal, and paid consultant realms. How the ‘habit of who’ can help boost productivity. Why you should take time to reflect on the gains you’ve made in your business. Resources: Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork NerdPress Allea Grummert at Duett The Gap and the Gain: The High Achievers’ Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 28, 2023
Habits for Creators: How to Prioritize Continual Learning
Balancing quick and slow knowledge, using time blocks for continual learning, and pairing habits with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 402 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have the second episode in our series on habits for creators, which is all about the habit of continual learning. How to Prioritize Continual Learning Do you currently set aside time in your schedule for continual learning? Or do you feel like you’re just too busy to make time for it? Either way, we hope that today’s episode will help you to rethink continual learning, and give you inspiration for incorporating it into your life as an entrepreneur. Bjork chats about the importance of continual learning as a business owner, time blocks, and habit pairing — you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: The difference between quick knowledge and slow knowledge, and why you need a balance of both. How to use time blocks to implement the habit of continual learning. How to incorporate continual learning into your life on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Why using time blocks can lead to better building blocks for your business. How to pair the habit of continual learning with the habit of a monthly review. Resources: Notion Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 21, 2023
Habits for Creators: Why You Should Start a Monthly Review of Your Business
The importance of a monthly review of your business’s revenue, expenses, and profit, and how it can help you be more intentional about growing your business. ----- Welcome to episode 401 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is kicking off the Habits Series on the podcast with a discussion about monthly reviews. Why You Should Start a Monthly Review of Your Business This solo episode with Bjork is the first in our Habits Series, in which Bjork will dive into simple, but effective habits that you can (and should!) incorporate into your business. Bjork explains the concept of a monthly review of your business’s finances and analytics, and how it can benefit your business and help you think more strategically about growth. It’s a really informative listen, and we hope you’ll take away some helpful tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your business moving forward! In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of a monthly review of your revenue, expenses, and profit. How to get started tracking your business numbers with a spreadsheet. Why you should separate your personal and business expenses. How to think strategically about losses and expenses in your business. How your bookkeeping and monthly review process might evolve as your business grows. Why a monthly review can help you be more intentional about growing your business. Resources: Atomic Habits Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports Quickbooks Xero Pilot ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 14, 2023
4 Takeaways from 400 Episodes of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast
Prioritizing your time and talent, cultivating a bias toward action, and embracing the grind with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 400 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is chatting about four takeaways that he has observed during his interviews with experts, food creators, and friends over the last 400 podcast episodes. 4 Takeaways from 400 Episodes In this episode, Bjork reflects on conversations from the last few years and discusses four themes that came up time and time again in these interviews, and in some way contributed to the success of the guests. Over the course of the episode, Bjork unpacks each of these themes and provides examples and takeaways to help listeners apply these themes to their own businesses. As we celebrate 400 episodes, we wanted to thank YOU for listening to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast - we couldn’t do it without you! In this episode, you’ll learn: The four themes that Bjork has noticed over the course of the 400 podcast episodes he has recorded The importance of leaning into time, talent, and learning in your business (and hoping for some luck, too!) Why you should cultivate a bias toward action How to prioritize the skills you’re naturally good at Why you might want to embrace your “grind” More details about our upcoming habits mini-series on the podcast And more! Resources: User Controlled Analytics: The 3 Most Important Types of Analytics in Your First Year of Blogging Atomic Habits Connect with Bjork via email Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 07, 2023
E-E-A-T, Static Homepages, AI, and More Food Blog SEO Advice with Casey Markee
Five food blog SEO takeaways from our member Q&A with Casey Markee. ----- Welcome to episode 399 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing a few recipe SEO takeaways from a Q&A we had for our members with Casey Markee. Internal Linking, Keywords, AI, and SEO for Food Bloggers We host Live Q&As every month for our Food Blogger Pro members, and one of our most recent Q&As was with our SEO Expert, Casey Markee. In today’s episode, we’re re-sharing five major takeaways from that conversation and giving you a bit more information about how you can implement his advice, where you can go to see examples, and where you can go to learn more. It’s a new “style” of episode for us, and we hope you enjoy it! And if you’re interested in getting access to the full SEO Q&A with Casey and you’re not already a Food Blogger Pro member, listen to the end for a discount code to join! In this episode, you’ll learn: What E-E-A-T means for food bloggers How AI may impact organic site traffic If there’s an ideal recipe post “template” What to include on a static food blog homepage A few things that we can do to set ourselves apart in 2023 Resources: Ologies Media Wyse The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies from Handle the Heat 294: Bake Offs – Producing a Different Kind of Recipe Content for a Food Blog with Erika Kwee The Bake Offs on The Pancake Princess Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines Our latest update to the quality rater guidelines: E-A-T gets an extra E for Experience ChatGPT Learn more about food trends Broken Link Checker Find Casey on Food Blogger Pro Save $25 on a new annual Food Blogger Pro membership! ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodblogger
Tue, February 28, 2023
The Importance of Surveying Your Audience with Email with Allea Grummert
Developing an email marketing strategy, serving your audience, and building brand loyalty with Allea Grummert from Duett. ----- Welcome to episode 398 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Allea Grummert from Duett all about surveying your audience and email marketing. Surveying Your Audience There are many different reasons that email marketing is a valuable tool for food creators. Having an email list can help with SEO, provide a reliable means of communicating your content, and build relationships with your readers. And that’s what Allea Grummert is talking about with Bjork on the podcast today! Allea is an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter at Duett, and the Food Blogger Pro Email Marketing Expert! In this episode, you’ll hear about developing a rock-solid email marketing strategy, surveying your readers, and building brand loyalty. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to overcome the mental barriers of email marketing for your business. Why email marketing is so valuable for a food blog. How to use email to connect with and better understand your audience. How often you should email your subscribers. Why you might want to send a survey to your subscribers, what questions to ask, and how to use the survey data to serve your audience. How to tailor your emails (or blog posts) to better meet the needs of your readers. How to strategically develop your welcome sequence. About two email marketing case studies that illustrate the benefits of email marketing. How to work with Allea on your email marketing. Resources: Duett ConvertKit Pinch of Yum Foureyes Typeform Clariti ProBlogger FinCon The Permission Sandwich Formula: How to Write Emails That Actually Get You Sales She Loves Biscotti Recipe Teacher Allea’s Your First Welcome Sequence resource for The Food Blogger Pro community Follow Allea on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- Thi
Tue, February 21, 2023
Demystifying Finances and Taxes as a Food Creator with Amy Northard
Strategies for effective bookkeeping, navigating business expenses, and confidently managing tax season as a creator with Amy Northard from Amy Northard, CPA. ----- Welcome to episode 397 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amy Northard from Amy Northard, CPA about accounting for food creators. Demystifying Finances and Taxes Taxes and bookkeeping can be a major source of anxiety for anyone, but especially anyone who is self-employed… like many food creators! It can be difficult to know where to get started with managing your business finances, or how you might be able to improve your accounting processes! Luckily, that’s what Bjork is chatting with Amy Northard about in today’s podcast episode! Amy is a CPA and Partner at Amy Northard, CPA (“The Accountants for Creatives”) and is an expert at setting up bookkeeping systems and navigating taxes for business owners in the creative space. In this episode, you’ll hear more about when and how to start bookkeeping for your business, the best ways to prepare for tax season, when you might want to outsource your accounting needs, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How and why Amy found her niche and started her accounting firm for creatives The importance of separating personal and business transactions How to reconcile your business expenses Whether groceries can be considered a business expense (and why it matters) What the IRS audit process would look like for a food blogger Tips for storing and organizing your business receipts Amy’s recommendations for bookkeeping software Deductions that creatives might overlook The differences between sole proprietor, LLC, and S Corp, and how to choose which is the right fit for you How to manage payroll for your business When you should start to do bookkeeping for your business When you might want to consider outsourcing your bookkeeping or taxes How to manage losses when you’re starting your business How to be intentional about taxes as a more established food creator Strategies for effective bookkeeping to make tax season easier Resources: Amy Northard, CPA Dropbox Shoboxed Quickbooks Xero Wave Justworks Gusto Follow Amy on Instagram and Facebook <a href= "https://www.facebook.com
Tue, February 14, 2023
The Business of Sprinkles with Sweetapolita’s Rosie Alyea
The transition from blogging to owning a shop, how community drives brand awareness, and the importance of building an audience with Rosie Alyea. ----- Welcome to episode 396 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rosie Alyea from Sweetapolita about serving your audience and transitioning from blogger to shop owner. The Business of Sprinkles This episode with Rosie is full of inspiration, and we’re so excited to be talking to her this week about the way she transitioned from blogging to running a multi-million dollar product-based business! A common theme in this episode is the importance of serving your audience, and you’ll learn how Rosie did that as a blogger and now as a sprinkle business owner. It’s a super entertaining interview, and we hope the conversation opens you up to other ideas and ways that you can be supporting your audience where they need it most! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Rosie got into baking How she realized she wanted to start her own company What her transition from blog to shop was like How community content drives brand awareness Why building an audience is so important What she was looking for by going on Dragons’ Den How to work with the Sweetapolita team Resources: Cake Beauty Elisa Strauss’ The Confetti Cakes Cookbook Sweetapolita The Sweetapolita Book Rosie on Dragons’ Den Connect with Sweetapolita on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook ----- This episode is sponsored by Duett. Jump on a free discovery call to see how the Duett team can help you with your email marketing needs at duett.co/call. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.
Tue, February 07, 2023
Scaling Your Business (and Your Revenue) with Chad Cannon
Important questions to ask about your customers or audience, defining your H1, and why bloggers may want to sell products with Chad Cannon. ----- Welcome to episode 395 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chad Cannon to chat about strategically growing your business through understanding your audience and selling products. Scaling Your Business (and Your Revenue) This episode is all about the importance in having a deep understanding of what your business does and how it helps your audience in order to scale and grow. Chad Cannon is from ScaleFactor, a company focused on building and scaling businesses through their 7 Factors of Scale. You’ll learn about three of the seven factors in this episode: Find Your Buyer, Align Your Brand, and Create Products. Our hope is that you’ll be able to think through new ways to monetize as you’re listening to this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he got his start helping businesses grow and scale What the “Law of Thirds” means Why founders may want to replace themselves What he took away from helping other businesses and applied to his own business Important questions to ask about your customers or audience How to define your H1 How to find a buyer or an audience Why product is important for food bloggers Why sponsors will appreciate your understanding of your brand and audience What the product creation process looks like How you can learn more from and work with Chad Resources: Platform University Full Focus Full Focus Planner Business Accelerator ScaleFactor Kolbe Assessments Food Blogger Pro’s Coaching Calls ScaleFactor Podcast 1000 True Fans Duluth 7 Factors of Scale ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.
Tue, January 31, 2023
How Leslie Stephens Grew Her Substack Newsletter to Thousands of Paid Subscribers
Being intentional with your social media use, navigating vulnerability in the online space, and launching a newsletter on Substack with Leslie Stephens from morning person newsletter. ----- Welcome to episode 394 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Leslie Stephens from the morning person newsletter about social media addiction and launching her Substack newsletter. Substack Newsletters and Social Media Use As content creators, many of us have a love/hate relationship with social media, and know just how addicting it can be. And that’s what we’re chatting about today with Leslie Stephens! Leslie is the writer behind morning person newsletter, and she joined Bjork on the podcast to talk about her decision to study social media addiction, and how her studies have influenced the choices she has made with her popular Substack newsletter. In this episoide, you’ll learn about how to be more intentional with your social media use, how to navigate vulnerability in the online space, and why you might consider launching a newsletter on Substack. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Leslie started her career as an editor at Food52 What she learned while working as an online creator for a major lifestyle brand in LA Why she decided to pursue a Masters with a focus on Social Media Addiction Why social media is so addictive and how to be more intentional when using it Why she started her morning person newsletter on Substack The pros/cons to the Substack platform How she found her newsletter niche and grew to thousands of paid subscribers in just one year How she navigates sharing her personal life and setting boundaries online Resources: morning person newsletter The Social Dilemma Follow Leslie on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbl
Tue, January 24, 2023
How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog with Maurizio Leo
How passion and growth are connected, how to reinvest in a website, and growing a loyal audience with Maurizio Leo. ----- Welcome to episode 393 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Maurizio Leo from The Perfect Loaf about business growth through passion. How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog From co-founding and running a popular phone app to starting a sourdough blog that now gets 9 million pageviews a year, Maurizio Leo is a busy guy. But everything he does is deeply rooted in passion, and you’ll hear why forming businesses around that passion has been crucial for his business growth and consistency in this conversation today. If you’re looking for ways to diversify your income, growth strategies, or simply some inspiration to help you work towards your goals, you’ll get it all in this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: About his background in computer science How he transitioned to working in the food space How the passion and growth are connected What his schedule looks like as an owner of two successful businesses At what point Maurizio knew The Perfect Loaf could be a business How the pandemic impacted The Perfect Loaf’s traffic How he reinvests in the site Why he decided to offer a membership What the process of writing a cookbook was like What Maurizio is anticipating in the next few years Resources: SkyView The Perfect Loaf Businesses Do NOT Exist to Make Money | Simon Sinek Pinch of Yum’s Holiday Bucket List Ang’s Creamy Tortellini Soup The Perfect Loaf Membership Memberful Discord The Perfect Loaf Cookbook Follow Maurizio on Instagram ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.
Tue, January 17, 2023
How Pinch of Yum’s 1.1 Million Follower Instagram Account Got Hacked (and Recovered!)
Dealing with hacked Instagram and Facebook accounts and tips for securing your own social media accounts with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 392 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork explains how the Pinch of Yum Instagram account got hacked and eventually recovered. Pinch of Yum’s Hacked Instagram Account Last month, Bjork and Lindsay went through something we all fear as content creators: they completely lost access to the Pinch of Yum Instagram account after Lindsay’s Facebook account got hacked. Talk about a scary situation! They were eventually able to get the accounts recovered, but they went through a few very stressful days trying to get everything sorted out. In this episode, Bjork shares the entire story of how this happened, how they were able to recover the accounts, and what measures they’re taking to prevent this from happening in the future. Last but not least, Bjork also provides some tips for how you can secure your own social media accounts to hopefully avoid a situation like this. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Lindsay’s Facebook and Instagram accounts got hacked How two-factor authentication works How they were able to get the accounts recovered Tips for securing your own social media accounts How phishing works Resources: Pinch of Yum Meta Authy Google Authenticator 1Password Connect with Bjork via email Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 10, 2023
Behind the Scenes of the Cookbook Publishing Process with Sally Ekus
Working with a literary agent, writing a cookbook proposal, and going through the cookbook publishing process from start to finish with Sally Ekus from The Ekus Group. ----- Welcome to episode 391 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally Ekus from The Ekus Group about what the cookbook publishing process looks like. Behind the Scenes of the Cookbook Publishing Process As food bloggers and food creators, many of us dream about writing our own cookbooks one day. But what does it take to get a cookbook deal, and what does the cookbook publishing process actually look like? That’s what we’re chatting about in this interview with Sally Ekus! She’s a literary agent at The Ekus Group and has brokered over 300 book deals with top publishers across the country. In this episode, you’ll learn what she does as a literary agent, what steps are involved in the cookbook publishing process, how to set yourself up for success to potentially write a cookbook in the future, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Sally became a literary agent What she does at The Ekus Group Why cookbook proposals are so important How to set yourself up for success to potentially write a cookbook Why the topic for a first cookbook is so important How advances and royalties work for cookbooks What the differences are between frontlist and backlist titles What cookbook marketing and publicity look like What steps are involved in the cookbook publishing process How long it typically takes to write a cookbook What she teaches in her How to Write a Cookbook course Why writing a cookbook can lead to many other opportunities Resources: The Ekus Group How to Write a Cookbook course — The Ekus Group How to Be a Cookbook Author Facebook Group Everything Cookbooks Podcast Publishers Marketplace Follow Sally on Instagram and Facebook Connect with Sally via email Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to</s
Tue, January 03, 2023
Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator with Karishma Pradhan
Overcoming feelings of burnout, becoming a full-time content creator, and creating multiple revenue streams with Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective. ----- Welcome to episode 390 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective about how she overcame burnout and built a successful career as a food creator. Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Karishma Pradhan! She runs the site Home Cooking Collective, and she has a really unique story to share about how she became a full-time food creator. In this episode, you’ll hear what her career used to look like as a data analyst, why she transitioned to working for herself, how she overcame feelings of burnout, and how she earns an income now by sharing food content online. It’s a really inspiring interview that emphasizes the importance of finding work that serves you and empowers your physical and mental health. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Karishma learned working in data analytics How she transitioned to working for herself How she overcame feelings of burnout How she got into sharing food content online How she analyzes user behavior as a blogger and content creator Why she decided to start hosting cooking workshops How she got into doing freelance recipe development and food writing How she prioritizes her time and manages her work Resources: Home Cooking Collective 323: Understanding the Numbers – Optimizing Your Blog’s Financials with Ansley Beutler The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma Wellfound Karishma’s Workshops and Classes Simply Recipes The Bite Shot Follow Karishma on Instagram , Pinterest , and Twitter Submit a Coaching Call Application Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Tue, December 27, 2022
FBP Rewind – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews
Investing money into your business, deleting posts to encourage growth, and the importance of having accountability partners with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks. ----- Welcome to episode 389 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks where she talks about what specific strategies she implemented to grow her blog’s traffic and increase her revenue. Going From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews For today’s FBP Rewind episode, we’re rewinding back to our September 2021 interview with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks! Sarah’s story is so inspiring, and in this episode, she shares everything she did to go from 17k to 600k monthly pageviews with her blog. She explains some of the unique ways she has invested in her blog, why she decided to delete hundreds of posts, why she loves having a blogging accountability partner, and more. It’s a great interview, and we hope you can apply some of these tips and skills to grow your own traffic. Let’s rewind! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Sarah decided to go all in with her blog How she struggled to define her identity as a full-time blogger Where she started investing money into her business How she shifted her content strategy Why she deleted hundreds of posts on her blog How she categorized her content into specific buckets Why ad earnings are typically lower in Q1 How her blog’s success has helped her support causes she cares about How she fits work into the margins of her day What tasks she decided to hire out Why she loves having a blogging accountability partner Resources: Sustainable Cooks 170: What’s Working and What’s Not with the FBP Community Media Wyse Find Casey Markee on FBP Purr Design The Simple Pin Podcast Find Kate Ahl on FBP Mediavine Keysearch AdThrive Hey Nutrition Lady Cook It Real Good Follow Sarah on Instagram , Facebook , and <a href= "https://www.pinterest.
Tue, December 20, 2022
FBP Rewind – How Emma Duckworth Doubled Her Pageviews by Focusing on SEO
Improving your food photography skills, getting a cookbook deal, and focusing on SEO with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes. ----- Welcome to episode 388 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes where she talks about how she’s grown her blog by focusing on SEO. Doubling Pageviews by Focusing on SEO It’s another FBP Rewind episode today, and we’re so excited to revisit our November 2021 interview with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes! After growing her business for a few years, Emma decided to double down on her blog and hired a mentor to help her out with SEO. You’ll hear how she used the avatar exercise to understand her audience, how she optimized her homepage and recipe categories, and what she’s doing to focus on SEO moving forward. If SEO is a focus for you at the moment, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Emma got into food photography and food blogging How she grew her food photography skills What steps she took to strategically grow her Instagram account How she started getting her first sponsored work What she learned from the cookbook writing process Why she decided to double down on her blog How she hired a mentor to help her out with SEO How she used the avatar exercise to understand her audience How she optimized her blog’s homepage and categories How she identified and optimized her top-performing posts How she has started doing keyword research Why she and her husband decided to launch a street coffee business What she’s focusing her attention on moving forward Resources: Emma Duckworth Bakes Order Emma’s cookbook, Simply Sweet Nostalgic Bakes Dear Coco Street Coffee Foodtography School This American Life Well Seasoned Studio Foolproof Living The Feast Plugin Google Analytics Google Search Console Keysearch Clariti Growth University Foll
Tue, December 13, 2022
How to Optimize Your Website Design as a Food Blogger with Madison Wetherill
Running a web design studio, conveying your brand's voice and messaging, and optimizing the user experience on your blog with Madison Wetherill from Grace + Vine Studios. ----- Welcome to episode 387 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Madison Wetherill from Grace + Vine Studios about optimizing your website design as a food blogger. Optimizing Your Website Design as a Food Blogger When it comes down to it, website design is so much more than just your website layout and logo; a large component of it is how you convey your brand’s messaging and voice throughout all the pages on your site. Madison Wetherill is the web designer behind Grace + Vine Studios, and she’s here on the podcast today to share all her best tips for optimizing your website design as a food blogger! In this episode, you’ll hear how she works with food bloggers, how she helps her clients develop and showcase their brand’s voice, and her best tips for enhancing the user experience on your site. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Madison became a web designer How she works with food bloggers at her web design studio Why brand voice is so important How to stand out in the crowd as a food blogger How to convey your brand’s messaging on your blog’s homepage and blog posts How to optimize the user experience on your site Why she decided to expand her team What topics she covers on her podcast Resources: Grace + Vine Studios The Vine Podcast The Clean Eating Couple Follow Madison on Instagram , Facebook , and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food . If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at <a href= "https://ww
Tue, December 06, 2022
Getting the Most Out of Your Email Marketing Strategy with Matt Ragland
Getting started with email marketing, encouraging people to sign up for your list, and creating a strong email marketing strategy with Matt Ragland. ----- Welcome to episode 386 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matt Ragland about getting the most out of your email marketing strategy. Getting the Most Out of Your Email Marketing Strategy If you’re already creating content for your blog or social media, another great place to share that content is via email. And that’s what we’re chatting about today with Matt Ragland! Matt has years of experience in the world of email marketing, and in this interview, you’ll hear what he learned working at ConvertKit, why email marketing is so powerful, his best tips for getting more people to sign up for your email list, and how he helps creators develop high-converting weekly email newsletters. Whether you’re looking to get started with email marketing or take your current email marketing strategy to the next level, we know you’ll have so many takeaways from this conversation! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Matt learned working at ConvertKit Why he recommends leaning into a niche How he helps creators with email marketing Why email marketing is so powerful How to effectively share blog posts via email How to get more people to sign up for your email list Why he recommends creating a welcome series How broadcasts and newsletters differ from sequences His best tips for getting started with email marketing Resources: Matt’s website Learn more about Matt’s email marketing service, Automatic Evergreen Connect the Dots Podcast Story Signals Podcast Copyblogger ProBlogger Michael Hyatt’s website Corbett Barr Chris Guillebeau ConvertKit Smart Passive Income Podia Teachable Kajabi Quora Medium Follow Matt on YouTube , Instagram , and Twitter <a href= "http
Tue, November 29, 2022
Teaching Cooking Classes in Your Community as a Food Creator with Ashley Covelli
Getting comfortable on camera, running online cooking classes, and maximizing your productivity with Ashley Covelli from Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen. ----- Welcome to episode 385 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ashley Covelli from Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen about teaching cooking classes as a food creator. Teaching Cooking Classes Have you ever wanted to teach your own cooking classes but are not sure how to get started? Then you won’t want to miss this episode with Ashley! In addition to sharing recipes on her blog, Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen, Ashley also runs online cooking classes in partnership with local libraries. You’ll hear how she started doing these classes, how she got comfortable being on camera, what equipment she uses to run the classes, and more. If you’re looking to add a new revenue stream to your business, cooking classes might be a fun option to look into! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Ashley started sharing food content online How she started teaching in-person cooking classes Why she switched to teaching virtual cooking classes How her cooking classes work What equipment she uses to run her classes How she got comfortable being on camera How she uses time blocking to maximize her productivity Why she recommends documenting your processes Resources: Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen Ashley’s Upcoming Cooking Classes LiveJournal Blogger Zoom Aputure Amaran P60X Panel Light Alvoxocon USB Lavalier Microphone Gumroad Food Blogger Pro Video Courses Duett CoSchedule Mailchimp MailerLite The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right GoodNotes Follow Ashley on Instagram , Facebook
Tue, November 22, 2022
How Toni Okamoto Runs Two Food Blogs and Grew Her Email List to Over 80,000 Subscribers
Running two food blogs, building a team, and rapidly growing an email list with Toni Okamoto from Plant-Based on a Budget. ----- Welcome to episode 384 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Toni Okamoto from Plant-Based on a Budget about how she runs her two food blogs and how she’s grown her email list to over 80,000 subscribers. Running Two Food Blogs and Growing an Email List Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Toni Okamoto! She’s the creator behind not one, but two, successful food blogs: Plant-Based on a Budget and Food Sharing Vegan. In this episode, you’ll hear what she’s done to get both blogs accepted into Mediavine, why she decided to expand her team, how she’s grown her email list to over 80,000 subscribers, and more. Toni’s passion for her work shines through in this interview, and we know you’ll have so many takeaways after learning her story and content creation strategy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Toni started sharing food content online How she has strategically grown her two food blogs Why she believes so strongly in investing in her business Why she decided to expand her team What tools she uses to stay in contact with her team What the primary revenue sources are for her business How she works with sponsors on her blog, social media, podcast, and email newsletter How she has grown her email list to over 80,000 subscribers Why she places so much emphasis on social media Resources: Plant-Based on a Budget Food Sharing Vegan The Plant-Powered People Podcast BigScoots Mediavine What the Health Kate Kordsmeier The E Myth Revisited Voxer World of Vegan Matt Molen Mediavine Spotlight 201: Email Marketing for Bloggers with Matt Molen Sign up for the FBP Cyber Monday Waitlist! Follow Toni on Instagram , <a href= "https://www.facebook.co
Tue, November 15, 2022
TikTok, Whisk, and the Importance of Leaning into Video as a Food Creator with Julie Tran Deily
Creating viral food videos, sharing videos on TikTok, and editing your videos for different platforms with Julie Tran Deily. ----- Welcome to episode 383 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Julie Tran Deily about how food creators can use Whisk when sharing videos on TikTok. TikTok, Whisk, and the Importance of Leaning into Video Note: Since the recording of this interview, TikTok decided to sunset their Jump program, which Bjork and Julie mention during this interview. Therefore, Whisk Jump is no longer available as of December 1, 2022. As an alternative, creators can link directly to Whisk using their TikTok profile link. When sharing recipe videos on social media, it can be hard to direct your followers to the actual recipe on your blog. Social media platforms just really don’t make it easy for us, do they? Enter: Whisk! You can use this handy app to add a recipe link directly to your TikTok videos, and it’s what we’re chatting about today with Julie Tran Deily. Julie used to work for Whisk, and she’s also been running her food blog, The Little Kitchen, for over 12 years. Video is a huge part of her strategy, and in this episode, she’s sharing her process for creating viral food videos, as well as a peek into how she uses tools like Whisk to grow her social media following and increase her blog’s pageviews. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Julie decided to launch her food blog How she had a video go viral on several different social platforms Why she really likes sharing videos on TikTok What her role looked like at Whisk How Whisk lets you link to your recipes on TikTok How she edits her videos How she converts vertical videos to horizontal videos to share on her blog Why she recommends experimenting and sharing on different social platforms Resources: The Little Kitchen Julie's Crab Rangoon Facebook Reel Download a Free Content Strategy Guide from Julie Tran Deily Whisk Mediavine Final Cut Pro Info About the Whisk Creator Fund Adobe Premiere Rush Adobe Express InShot Follow Julie on <a href= "https://www.instagram.com
Tue, November 08, 2022
4 Tips for Negotiating Sponsored Content Contracts and Setting Your Rates with Jenny Meassick
Reaching out to brands, negotiating sponsored content contracts, and determining your rates with Jenny Meassick from Chocolate & Lace. ----- Welcome to episode 382 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jenny Meassick from Chocolate & Lace about how she works with brands and negotiates sponsored content contracts. Tips for Negotiating Sponsored Content Contracts There are so many ways you can earn money as a food creator, one of which is by working with brands and creating sponsored content. And that’s what we’re talking about today with Jenny from Chocolate & Lace! Jenny’s been blogging for over ten years, and she currently earns the majority of her blogging income by working with brands. She has a very strategic approach when it comes to sponsored content, and we’re really excited to share her process with you in this episode. You’ll hear her best tips for negotiating sponsored content contracts, how she sets her rates, how she nurtures strong relationships with the brands she works with, and more. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Jenny started sharing content online Why she doesn’t want to become a full-time blogger Why she decided to start sharing both food and lifestyle content How she approaches doing sponsored content Her best tips for negotiating sponsored content contracts How exclusivity works Her best tips for setting your rates for sponsored content What ‘in perpetuity’ means How she approaches pitching to brands Why she recommends following up with brands you’re working with frequently Resources: Chocolate & Lace Exactly How I Set My Rates as a Content Creator Mediavine Things That Matter: Overcoming Distraction to Pursue a More Meaningful Life Substack FBP Live – September 15, 2022 – Earning Money with a Side Hustle — available for FBP members only Paved Ford ALDI STAUB <a href= "https://bookshop.org/p/books/influencer-building-your-personal-brand-in-the-age-of-social-media-brittany-h
Tue, November 01, 2022
381: Developing Foolproof Recipes with Katie Webster
Knowing a recipe is ready to publish, why recipe testing starts at the grocery store, and starting with a Hypothesis Draft with Katie Webster. ----- Welcome to episode 381 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Katie Webster from Healthy Seasonal Recipes about the process of developing rock-solid recipes for your readers. Developing Foolproof Recipes As food bloggers and business owners, the “product” we’re creating for our readers or “customers” are our recipes, so it’s important for them to be as comprehensive as possible. Katie Webster from Healthy Seasonal Recipes has a unique and reliable process for testing the recipes she publishes on her site, and she’s here today to talk you through the whole thing! You’ll hear about how she starts the process, why she develops a hypothesis draft, and how she ultimately decides that a recipe is at its final stage. This episode is a must-listen for any and all recipe developers! In this episode, you’ll learn: What she did as a personal chef What her personal chef business taught her about freelancing How to know a recipe is done Her process for developing recipes The difference between prep time and active time At what point Katie finalized a recipe Why she doesn’t shoot photos or video when she’s testing recipes Why recipe testing starts at the grocery store How she keeps track of recipe ideas How she works with recipe testers Her advice for those in the early stages of recipe development Resources: Healthy Seasonal Recipes EatingWell Katie’s cookbook 374: From Blogger to Cookbook Author – How Adrianna Adarme Sold 110,000 Copies of Her Cookbook 375: From Blogger to Cookbook Author (Part Two) – Preserving Family Recipes Through Cookbooks with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack The Recipe Writer’s Handbook Follow Katie on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest <l
Tue, October 25, 2022
380: What Google is Expecting from Food Creators with Arsen Rabinovich
How to understand high-ranking content on Google, how to tell when Google updates its algorithm, and the importance of user intent with Arsen Rabinovich. ----- Welcome to episode 380 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Arsen Rabinovich from TopHatRank about how content ranks with the Google Algorithm. What Google is Expecting from Food Creators Us, to Google Search: Why are you the way that you are? If you’ve ever had similar feelings towards the world’s most popular search engine, you’re not alone! And luckily, Arsen Rabinovich is here to talk all about content that performs well in Google search results. And while the way that the Google Algorithm works isn’t 100% understood, we can learn from other pieces of content within search engine results to understand what Google looks for in “good content.” Bjork and Arsen have a great, approachable conversation in this episode, and career bloggers and newbies alike will definitely learn a thing or two that they can apply to their own content creation endeavors! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he helps recipe bloggers at TopHatRank What White Hat and Black Hat SEO are How Google understands user intent How to tell when Google updates its algorithm Who names the Google Algorithm changes and how you can know what’s included If Google could make an update that only updates the food and recipe space Who John Mueller is How Google understands the content of a web page Whether or not schema is a ranking factor If should creators should create content in service of the algorithm How to understand what ranks well on Google What domain authority and authoritativeness are How plural search terms are understood by Google Resources: TopHatRank Casey Markee Media Wyse TopHatContent TopHatSocial SEO for Bloggers Webinars 367: Brainstorming Content Ideas with Ranking Potential and Writing Great Blog Posts with Ashley Segura Semrush Sensor MozCast <a href= "https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/08/hel
Tue, October 18, 2022
5 Tips for Growing Your Blog with a Full-Time Job with Shweta Garg
Managing your time as a blogger, investing in your business, and building connections with other food bloggers with Shweta Garg from Masala and Chai. ----- Welcome to episode 379 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shweta Garg from Masala and Chai about how she’s grown her blog while working a full-time job. Growing Your Blog with a Full-Time Job Are you growing your blog while also working a full-time job? Do you struggle to find enough hours in the day to get everything done? If so, you’re not alone! Today, we’re chatting with Shweta, the blogger behind the site Masala and Chai. Since launching her blog, she has been growing it while also working a full-time job, and she’s been very strategic about maximizing her time and resources to grow and monetize her site. In this episode, you’ll hear her five best tips for growing your blog while also working a full-time job, as well as what she’s done to earn $9,000 in one month from her blog. We hope you enjoy hearing Shweta’s story and advice in this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Shweta started sharing food content online What she does for her full-time job Why she moved away from doing restaurant reviews How she improved her food photography Why she recommends setting business hours for your blog Why content batching can help you maximize your time as a blogger Why it’s so important to invest in yourself and your business What courses and masterminds she went through to grow her blog Why she recommends planning your quitting criteria Why it’s so helpful to build connections within the food blogging community Resources: Masala and Chai The Feast Plugin Media Wyse TopHatRank Frosting and Fettuccine’s Food Photography Classes and Workshops Style Me Creatively 021: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free with Amy Lynn Andrews Mediavine Cooking with Keywords The Food Blogging Mastermind - Sweet Tea + Thyme MrBeast’s YouTube channel Why Jim Car
Tue, October 11, 2022
Monetizing as a Food Creator Through Digital Products, Cookbooks, and Ads with Tessa Arias
Diversifying your revenue streams, selling digital products, and finding your niche as a food creator with Tessa Arias from Handle the Heat. ----- Welcome to episode 378 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tessa Arias from Handle the Heat about the unique ways she monetizes her business as a food creator. Monetizing as a Food Creator Today, we’re really excited to share this conversation with Tessa! She’s a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and blogger behind the site Handle the Heat, and she is a big proponent of diversifying your income streams as a food creator. In this episode, you’ll hear how she sells both physical and digital products on her blog, her best tips for those who want to start selling digital products like courses, why she doesn’t want to rely entirely on ad revenue, and more. Tessa’s story is so inspiring, and she offers some really insightful advice for other food creators in this conversation. If you’ve been looking for some unique ways to monetize your business, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Tessa decided to launch her food blog How she narrowed down her content focus and landed on her niche Why she focuses so much on diversifying her income streams How she sells physical and digital products Her best tip for those who want to start offering digital products What tools she uses to run her online course Why she decided to expand her team How she manages her weeks and optimizes her time Resources: Handle the Heat Shop Handle the Heat The Magic of Baking course Angelfire StumbleUpon Sur La Table BlogHer AdThrive Mediavine LearnDash Kajabi Teachable Thinkific Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World Run Like Clockwork Loom Follow Tessa on Instagram , Facebook , and <a href= "htt
Tue, October 04, 2022
Q4 Advice for Food Creators from the Food Blogger Pro Experts
Creating a content plan for Q4 and maximizing your revenue as a food creator with advice from the Food Blogger Pro Experts. ----- Welcome to episode 377 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, the Food Blogger Pro Experts share their best advice for getting the most out of Q4 as a food creator. Q4 Advice Let’s talk about Q4! The last three months of the year (also known as Q4) are a very important time for food creators for a few reasons. More people will be searching for recipes as the holidays roll around, and advertisers are spending more money, which can impact creators who are monetizing through display ads or sponsored content. So, what should we be doing as food creators to maximize our earning potential during Q4? That’s what we’re chatting about today! In this episode, a few of the Food Blogger Pro Experts share their best tips for approaching Q4. From adjusting your content strategy to pitching yourself to brands to sharing more on Pinterest, there are so many different ways you can make the most of this season as a content creator. In this episode, you’ll learn: Who the Food Blogger Pro Experts are How you can use Google Trends as a food creator Why it’s important to look at your RPMs during Q4 How to get your site ready for increased visitors during Q4 What a strong Q4 email marketing strategy might look like How to get the most out of Pinterest during Q4 Tips to stay on top of your sponsored content agreements How to optimize your top posts for Q4 Why you might want to pitch yourself to brands this time of year Why you might want to install Google Analytics 4 if you haven’t yet How to approach sharing seasonal content on YouTube Tips for sharing seasonal content as a vegan content creator Resources: Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts Google Trends AdThrive Mediavine NerdPress Duett Simple Pin Media LISS Legal Businessese Pinch of Yum Republishing Content course Digital-ade Google Analytics MonsterInsi
Tue, September 27, 2022
Organizing and Running Large-Scale Virtual Events for Creators with Stefani Pollack
Running virtual events, getting brands involved, and promoting the events to creators with Stefani Pollack from The Bake Fest. ----- Welcome to episode 376 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Stefani Pollack from The Bake Fest about organizing and running virtual events. Organizing and Running Large-Scale Virtual Events As food bloggers, we spend a lot of our time working by ourselves, and it can often feel isolating. So how can we connect with other bloggers and build relationships with brands we love? Enter: The Bake Fest! This virtual event for bakers features online baking and business classes, product demos, and more, and it’s a great place to build those connections with other creators and companies. In today’s episode, we’re chatting with Stefani, the founder of The Bake Fest, all about why she decided to start running these virtual events, how they work, and more. Her next event, The Bake Fest Holiday Edition, will be on Saturday, October 8, 2022, so be sure to check it out and get registered if you’re interested in attending! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Stefani became a food blogger Her best tips for growing on Instagram in 2022 How she helps creators grow their Instagram accounts Why she decided to launch The Bake Fest What to expect at The Bake Fest Holiday Edition What tools and apps she uses to run The Bake Fest How she promotes The Bake Fest and encourages signups What lessons she has learned running virtual events Resources: The Bake Fest Get registered for The Bake Fest Holiday Edition! Cupcake Project GrillinFools Build Digital Marketing Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Bob’s Red Mill Airmeet AppSumo Eventbrite Mailchimp Zapier Slack The Life Of A Project from Steal Like An Artist Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear Follow Stefani on Instagram , <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/
Tue, September 20, 2022
From Blogger to Cookbook Author (Part Two) – Preserving Family Recipes Through Cookbooks with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack
Writing a cookbook proposal, finding a literary agent, and writing a cookbook with a co-author with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack from Muy Bueno. ----- Welcome to episode 375 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack from Muy Bueno in Part Two of our From Blogger to Cookbook Author series. From Blogger to Cookbook Author Welcome back to our From Blogger to Cookbook Author series! In this two-part series, we’re interviewing a few bloggers who have landed cookbook deals to learn more about how the cookbook writing process works. And in this final installment of this series, we’re chatting with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack! In addition to running her blog, Muy Bueno, she has also written two cookbooks, and she’s currently working on a third. Suffice it to say she knows a thing or two about the cookbook process! In this episode, you’ll hear how she wrote her cookbook proposals, what it was like writing a cookbook with a co-author, and her best tips for creators who want to write a cookbook one day. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Yvette decided to launch her food blog How she wrote her first cookbook proposal Why she decided to do the graphic design for her first cookbook What lessons she learned from writing her first cookbook What she did differently with her second cookbook What it was like writing a cookbook with a co-author How she found her literary agent How she’s approaching writing her third cookbook Her best tips for those who want to write a cookbook Resources: Muy Bueno Muy Bueno: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavor Latin Twist: Traditional and Modern Cocktails Shutterfly Hippocrene Books Sweet Life FoodieCrush Sally Ekus - The Ekus Group Yvette’s Emmy award-winning video: Celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) with a sugar skull decorating party Follow Yvette on Instagram , Facebook , and YouTube <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/groups/foodblogge
Tue, September 13, 2022
From Blogger to Cookbook Author – How Adrianna Adarme Sold 110,000 Copies of Her Cookbook
Getting two cookbook deals, choosing a cookbook topic, and navigating the cookbook writing process as a food blogger with Adrianna Adarme from A Cozy Kitchen. ----- Welcome to episode 374 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adrianna Adarme from A Cozy Kitchen in Part One of our From Blogger to Cookbook Author series. From Blogger to Cookbook Author We’re excited to officially launch a two-part series called From Blogger to Cookbook Author! In this series, we’re interviewing a few bloggers who have landed cookbook deals to learn more about how the cookbook writing process works. And today, we’re kicking things off with Adrianna Adarme! Since launching her blog in 2011, she has published two cookbooks, and her second cookbook has sold over 110,000 copies. You’ll hear how she got both her cookbook deals, how much her advances were for her cookbooks, how royalties work, and more. If you’ve ever dreamed of writing a cookbook, we know you’ll have a lot of takeaways from this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Adrianna decided to launch her food blog How she got her first cookbook deal Her best recommendations for choosing a cookbook topic How much her advances were for her cookbooks What expenses she didn’t expect from writing a cookbook What lessons she learned from writing her first cookbook How royalties work How she approached writing her second cookbook What success she’s had with her second cookbook Resources: A Cozy Kitchen Pancakes: 72 Sweet and Savory Recipes for the Perfect Stack The Year of Cozy: 125 Recipes, Crafts & Other Homemade Adventures Joy the Baker Smitten Kitchen Levine Greenberg Literary Agency The Pioneer Woman St. Martin’s Press Twitter thread about NHL contracts Pinch of Yum — The Failed Recipes of 2015 Follow Adrianna on Instagram , Facebook , and TikTok Join the
Tue, September 06, 2022
How to Leverage Your Expertise and Passion to Teach Online Cooking Classes with Cynthia Samanian
Finding your purpose as a business owner and teaching engaging online cooking classes with Cynthia Samanian from Culinary Creator Business School. ----- Welcome to episode 373 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cynthia Samanian from Culinary Creator Business School about teaching online cooking classes. Teaching Online Cooking Classes Have you ever wanted to teach online cooking classes but you’re not sure how to get started? Well, Cynthia is here to help you out! She’s the creator of Culinary Creator Business School, a program that teaches culinary business owners how to teach their first online cooking class in 90 days or less, and she’s here on the podcast today to share her best advice with our listeners. In this episode, you’ll hear what her business journey has looked like, why she decided to launch her program, her best tip for those wanting to teach online classes, and more. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Cynthia’s entrepreneurial journey has looked like What she learned working as a product manager Why she decided to launch Culinary Creator Business School What she teaches her students in her program Her best tip for those wanting to teach online cooking classes Why it’s so important to know your purpose as a business owner Resources: Culinary Creator Business School The Culinary Creator Business School Podcast Brit + Co 328: Hosting Events – How Liz Della Croce Plans and Runs Successful Food Blogger Retreats Bumble Expo West Alt Summit Digital Course Academy 308: Virtual Events – Earn an Income by Teaching Classes Online with Tomas Hoyos Moment All-In Podcast From Market to Table Follow Cynthia on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com" targ
Tue, August 30, 2022
How Elena Davis Went From 20k to 100k+ Monthly Pageviews and Got Accepted Into Mediavine
Getting accepted into Mediavine, running in-person cooking classes, and selling products as a content creator with Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena. ----- Welcome to episode 372 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena about how she grew her traffic and got accepted into Mediavine. From 20k to 100k+ Monthly Pageviews Today, we’re really excited to share this inspiring conversation with Elena! Since launching her blog in 2020, she has grown her traffic to over 100k monthly pageviews, gotten accepted into Mediavine, and become a full-time content creator. Aside from that, Elena’s also sharing how she found unique ways to earn an income while waiting to get accepted into Mediavine, such as running in-person cooking classes and selling physical products. No matter where you are in your blogging journey, we know that you’ll find Elena’s story and insights encouraging. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Elena decided to launch her blog Why she focused on building connections within the blogging community How she strategically optimized her site How she grew her traffic and got accepted into Mediavine Why she decided to rename her blog How she earns money as a content creator What her in-person cooking classes look like How she sells physical products on her blog Resources: Cucina by Elena MacBreak Weekly Podcast Tasty Recipes Elena’s Italian Stories Salt & Lavender The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Mediavine AdThrive The Feast Plugin NerdPress Cooking with Keywords TopHatRank Harmons Grocery Culinary Creator Business School Duett The Happiness Lab Podcast Shop Elena’s products Follow Elena on <a href= "https://www.instagram
Tue, August 23, 2022
Becoming Full-Time Entrepreneurs and Growing Multiple Businesses with Bjork & Lindsay on the Simple Pin Podcast
Becoming full-time entrepreneurs, building a team, and growing multiple businesses with Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 371 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing Bjork and Lindsay’s episode from the Simple Pin Podcast with Kate Ahl. Growing Multiple Businesses Today’s episode is a bit unusual because Bjork and Lindsay are actually the ones being interviewed! We’re really excited to be featuring an episode of the Simple Pin Podcast. Kate recently interviewed Bjork and Lindsay about their entrepreneurial journey, and we knew we wanted to share this inspiring conversation with our listeners. You’ll hear how they grew Pinch of Yum while working full-time jobs, what they’ve learned as they’ve grown their various businesses, what they’ve found surprising about being entrepreneurs, and more. If you’ve ever wanted to hear more about Bjork and Lindsay’s story, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: The quick story behind Pinch of Yum What Bjork and Lindsay learned growing Pinch of Yum while also working full-time jobs Why they decided to expand their team Why they decided to launch Food Blogger Pro, WP Tasty, Nutrifox, Clariti, and TinyBit The difference between being a maker and a manager What they’ve found surprising about being entrepreneurs Their best advice for fellow entrepreneurs Resources: Simple Pin Podcast Simple Pin Media Pinch of Yum TinyBit Kolbe A Index Test 361: Earning $2,500 in One Day and Traveling Full-Time as a Food Blogger with Eric Samuelson Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, August 16, 2022
How Caitlin Shoemaker Became a Full-Time Food Creator with 778K Subscribers on YouTube
Becoming a full-time content creator, growing a YouTube channel, and repurposing content across different platforms with Caitlin Shoemaker from From My Bowl. ----- Welcome to episode 370 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Caitlin Shoemaker about how she became a full-time food creator and grew her YouTube channel. 778K YouTube Subscribers YouTube is a great place to share your food videos, and there’s undoubtedly a lot of opportunity on the platform for food creators. And it’s what we’re focusing on in today’s episode with Caitlin! In this interview, she shares how she grew her YouTube channel to over 778k subscribers. You’ll hear how she got comfortable being on camera, how she earns money sharing videos on YouTube, what her current video strategy looks like, and more. If you want to start creating YouTube videos, or maybe you already post on YouTube and want to take your channel to the next level, we think you’ll have a lot of takeaways from this conversation. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Caitlin started sharing food content online Why she decided to launch her food blog How she became a full-time content creator What her different revenue streams look like How she got more comfortable being on camera How you can earn money sharing videos on YouTube How she repurposes content across different social media platforms What her YouTube content strategy looks like What equipment she uses to film her videos What tasks she outsources for her business Resources: From My Bowl Caitlin’s YouTube channel AdThrive 365: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron YouTube Partner Program Overview & Eligibility Canon 5D Mark III Canon 70D The Bite Shot Follow Caitlin on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any com
Tue, August 09, 2022
Developing Your Voice and Connecting With Your Readers When Writing with Jessica Holmes
Writing compelling blog posts, developing your voice, and connecting with your readers with Jessica Holmes from Sweetest Menu. ----- Welcome to episode 369 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jessica Holmes about how to develop your voice and connect with your readers through your writing. Developing Your Voice From recipe testing to sharing content on social media, so much goes into being a food blogger. But without a doubt, one of the most important skills to focus on as a blogger is your writing, and that’s what we’re chatting about today with Jess! Before becoming a full-time blogger, Jess worked as a copywriter, and she’s sharing all of her best writing advice in this episode. You’ll hear her tips on how to develop your voice as a writer, how to share your personality while also writing for SEO, and more. If you’re looking to level up your writing and connect with your readers on a deeper level, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Jess became a food blogger What she learned working as a copywriter Why it’s important to be really clear when writing recipes What readability is How to develop your voice as a writer How to share your personality while also writing for SEO How to write eye-catching captions for social media The biggest mistakes she sees bloggers make when writing Resources: Sweetest Menu Hemingway App Grammarly 1000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly Baron Fig Will Write for Food Download the free Starter Kit ebook here! Follow Jessica on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, August 02, 2022
Becoming a TV Personality and Growing a Food and Lifestyle Brand with Rosalynn Daniels
Booking TV appearances, working with brands, and growing a food and lifestyle brand with Rosalynn Daniels. ----- Welcome to episode 368 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rosalynn Daniels about how she grew her brand and became a TV personality. Becoming a TV Personality Have you ever wanted to share your recipes on TV… but you’re not sure how to actually book TV appearances as a content creator? That’s what we’re chatting about in this episode with Rosalynn! She’s a lifestyle personality, content creator, and photographer, and in addition to running her blog, she has been featured on national television networks. You’ll hear how she broke into this industry, how she works with brands while appearing on TV, how she determines her rates for her TV appearances, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Rosalynn became a content creator What mindset shifts she made to further her career How she booked her first TV appearance Her best tips for booking TV appearances What her team looks like What her overall goals are for her brand and business How she monetizes her business How she works with brands for TV appearances How she determines her rates for TV appearances Why she decided to launch her production company, Brown Hands Media Resources: Rosalynn’s website Brown Hands Media Follow Rosalynn on Instagram , Facebook , and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, July 26, 2022
Brainstorming Content Ideas with Ranking Potential and Writing Great Blog Posts with Ashley Segura
Developing a content strategy and writing blog posts that will get traffic to your blog with Ashley Segura from TopHatContent. ----- Welcome to episode 367 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ashley Segura from TopHatContent about brainstorming content ideas and writing great blog posts. Writing Great Blog Posts As bloggers, our goal is to create content that our readers find valuable. But even more, we want to create content that people are actually searching for. And that’s what we’re chatting about today with Ashley from TopHatRank and TopHatContent! She’s an expert when it comes to content marketing, and she’s sharing some of her best advice for creators in this episode — everything from how to come up with great content ideas to what an ideal blog post structure looks like. It’s a really great interview, and we know you’ll have so many takeaways to apply to your own content strategy after listening. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Ashley got into content marketing What she does at TopHatRank and TopHatContent What’s involved in a content audit Why she recommends republishing old content When you might want to delete a blog post What it means to noindex a post What user journey means How backlinks work How to come up with content ideas with ranking potential How she recommends structuring a blog post Resources: TopHatRank TopHatContent TopHatSocial Tastemaker Conference Semrush BuzzSumo Slickstream 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You SEO for Bloggers Webinars Semrush’s Topic Research Tool AnswerThePublic Yoast SEO Follow Ashley on Twitter Follow TopHatRank on Facebook , Instagram , and <a href= "https://t
Tue, July 19, 2022
How Rob and Jen Morris Teach Home Bakers How to Start a Successful Bakery Business
Starting a small business academy and teaching others how to start a successful bakery business with Rob and Jen Morris. ----- Welcome to episode 366 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rob and Jen Morris about how they teach home bakers how to start a bakery business. How to Start a Successful Bakery Business We’re really excited to welcome Rob and Jen back to the podcast after three years! When they last came on the show, Jen and Rob were running their bakery, Cupcakeology, but since then, they have closed up shop and started sharing their expertise as baking business coaches. Through their Start Small Win Big Academy, they teach home bakers how to start a profitable and successful bakery business — just like they did! You’ll hear why they decided to make this switch, how they’re grown their new business, what success their students have had, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Rob and Jen decided to shut down their bakery Why they decided to launch the Start Small Win Big Academy How they approach marketing for their new business How they use paid advertising to grow their business How they attract students who are motivated and excited Why they encourage their students to smart small and grow over time Resources: Start Small Win Big Academy 192: Bootstrapped Cupcakes: How Rob and Jen Built a Successful Business Lovin’ from the Oven Jess Sims Food Blogger Pro Directory Follow Rob and Jen on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, July 12, 2022
How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron
Finding your Zone of Genius, knowing when to hire, and writing a compelling job listing with Emily Perron. ----- Welcome to episode 365 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emily Perron about the Zone of Genius and hiring. Finding Your Zone of Genius and Hiring the Right People Have you ever heard of the Zone of Genius? When working in this zone, you capitalize on your innate abilities and interests to do work that truly fulfills you. And a great way to do this is by delegating tasks and building a team! In this episode, Emily explains how to find your Zone of Genius, how to decide what to outsource first, how to write a compelling job list, and more. If you’ve been thinking about hiring out some tasks and potentially growing your team, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Emily works with food bloggers Why job listings should be as specific as possible The difference between freelancers and employees How to find your Zone of Genius How to decide what to outsource first How food bloggers should approach writing job listings How to know how much to pay freelancers Where to post your job listings How to know when you’re ready to hire How to avoid feelings of burnout Resources: Emily’s Website Work with Emily Download the Zone of Genius workbook 286: Build Your Team – How to Write an Eye-Catching Job Listing and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron The Big Leap Open: An Autobiography The Hero’s Journey How To Use Your Zone Of Genius To Hire The Best Freelancers 3 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing A Job Posting 3 Things to Write About in Your Journal to Live Your Best Life Upwork The War of Art Follow Em
Tue, July 05, 2022
Self-Publishing a Cookbook as an Online Food Creator with Chelsea Cole
Self-publishing two cookbooks, staying organized when writing a cookbook, and tips for writing a cookbook with Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven. ----- Welcome to episode 364 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven about self-publishing a cookbook. Self-Publishing a Cookbook We’re so excited to welcome Chelsea back to the podcast after three years! When we last chatted with Chelsea, she had just self-published her first cookbook, and since then, she’s been busy: she has become a full-time blogger and self-published another cookbook. And in this episode, she’s sharing everything she has learned when it comes to planning, writing, designing, self-publishing, and marketing your own cookbook. If you’ve ever dreamed of writing a cookbook one day, you won’t want to miss this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Chelsea learned self-publishing her first cookbook What sous vide is How she earns money as a freelancer How she keeps track of her income and expenses Why she decided to lean into a niche How her cookbooks have created so many opportunities for her How she stayed organized when writing her cookbooks What tools she recommends using to self-publish a cookbook Why she decided to launch her Sous Vide School How she prints her cookbooks and fulfills orders How much she earns per cookbook sale How she teaches others how to self-publish cookbooks Resources: A Duck’s Oven The Cookbook Lab How to Determine Your Cookbook Topic Chelsea’s Income Streams as a Food Blogger 187: How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook with Chelsea Cole Pinch of Yum Traffic and Income Reports QuickBooks Self-Employed 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Asana Google Drive Airtable InDesign Canva Sous Vide School Kindle Direct Publishin
Tue, June 28, 2022
What Bloggers Need to Know About Google Analytics 4 with Alison Bechdol
Installing Google Analytics 4 and understanding the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics with Alison Bechdol from Digital-ade. ----- Welcome to episode 363 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alison Bechdol, our Google Analytics Expert, about Google Analytics 4 and how it will affect bloggers. Google Analytics 4 If you haven’t heard, Google will be sunsetting Universal Analytics in July 2023, and it’s being replaced by Google Analytics 4. But what does that mean for bloggers? At what point should we make the switch to GA4? And what do we need to do to actually make that transition? That’s what we’re chatting about in this episode with Alison, our FBP Google Analytics Expert! She’s sharing how GA4 differs from Universal Analytics, when bloggers should make the switch, how to correctly install GA4, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Alison decided to launch her business What Google Tag Manager is and how it works How Google Analytics 4 differs from Universal Analytics What events are in GA4 When she advises website owners to install GA4 How to install GA4 How reports work in GA4 How to strategically look at your analytics Resources: Digital-ade Find Alison on FBP Google Analytics Google Tag Manager Introducing Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Google Data Studio Tableau Microsoft Power BI Google Analytics Support Center Google Skillshop Analytics Mania Simo Ahava Semrush Ahrefs Moz Google Ads Follow Alison on Instagram , Facebook , and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a hr
Tue, June 21, 2022
How to Increase Your Organic Traffic with Keyword Research with Aleka Shunk
Getting started with keyword research, finding the right keyword research tool, and tracking your keywords with Aleka Shunk from Cooking With Keywords. ----- Welcome to episode 362 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Aleka Shunk from Cooking With Keywords about how to increase your organic traffic through keyword research. Keyword Research Today, we’re really excited to be chatting all about keyword research with Aleka Shunk, the creator of Cooking With Keywords! Since launching her course, Aleka has taught over 900 students about the ins and outs of keyword research, and she’s sharing her best tips to develop a strong keyword research strategy in this episode. You’ll learn what keywords and modifiers are, how to get started with keyword research, what tools you should use, and more. Whether you’re just diving into keyword research for the first time or you’re a seasoned pro, we know you’ll have so many takeaways from this conversation. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Aleka started focusing on keyword search What keywords and modifiers are How keyword research works What the different phases of keyword research look like What keyword research tools she recommends How to balance passion versus performance publishing Why user intent matters How to get started with keyword research Why it’s important to analyze and track your keywords Resources: Cooking With Keywords Get 10% off any Cooking With Keywords course or coaching service (available for FBP members only) Aleka’s Get-Together Keysearch Semrush Ahrefs Keywords Everywhere Keyword Surfer Substack Follow Aleka on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Bl
Tue, June 14, 2022
Earning $2,500 in One Day and Traveling Full-Time as a Food Blogger with Eric Samuelson
Earning money through an ad network, traveling full-time as a blogger, and updating old content with Eric Samuelson from Eat Like No One Else. ----- Welcome to episode 361 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Eric Samuelson from Eat Like No One Else about how he monetizes his site and travels full-time with his family as a food blogger. Earning $2,500 in One Day and Traveling Full-Time as a Food Blogger Can you imagine growing your food blog while also traveling full-time? Well, that’s what Eric does! He runs the food blog Eat Like No One Else, and in this episode, you’ll hear how his blog has opened the door to so many new opportunities in his life, from traveling the country full-time with his family to earning $2,500 in ad revenue in a single day. Eric’s story is so incredible, and no matter where you are in your blogging journey, we know you’ll have so many great takeaways from this conversation! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Eric got into food blogging How he shares non-recipe content on his site How he became a full-time food blogger How he monetizes his site Why his traffic skyrockets in Q4 How he travels the country full-time with his family of six Why he decided to launch a podcast Why he focuses so much on updating old content Why he doesn’t compare himself to other bloggers Resources: Eat Like No One Else Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports Best Crab Apple for Eating - Chestnut Crab Mediavine The Feast Plugin Costco Meat Prices 2022 Screenshot Advanced “Jump To” Links Follow Eric on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, June 07, 2022
How Eden Westbrook Shifted Her Mindset and Became a Full-Time Food Blogger
Shifting your mindset, finding your niche, and becoming a full-time food blogger with Eden Westbrook from Sweet Tea and Thyme. ----- Welcome to episode 360 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Eden Westbrook from Sweet Tea and Thyme about how she shifted her mindset and became a full-time food blogger. Shifting Your Mindset Today, we’re really excited to share this great conversation with Eden! She’s the recipe developer, photographer, and writer behind the blog, Sweet Tea and Thyme. From joining the military to attending culinary school and working in the restaurant industry, Eden has had quite the journey, and she’s sharing it all in this episode. You’ll hear why she decided to start her blog, where she found the motivation and drive to work towards her blogging goals, how she decided what kind of content to share with her readers, and more. This is such an encouraging interview, and we know you’ll love hearing Eden’s story. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Eden’s career looked like in the military How she got into food blogging How she decided what niche to focus on How she identified what her ideal reader looks like How she shifted her mindset and went all in with her blog What she teaches in The Food Blogging Mastermind Resources: Sweet Tea and Thyme Pinch of Yum Income Reports Cookie and Kate Mediavine The Food Blogging Mastermind Follow Eden on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 31, 2022
5 Mistakes Food Creators Make with Email Marketing with Amy Katz
Growing your email list, increasing your open rate, and earning revenue through email marketing with Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day. ----- Welcome to episode 359 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day about mistakes food creators make with email marketing. Email Marketing Mistakes As content creators, we’ve all heard about the importance of having an email list. But… how do we get readers to sign up for our list? And once they’ve subscribed, how do we entice them to actually open our emails? Amy is here on the podcast to discuss it all! In today’s episode, she’s sharing five common mistakes that food creators make when it comes to email marketing. You’ll also hear what her current email marketing strategy looks like and how she consistently has a 45–50% open rate for her emails. It’s an inspiring conversation that shows just how powerful an email list can be. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Amy became a full-time food blogger Why she started focusing on email marketing How she entices readers to join her email list Why it’s important to email your list on a regular basis How to increase your email open rate How to make money through email marketing What Amy’s weekly emails to her list look like Resources: Veggies Save The Day ConvertKit AdThrive Follow Amy on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 24, 2022
How Anela Malik Grew a Successful Subscription-Based Membership Community
Becoming a full-time creator and building a subscription-based membership community with Anela Malik from Feed The Malik and Magic at the Margins. ----- Welcome to episode 358 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anela Malik from Feed The Malik and Magic at the Margins about how she built a subscription-based membership community. Growing a Successful Subscription-Based Membership Community We’re really excited to share this episode with Anela Malik with you today! In addition to her blog Feed The Malik, Anela also runs Magic at the Margins, a subscription-based membership community. And unlike most content creators, her subscription community is actually her primary focus for revenue. In this episode, she shares why she decided to launch her own subscription community, how she structures her pricing, how she promotes her community on social media, and more. It’s a really inspiring interview that will encourage you to explore all the unique ways you can earn money as a creator! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Anela became a content creator What she learned after going viral on Instagram What type of content she shares online Why she decided to launch her own subscription community How she promotes her subscription community How she structures the pricing for her subscription community How she measures the success of her business Why she views herself as a video-first creator Tips to make short-form videos more engaging How she focuses on identity issues with her content Resources: Feed The Malik Magic at the Margins Patreon Wix Squarespace Canva Adobe Premiere Pro 315: Decolonizing the Food Industry – Sharing African Food, Breaking Down Stereotypes, and Combating Cultural Appropriation with Zoe Adjonyoh Follow Anela on Instagram , TikTok , and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn m
Tue, May 17, 2022
How Content Batching Helped Amanda Scarlati Go From 7,500 to 65k Pageviews in One Year
Batching content, investing in your business, and strategically planning out your content with Amanda Scarlati from Saporito Kitchen. ----- Welcome to episode 357 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amanda Scarlati from Saporito Kitchen about how content batching helped grow her blog’s traffic. Content Batching From testing recipes to shooting photos to writing blog posts, a lot of work goes into running a food blog. So how can we stay on top of everything that needs to get done each week? Enter: content batching! Instead of jumping from one task to another, try grouping similar tasks in one work period to stay focused and even increase your productivity. In this episode, you’ll hear how Amanda started batching her content, how she plans out her blog posts for the upcoming quarter, and how content batching has dramatically increased her blog’s traffic. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Amanda got into food blogging How she invested in her business and hired certain tasks out How she started batching content How she plans out her blog posts for each quarter How she divides up her tasks throughout the week What her prep sheets for each photoshoot look like What task management tools she uses How content batching impacted her blog’s traffic Resources: Saporito Kitchen Tastemaker Conference Eat Blog Talk Podcast NerdPress Find Casey Markee on FBP The Feast Plugin Airtable Keysearch Keyword Surfer Cooking With Keywords Google Calendar Google Search Console Asana Mediavine Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro comm
Tue, May 10, 2022
Achieving Financial Independence, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, and Sharing Content Confidently with Jillian Johnsrud
Achieving financial independence, overcoming imposter syndrome, and sharing content confidently with Jillian Johnsrud. ----- Welcome to episode 356 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jillian Johnsrud about achieving financial independence and sharing content confidently. Achieving Financial Independence We’re so excited we had a chance to talk to Jillian in today’s episode! She is the author of the book, “Fire the Haters: Finding Courage to Create Online in a Critical World,” and she is on a mission to help others build a life that perfectly lines up with their values, passion, and purpose. And in this episode, she’s doing just that! She shares some of her best tips for achieving financial independence, overcoming imposter syndrome, dealing with negative comments, and cultivating a healthy relationship with your work. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Jillian achieved financial independence What her income sources currently look like How she did mini retirements throughout her career What she covers in her book How to not take negative comments about your business personally How to overcome imposter syndrome Resources: Jillian Johnsrud Fire the Haters: Finding Courage to Create Online in a Critical World Mr. Money Mustache The Simple Path to Wealth The 4-Hour Workweek 6 Simple Steps to Taking a Mini Retirement PDF Follow Jillian on Instagram and Twitter Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 03, 2022
5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Food Photography with Joanie Simon
Shooting in manual mode, understanding lighting, and other photography tips with Joanie Simon from The Bite Shot. ----- Welcome to episode 355 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Joanie Simon about ways to improve your food photography. 5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Food Photography We’ve all heard the phrase, “We eat with our eyes first,” right? So it should come as no surprise that food content creators place so much emphasis on growing their photography skills! Today, we are talking with one of the biggest names in the food photography space: Joanie Simon from The Bite Shot. She originally came on the podcast three years ago, and it’s been so incredible to see how her business has grown since then. Through her courses, videos, and book, Joanie has taught students all around the world how to improve their food photography. And in this episode, she’s sharing some of her best tips with our listeners! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Joanie got into food photography What her current goals are for her business Easy ways to improve your food photography Why she recommends shooting in manual mode Why lighting is so important for photography Why she loves shooting with artificial light How to get started with tripods and tethering What software she likes to use to edit her photos Why she decided to take a social media break Resources: The Bite Shot The Bite Shot YouTube channel 185: Darkness and Light: A Photographer’s Journey from Addiction to Success with Joanie Simon Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life Tasty Food Photography eBook Sally’s Baking Addiction Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports Clubhouse The Bite Shot Photography Resources The Bite Shot Photography and Video Gear Guide The Modern Proper Half Baked Harvest Adobe Lightroom Capture One <a
Tue, April 26, 2022
Sharing Zambian Food and Growing a Freelance Photography Business with Clara Kapelembe Bwali
Growing a freelance photography business, developing your photography skills, and sharing Zambian food with the world with Clara Kapelembe Bwali from Black Garlic. ----- Welcome to episode 354 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Clara Kapelembe Bwali from Black Garlic about how she’s using her business to share Zambian food with the world. Sharing Zambian Food Welcome to episode 354 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Clara Kapelembe Bwali from Black Garlic about how she’s using her business to share Zambian food with the world. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Jane Ko from A Taste of Koko about her Pinterest strategy as a content creator. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Sharing Zambian Food We’re really excited to share this episode with Clara from Black Garlic with you today! She’s a freelance food photographer, food stylist, and blogger based in Zambia. Clara has built her business from the ground up, and in this episode, you’ll hear how she has grown her photography skills, booked her first clients, and used social media to share both her photography and Zambian food with the world. Clara’s story is so inspiring, and her passion for her work really shines through in the interview. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Clara started a catering business Why she decided to rebrand and launch a freelance photography business How she pitched herself to clients How she grew her photography skills How she is working to share Zambian food with the world What business advice she has for food creators How she has made friendships with other creators online Resources: Black Garlic The Bite Shot 185: Darkness and Light: A Photographer’s Journey from Addiction to Success with Joanie Simon Picture Perfect Food: Master the Art of Food Photography with 52 Bite-Sized Tutorials Chikanda recipe <a href= "https://zambiankitchen.com/luman
Tue, April 19, 2022
Getting the Most Out of Pinterest as a Content Creator in 2022 with Jane Ko
Creating a strong Pinterest strategy, leaning into the new features on Pinterest, and repurposing content for different platforms with Jane Ko from A Taste of Koko. ----- Welcome to episode 353 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jane Ko from A Taste of Koko about her Pinterest strategy as a content creator. Getting the Most Out of Pinterest Today, we’re really excited to be chatting all about Pinterest with Jane Ko! She runs A Taste of Koko, a food and travel blog focused specifically on Austin, Texas. And since she has been blogging since 2010, her content and social media strategy has definitely evolved over the years. In this episode, you’ll hear what her revenue streams are as a content creator, what her current Pinterest strategy looks like, how she repurposes content across different social media platforms, and more. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What type of content Jane shares on her blog What her revenue streams look like as a content creator How she works with brands What her Pinterest strategy looks like How she uses static pins, idea pins, and video pins What it’s like working with a Pinterest marketing agency How she repurposes content for different social media platforms What it’s like running a personal brand Resources: A Taste of Koko Koko’s Guide To Austin FBP Live Q&A: The State of Pinterest – available for FBP members only Simple Pin Media Mediavine Blippi Follow Jane on Pinterest , Instagram , and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 12, 2022
How to Optimize Your Ad Revenue with Paul Bannister and Courtney Kahn from AdThrive
Focusing on quality content, optimizing your ad revenue, and understanding how the cookieless future will affect ad networks and publishers with Paul Bannister and Courtney Kahn from AdThrive. ----- Welcome to episode 352 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Bannister and Courtney Kahn from AdThrive about optimizing ad revenue. How to Optimize Your Ad Revenue Today, we’re really excited to be chatting about all things advertising with two members of the AdThrive team, Paul Bannister and Courtney Kahn! Ads are one of the best ways to earn passive income from a blog, so it’s not surprising that many food bloggers place a lot of emphasis on increasing their ad revenue. And in this episode, Paul and Courtney are sharing all their expert advice on just that topic: how to optimize your ads and increase your earnings. You’ll also hear what changes will be coming soon to the ad industry, how the ad industry works behind the scenes, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Google is planning to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome How the cookieless future will affect ad networks and publishers Why quality content and engagement is so important How to create the optimal ad experience on your site How to increase your ad revenue Why advertisers have started focusing more on video Why you should set up a video sitemap How programmatic advertising works What’s coming next for the ad industry Why it’s so important to diversify your revenue streams Resources: AdThrive AdThrive Blog What Your Favorite Sad Dad Band Says About You Ira Glass quote Pinch of Yum January Meal Planning Bootcamp Frederick Buechner quote Follow AdThrive on Instagram , Facebook , and Twitter Register for the Keyword Research Live Q&A Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, qu
Tue, April 05, 2022
Understanding Data Collection, GDPR, and CCPA as a Content Creator with Danielle Liss
Diversifying your revenue streams as an influencer, understanding GDPR and CCPA, and protecting your business with Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal. ----- Welcome to episode 351 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal about understanding data collection, GDPR, and CCPA. Understanding Data Collection, GDPR, and CCPA We’ve probably all heard the terms GDPR and CCPA at one point or another… but what do they actually mean? And how do they impact us as content creators? That’s what we’re discussing in this episode with Danielle Liss! She’s our Legal Expert here at Food Blogger Pro, and she’s coming back on the podcast today to chat all about data collection and important legal considerations to keep in mind as influencers. It’s a great episode, and Danielle is fantastic at communicating complex legal topics in an easy-to-understand manner. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Danielle helps digital creators Unique ways you can earn money as an influencer Some important legal considerations to keep in mind when monetizing your business What GDPR is and why it’s important for influencers How you might be collecting data on your visitors What CCPA is and how to become compliant How you can work with Danielle Resources: LISS Legal Businessese 273: Protecting Your Content – Policies and Trademarks and Disclaimers…oh my! with Danielle Liss 218: Monetization – Display Ad Strategy, Finding Your Sponsored Content Rate, and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers 216: Content – Are Recipes Copyrightable, Layers in Food Photography, and New Resources for Food Bloggers 147: GDPR for Influencers with Danielle Liss 116: Answering Questions about Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss and the Pinch of Yum Team 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Check out our Businessese Deals! – available for FB
Tue, March 29, 2022
Results and Takeaways from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey
Setting actionable goals, working through common struggles as a food creator, and more takeaways from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey. ----- Welcome to episode 350 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork shares some of the main takeaways from our recent Podcast Listener Survey. Podcast Listener Survey Results We recently asked our podcast listeners to participate in a Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey, and we’re so excited to share the results with you today! In this episode, you’ll learn more about our podcast listeners — how they’re sharing content in the world, how they’re monetizing their businesses, and what social media platforms they find the most useful in helping them grow their following. Aside from that, you’ll also hear about some of their current traffic and monetization goals, struggles they’re facing as content creators, and tools they’re using to level up their businesses. We hope you enjoy learning more about our audience in this survey recap episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Some of the key takeaways from our recent Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey Some monetization, traffic, and business goals that survey participants have Tips for making your goals more achievable Some struggles that survey participants are currently experiencing Tips for building community and connecting with other creators Some tools that survey participants are using to grow their businesses Resources: Google Workspace Airtable Asana Clariti Canva Adobe Creative Cloud Trello Notion Evernote Grammarly CoSchedule Microsoft Excel WP Recipe Maker Yoast SEO WP Rocket WP Tasty The Feast Plugin ShortPixel WPZOOM Create by Mediavine Grow Social by Mediavine Jetpack
Tue, March 22, 2022
How to Live More Sustainably and Avoid Food Waste as a Food Blogger with Marley Goldin
Making conscious decisions about food, living more sustainably, and avoiding food waste as a food blogger with Marley Goldin from Marley's Menu. ----- Welcome to episode 349 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Marley Goldin from Marley’s Menu about how to live sustainably and avoid food waste as a food blogger. How to Live More Sustainably and Avoid Food Waste On average, over 40% of food gets tossed annually in the United States, and a large majority of that food waste happens at home. So as both individuals and food bloggers, it’s important that we make conscious decisions about our food. But what are some easy changes we can implement to live and eat more sustainably? And as food bloggers, when we’re testing lots of recipes, how can we limit food waste? We’re answering all of those questions (and more) in this episode with Marley Goldin! As a food blogger with a background in environmental science, she is an advocate for making sustainable food choices, and she’s sharing her best tips and advice to show how small changes to our daily lives can make a big impact over time. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Marley got interested in sustainability How she shares sustainability tips on her blog How to avoid food waste as a food blogger What topic clusters are Tips to live a bit more sustainably Resources: Marley’s Menu Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms Flume Water What Does “Rainforest Alliance Certified” Mean? Nest Thermostat Goodwill Rent the Runway Nuuly Do Our Food Choices Matter? Advantages of Composting Follow Marley on Instagram , Facebook , and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them
Tue, March 15, 2022
Leaning into a Niche, Blogging as a Creative Outlet, and Embracing Each Step of the Journey with Camila Hurst
Narrowing your content focus, growing traffic by focusing on SEO and Pinterest, and blogging as a creative outlet with Camila Hurst from Pies and Tacos. ----- Welcome to episode 348 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Camila Hurst from Pies and Tacos about leaning into a niche and blogging as a creative outlet. Leaning into a Niche Today, we’re so excited to be chatting with Camila Hurst from Pies and Tacos! She has been blogging since 2017, and while she originally started out posting both savory and sweet recipes, she has now shifted her focus to primarily sharing content about macarons. In this episode, you’ll hear why she decided to narrow her content focus, how blogging has been such an important creative outlet for her over the years, and how she’s been leveling up her business by growing her team. No matter where you are in your blogging journey, we know that you’ll find Camila’s story and insights both inspiring and encouraging. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Camila started sharing recipes online and launched her blog How cooking and meditation helped get her through a difficult season in life How she narrowed her content focus and leaned into a niche How she grew her traffic by focusing on SEO and Pinterest What tasks she decided to outsource for her business What she shares in her Macaron School What her different revenue streams look like Why she’s hoping to create a course soon How she works with a video editor Resources: Pies and Tacos No Diets Allowed Everything Food Conference Meditate - Marisa Peer Julie Ela Grace - Insight Timer Clariti Ezoic Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports Mediavine Simple Pin Media Email on Autopilot Macaron School Macaron School Cookbook Fantastic Filled Cupcakes Cookbook AdThrive <a href="https://www.adobe.com/products/premier
Tue, March 08, 2022
Building Accessible Websites – Writing Good Alt Text, Identifying Issues, and Creating Content That’s Accessible for Everyone with Bet Hannon
Identifying accessibility issues, writing accessibility policies, and writing good alt text with Bet Hannon from Bet Hannon Business Websites. ----- Welcome to episode 347 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Bet Hannon from Bet Hannon Business Websites about how to build an accessible website. Building Accessible Websites As food bloggers, it’s so important that we make our websites accessible and that we share content with the world that everyone can enjoy, including those with disabilities. But how exactly do you create an accessible website? How do you know if your site has accessibility issues? That’s what Bet is here to talk about today! In this episode, we dive deep into the world of accessibility, from writing alt text correctly to identifying issues that you should consider fixing on your site to ensure that everyone can enjoy the content you’re publishing. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Bet helps build accessible websites What screen readers do Why alt text is so important Why it’s important to properly nest headers How to identify accessibility issues on your website Why accessibility lawsuits happen How to include an accessibility policy on your website How to make your videos accessible How to get a tax credit for accessibility expenses How website insurance works How Bet’s website accessibility audits work Resources: Bet Hannon Business Websites TinyBit Curbly Google Search Console WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Form 8826, Disabled Access Credit Nebula Media Group AAAtraq Clariti Follow Bet on Facebook and Twitter Complete the Podcast Listener Survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card! Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be s
Tue, March 01, 2022
600K YouTube Subscribers – How Jenné Claiborne Built Her Team, Leaned into Video, and Went From Private Chef to Content Creator
Growing on different social platforms, transitioning businesses, and building a team with Jenné Claiborne from Sweet Potato Soul. ----- Welcome to episode 346 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jenné Claiborne from Sweet Potato Soul about how she has built her business as a content creator and gained over 600k subscribers on YouTube. 600K YouTube Subscribers We’re really excited to be chatting with Jenné from Sweet Potato Soul today! She’s a vegan chef, cookbook author, food blogger, and successful YouTuber with over 600k subscribers. From working as an actor to offering personal chef services to becoming a full-time content creator, Jenné has had quite the entrepreneurial journey. In this episode, you’ll hear what she’s learned along the way, how she has been growing her team, why she focuses so much on video, and what the revenue streams currently look like for her business. It’s a really great episode, and Jenné is just such an inspiring, hard-working creator. We know you’ll have lots of takeaways from this conversation! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Jenné launched her blog How she started offering personal chef services How she got her first cookbook deal Why she started sharing videos on YouTube Why she shifted her focus to content creation full-time Why she focuses so much on video Why she struggled with growing her team What her team looks like now Why she hired a personal assistant What the revenue streams look like for her business How she manages her finances both personally and professionally Resources: Sweet Potato Soul Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul: A Cookbook Victoria Moran Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork Your World-Class Assistant Follow Jenné on Instagram , YouTube , and Facebook Complete the Podcast Listener Survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card! Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast F
Tue, February 22, 2022
Building Long-Term Relationships with Brands – Running a Creative Production Agency with Alisha Cohen
Starting a creative production agency, using social media to book clients, and nurturing long-term relationships with brands with Alisha Cohen from LISH Creative. ----- Welcome to episode 345 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alisha Cohen from LISH Creative about running a production agency and shooting content for brands. Building Long-Term Relationships with Brands As content creators, a great way to earn an income doing what we love is to partner with brands that we love. But how do we find those brands, and more importantly, how do we work with them on a long-term basis? That’s what we’re chatting about today with Alisha Cohen! Alisha is the founder of LISH Creative, a creative production agency that produces colorful, eye-catching photography, video, and stop motion for some of the world’s most distinguished brands. In this episode, you’ll hear how she launched her business, what it’s like running a production agency, how expanding her social media presence has helped her book clients, and what some of her best tips are for nurturing long-term relationships with brands. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Alisha launched LISH Creative How she grew her photography skills Why she recommends shooting in manual mode How she decides on the color palettes for her shoots Why she likes using strobe lights for her shoots How creators and brands can use stop motion How to shoot a stop motion video What she teaches in her course Slay the Flatlay What it’s like running a production agency How she grew her TikTok to over 400k followers How her social media presence helps her book clients How to build long-lasting relationships with brands What tools she uses to run her business Resources: LISH Creative Girl Versus Dough GODOX Life Lapse App Slay the Flatlay Bath & Body Works Airtable Canva Asana Plann Adobe Lightroom Adobe Photoshop Follow LISH Creative on Instagram , Pinterest , and TikTok <li
Tue, February 15, 2022
Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Three) – Running a Niche Blog with a Partner with Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams
Leaning into a niche, blogging as a partnership, and focusing on short-term goals with Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams from Real Meals Modified. ----- Welcome to episode 344 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams from Real Meals Modified in Part Three of our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series. Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Three) Can you believe we’ve reached the last episode in our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series? In this three-part series, we’ve been interviewing a few Food Blogger Pro members about what’s working (and what’s not) when it comes to balancing a full-time job with blogging. And in this final installment of this series, we’re chatting with Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams! In addition to working full-time as licensed speech pathologists, they also run Real Meals Modified, a food blog featuring dysphagia-friendly recipes. You’ll hear how they started their blog, how they determined their niche, what it’s like to run a blog with a partner, and how they find time to work on their blog with their busy schedules. Whether you’re a solo blogger or you run your blog with a partner like Sara and Louisa, we know you’ll have lots of takeaways from this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Sara and Louisa met and started their blog What speech pathologists do What dysphagia is What they find challenging about running a blog together How they juggle blogging with their full-time jobs What tools they use to run their blog Why they’ve been focusing more on short-term goals lately What they’ve learned blogging in such a specific niche Resources: Real Meals Modified The IDDSI Framework Get Started With Real Meals Modified Asana Voxer EOS Follow Sara and Louisa on Facebook and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/membershi
Tue, February 08, 2022
Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Two) – How Focusing on SEO Led to $2,000 Monthly Earnings with Cree Carraway
Focusing on SEO rather than social media, implementing keyword research, and sharing content authentically with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss. ----- Welcome to episode 343 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss in Part Two of our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series. Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Two) Welcome back to our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series! In this three-part series, we’re interviewing a few Food Blogger Pro members about what’s working (and what’s not) when it comes to balancing a full-time job with blogging. And today, Bjork is chatting with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss. From sharing content on her blog to working her full-time job to raising her family, Cree has a lot on her plate (both literally and figuratively!) all the time. In this episode, you’ll hear how she strategically focused on SEO to increase her traffic and join an ad network, how she started doing keyword research, and what the impact of earning an income from her blog has been on her life. It’s an inspiring conversation that will encourage you to reflect and make progress on your own goals. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Cree decided to launch her blog When she decided to really focus on growing her blog’s traffic What business lessons she has learned over the years Why she decided to focus on SEO rather than social media What it felt like to start earning money from her blog How she started doing keyword research How she balances her blog with her full-time job How she narrowed her blog’s focus and started sharing content more authentically How she’s been strategically growing her email list Resources: Cooking With Bliss Mediavine SEO for Food Blogs course – available for FBP members! FBP Podcast Episodes with Casey Markee Keysearch Semrush Cooking With Keywords The Defined Dish Follow Cree on Instagram and Pinterest Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blog
Tue, February 01, 2022
Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part One) – Optimizing Your Time with David Crowley
Connecting with your community, being strategic with your time when blogging, and hiring the right people with David Crowley from Cooking Chat. ----- Welcome to episode 342 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews David Crowley from Cooking Chat in Part One of our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series. Blogging with a Full-Time Job We're excited to officially launch our Blogging with a Full-Time Job series! In this three-part series, we’re interviewing a few Food Blogger Pro members about what’s working (and what’s not) when it comes to balancing a full-time job with blogging. And up first, we’re chatting with David Crowley! In addition to sharing hundreds of recipes with wine pairings on his blog Cooking Chat, David also runs Social Capital Inc., a non-profit organization that strengthens communities by connecting diverse individuals through civic engagement initiatives. In this episode, you’ll hear how David has found balance with his work over time, why he’s been focusing so much on republishing old content recently, and what he’s looking forward to next with his blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: What David does for his full-time job How he got into food blogging How he’s found balance with his work over time Why he’s been focusing on republishing old content recently What specifically he updates when republishing content What he’s currently struggling with when it comes to blogging Why it’s so important to document your processes How to find the right people to hire Resources: Social Capital Inc. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Cooking Chat 261: Managing Sponsored Content – How to Work With Brands with Bruno Bornsztein 159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Gentleman’s Gazette Wayback Machine Tasty Food Photography eBook Curbly Clariti NerdPress Foodie Pro Theme Mediavine Your World-Class Assistant
Tue, January 25, 2022
Eat the Culture – Building Community and Empowering Black Culinary Creators with Meiko Temple
Building community, empowering Black culinary creators, and building a bridge for equity and representation in food media with Meiko Temple from Eat the Culture. ----- Welcome to episode 341 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Meiko Temple about how she’s empowering Black culinary creators through Eat the Culture. Eat the Culture Meiko Temple is the writer, chef, photographer, and recipe developer behind the popular food blog Meiko and the Dish. But beyond her own blog, Meiko also runs Eat the Culture, a community-centered space that nurtures, supports, and amplifies Black culinary creators. Through collaborations like recipe roundups for Black History Month and a Holiday E-Cookbook featuring mouthwatering recipes from across the African diaspora, Eat the Culture empowers Black creatives through a celebration of Black food and culture. In this episode, you’ll hear how Eat the Culture started, how it has evolved over the years, and how it is building a bridge for equity and representation in food media. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Meiko got into food blogging What mistakes she made when she first started blogging How her blog helped her get freelance work Why and how she launched Eat the Culture How Eat the Culture empowers Black content creators What it looks like to run Eat the Culture Resources: Meiko and the Dish Eat the Culture Free to Focus: A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less Plant-Powered January Children’s Shelter Of Cebu Follow Eat the Culture on Instagram and Facebook Follow Meiko on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at <a href= "https://www.foodbl
Tue, January 18, 2022
TikTok Strategy – How Benjamin Delwiche Gained 500K TikTok Followers in One Year
Leaning into a niche on TikTok, repurposing videos across different platforms, and working with brands on TikTok with Benjamin Delwiche from Benjamin the Baker. ----- Welcome to episode 340 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Benjamin Delwiche from Benjamin the Baker about how he has grown his TikTok account to over 500k followers. TikTok Strategy During the day, you can find Benjamin Delwiche working full-time as a math teacher, but on nights and weekends, you’ll find him sharing TikTok videos about the science of baking! Over the past year, he has grown his TikTok from the ground up, and he just recently surpassed 500k followers on the platform. In this episode, you’ll hear how he intentionally leaned into a niche on TikTok, how he works with brands on the platform, and his best advice for creators looking to grow on TikTok. It’s an incredible interview that will leave you feeling inspired and motivated to get the most out of TikTok as a content creator. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Benjamin started posting on TikTok How his TikTok content strategy evolved over time What types of content he shares on TikTok What he uses to record his videos How he repurposes his TikTok videos on Instagram His advice for creators who want to start posting on TikTok How he works with brands on TikTok Resources: Mark Rober Tasty Made In Cookware Plugra Premium Butter Benjamin’s website Follow Benjamin on TikTok and Instagram The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 11, 2022
Tech Check-In – The Best Plugins and Tools for Food Bloggers in 2022 with Andrew Wilder
Understanding what's new with Core Web Vitals, using the best plugins as a food blogger, and diversifying your revenue streams with Andrew Wilder from NerdPress. ----- Welcome to episode 339 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrew Wilder from NerdPress about the current state of tech for food bloggers. Tech Check-In Today on the podcast, we’re really excited to be chatting again with our WordPress Support Expert, Andrew Wilder! Through his company, NerdPress, Andrew and his team do maintenance and support for WordPress websites, and 95% of their clients are food bloggers. Suffice to say, he knows his stuff when it comes to WordPress food and recipe sites. In this episode, you’ll hear Andrew’s thoughts on the current state of tech for food bloggers. From an update on what’s new with Core Web Vitals to his current list of go-to plugins for food bloggers, this episode is jam-packed with information that will help you set your blog up for success in 2022. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Andrew does at NerdPress Why documentation is so important when it comes to building a business What bloggers need to know about Core Web Vitals Why it’s important to use a recipe plugin What caching plugins do What types of plugins he doesn’t recommend using What his thoughts are about Google Web Stories Why he recommends diversifying your revenue streams as a blogger Resources: NerdPress Eating Rules WordCamp Ramshackle Pantry Process Street Loom Guru 306: Core Web Vitals – What Food Bloggers Need to Know About User Experience and Google with Andrew Wilder Core Web Vitals PageSpeed Insights WP Rocket Tasty Recipes WP Recipe Maker Create by Mediavine Curbly Yoast SEO Cloudflare The Feast Plugin Google’s Featur
Tue, January 04, 2022
Reflecting and Looking Forward – 5 Themes From 2021 with Bjork Ostrom
Creating valuable content, delegating and elevating tasks, and setting business and life goals with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 338 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about five themes that he’s noticed when reflecting back on the past year. Reflecting and Looking Forward As we enter into the new year, it can be really helpful to look back on the previous year and reflect on some of the lessons learned. So we’re doing just that in this episode! You’ll hear five themes that Bjork has identified when reflecting on 2021 and how he’s going to use that knowledge to his advantage in 2022. From insight on creating valuable content to delegating tasks to defining your life goals, this episode is packed full of great advice to help you start the year off strong. Plus! As a bonus in this episode, you’ll hear about The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group that we just launched for podcast listeners. Within this brand-new Facebook Group, you’ll be able to chat about recent episodes, submit questions for future interviews, and more. Be sure to check it out to continue the conversation! In this episode, you’ll learn: How The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group will work How to create really valuable content What the difference is between makers and managers Why it’s so important to delegate and elevate tasks Why you should set both business and life goals How to practice 1% infinity Resources: The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group FBP Live Q&A: The State of Pinterest – available for FBP members! EOS Delegate and Elevate Exercise Superhuman Mailman Zapier Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 28, 2021
Shifting Your Mindset – Leaning into SEO and Learning from Industry Experts with Ali Stafford
Focusing on SEO, diversifying your revenue streams, and developing a consistent email marketing strategy with Ali Stafford from Alexandra’s Kitchen. ----- Welcome to episode 337 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ali Stafford from Alexandra’s Kitchen about how she’s grown her traffic by leaning into SEO and learning from industry experts. Shifting Your Mindset We’re really excited to be chatting with Ali from Alexandra’s Kitchen in today’s episode! She’s a seasoned food blogger who has been sharing her recipes online since 2006. But over the past few years, she has been shifting her mindset to focus on growing her traffic and leveling up her content strategy. In this episode, you’ll hear what changes she’s been implementing to focus on SEO, how she has strategically worked with consultants to grow her business, and more. Whether you just launched your blog or you’ve been blogging for years, we know you will have a lot of great takeaways from this episode. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Ali launched her blog How she has shifted her social media strategy over the years Why she has been focusing on diversifying her revenue streams How she started focusing more on SEO How she optimizes her meta descriptions How her traffic has been affected by algorithm changes How she has developed a consistent email marketing strategy What she updates when republishing old posts Her best tips for growing an email list Resources: Alexandra’s Kitchen The Definitive List of Ways to Create an Income From Your Food Blog Foodie Digital Yoast SEO Plugin TinyBit Curbly InfluenceKit Allea Grummert, the FBP Email Marketing Expert Duett Matt Molen ConvertKit InShot Clariti Nathan Barry’s Newsletter 334: Crafting the Perfect Pitch – How to Build and Nurture Strong Relationships with Brands with Chandice Probst Follow Ali on <a href= "https://www.instagram.co
Tue, December 21, 2021
FBP Rewind – The Freedom of a Niche with Isabel Orozco-Moore
Rebranding a food blog, leaning into a niche, and Keep-Delegate-Delete lists with Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats. ----- Welcome to episode 336 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats where she talks about leaning into a niche, delegating tasks, and more. The Freedom of a Niche It’s another FBP Rewind episode today, and we’re so excited to revisit our November 2019 interview with Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats! After blogging for a year, Isabel decided to completely rebrand her site and lean into sharing just Mexican recipes. By narrowing down her focus, she was able to strengthen her brand and solidify her content strategy. But that’s not all that Isabel and Bjork cover in this episode! You’ll also hear how she made her first hire, how she decided what tasks to delegate, how she monetizes her blog, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she was nominated for a Saveur Award How and why she rebranded her blog Why she decided to focus on her niche How she monetizes her blog How she hired a virtual assistant How to make a Keep-Delegate-Delete list How to get better at specific tasks Resources: Isabel Eats Designing Your Life Loom Follow Isabel on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 14, 2021
Baking for Business – How Amanda Schonberg Helps Home Bakers Start, Grow, and Scale Their Baking Businesses
Building a baking business, knowing how to price what you're offering, and strategically using tools and processes to grow your business with Amanda Schonberg from Baking for Business. ----- Welcome to episode 335 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amanda Schonberg about how to build a successful baking business. Baking for Business As food creators, when we think about earning an income doing what we love, we oftentimes focus on areas like affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and ads. But what about earning money actually selling the food that we’re creating? That’s what we’re chatting about with Amanda Schonberg today! She runs Chef Schonberg’s Sweets, a licensed e-commerce bakery, as well as Baking for Business, an online platform that teaches home bakers how to build their brands and confidently sell their baked goods. In this episode, you’ll hear how she got her own baking business off the ground, what she teaches her students at Baking for Business, and what her best advice is for those looking to enter into this space. It’s a jam-packed, inspiring episode, and we really hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Amanda launched her baking business What she learned working in corporate retail management How she determined the SOPs and pricing for her business What food liability insurance is The tools that she uses to run her business Her best advice for those looking to launch a baking business How she has grown her email list What cottage bakers are How she launched Baking for Business What she teaches her students at Baking for Business Why she loves sharing her story Resources: Baking for Business Chef Schonberg’s Sweets The E Myth Revisited Food Liability Insurance Program State Farm The Hartford Square Wix Bake Diary EOS Instacart Shipt The Profit The Psychology of Sales Learn From Daymond John <a href="https://www.amyporterfield.com/wait
Tue, December 07, 2021
Crafting the Perfect Pitch – How to Build and Nurture Strong Relationships with Brands with Chandice Probst
Focusing on your strengths, creating a strong media kit, and crafting enticing pitches for brands with Chandice Probst from This Vivacious Life. ----- Welcome to episode 334 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chandice Probst about how to craft the perfect pitch when reaching out to brands. Crafting the Perfect Pitch While Chandice runs the popular food and entertaining blog This Vivacious Life, she’s also the Sponsor Director for Tastemaker Conference. And that means that she has learned a lot about pitching to brands and getting sponsorship opportunities over the years! Today on the podcast, she’s sharing all her tips and tricks for food bloggers looking to create the perfect pitch. From focusing on mindset and building confidence in yourself to writing enticing emails that brands won’t be able to resist, this episode will give you all the information you need to confidently reach out to brands. It’s a thought-provoking conversation that will leave you feeling inspired and motivated to reflect on your own pitching strategy. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Chandice has learned throughout her entrepreneurial journey Why mindset is so important when it comes to pitching How to figure out what your strengths are How to create a strong media kit and rate sheet How to determine your rates when working with brands How to build relationships with other food bloggers How to create enticing pitches that will capture the attention of brands Tips for nurturing long-term relationships with brands Resources: This Vivacious Life Tastemaker Conference Pricing + Pitching Workshop – say the FBP Podcast sent you for $50 off! Chandice’s cookbook, Gluten-Free on a Budget Find Me Gluten Free Shark Tank Tastemaker Conference EOS Delegate and Elevate Creating a Media Kit course – available for FBP members! Meaningful Eats Frosting and Fettuccine 331: Building Community – How Abbey Rodriguez Founded and Grew Tastemaker Conference <a hre
Tue, November 30, 2021
Serving Your Audience – How Emma Duckworth Doubled Her Pageviews by Focusing on SEO
Improving your food photography skills, getting a cookbook deal, and focusing on SEO with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes. ----- Welcome to episode 333 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes about how she’s grown her blog by focusing on SEO. Serving Your Audience SEO: love it or hate it, it’s undoubtedly an important area for food bloggers to focus their time and energy on. And that’s why we’re chatting about it with Emma Duckworth in this episode! This year, Emma decided to double down on her blog and hired a mentor to help her out with SEO. You’ll hear how she used the avatar exercise to understand her audience, how she optimized her homepage and recipe categories, and what she’s doing to focus on SEO moving forward. It’s a fantastic interview that will encourage you to reflect on your own SEO strategy. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Emma got into food photography and food blogging How she grew her food photography skills What steps she took to strategically grow her Instagram account How she started getting her first sponsored work What she learned from the cookbook writing process Why she decided to double down on her blog How she hired a mentor to help her out with SEO How she used the avatar exercise to understand her audience How she optimized her blog’s homepage and categories How she identified and optimized her top-performing posts How she has started doing keyword research Why she and her husband decided to launch a street coffee business What she’s focusing her attention on moving forward Resources: Emma Duckworth Bakes Order Emma’s cookbook, Simply Sweet Nostalgic Bakes Dear Coco Street Coffee Foodtography School This American Life Well Seasoned Studio Foolproof Living The Feast Plugin Google Analytics Google Search Console Keysearch Clariti Growth University Follow Emma on <a
Tue, November 23, 2021
Featured Podcast – Strategically Monetizing Your Food Blog with Bjork on the Eat, Capture, Share Podcast
Transitioning to full-time blogging, leaning into your strengths, and following your own path as an entrepreneur with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 332 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing Bjork’s episode from the Eat, Capture, Share podcast with Kimberly Espinel. Featured Podcast In today’s episode, we’re switching things up because it’s actually Bjork in the interview seat! We’re really excited to be featuring an episode of the Eat, Capture, Share Podcast. Kimberly recently interviewed Bjork about his journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur and online business owner. You’ll hear what the first streams of revenue were for Pinch of Yum, Bjork’s advice for those wanting to make a living through food blogging, and why he believes in the idea of 1% infinity. It’s a really inspiring conversation, and we know you’ll enjoy hearing more about Bjork’s story. We hope you enjoy this featured podcast episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: The quick story behind Pinch of Yum, Food Blogger Pro, WP Tasty, Nutrifox, Clariti, and TinyBit How Bjork and Lindsay leaned into their strengths when building Pinch of Yum What the first streams of revenue were for Pinch of Yum His advice for how to transition to making a living through food blogging Why he launched the Food Blogger Pro Podcast His top tips to quickly monetize doing what you love The biggest mistakes that he sees creators making when trying to grow their businesses Resources: Eat, Capture, Share Podcast Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox Clariti TinyBit Crush It!: Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports 324: Building Strong Partnerships – How Bob’s Red Mill Works with Content Creators on Sponsored Content MicroAcquire FE International Quiet Light Brokerage 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Flippa
Tue, November 16, 2021
Building Community – How Abbey Rodriguez Founded and Grew Tastemaker Conference
Founding a food blogging conference, getting brands involved with a conference, and building community around events with Abbey Rodriguez, founder of Tastemaker Conference. ----- Welcome to episode 331 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Abbey Rodriguez about how she founded and grew Tastemaker Conference. Building Community From developing recipes to writing posts to creating content for social media, we can find ourselves spending a lot of time alone as food creators. So how can we foster community and build relationships with others in this industry? Enter: Tastemaker Conference! It’s one of the most popular food blogger conferences, and it’s a great place to connect with fellow food creators and brands and learn from industry experts. In this episode, you’ll hear why Abbey Rodriguez founded Tastemaker Conference, as well as what to expect at the 2022 Tastemaker Conference in Chicago. Plus, she even shares a limited-time offer on tickets for podcast listeners that you won’t want to miss, so be sure to check out the episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Abbey founded Tastemaker Conference How she has shifted her focus from blogging to event planning How she funded the conference when launching How the pandemic has affected her business Why brands like to get involved with Tastemaker Conference How the revenue streams for the conference change from year to year Her advice for those who want to start hosting events What tools she recommends using when planning events What the marketing strategy looks like for Tastemaker Conference Why they focus so much on retention rate How they started hosting masterminds and workshops What to expect at the 2022 Tastemaker Conference Resources: Tastemaker Conference Tastemaker Conference 2022 Chicago tickets – use code FOODBLOGGERPRO50 for $50 off (valid for seven days after the episode airs) The Butter Half Big Magic Root & Nourish: An Herbal Cookbook for Women’s Wellness 328: Hosting Events – How Liz Della Croce Plans and Runs Successful Food Blogger Retreats Pilot Pinch of Yum Asana Eventbrite <a href="https://attendify.
Tue, November 09, 2021
Honing Your Craft – How Ana Zelić Improved Her Food Photography Skills and Got Her Debut Cookbook Deal
Growing a blog with a full-time job, taking photography courses, and getting a cookbook deal with Ana Zelić from Ana's Baking Chronicles. ----- Welcome to episode 330 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ana Zelić from Ana’s Baking Chronicles about how she strategically improved her food photography skills over time and got her first cookbook deal. Honing Your Craft Ana is a food blogger, food photographer, and soon-to-be author, and she’s here on the podcast today to talk about her food photography journey! Her debut cookbook “The Cake Chronicles” comes out November 30th, and in this episode, she shares why she doubled down on improving her photography skills, what tools she uses when shooting photos, how she got her cookbook deal, and what she learned going through the cookbook writing process. It’s a really great interview, and we know you’ll feel so inspired after hearing Ana’s story! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Ana started sharing food content online Why she decided to blog in English Why she shifted her focus to blogging rather than just sharing on Instagram How she grew her blog while working a full-time job How she got a cookbook deal How she developed her food photography skills What artificial lighting tools she uses for her photography Why she loves shooting tethered What she learned going through the cookbook writing process Resources: Ana’s Baking Chronicles Preorder Ana’s book, The Cake Chronicles! Mediavine The Bite Shot Foodtography School Broma Bakery Growth University Artificial Academy Adobe Lightroom Capture One Follow Ana on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com" target="_blank" rel= "noopen
Tue, November 02, 2021
Social Media Strategy – Creating a Content Plan, Growing Your Following, and Diversifying Your Platforms with Andrea Balogun
Repurposing content for different social media platforms, growing your email list, and using systems and tools to grow your business with Andrea Balogun from Balogun Strategy & Design. ----- Welcome to episode 329 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrea Balogun from Balogun Strategy & Design about how to craft an effective social media strategy. Social Media Strategy Have you ever wanted to pick the brain of a social media consultant? Here’s your chance! Andrea is a content strategy and design consultant, and she’s here on the podcast today to talk about how to effectively market your brand and grow your following on social media. In this episode, she shares her advice on a lot of different topics, including how to repurpose your content across various social media outlets, how to lean into a particular topic or series on social media, why it’s important to diversify your platforms, and more. Andrea’s advice will be a great reminder of why it’s important to really think about your goals and purpose when sharing on social media. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Andrea became a social media consultant Some systems and tools she uses to run her business What services she offers to her clients Tips for crafting your profile on Instagram How food bloggers can make the most of the different content types on Instagram How Instagram is offering bonuses and badges to creators How you can effectively repurpose your content Why it can be helpful to focus on a particular topic or series on social media Why it’s so important to diversify your platforms How to grow your email list Her advice for transitioning a side hustle into a full-time business Resources: Balogun Strategy & Design 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen Notion Airtable Dubsado Later Candles 4 the Culture Follow Candles 4 the Culture on Instagram Follow Andrea on Instagram , Facebook , Pinterest , and Twitter Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you
Tue, October 26, 2021
Hosting Events – How Liz Della Croce Plans and Runs Successful Food Blogger Retreats
Hosting food blogger retreats, diversifying your income streams, and capitalizing on your strengths with Liz Della Croce from The Lemon Bowl. ----- Welcome to episode 328 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Liz Della Croce from The Lemon Bowl about how she plans and runs food blogger retreats. Hosting Events When it comes to earning money as food creators, we usually think of the classic revenue streams like ads and sponsored content. But what about hosting events? That’s what we’re focusing on today! In this episode, Bjork chats with Liz about how she runs events and food blogger retreats in addition to her own food blog. You’ll hear how she plans her events based on the desires of her attendees, how she gets brands involved with retreats, how she plans out her attendee lists, and more. It’s a fantastic interview that will inspire you to think about how you can diversify your income streams and capitalize on your own strengths to grow your business. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Liz shares on the Passion to Profit Podcast Some powerful mindset shifts that help her run her business What her team looks like How EOS works What implementers, integrators, and visionaries are How she diversifies her income How she gets the most out of her brand partnerships What kinds of events she holds Why she loves hosting food blogger retreats How she curates her retreats based on the wishes of her attendees How to get brands involved with retreats What tools she uses when planning her retreats How she determines the attendee list for her retreats Resources: The Lemon Bowl Get on the waitlist for the Passion to Profit Mastermind! Passion to Profit Podcast 276: Featured Podcast – Scaling Your Business & Providing Massive Value with Bjork on the Irie Lemon Podcast The Five Minute Journal EOS Traction Rocket Fuel AdThrive InfluenceKit <a hre
Tue, October 19, 2021
Understanding the Google Algorithm – Tracking Google Updates and Analyzing Traffic Drops with Casey Markee
Understanding Google updates, effectively using Google Search Console, and getting the most out of ads on a food blog with Casey Markee from Media Wyse. ----- Welcome to episode 327 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Casey Markee, our FBP SEO Expert, about understanding the Google algorithm. Understanding the Google Algorithm We’re so excited to welcome Food Blogger Pro expert Casey Markee back to the podcast today! As our resident SEO wizard, he has helped countless FBP members out by answering their toughest SEO questions over the years. And at his company Media Wyse, Casey handles site audits for algorithm and rank issues, spammy structured markup actions, unnatural link issues for food blogs, and more. In this episode, he’s chatting with Bjork all about what food bloggers need to know about the Google algorithm. You’ll hear Casey’s insights on how to understand Google updates, how to effectively use Google Search Console, how to get the most out of your ads, and more. If you’re looking to increase your traffic, or you’re just curious and want to learn more about the Google algorithm, we know you’ll enjoy this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Casey got into the food blogging SEO space What Google’s Webmaster Guidelines are What Google Patents are How he learns about updates to the Google algorithm How updates to the algorithm help publishers What core updates are Why a recipe card can only be used for one individual recipe What manual actions are Why it’s so important to use Google Search Console What makes warnings and errors different How to analyze and understand traffic drops How the pandemic has affected traffic for food bloggers Why he thinks you shouldn’t put recipes in your recipe cards His advice for running ads on a food blog What teaser text is on food blogs Resources: Media Wyse Learn more about Casey’s audits at Media Wyse SearchEngineNews 322: Going All In – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews Google Webmaster Guidelines SEO by the Sea Google Patents Google’s blog, The Keyword Google IO TopHatRank <a href="https://yoast.com/wordpr
Tue, October 12, 2021
Content Batching – Planning, Scheduling, and Creating Blog Posts Months Ahead of Time with Karli Bitner
Batch producing content, choosing a niche, and strategically delegating tasks with Karli Bitner from Cooking with Karli. ----- Welcome to episode 326 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Karli Bitner from Cooking with Karli about how she batch produces content. Content Batching As food bloggers, it can sometimes feel like we’re stuck in this never-ending cycle of producing more and more content. To avoid burnout, how do we develop strategies for content creation that are sustainable over a long period of time? That’s what we’re discussing with Karli in today’s episode! To maximize her time with her family this year, she batch produced all of her blog posts for 2021 before 2020 ended. In this episode, she shares why she likes content batching, how she plans and schedules her content, and how she has expanded her team to maximize her productivity. It’s a really great interview that will inspire you to reflect on your own content creation strategy. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she started blogging How she chose a niche when launching her blog How she used Facebook Groups to grow her traffic Why she expanded her niche and changed her focus What copycat recipes are What tools she uses to grow her business How she batch produces content ahead of time How she strategically plans her shoot days How she organizes her content and photos How she adjusts her content plan as needed How she works with a writer on her blog posts What tasks she has strategically delegated for her blog How she found the right people to hire How she expects to create content in the future Resources: Cooking with Karli Lauren’s Latest Mediavine Crumbl Cookies Semrush The HOTH AnswerThePublic Trello Google Calendar Tastemaker Conference Alfred Google Drive Backupify The Mom Project Follow Karli on Instagram , Facebook , <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL_umA04l525
Tue, October 05, 2021
Bilingual Blogging – How Alejandra Graf Shares Recipes on Her Blog in English and Spanish
Using a plugin to blog in multiple languages, strategically growing your team, and maximizing your productivity with Alejandra Graf from BrownSugar&Vanilla. ----- Welcome to episode 325 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alejandra Graf from BrownSugar&Vanilla about how she shares recipes on her blog in both English and Spanish. Bilingual Blogging We’re so excited to share this episode with Alejandra with you today! Her story is really fascinating, and the way that she shares content is a bit unique compared to other content creators. After immigrating to the United States from Mexico, she launched her food blog, BrownSugar&Vanilla, where she shares family-friendly vegan recipes. But she also has another version of her site called Piloncillo&Vainilla where she shares all the same recipes — but in Spanish! In this episode, you’ll learn how she uses a plugin to share content in both languages, how the traffic compares on the two versions of her blog, and more. It’s a really fascinating, inspiring interview that demonstrates the unique ways you can share content with different audiences. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Alejandra immigrated to the United States What led her to launch her blog How she started sharing recipes in both Spanish and English How she determines what content will resonate with which part of her audience How the traffic compares on the English vs. the Spanish side of her blog How she runs ads on her site Which plugin she uses to share content in both languages How she strategically grew her team How she earns revenue from her site How she gets sponsored content work How she uses the Pomodoro Method to maximize her productivity Resources: BrownSugar&Vanilla Piloncillo&Vainilla The Fire Starter Sessions The WordPress Multilingual Plugin Google Translate Grammarly AdThrive Pinch of Yum Income and Traffic Reports BlogHer Johanna B. Voss Agency 322: Going All In – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews Follow Alejandra on <a href= "https
Tue, September 28, 2021
Building Strong Partnerships – How Bob's Red Mill Works with Content Creators on Sponsored Content
How Bob's Red Mill works with content creators, how creators can effectively reach out to brands, and how to secure ongoing brand partnerships with Cassidy Stockton. ----- Welcome to episode 324 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cassidy Stockton about how Bob’s Red Mill works with content creators on sponsored content. Building Strong Partnerships When we chat about sponsored content here on the podcast, we usually talk to creators and publishers about how they secure partnerships with brands. But today, we’re flipping the script and hearing things directly from a brand’s perspective! In this episode, Bjork interviews Cassidy Stockton, the Senior Content Marketing Manager at Bob’s Red Mill, about how her team works with content creators, what she wishes creators knew about working with brands, and more. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about how to reach out to brands, how to negotiate your rates, or how to secure ongoing brand partnerships, this episode with Cassidy is for you! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Cassidy does at Bob’s Red Mill Why they invest so much into influencer marketing What kinds of campaigns they find successful What an employee-owned company is What metrics they look at when working with influencers What influencers can do to maintain a strong relationship with a brand How they handle invoices and payments How they initiate partnerships at Bob’s Red Mill Why they consider video to be essential right now How they’ve been experimenting on TikTok How they negotiate rates with influencers How Bob’s Red Mill works with various agencies What you should include in your media kit What she wishes creators knew about working with brands Resources: Bob’s Red Mill InfluenceKit Connect with Cassidy on LinkedIn Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, September 21, 2021
Understanding the Numbers – Optimizing Your Blog's Financials with Ansley Beutler
Tracking your expenses, optimizing your business for tax season, and setting yourself up for success financially with Ansley Beutler from Peach Perfect Financials. ----- Welcome to episode 323 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ansley Beutler from Peach Perfect Financials about optimizing your blog’s financials to set your business up for success. Understanding the Numbers While Ansley Beutler is well-known for sharing delicious and healthy recipes on The Fit Peach, she’s also a CPA and an expert when it comes to the financial side of running a food blog! Through her consultancy business Peach Perfect Financials, she helps bloggers level up their business and gain control and clarity over their finances. In this episode, she shares why you should have a business bank account, how to keep track of your expenses, how to structure your business to optimize your taxes, and more. Whether you just launched your blog or if you’ve been blogging for years, we think you’ll have a lot of great takeaways from this episode. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why Ansley started her food blog What she does at Peach Perfect Financials How she balances working on her blog and her client work Why she recommends having a business bank account and credit card What business expenses and startup expenses are Why it’s so important to track your expenses What happens if you get audited How you get taxed when you run your own business When you might consider making an S election What an EIN is How you can keep track of your receipts digitally How to determine what your salary should be as a business owner How to set yourself up your success in the future financially Resources: The Fit Peach Peach Perfect Financials Form 2553 Shoeboxed Quickbooks Blogger MBA School 321: The EXITpreneur’s Playbook – Maximizing Your Profits When Selling a Business with Joe Valley Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogg
Tue, September 14, 2021
Going All In – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews
Investing money into your business, deleting posts to encourage growth, and the importance of having accountability partners with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks. ----- Welcome to episode 322 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks about what specific strategies she implemented to grow her blog’s traffic and increase her revenue. Going All In A few years ago, Sarah Cook was feeling burnt out and ready to call it quits on her blog. But after listening to some food blogging podcasts, she decided to switch up her blogging strategy and see if she could turn it into a thriving business. And today on the podcast, she’s sharing everything she’s done along the way to go from 17k to 600k monthly pageviews with her blog, Sustainable Cooks! She explains some of the unique ways she has invested in her blog, why she decided to delete hundreds of posts, why she loves having a blogging accountability partner, and more. It’s a really inspiring interview, and we know it’ll leave you feeling motivated and excited to make progress on your blogging goals. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Sarah decided to go all in with her blog How she struggled to define her identity as a full-time blogger Where she started investing money into her business How she shifted her content strategy Why she deleted hundreds of posts on her blog How she categorized her content into specific buckets Why ad earnings are typically lower in Q1 How her blog’s success has helped her support causes she cares about How she fits work into the margins of her day What tasks she decided to hire out Why she loves having a blogging accountability partner Resources: Sustainable Cooks 170: What’s Working and What’s Not with the FBP Community MediaWyse Casey Markee Purr Design The Simple Pin Podcast Kate Ahl Mediavine Keysearch AdThrive Hey Nutrition Lady Cook It Real Good Follow Sarah on Instagram , <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Frugalsarahc
Tue, September 07, 2021
The EXITpreneur's Playbook – Maximizing Your Profits When Selling a Business with Joe Valley
What an exitpreneur is, why we're not able to run our businesses forever, and what factors to keep in mind when deciding to sell your business with Joe Valley. ----- Welcome to episode 321 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Joe Valley about making a great exit and maximizing your profits when selling a business. The EXITpreneur’s Playbook When it comes down to it, we’re not able to run our businesses forever. And most business owners wait to sell until they’re exhausted and emotionally rundown, and by that time, it’s too late to have a great exit. Enter: Joe Valley! After facilitating nearly half a billion dollars in exits, Joe has written the bestselling book, “The EXITpreneur’s Playbook” to help online business owners get the maximum value and best deal structure possible when selling their businesses. Even if you’re not quite ready to sell your own business, this interview will show you what areas to focus on to create a successful pathway to your own eventual exit. In this episode, you’ll learn: What an exitpreneur is Why it’s important to be on top of your financials What the difference is between a CPA and a bookkeeper Why it’s important to consider risk, transferability, documentation, and growth when deciding to sell Why you need to have specific goals in mind when it comes to selling your business What SKUs are What the transition period looks like after selling a business What most people do after selling a business Resources: The EXITpreneur’s Playbook Read the first three chapters of The EXITpreneur’s Playbook for free! Quiet Light The Quiet Light Podcast 32: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Quickbooks Xero Pilot EOS TinyBit Puerto Rico’s Tax Incentive Code 176: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers with Chris Guthrie Follow Joe on <a href= "http
Tue, August 31, 2021
Learning By Doing – How Chelsey White Grew Her Online Community of Millions as a Solopreneur
Succeeding on different social media platforms, managing partnerships with brands, and shifting content strategies over time with Chelsey White from Chelsweets. ----- Welcome to episode 320 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsey White from Chelsweets about how she’s grown her various social media platforms and how her content strategy has evolved over time. Learning By Doing Today on the podcast, we’re talking to the cake queen herself: Chelsey White from Chelsweets! While she originally started by just baking cakes for her coworkers, Chelsey has since built up a massive social media following sharing her elaborate cakes and baking creations online. With over 1.2 million followers on Instagram and 2 million followers on TikTok, she has established herself as one of the top names in the food space. In this episode, she shares how she started sharing content online, how she likes to approach sponsored content, and how she adapts her content for different social media platforms. It’s a super fun, inspiring interview, and we hope you enjoy hearing Chelsey’s story! In this episode, you’ll learn: When Chelsey started sharing baking content online How her content strategy has evolved over time Why posting on her blog is her number one priority Which social media platforms she enjoys using the most Why she oftentimes likes waiting for brands to approach her first How to figure out your rates for sponsored content How she has created sponsored content for TV shows and movies How she maximizes her efficiency when creating content for different platforms What she would focus on if she had to start over again from scratch How she balances passion publishing with performance publishing How she manages her content calendar with Google Calendar Resources: Chelsweets Captive8 Canva Keysearch Follow Chelsey on Instagram , TikTok , and YouTube Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, August 24, 2021
From Attorney to Food Blogger - How Mike Johnson Grew His Popular Instagram Account into a Full-Time Business
The daily schedule of a full-time food blogger, how Mike Johnson generates revenue for his blog, and what it was like to change content strategies on Mike Bakes NYC. ----- Welcome to episode 319 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mike Johnson from Mike Bakes NYC about how he managed to transition to full-time blogging after running his successful Instagram account. From Attorney to Food Blogger We’re so excited we had a chance to talk to Mike in today’s episode! He has a super interesting story; he went from attorney to full-time blogger after running an incredibly successful New York City food-focused Instagram account. He’s on the show today to talk about what the process of transitioning to full-time blogger looked like, as well as how he runs his business and creates revenue for himself. If you’re curious about what a day in the life of a full-time blogger looks like, or you’re interested in figuring out how to maximize your blog revenue, we know you’ll find some helpful nuggets of inspiration in this interview! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Mike transitioned from attorney to online content creator What it was like to work with restaurants in New York City How he shifted the content focus on his blog and on social media When he knew he could create an income from his blog and social channels How he’s getting traffic to his blog How he shares his recipes on social media Why he’s happier working for himself and how his background has helped with his sponsor negotiations What his full-time blogging schedule looks like What it’s like working with an agency What roles Mike will hire for next What it’s like using Airsubs to host cooking classes to his audience How authenticity contributed to his growth Resources: Mike Bakes NYC Broma Bakery Mike’s cookbook, Even Better Brownies Mediavine Airsubs 308: Virtual Events – Earn an Income by Teaching Classes Online with Tomas Hoyos Smith and Saint EOS Follow Mike on Instagram , TikTok , and Pinterest Read Food Blogger Pro member stori
Tue, August 17, 2021
FBP Rewind – How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4
Maximizing your Q4 revenue, how to keep the Q4 momentum, and republishing content with Bjork Ostrom and Jenna Arend. ----- Welcome to episode 318 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to a Q&A we held last year where Food Blogger Pro members asked Bjork and Pinch of Yum’s General Manager, Jenna, questions about preparing for Q4. How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4 It’s another FBP Rewind episode today, and we’re so excited to revisit our October 2020 Q&A with Jenna Arend from the Pinch of Yum team! We hold these live Q&As every single month for our Food Blogger Pro members. Sometimes we focus on a specific topic (like this one), and other times it’s an excuse to pick Bjork’s brain on any blogging topic under the sun. It’s so fun to connect, answer our members’ toughest questions, and have an hour to intentionally work on getting a tiny bit better. And in this Q&A, we focused on all the ways that food bloggers can make the most out of Q4! Q4 is made up of the last three months of the year (October, November, and December), and it’s a big deal for food bloggers. Not only are people hungry for recipes, but advertising spending also goes up during these three months, and sponsors are looking for bloggers and content creators who can create seasonal content. We hope that you enjoy this Q&A and that it leaves you feeling inspired and motivated as we get closer and closer to Q4. In this episode, you’ll learn: What Jenna’s role looks like on the Pinch of Yum team How the Pinch of Yum team is preparing for Q4 Tips for Q4 if your blog is new How to maximize affiliate earnings in Q4 Alternatives to the Amazon affiliate program How Q4 differs from Q1 and how to keep the momentum into the new year How to choose whether to create a new recipe or republish existing content What Pinch of Yum’s current email strategy looks like Resources: Pinch of Yum October Coffee Date post on Pinch of Yum Republishing Content course Google Search Console course How to include the equipment section on a Tasty Recipes recipe card Tasty Links Tasty Recipes ShareASale <a href="https://w
Tue, August 10, 2021
Optimizing for Growth - Developing Habits for Long-Term Success with Nisha Melvani
Creating content you're passionate about, choosing the right tools for success, and finding a work-life balance with Nisha Melvani. ----- Welcome to episode 317 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nisha Melvani from about her journey of growing her brand while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Optimizing for Growth Nisha is a Food Blogger Pro member, nutritionist, and registered dietitian, and she’s here on the podcast today to talk about her journey growing her blog, CookingForPeanuts.com ! While she originally started just by sharing her vegan dinner recipes on Instagram, Nisha has evolved her brand by shifting some of her focus to her blog and upcoming cookbook. In this episode, she shares some of the mistakes she’s made along the way, some tools that have been instrumental to her success, and some tips she has for finding a healthy work-life balance. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she started sharing content on Instagram Why she adopted a vegan diet How she decided to only share vegan dinner recipes Why she ultimately decided to launch a blog Some mistakes she made when building her site What tools she used to optimize and grow her blog How she developed her unique video strategy How she balances her blog and personal life Why authenticity and patience are so important How to stay tuned for her upcoming cookbook Resources: Cooking for Peanuts Levels Glucose Monitor Forks Over Knives The Game Changers Feast Design Co. EOS EOS Accountability Chart BigScoots Tasty Recipes Yoast Video SEO for WordPress Tailwind Tasty Pins Nutrifox Clariti Best of Vegan - Cooking for Peanuts Preorder Nisha’s book, Practically Vegan Follow Nisha on <a href= "https://www
Tue, August 03, 2021
Book Nook – Five Takeaways from Rich Dad Poor Dad with Bjork Ostrom
How to invest in yourself, how to make your money work for you, and other key takeaways from Rich Dad Poor Dad. ----- Welcome to episode 316 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have another episode in our Book Nook series where Bjork identifies five different takeaways from the book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad.” Five Takeaways from Rich Dad Poor Dad This week on the podcast, we’re sharing another episode in our new Book Nook series! In this series, Bjork reviews one of his favorite business books and outlines some key takeaways that you can apply to your blog or business. In this episode, we’re focusing on “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” a powerful personal finance book that explains how you can make your money work for you. Bjork shares some of his main takeaways from the book and shares how bloggers and content creators can implement this advice to grow their own businesses. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s important to invest in yourself What a personal board of directors is Why it’s important to buy assets, not liabilities Why you should learn through experiences How you can have your money work for you Why mindset is so important Resources: Rich Dad Poor Dad Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, July 27, 2021
Decolonizing the Food Industry — Sharing African Food, Breaking Down Stereotypes, and Combating Cultural Appropriation with Zoe Adjonyoh
How to combat food stereotypes, understand cultural appropriation, and support an African food revolution with Zoe Adjonyoh. ----- Welcome to episode 315 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Zoe Adjonyoh about her journey with Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen, as well as her fight against the cultural appropriation of food. Decolonizing the Food Industry While Zoe Adjonyoh initially started out by just cooking Ghanaian food for her community, she quickly took on a larger role with her brand, Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen. Through her blog, cookbook, supper clubs, and more, she has been actively working to foster an African Food Revolution and bring African food to the masses. And in recent years, she has shifted her focus from just pioneering West African food to decolonizing the food industry and helping people understand what cultural appropriation is. It’s a really powerful interview that will make you consider your role as both a consumer and a content creator, and we hope you enjoy hearing more about Zoe’s story. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she started Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen How her supper clubs worked How she worked to start an African food revolution How she shifted her focus to work on decolonizing the food industry What the difference is between cultural appropriation and appreciation How we have power as consumers to support the culture where food comes from Why activism is ingrained in her identity What she covers in her book, as well as what she has updated in this new edition Resources: Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen Preorder Zoe’s book here! 289: The Rise – How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected the Restaurant Industry and Celebrating Black Culture in American Food with Marcus Samuelsson Airbnb Experience — Chocolate Origins & Create with a Maker Diaspora Co. Burlap & Barrel Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen playlist on Spotify Zoe’s podcast, Cooking Up Consciousness Follow Zoe on Instagram and Facebook <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/foodbloggerpr
Tue, July 20, 2021
Creative Food Photography — How Kimberly Espinel Teaches and Inspires Food Photographers
How to find your unique photography style, create content for your audience, and grow a successful business with Kimberly Espinel. ----- Welcome to episode 314 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kimberly Espinel about how she has grown her business teaching food photographers how to find their unique style. Creative Food Photography When you’re just starting out as a food blogger, it can be hard to find your personal style. You might find yourself emulating the style of other creatives and struggle to find a rhythm that works best for you. And that’s where Kimberly comes in! Kimberly is an award-winning food photographer, blogger, teacher, and author who helps food photographers find their unique style. She talks about how she grew her business, how she is able to create content that serves her community, and why she thinks focusing on your mindset is so important when working as a creative. Her passion for her work shines through in this episode, and her story will leave you feeling inspired and motivated to continue creating meaningful content for your audience. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she launched her podcast Eat, Capture, Share Why she thinks creatives can be incredible businesspeople What prompted her to launch her food blog Why she decided to shift her content to food photography What ikigai means How she checks in on her business daily Why she loves positive self-talk Why focusing on your mindset is so important as a creative How she teaches students to find their unique photography style What a color story is How she reaches out to brands Why she thinks it’s important to create photos that your ideal customer is looking for Why she loves creating online courses How her Instagram Food Photography challenge works Resources: Eat, Capture, Share Podcast Ikigai Kimberly’s favorite planner Gabriel Cabrera Luisa Brimble Aran Goyoaga Kimberly’s site Kimberly’s online courses Kimberly’s book — Creative Food Photography <a href= "https://thelittleplantation
Tue, July 13, 2021
Side Hustle Income - How Charli Prangley Doubled Her Side Hustle Income in One Year
How to make business branding decisions, what it means to be authentically vulnerable, and diversifying income with Charli Prangley. ----- Welcome to episode 313 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Charli Prangley about how she grows her business, builds her team, and does the work she loves. Side Hustle Income Charli is the Creative Director at ConvertKit, but she also does a ton of work on her side hustle. So much so, she was actually able to double her side hustle income in just a year! This episode is jam-packed with advice for people who are trying to grow their businesses while working full-time jobs. Charli talks about how she views branding, how she hires help for the things she doesn’t like to do, and how she has diversified her income. Charli’s advice will be a great reminder of why it’s important to really hone in on what you’re actually trying to accomplish when you’re creating content online and what it takes to get there. We hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: What marketing design means Why she doesn’t like pop-ups How to make decisions based on your branding Which of her platforms is her favorite How she doubled her side hustle income in a year How she works with a channel sponsor on YouTube Why Twitter is a great place to connect with people How she makes decisions about what she works on Why investing in help has been key for her business growth Tips for hiring email help How to work with designers on your blog’s branding Common traits of successful brands How to be authentically vulnerable Resources: ConvertKit Charli’s YouTube channel Design Life Podcast Inside Marketing Design Podcast The Future Belongs to Creators Podcast Charli’s site Charli’s Twitch channel Pinch of Yum Pallet Doubling My Side Hustle Earnings - 2020/21 Income Report Figma Webflow Folk 309: Create with Intention – $130,000 in the First Week b
Tue, July 06, 2021
FBP Rewind – How Pinch of Yum Works with Brands with Jenna Arend
How to communicate with brands, work with a brand's goals in mind, and manage sponsored content work with Pinch of Yum's Jenna Arend. ----- Welcome to episode 312 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Jenna Arend from the Pinch of Yum where she talks about some of the systems they use to manage their sponsored content work. How Pinch of Yum Works with Brands It’s another FBP Rewind episode today, and we’re so excited to revisit our July 2020 interview with Jenna Arend from the Pinch of Yum team today! Jenna is the General Manager at Pinch of Yum and in this episode, she gives you a behind-the-scenes tour of how the Pinch of Yum team uses processes to handle their sponsored content work. Between establishing a system for initial conversations with brands to contract review, we’re hoping that you’re able to take some of the systems that the Pinch of Yum team relies on and use them to streamline your own sponsored content efforts. In this episode, you’ll learn: What Jenna does for Team Pinch of Yum What it was like when Pinch of Yum worked with an agency on sponsored content How they decided to bring the management of sponsored content in-house The kinds of systems the Pinch of Yum uses to manage sponsored content How to communicate with brands Tips for negotiating What’s included in Pinch of Yum’s media kit and rate sheet How contract review works How the Pinch of Yum team works with a lawyer How you can report on sponsored content campaigns What it means to offer a la carte items to brands Resources: Pinch of Yum Sway Questions on the Pinch of Yum Intake Form Typeform LISS Legal Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts InfluenceKit Bar La Grassa Estelle If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, June 29, 2021
Finding Your Why - Creating Intentional Content as a Creative Outlet with Katie Olsen
Blogging as a creative outlet, balancing a blog with a full-time job, and creating intentional content with Katie Olsen from Katiebird Bakes. ----- Welcome to episode 311 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Katie Olsen. Finding Your Why Katie is a full-time attorney and food blogger, and she’s here on the podcast today to talk about her blogging journey and philosophy when it comes to sharing content online. She talks about how starting a blog is inherently vulnerable, why she likes balancing both her blog and her full-time job, and how she has shifted her content strategy over the years. As her blog Katiebird Bakes has grown over time, Katie has found a sense of purpose and enjoyment in blogging as a creative outlet, and you’ll learn more about her mindset in this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she initially felt nervous to launch her blog How she deals with negative comments on her blog Why she enjoys having both her blog and a full-time job Why she’s really picky about the kind of content she posts online How to adjust to the ever-changing environment of social media How to not fall into the comparison trap as a content creator What kinds of recipes she shares on her blog Why it’s so important to remember your ‘why’ How leaning into her niche helped her find success What metrics she used to track her blog’s growth along the way What philosophy she follows when planning future content Resources: Katiebird Bakes The Oatmeal - What it’s like to make things for the web Jimmy Fallon explains the meaning of his life Mediavine Follow Katie on Instagram and Facebook Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, June 22, 2021
The Confident Pitch - How to Naturally Build Relationships with Brands with Candice Ward
Finding the right clients, strategies for creating a media kit, and making money from freelance food photography with Candice Ward. ----- Welcome to episode 310 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Candice Ward about pitching brands and monetizing food photography. The Confident Pitch Working with brands can be a great way to monetize a blog or food business, but the process of pitching brands and fostering a relationship with those brands can be a bit intimidating. Enter: Candice! She’s on the podcast today to talk about working with clients, getting paid, and reaching a successful stage in her business in a short period of time. In this interview, Candice talks about how she pitches brands, monetizes her food photography skills, and finds the right brands to work with. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she transitioned her business How she improved her food photography skills How she found her first client How to start collaborating with brands Her strategies for creating a media kit How she evaluates brands How much you can expect to make from freelance photography How she finds contacts How she hosts coaching calls Resources: Foodtography Eat More Cake by Candice HoneyBook Vimeo Folk Campfire –– note: this tool has merged into Basecamp 3 Secrets to Build a Sustainable Food Photography Business The Confident Pitch Program Follow Candice on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, June 15, 2021
Create with Intention - $130,000 in the First Week by Creating Premium Offerings for Your Audience with Shawn Blanc
Charging for content, creating an online course, and going from indie blogger to multi-business owner with Shawn Blanc. ----- Welcome to episode 309 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Shawn Blanc about the way he produces products for his audience. Create with Intention Today we’re talking to Shawn Blanc about his story of going from indie blogger to successful entrepreneur. He’ll talk about productivity, starting new things, serving your audience, and how to build a strong company without sacrificing every hour to your work. His business ideas are very much aligned towards helping his audience get the best possible outcome, and his story will leave you feeling inspired and motivated to continue creating and serving your readers. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Shawn started working as an indie blogger How he started blogging full-time How he incorporated a membership into his blog What “thump value” means How he made money with his blog How and why he built more sites How his earnings changed when he hired more people How he decided to create an online course What it was like to start working with a team His #1 productivity tip Resources: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook John Gruber Shawn’s site Substack Patreon Ghost Barrett Brooks Think Again Delight is in the Details Shawn’s other projects Things 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen 305: Non-Traditional Success – Optimizing for Happiness with Jason Glaspey Soul Savvy The Focus Course Check out the Food Blogger Pro YouTube channel (and subscribe while you’re there!) If you have any comments, questions, or s
Tue, June 08, 2021
Virtual Events - Earn an Income by Teaching Classes Online with Tomas Hoyos
How to host a successful live event, monetize live cooking classes, and promote your classes with Tomas Hoyos. ----- Welcome to episode 308 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tomas Hoyos about hosting paid classes online with Airsubs. Selling Cooking Classes to Your Audience You know how a lot of classes are held online these days? Have you ever thought about teaching one yourself? Tomas is here on the podcast today to chat about how you can use his product, Airsubs, to develop a direct relationship with your audience by hosting live cooking events. Not only will he talk about how one creator made $50,000 in just one week by hosting classes on Airsubs, he unpacks why online events like this can be so lucrative for creators, especially in 2021. It’s a great interview that will give you a ton of insights into promoting, hosting, and selling online classes of your own! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he changed his business model because of the pandemic How a creator made $50,000 in one week on Airsubs How Airsubs makes it easy to host virtual events Common themes Tomas is seeing in virtual cooking classes How virtual cooking classes can be lucrative for creators How to craft your set-up How to get people to sign up for your classes How Airsubs helps you build your email list What a successful live event looks like How introverts can host live events Resources: Airsubs Email Tomas at tomas@airsubs.com Follow Airsubs on Instagram Check out Airsubs’ summits If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, June 01, 2021
Will Write for Food - How to Make Money by Writing about Food with Dianne Jacob
Working with publishers, earning an income through food writing, and paid newsletters with Dianne Jacob. ----- Welcome to episode 307 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Dianne Jacob about food writing as a profession and the re-release of her book, “Will Write for Food.” Will Write for Food Food writing is both an art and a science, and Dianne Jacob is back on the podcast today to talk about best practices for writing cookbooks, working with publishers, and making an income as a food writer. You can find the latest version of Dianne’s book, “Will Write for Food,” wherever books are sold, and in it you’ll find even more strategies that can help you get paid for writing about food online or in print. Leave a comment at foodbloggerpro.com/307 about one major takeaway you had from this episode for a chance to win a copy of her book! In this episode, you’ll learn: How creating recipe content online has changed Considerations for working with publishers How much you can expect to make from writing a cookbook If you can get a cookbook deal without a following How food writers can create income Why you don’t always need to monetize hobbies How paid newsletters work Where you can find Dianne’s book Resources: 015: How to Find Your Voice and be Heard in a Noisy World with Dianne Jacob Will Write for Food Alison Roman Substack Connect with Dianne on her site and sign up for her free newsletter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 25, 2021
Core Web Vitals - What Food Bloggers Need to Know About User Experience and Google with Andrew Wilder
What Core Web Vitals are, how they impact Google search rankings, and when they'll impact the Google search algorithm with Andrew Wilder. ----- Welcome to episode 306 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing part of our most recent member Q&A with Andrew Wilder from NerdPress where he talks about Core Web Vitals. Core Web Vitals Google has already started using things like mobile friendliness, security, and intrusive popups to impact search rankings, and the big news on the block is that Core Web Vitals, a way to quantify user experience on a website, will impact rankings soon as well. There are three signals that measure “good” user experience: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) First input Delay (FID) Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) Google wants readers to have a good experience on the sites that are ranking in the first few spots in search results, and Core Web Vitals are one of the ways they’re tracking that. If this all sounds confusing, don’t worry –– you’ve come to the right place! In this episode, we’re sharing part of our most recent member Q&A with our incredible WordPress and Site Speed Expert, Andrew Wilder, where he covered the ins and outs of page experience and Core Web Vitals. In this episode, you’ll learn: What Core Web Vitals are When Core Web Vitals are launching How and when Core Web Vitals will impact the Google search algorithm What other search ranking factors are What Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift are Resources: NerdPress Ember Mug Core Web Vitals Core Web Vitals and Page Experience FAQ Web Vitals Extension PageSpeed Insights Google Search Console Find Andrew on Food Blogger Pro If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 18, 2021
Non-Traditional Success - Optimizing for Happiness with Jason Glaspey
Selling a business, doing the work you enjoy, and connecting with others online with Jason Glaspey. ----- Welcome to episode 305 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jason Glaspey about optimizing your life and business for maximum happiness. Optimizing for Happiness How do you define success with your blog or business? It’s an interesting question to think about, especially as you dive into different business growth strategies. Jason is here today to talk about how he measures success and how that influences the way he views business and spends his time. It’s a fascinating conversation, and we’re hoping it’ll help you figure out how you can do more of the work that you enjoy. In this episode, you’ll learn: What it was like to sell a business How he found balance as an entrepreneur How he decided to sell a business How he comes up with new business ideas How to do the work you enjoy and change what you’re optimizing How to define what you want How Webflow can help you build websites How to connect with others online Resources: PaleoPlan Designing Your Life Mr. Money Mustache 279: Financial Independence – How to Be Efficient with Your Money with Anna Rider Shape Up Webflow Upfocus WP Tasty Connect with Jason on Twitter or at Mostly Proud Parents If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 11, 2021
FBP Rewind - Making Great Content with Sam Adler
Winning a Saveur Blog Award, using color to enhance food photography, and the elements of high-quality content with Sam Adler. ----- Welcome to episode 304 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Frosting and Fettuccine’s Sam Adler where she talks about creating the very best content for her audience. Making Great Content It’s another FBP Rewind episode today, and we’re so excited to revisit our March 2019 interview with Sam Adler from Frosting and Fettuccine today! This episode is focused around creating amazing content, and that’s something that we, as content creators, should always be in pursuit of. You’ll hear about Sam’s approach to photography and color, her background in cooking, and what it was like to be nominated for (and eventually win!) a Saveur Blog Award. In this episode, you’ll learn: About her experience at Le Cordon Bleu How her understanding of colors helps with her food blog How she found her photography style What it was like to win a Saveur Blog Award Why the quality of your content is so important What makes quality content Resources: Planoly Frosting and Fettuccine Follow Sam on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, May 04, 2021
Breaking Boundaries - Building, Running, and Monetizing a Content Brand with Kelly Senyei
Going full-time with your blog, building a successful podcast, and serving your audience with Kelly Senyei. Welcome to episode 303 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kelly Senyei from Just a Taste about trying new things to grow her brand. Breaking Boundaries We’re super excited to welcome Kelly back to the podcast today! In the six years since we’ve last heard from her, Kelly has done… a lot. And she’s here on the podcast to talk about how she has tried new things to help her brand grow. In addition to chatting about her podcast and new cookbook, she’ll also share some of the tips and strategies that have made the biggest impact on her traffic and income as she continues to grow Just a Taste. It’s a super fun, informative interview, and we hope you enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Kelly turned her blog into a full-time job How to build a successful podcast from scratch as a food blogger How to know what to focus on as a content creator Where she makes her blogging income How to get TV appearances as a food blogger How she would start over today How to better understand your audience Resources: Just a Taste The Just a Taste Podcast Libsyn The Secret Ingredient Cookbook Pinch of Yum 111: How to Build a Company of One with Paul Jarvis Baked Feta Pasta Follow Kelly on Facebook and Instagram Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 27, 2021
Growth Strategies - Growing Your Brand on YouTube and Beyond with Nisha Vora
Ways to grow your online brand, the most important YouTube metrics, and building a team with Nisha Vora. ----- Welcome to episode 302 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nisha Vora from Rainbow Plant Life about how she has grown her brand online. Growth Strategies Nisha is a lawyer-turned-food blogger, and she’s here on the podcast to talk about her journey and to share what has made the biggest impacts in growing her brand online. She talks about creating engaging YouTube videos and how YouTube analytics can help shape your video strategy, as well as how she’s building her team in order to thrive in the work she loves to do. Her brand, Rainbow Plant Life, has seen quite a bit of growth over the past few years, and you’ll learn about her most successful growth strategies in this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: What her experiences backpacking around the world was like What she changed about her life after her backpacking experience How she got into food blogging When she realized she could blog full-time The most impactful things she did to grow her brand How she grew her YouTube channel The most important metrics on YouTube Which platform is the most valuable to her and her brand What her week looks like as a creator What it’s like to build a team What she expects her brand to look like in the future Her advice for her past self Resources: Rainbow Plant Life 298: Book Nook – Six Takeaways from The E Myth Revisited with Bjork Ostrom StrengthsFinder Mr. Beast InfluenceKit Who Not How Follow Nisha on Instagram and YouTube If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 20, 2021
Less Work, More Traffic - A Free Workshop (+ 7 Ways to Strategically Use Google Search Console!)
Details about a free workshop to help you get more blog traffic and how to use Google Search Console to optimize your site for search traffic. ----- Welcome to episode 301 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about using Google Search Console and talks about our free workshop happening next week! Less Work, More Traffic We’re holding a FREE event next week on Tuesday, April 27 at 1pm ET / 12pm CT called Less Work, More Traffic. In this workshop, we’ll teach you how to think strategically about the content that’s already on your site in order to build your audience and get more traffic. You can register for free here , and if you want a bit of a preview of what we’re going to share during the workshop, you’re in the right place! In this episode of the podcast, Bjork talks about the event and then shares seven different ways you can use Google Search Console to optimize your site for search traffic. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to get registered for our FREE Less Work, More Traffic Workshop What sitemaps are How to inspect your URLs in Google Search Console What the Discover section on Google Search Console does How to make sure you have email notifications turned on What Manual Actions are How to enhance your site for search How to improve your existing content Resources: Register for our FREE Less Work, More Traffic Workshop! Google Search Console Yoast SEO Video SEO for WordPress plugin AdThrive Google App on the Google Play Store and on the Apple App Store Pinch of Yum Web Stories If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 13, 2021
Core Values - Who We Are and Why We Do What We Do with Bjork Ostrom
How we're going to start incorporating video into our podcast episodes and the five TinyBit core values with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 300 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re celebrating our 300th episode and talking about what you can expect in future podcast episodes. Core Values It’s a milestone episode today, and we’re celebrating by talking about our core values as a company and how they impact what we do each and every day. Thank you for listening to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast –– whether this is your first episode or your 300th. We appreciate our Food Blogger Pro Podcast community so very much, and we’re thrilled and honored to be on this journey with you! Here’s to many more episodes. 🎉 In this episode, you’ll learn: The big change we’re making to the podcast moving forward How we use our core values to guide our business Resources: Subscribe to our YouTube channel for weekly podcast videos! The War of Art Do the Work EOS Our first podcast episode Squadcast If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, April 06, 2021
Product Management - Building the Right Things for the Right People with Ben Holland
Interviewing your audience, understanding your customer's problems, and product management tools with Ben Holland. ----- Welcome to episode 299 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ben Holland about the process of product management and understanding your customers. Building the Right Things for the Right People When you’re building a product or creating content, it’s sometimes easy to forget that you’re ultimately building or creating to benefit your audience. Ben is here today to talk about the way that product management and interviewing your customers can help inform the direction of your creative pursuits. He’ll give you tips on understanding the value that you deliver to your customers, figuring out what your audience really wants, and asking the right types of questions that can help you build your products. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Ben got his start in game designing What a product manager does Why it’s important to talk to your audience Why you should understand your audience’s problems and what your audience really wants How to bring value to your customers and pivot when needed The tools that Ben uses for product management The types of questions Ben asks customers Resources: Raquel Munzee 298: Book Nook – Six Takeaways from The E Myth Revisited with Bjork Ostrom Clariti The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products That Win Slickstream How does the Customer Development Model work? Simple Green Smoothies The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Zoom Google Forms Qualtrics Segment FullStory Intercom Kree Ben’s customer research blog posts If you have any com
Tue, March 30, 2021
Book Nook - Six Takeaways from The E Myth Revisited with Bjork Ostrom
Why you are not the product of your business, how to work on and in your business, and other key takeaways from The E Myth Revisited. ----- Welcome to episode 298 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re starting a new series called Book Nook! In this episode, Bjork identifies six different takeaways from the book, “The E Myth Revisited.” Six Takeaways from The E Myth Revisited Welcome to our first episode of our new Book Nook series! In this series, Bjork will review one of his favorite business books and outline some key takeaways that you can apply to your blog or business. This week’s focus is on “The E Myth Revisited,” a book about the ways a small business can become an extraordinary small business. Bjork unpacks the advice in the book and relates them to creating content online as a blogger and business owner. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you should be ready to wear a bunch of different hats as an entrepreneur How to work on and in your business at the same time Why systems are so important in business Why you aren’t the product Resources: The E Myth Revisited 297: Blog Flipping – Developing, Monetizing, and Selling Websites with Chelsea Clarke EOS If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 23, 2021
Blog Flipping - Developing, Monetizing, and Selling Websites with Chelsea Clarke
Why people sell websites, how the website buying and selling process works, and the characteristics that make a site more valuable with Chelsea Clarke. ----- Welcome to episode 297 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Clarke about buying and selling websites. Blog Flipping Starting and growing your own blog is an exciting and fulfilling process, but it can also be a difficult and time-consuming. And if you want to grow your own business, have you ever considered skipping the “starting” process all-together? That’s right! You can actually buy a profitable site to build and grow, and that’s exactly what Chelsea is here to talk about today. She’ll walk you through the entire buying process and give you tips if you’re considering selling your own website. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Chelsea got her start Why people would sell their sites How much you could expect from selling a website How payments for websites work How the buying and selling process works What makes a site more valuable The different types of buyers How to make secure payments when you’re buying a site How taking over an ad account works How to take the first few steps in this process Resources: Her Paper Route WP Tasty SureSwift Capital Tasty Pins Genesis Framework Blogs for Sale Ezoic Quiet Light Buy then Build Follow Chelsea on Instagram here and here Get your free website valuation If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, March 16, 2021
Web Stories - An Informal, Intentional Way to Engage Your Audience and Reach New People with Kingston Duffie
Repurposing your content for Google Web Stories, the elements of a successful Web Story, and how Google Web Stories translate to traffic for your site with Kingston Duffie. ----- Welcome to episode 296 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kingston Duffie from Slickstream about Google Web Stories. Web Stories Have you heard of Google Web Stories? Are you creating them for your content right now? Do you know how they work? Slickstream’s Kingston Duffie is here on the podcast to talk about how creators can utilize them today! He’ll chat about his top tips for creating engaging Web Stories and getting the most value out of the Web Stories you create for your blog, as well as the ins and outs of how these Web Stories work within search results. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Slickstream works His approach for building businesses What he thinks about the future of the web The history of Stories on the web How to repurpose your social media Stories for Web Stories The elements of a successful Web Story Why creators publish Web Stories What Google Discover is and how it works How Google Web Story views translate to website traffic How UTM tags work Resources: 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie Slickstream Pinch of Yum NerdPress Web Stories, not Web Teasers Web Stories Q&A Google App on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store How Web Stories Appear Across Google Google Search Console Web Stories plugin for WordPress Slickstream’s Engagement Suite If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership <
Tue, March 09, 2021
Writing and Developing Recipes - From Culinary School to Working in a Restaurant to Blogging with Leslie
How to test recipes, communicate the important features of a recipe, and standardize the recipes on your blog with Leslie Jeon. ----- Welcome to episode 295 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews our Member Success Manager, Leslie Jeon, about developing consistent, standardized recipes for your food blog. Writing and Developing Recipes As food bloggers, we sometimes get caught up in the importance of photography, SEO, and monetization, but we forget about the actual product we’re producing day in and day out –– recipes! While those other elements are important as you’re working on growing your blog, writing and developing incredible recipes is a crucial foundation of running a successful food blog. That’s why Leslie, our incredible Member Success Manager here at Food Blogger Pro, is here today! In this interview, she talks all about her culinary school background and offers tips to bloggers who want to develop better, easier-to-follow recipes for your blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: What culinary school was like Why you might want to include volume and weight measurements on your blog How to write standardized recipes for your blog How to test recipes for your blog Why having recipe testers are important How to properly credit recipe inspiration If you can over-communicate when publishing recipes Resources: Learn more about our How to Write Recipes course International Culinary Center The Great British Baking Show The Importance of Measuring Ingredients by Weight for Your Recipes King Arthur Baking Company’s Ingredient Weight Chart The Flavor Bible Mr. Beast Sally’s Baking Addiction Emma Duckworth Bakes Ira Glass quote Recipe Attribution from David Lebovitz 129: Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/experts/danie
Tue, March 02, 2021
Bake Offs – Producing a Different Kind of Recipe Content for a Food Blog with Erika Kwee
How to create unique recipe content, balance a blog and a full-time job, and produce content your readers will love with Erika Kwee. ----- Welcome to episode 294 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Erika Kwee from The Pancake Princess about the Bake Off series on her blog. Bake Offs Erika has a food blog, The Pancake Princess, but her most popular posts aren’t about recipes that she has developed herself. Instead, her most popular posts are from her Bake Off series where she tries multiple recipes for the same food from around the internet and breaks them down by what makes them similar, what makes them different, and which are her and her taste testers’ favorites. In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into Erika’s Bake Off posts and taking about how she produces this comprehensive and unique content for her blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: When and why Erika started her blog How her Bake Offs works Her “formula” for putting these Bake Off posts together How she has worked with sponsors on these Bake Off posts How she has incorporated video into the Bake Off series Which of the Bake Offs were Erika’s favorite What to expect in future Bake Offs Her advice for switching up the content you’re producing on your blog Resources: The Pancake Princess The Bake Offs on The Pancake Princess Pinch of Yum Google Forms Check out Erika’s Lofthouse Cookie Bake Off video Claire Saffitz’s Carrot Cake recipe 5 Tips for Growing a Blog While Working Full-Time Follow Erika on Instagram and on YouTube If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, February 23, 2021
A $100k Side Hustle - How to Balance a Full-Time Job and a Profitable Side Hustle with Brett Lindenberg
Keyword research and content types and the decisions that helped increase Food Truck Empire's income with Brett Lindenberg. ----- Welcome to episode 293 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Brett Lindenberg about growing his site, Food Truck Empire, alongside working a full-time job. A $100k Side Hustle It can be tough building and growing a side hustle like a blog alongside working a 9–5 full-time job. So when we heard that Food Blogger Pro Member, Brett from the site Food Truck Empire, was making $100k a year with his blog while continuing to work at his full-time job, we knew we needed to invite him on the podcast to talk about how he did it. This interview is jam-packed with keyword research guidance, tips about working with contractors, stories about buying other sites, and advice surrounding content creation. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: When he realized a website could make money How he decided to build a site around the topic of food trucks Why he works full-time and balances a blog What it looks like to work with contractors Why he bought other sites How switching ad companies helped his site’s bottom line The decisions that were most impactful to his blog’s income How he build and sold a course How he does keyword research and thinks in “content types” Resources: Food Truck Empire 053: Pat Flynn’s Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly Baremetrics Buffer ConvertKit OnlineJobs.ph Food Truck Empire’s Marketplace AdSense AdThrive Mediavine WP Tasty 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Ahrefs Semrush Mr. Beast Connect with Brett via email If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . <p
Tue, February 16, 2021
Life Profitability - Building a Business that Can Serve Your Life with Adii Pienaar
How to measure Life Profitability, practicing mindfulness, and how your personal values can connect to your brand's values with Adii Pienaar. ----- Welcome to episode 292 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adii Pienaar about his new book, “Life Profitability.” Life Profitability When starting and building your own business, it’s easy to get “tunnel vision” and put all of your time, effort, and thoughts into making it succeed. But will all of that brain-space spent on your business make your life more fulfilling? Adii is here today to talk about why that’s not necessarily the case, and instead, argue for the need of a healthy balance between life, business, and productivity. This interview will have you challenging your definition of success and inspire you to work towards creating a more mindful, value-driven life and brand. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to stay in the moment How Adii practices mindfulness How to have a healthy work/life balance Why it’s okay to have off days Why you should align your personal values with your brand values What Life Profitability is How your values are connected to your time investments Resources: Life Profitability: The New Measure of Entrepreneurial Success WooCommerce Conversio Calm The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life The Values Factor: The Secret to Creating an Inspired and Fulfilling Life The Social Dilemma Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life Check out Adii’s site Cogsy If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, February 09, 2021
Going Live - How to Inspire Your Audience Through Live Events with Angel Marie
Inspiring your audience, how to confidently host a live event, and communication before and after an event with Angel Marie. ----- Welcome to episode 291 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Angel Marie about planning and hosting webinars. Going Live Webinars or live events can be a great way to communicate with your audience, sell a product or service, or switch up the way you produce content online. That said, presenting information to your audience in a live event may seem a bit overwhelming. There’s the marketing piece, the “getting ready to go live” piece, the actual presentation piece, and the post-event follow-up piece, and they all have to work together to effectively communicate your ideas and advice. It can feel like… a lot. But there are ways you can streamline the process to help you teach and inspire your audience through these live events. Angel, the Content Educator over at ConvertKit, is a pro at hosting and facilitating live events, and she’s here on the podcast to help you become more confident in presenting your ideas in a live setting. She’s an incredible communicator, presenter, and motivator, and her tips and ideas will help you overcome any doubts or uncertainties you have about going live in front of your audience. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she got her start in digital marketing The difference between evergreen and live events How to confidently go live How to establish trust between you and your audience The different processes that can help you produce a live event How to promote your live event The different parts of a successful webinar How to balance being helpful and marketing your products or services How communication before and after a webinar can work Resources: ConvertKit Reach Records Youth Frontiers ConvertKit Commerce Zoom EasyWebinar WebinarJam BigMarker Sign up for a ConvertKit account for free Join a ConvertKit webinar Connect with Angel on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining
Mon, February 01, 2021
Blogger Burnout - Ways to Strengthen Your Relationship with Your Work with Bjork Ostrom
How to track user-controlled analytics, what a mental activity monitor is, and how to align with your journey with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 290 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about blogger burnout and how you can improve the relationship you have with your work. Blogger Burnout When you’re living that solopreneur life, the process of starting and growing your blog can get overwhelming. The countless tasks, to-dos, and responsibilities can really add up over time, leading to a sense of fatigue and burnout. In this episode, Bjork shares seven different concepts that can help you combat those feelings of blogger burnout and fall back in love with your work. And we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments here –– how do you overcome those feelings of burnout? In this episode, you’ll learn: The idea of a mental activity monitor What user-controlled analytics are and how to track your progress How to “add frosting to a cracker” What it means to align to your journey Why it helps to have friends who are removed from the work you’re doing Why you should consider taking a break if you need one Resources: 277: Care For Yourself – Mental Health for Entrepreneurs with Sherry Walling If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 26, 2021
The Rise - How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected the Restaurant Industry and Celebrating Black Culture in American Food with Marcus Samuelsson
A conversation about running a restaurant during a pandemic, writing a book about Black food in America, and how to understand Black culture through food with Chef Marcus Samuelsson. ----- Welcome to episode 289 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chef Marcus Samuelsson about his experience in the restaurant industry during the COVID–19 pandemic and how he is celebrating Black culture through food. How the COVID–19 Pandemic Has Affected the Restaurant Industry and Celebrating Black Excellence in American Food Marcus Samuelsson is a chef, an immigrant, a restaurateur, and an author, and he’s here to talk about the restaurant and food industry and Black food culture in America. You’ll first hear about his experiences as a restauranteur and how he has essentially had to start from scratch and reinvent himself during the COVID–19 pandemic. Food is a way that we communicate with and relate to one another, so the pandemic is creating some unique challenges in the restaurant and food industry. Then he talks about Black food in America and how we can learn and grow in our understanding of Black culture through food. He’ll encourage you to do the work and immerse yourself in the incredible foods and dishes that celebrate Black culture, as well as share the story of his new book, “The Rise.” In this episode, you’ll learn: How his life has changed since the beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic What World Central Kitchen does Why he felt ready for a challenge like a pandemic When he knew he wanted to be a chef The origin and story of his new cookbook, The Rise How to participate in Black experiences Resources: The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food: A Cookbook Jose Andres World Central Kitchen No Passport Required Genius Aquavit This Moment Podcast Follow Marcus on Instagram and connect with him on his website If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 19, 2021
Email for Bloggers - Maximizing the Value of Your Email List with Allea Grummert
Setting up a welcome sequence, how to segment your email subscribers, and gaining new subscribers with Allea Grummert. ----- Welcome to episode 288 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Allea Grummert about marketing your blog to your email list. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Russ and Natalie Monson about building online businesses. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Email for Bloggers How would you describe your email marketing strategy? Solid? Not quite? Not even close? Regardless of how much time and effort you’ve spent building and maintaining your email list, this interview with Allea Grummert from Duett will help you grow, refine, and nurture the email subscribers you have for your blog. She talks about welcome sequences, segmentation, opt-ins, and more –– enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Allea helps creators with their email marketing Why your email list is so valuable What a welcome sequence is How to segment your email list How to maintain your sequences What RSS emails are How to get followers and subscribers Resources: Duett 229: Email Marketing – Strategies for Bloggers with Allea Grummert 279: Financial Independence – How to Be Efficient with Your Money with Anna Rider Mint Live Q&A - Welcome Sequences and Nurturing Your Email List – for members only! ConvertKit Work with Allea Hotjar Snag some exclusive resources from Allea! Find Allea on Food Blogger Pro! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 12, 2021
Entrepreneurial Balance - An Honest Conversation about Life and Business with Russ and Natalie Monson
How outside funding affects a business, running a business with your significant other, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance with Russ and Natalie Monson. ----- Welcome to episode 287 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Russ and Natalie Monson about building online businesses. Entrepreneurial Balance As entrepreneurs, business owners, and bloggers, we know that it’s sometimes tough to find balance between life and work. That’s what we’re focusing on in this interview with Russ and Natalie Monson from Super Healthy Kids and Prepear. Throughout their time as entrepreneurs, they’ve grown a food blog, built an app, received funding for their business, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn how they do it all while maintaining a healthy balance with their other responsibilities. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Russ and Natalie started working together How they started working on Super Healthy Kids full-time How they came up with the idea for Prepear How they found balance and a healthy relationship with their work How taking outside funding affects a business What it was like to get sued by Apple How Prepear works Resources: Super Healthy Kids Prepear Big Magic “I Was a Starter Wife”: Inside America’s Messiest Divorce Gumroad Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company Marco Polo Apple goes after meal-prep company Prepear over its ‘similar’ logo Learn more about Prepear for food bloggers Email Russ -- russ@prepear.com Learn more about WP Tasty’s sale! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, January 05, 2021
Build Your Team - How to Write an Eye-Catching Job Listing and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron
Screening applicants, knowing you're ready to hire, and the best questions to ask in an interview with Emily Perron. ----- Welcome to episode 286 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emily Perron about hiring freelance help. Build Your Team One of the inevitable truths of running and growing your own business is that you’ll need to hire some help at some point. But how do you make sure that your job listing is as eye-catching and descriptive as it can be? How do you ask the right questions in an interview? How do you make sure you’re hiring the right person for the job? That’s what Emily is here to talk about today! In this episode, we dive deep into the world of hiring freelancers, from figuring out when it’s time to hire to all of the boxes you should check throughout the hiring process. In this episode, you’ll learn: The toughest parts of the hiring process The kinds of job listings that aren’t appealing to freelancers Why a hiring process is necessary What to include in an attractive job listing How to screen applicants How to ask the important questions in an interview Examples of candidate red flags The differences between freelancers and employees How to know when you’re ready to hire First roles that people hire for How to properly pay freelancers When to consider hiring How to work with Emily Resources: What to include in the contract when hiring a freelancer The first thing to do when thinking about hiring support What you don’t know about how long it takes to hire freelancers Google Forms Typeform Airtable Upwork Justworks Tara Teaspoon Gusto Fiverr Check out Emily’s site , get in touch , and follow her on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com<
Tue, December 29, 2020
FBP Rewind - Feeling Stuck - What To Do When You Feel Like You’ve Done Everything with Bjork Ostrom
How to pay attention to when you feel tension, focusing on your craft, and serving your audience as a blogger with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 285 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to an episode we shared earlier this year about what to do when you feel like you’ve done everything. What To Do When You Feel Like You’ve Done Everything I’m sure there has been a time in all of our blogging journeys where we feel like we’re doing everything we can, yet the traffic, income, subscriber, and/or follower numbers just aren’t moving. So what do you do then? What do you do when you feel like you’ve done everything you can? That’s what this episode is all about. Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement when you’re feeling stuck. In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of limiting comparison How to be flexible and understand what you’re trying to achieve What it means to focus on your craft Why posting frequency isn’t super important Why it might make sense to “niche down” How to serve your audience Resources: Lindsay’s personal Instagram account 003: Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction on Creating Success 018: How to Build an Online Business Without Blogging with Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 22, 2020
FBP Rewind - Income - Making More Money Without Doing More Work with Bjork Ostrom
How to understand small business taxes, what S-Corp elections are, and how to review your blogging expenses every quarter with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 284 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to an episode that will help you optimize your income and make more money from blogging. Making More Money Without Doing More Work Welcome to our first FBP Rewind episode in this two-part series! Today, we’re rewinding back to a solo episode with Bjork where he talks about the ways you can maximize your blogging income. Between implementing smarter ways you can track your income to understanding different tax laws, this episode will help you implement some helpful money-making strategies in the new year. This episode is a great reminder that small tweaks in your day-to-day can help your business get to the next level. In this episode, you’ll learn: How business programs work How to track your mileage What purchases you can expense for your blog Why you should consider hiring a CPA When you should do an S-Corp election How you can hire help Why it’s helpful to review your expenses every quarter How home office deductions work How to be proactive and ask for a raise Resources: Apple Business Automatic Bill Shark Download our free ebook, 16 Ways You Can Monetize Your Site If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 15, 2020
Looking Forward - How to Make 2021 a TinyBit Better with Bjork Ostrom
The value of offering help, utilizing processes to make decisions, and reserving some unstructured time for yourself with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 283 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about five different ways that you can try to make 2021 better than this year. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Looking Forward We’re all probably hoping that 2021 is a lot better than 2020 has been, and in today’s episode, Bjork is covering five different ways that you can try and make that happen. From partnering with others to leaning into processes to help guide decisions, we’re hoping that you can tuck some of these ideas into your back pocket and pull them out as you strive towards personal and business growth in the new year. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to focus on stability How to partner with others Why you should offer help when you can Why processes help guide decisions What it looks like to create unstructured time How to know you’re on the right path Resources: Clariti Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox 15Five If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 08, 2020
9 Things - Helpful, Impactful Takeaways from This Year with Bjork Ostrom
How to use a framework to accomplish a goal, asking for help, evaluating your needs, and thinking about your legacy with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 282 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020. Helpful, Impactful Takeaways from This Year This year has been a bit of a doozy, hasn’t it? Even with it being an eventful year, we still have some positive takeaways that we’re planning on bringing into 2021 (and beyond). And that’s what this episode is all about! In this solo-episode, Bjork shares nine of the most helpful and impactful takeaways from the year, ranging from personal development to business growth to mental health and beyond. We’d love to hear your most impactful takeaways from this year in the comments section on the show notes for this episode: foodbloggerpro.com/282 In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s important to ask for help The impact that a framework can have on your goals How to evaluate your needs The difference between a personal brand and a brand that’s personal Why you should understand your financial books How to ponder your legacy Resources: EOS Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox Clariti Loom Dropbox If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, December 01, 2020
The Business of Food Photography - Building a Food Photography Career with Christina Peters
How to build a high-quality food photography business, finding clients, and organizing shoot days with Christina Peters. ----- Welcome to episode 281 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Christina Peters from Food Photography Blog about how she has built a career out of photographing food. The Business of Food Photography When you’re building your food photography career, you can face a lot of questions. Questions like: What should my rate be? How do I find clients? What should a shoot look like? How do I deliver top-notch service? That’s what Christina is here to talk all about today! She has coordinated and prepped over 1000 food photography jobs over her career, and she’s here on the podcast to talk all about her strategies and tips that will help you build and grow your own food photography business. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Christina got started with photography Why business is sometimes more difficult than photography Qualities of incredible food photography businesses How to build trust as a food photographer How to find clients as a food photographer How to deliver excellent service What terms like “stand-in,” “hero,” and “usage fee” mean on a photo shoot How to set a day rate Tips for filling a photography portfolio Resources: Food Photography Blog Capture One Pro Download Christina’s 4 Figure Day Rate Plan Food Photography Club Christina’s personal site Christina’s free Facebook group Sign up for an annual Food Blogger Pro membership and save over $70! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, November 24, 2020
A New Recipe Experience - Getting Started with SideChef with Sandie Markle
How SideChef works with partners, creating clear step-by-step recipes, and how to use SideChef with Sandie Markle. ----- Welcome to episode 280 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sandie Markle from SideChef about how their platform helps foodies and creators. Getting Started with SideChef Today on the podcast, you’ll hear about SideChef, which is a platform that’s aimed at making the cooking experience easier. With a custom app, tailored cooking experiences, and dynamic recipe guidance, SideChef wants to make the whole cooking journey easier for its users. Sandie Markle, SideChef’s Director of Content Partnerships, will share how SideChef helps their users with meal planning, grocery delivery, and smart kitchen connectivity, as well as how bloggers, content creators, and influencers can get involved with their Micro-Influencer Program. It’s a really cool platform, and we’re excited to help you learn more about it in today’s episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: What SideChef is How content creators can add their recipes to SideChef How to increase engagement with virtual assistants How to create clear step-by-step recipes How SideChef works with partners How to create money from SideChef Resources: SideChef Pinch of Yum Bjork’s pancake recipe Ipsy Learn more about SideChef’s Content Partner Program Email Sandie – sandie@sidechef.com Join our email list and download our guide about 16 different ways you can monetize your site at foodbloggerpro.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, November 17, 2020
Financial Independence - How to Be Efficient with Your Money with Anna Rider
Trimming unnecessary spending, how to start tracking your spending and budgeting, and working towards financial freedom with Anna Rider. ----- Welcome to episode 279 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anna Rider from Garlic Delight about financial independence and retiring early. Financial Independence This is a different kind of episode for us, but it’s about a topic that affects us all as creators, bloggers, and side hustlers: business and personal finances. How do you manage your spending? Do you understand the value of the business and personal purchases you’re making? Can you calculate the expected value of a blog post? Not only are you looking to maximize the return on the money you spend on your business, but you’re also probably working to save money for long-term goals. Understanding your finances is a crucial step as you’re working towards financial independence and retirement. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about budgeting, tracking your spending, and understanding the impact of the money you spend, this episode with Anna is for you! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Anna became interested in personal finance What FIRE means and how it works for food bloggers How to trim unnecessary spending How to start tracking your spending and budgeting for purchases How to understand the environmental impact of your lifestyle How to evaluate whether your purchases are getting you closer to your goals How to calculate the expected value of a blog post Why blogging is a long-term game Where you can go to learn more about financial freedom Resources: 265: Adapting and Adjusting – Having a Gratitude Mindset with Beth Moncel Mr. Money Mustache The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement An Interactive Guide to Early Retirement and Financial Independence Your Money or Your Life FinCon Garlic Delight Atomic Habits Vicki Robin Frugalwoods <a href= "https://ww
Tue, November 10, 2020
Lessons from a Veteran Food Blogger - How to Overcome a 60% Dip in Traffic with Carrie Forrest
Deleting content on a blog, noindexing posts, and optimizing blog category pages with Carrie Forrest. ----- Welcome to episode 278 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Carrie Forrest about some of the SEO enhancement she has made to her blog this year. How to Overcome a 60% Dip in Traffic Do you know which of your posts are performing the best? Do you know which ones aren’t getting any search traffic? That’s what Carrie is back on the podcast to talk about today! Carrie has been blogging for over 10 years, and in that time, she has published a lot of content. But not all content performs equally. As the result of an SEO audit after she experienced a large dip in traffic, Carrie decided to refresh and delete nearly 2/3 of the content on her site. Through that process of learning about the health of her site as a whole, Carrie now better understands how her content performs and how her content supports the mission of her blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: How one of her recipes went viral, but not in a good way How Google updates can affect site traffic Why Carrie deleted 2/3 of her content What noindexing means Why you should optimize your category pages Why Carrie decided to build her audience on YouTube Resources: 152: 6 Blogging Mistakes Made By a Veteran Food Blogger with Carrie Forrest Clean Eating Kitchen How to Make Frozen Grapes on Clean Eating Kitchen Healthy Meal Prep Instant Pot Cookbook The Quick & Easy Healthy Cookbook Media Wyse Find Casey on Food Blogger Pro Google Search Console Ahrefs Majestic 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic Food Bloggers Central Follow Carrie on Instagram </
Tue, November 03, 2020
Care For Yourself - Mental Health for Entrepreneurs with Sherry Walling
Finding balance in entrepreneurship, engaging with your significant other about your business, and dealing with burnout with Sherry Walling. ----- Welcome to episode 277 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sherry Walling from Zen Founder about how entrepreneurs can care for their mental wellbeing. Care For Yourself The focus of today’s episode is mental health for entrepreneurs – why it’s so important, practices that support positive mental health, and how to make lasting behavioral changes. Bjork interviews Zen Founder co-founder Sherry Walling in this episode, and she draws on her background as a clinical psychologist who has experience supporting high achieving people with high-intensity jobs to help entrepreneurs support their mental health and emotions. Your mental health is important, it matters, and it’s okay and necessary to take the time to care for yourself. This episode will give you some ideas and strategies to care for your mental health through your entrepreneurial journey. In this episode, you’ll learn: How and why Sherry started ZenFounder How Sherry helps entrepreneurs What are the foundational practices that support mental health Why the “hustle” lifestyle isn’t sustainable How to make a behavioral change Why our emotions are good indicators that something needs to change Tools and apps that can help with habit formation and mental health How to control your feelings regardless of external chaos How to balance all of your responsibilities in a sustainable way How to engage your significant other in your business The importance of play What burnout is When to reach out for help Resources: Zen Founder Startups For The Rest of Us Basecamp Headspace Calm Zen Founder Podcast The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Sh*t Together Connect with Sherry on her website If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/mem
Tue, October 27, 2020
Featured Podcast - Scaling Your Business & Providing Massive Value with Bjork on the Irie Lemon Podcast
Transitioning to full-time blogging, running a blog as a business, and making every day enjoyable with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 276 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Irie Lemon Podcast with Liz Della Croce and Vincent Mcintosh. Scaling Your Business & Providing Massive Value Today’s episode is a bit different from normal, and that’s because we’re featuring an episode of the Irie Lemon Podcast. Liz and Vincent interviewed Bjork a few weeks ago about his unique journey from non-profit educator to food and tech CEO. You’ll hear stories of how Bjork and Lindsay formed their businesses, how Bjork stays inspired, and how he delegates and hires. We hope you enjoy this featured podcast episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: The quick story of Pinch of Yum, Food Blogger Pro, Nutrifox, and TinyBit What Bjork did before starting Food Blogger Pro How Bjork and Lindsay transitioned to blogging full-time How Bjork and Lindsay described running a blog as a business Why Bjork wanted to educate others through the income reports on Pinch of Yum How to find your why How to make every day enjoyable How Bjork and Lindsay passed responsibilities off to others What intentional ignorance and radical delegation mean The story behind Food Blogger Pro Why you only need to be expert enough to each someone something Resources: Irie Lemon Podcast Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox Clariti Atomic Habits Youth Frontiers 1000 True Fans Baremetrics ConvertKit Buffer Pinch of Yum Income Reports Smart Passive Income The Social Dilemma Designing Your Life The Life Coach School EOS Pilot </l
Tue, October 20, 2020
Optimizing Ads - How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Display Ads with Paul Bannister and Becca Clark
Ad revenue in Q4, common traits of top ad revenue-earning sites, and balancing ad revenue and user experience with AdThrive. ----- Welcome to episode 275 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Bannister and Becca Clark from AdThrive about how ad revenue works and how food bloggers can increase the income they get from ads. Optimizing Ads Let’s talk about ads. They’re a simple way to make some money from your site (essentially, the more traffic you have, the more ad revenue you can potentially make), and there are many different strategies to help you optimize your ad revenue out there. But ad placement and revenue is an art and a science. Paul and Becca from AdThrive are here on the podcast to talk about how ads work and how food bloggers can optimize the ads they run on their sites. It’s an interesting conversation in how ads operate behind-the-scenes, as well as how incredible content is essentially the ultimate driver of ad revenue. In this episode, you’ll learn: What they do at AdThrive Common traits of top ad revenue-earning sites How to evaluate ad managers How to optimize your ad income What a Google Certified Publisher is What viewable ads and sticky ads are How recipe ads work How to balance ad revenue and user experience How to optimize ads for Q4 How the food industry is trending Resources: AdThrive WP Recipe Maker Tasty Recipes If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership
Tue, October 13, 2020
Q&A - How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4
Maximizing your Q4 revenue, how to keep the Q4 momentum, and republishing content with Bjork Ostrom and Jenna Arend. ----- Welcome to episode 274 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re re-sharing a Q&A we held for our Food Blogger Pro members where Bjork and Pinch of Yum’s General Manager, Jenna, answer questions about preparing for Q4. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal about the ways that bloggers can protect their content. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4 Q4 is made up of the last three months of the year (October, November, and December), and it’s a big deal for food bloggers. Why? Because people are hungry for recipes! They want recipes for Halloween, Thanksgiving, the holidays. And when we’re not experiencing a pandemic, they want crowd-pleasing recipes and recipes they can make for their holiday parties and get-togethers. Not only that, but advertising spend goes up during these three months. Sponsors are looking for bloggers and content creators who can create seasonal content, and display ad revenue goes up because traffic is up. To help you prepare for Q4, today we’re sharing the Q&A we hosted with our Food Blogger Pro members last week! We have these live Q&As every single month for our Food Blogger Pro members. Sometimes we focus on a specific topic (like this one), and other times it’s an excuse to pick Bjork’s brain on any blogging topic under the sun. It’s so fun to connect, answer our members’ toughest questions, and have an hour to intentionally work on getting a tiny bit better. We hope you enjoy this replay of our Q&A from October 2020! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Jenna’s role looks like on the Pinch of Yum team How the Pinch of Yum team is preparing for Q4 Tips for Q4 if your blog is new How to maximize affiliate earnings in Q4 Alternatives to the Amazon affiliate programs How Q4 differs from Q1 and how to keep the momentum into the new year How to choose whether to create a new recipe or republish existing content What Pinch of Yum’s current email strategy looks like Resources: Pinch of Yum October Coffee Date post on Pinch of Yum Republishing Content course Google Search Console course Pi
Tue, October 06, 2020
Protecting Your Content - Policies and Trademarks and Disclaimers...oh my! with Danielle Liss
How to create and maintain Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, disclaimers, and more to protect your content with Danielle Liss. ----- Welcome to episode 273 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal about the ways that bloggers can protect their content. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Les Alfred from Balanced Black Girl about building a brand that allows you to share your message. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Protecting Your Content You spend a lot of time creating content; how can you make sure that your content is actually protected? That’s where things can get kind of…confusing. What can be copyrighted? What are DMCA takedown notices? Do you need a disclaimer? How often should you update your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy? Danielle is here on the podcast to discuss it all! You work hard to produce the content for your blog and brand – in today’s episode, you’ll learn how to make sure your work, your business, and your content are all protected. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Danielle helps digital creators How protecting your content can get tricky Why you might want to register a trademark and monitor your content What the DMCA is How copyrights work When you would look into suing How to create and maintain your Terms of Service The difference between your Terms of Service and your Privacy Policy How disclaimers work on your site and on Instagram How ebook disclaimers work Resources: LISS Legal Pixsy Businessese Businessese legal templates Check out our Businessese Deals! WooCommerce Reach out to Danielle via email and follow her on Instagram Meet out other Food Blogger Pro Experts Learn more about becoming a Food Blogger Pro member If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.
Tue, September 29, 2020
Create Your Own Room - Finding Balance with Les Alfred
Tips for dealing with Imposter Syndrome, managing a podcast, and starting a new brand with Les Alfred. ----- Welcome to episode 272 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Les Alfred from Balanced Black Girl about building a brand that allows you to share your message. Create Your Own Room Have you ever worked on a project and just felt that something about it was…off? It’s as though it just doesn’t fit with your vision, your wants, or your passions? That’s exactly where Les found herself two years ago when she was a food and fitness blogger at The Balanced Berry. She took a step back, leaned into the discomfort she was feeling, and ultimately started a new brand, podcast, and website all under the Balanced Black Girl name. It’s under this brand that Les is able to relay the message she feels called to share to her audience and have meaningful conversations with others who help her spread her mission. In this conversation, Les shares advice for bloggers who feel like they need a break, how she deals with Impostor Syndrome, and how to manage feeling lost and get back on track. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she started her own food blog How she knew it was time to pivot Her advice for taking a break How Les knew Balanced Black Girl was going to be a good fit How she builds her podcast journey How she manages her podcast queue What it’s like to start something new How she dealt with Impostor Syndrome How she uses her podcast as a piece of her business Her encouragement for people who are feeling a bit lost Resources: The Balanced Berry Les’ “A New Chapter” blog post Balanced Black Girl Balanced Black Girl Podcast Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear The Life of a Project Graph Steal like an Artist Airtable Black Food Bloggers Club The War of Art Les’ #WellnessSoWhite podcast episode Follow <a
Tue, September 22, 2020
Serving Your Subscribers - Running a Subscription-Based Business in 2020 with Melissa Lanz
How consumers use subscriptions, how to stay competitive as a subscription-based business, and how to get paid for your work with Melissa Lanz. ----- Welcome to episode 271 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Melissa Lanz from The Fresh 20 about running subscription businesses in 2020. Serving Your Subscribers Do you have a subscription-based business? If not, this episode may convince you to add one to your monetization strategy! Melissa runs the subscription-based business, The Fresh 20, and she’s back here on the podcast this week to talk about how you can help your readers with a useful subscription service. She’ll help you understand the best way to find and serve “your people,” identify your audience’s problems, and offer solutions with the content you produce. Subscription businesses can be a great way to create a sustainable income as an entrepreneur AND serve your audience along the way. You’ll learn how in this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How her business has changed in the past five years How typical consumers use subscriptions If we’re at risk for subscription fatigue How to stay competitive with a subscription-based business How to be a resource for your audience How you transition to getting paid for your work Resources: The Fresh 20 023: Building a Team for your Online Business with Melissa Lanz from The Fresh 20 SUBTA The Automatic Customer Sally’s Baking Addiction 269: Quality Content – How To Create The Best Recipes for Your Readers with Sally McKenney Beauty Pie Delivering Happiness Follow Melissa on her personal site , on Facebook , or on Instagram The Subscription Lab If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 15, 2020
Get It Done - 11 Apps to Make You Superhuman with Bjork Ostrom
How to remind yourself of personal and business tasks, protect your stuff from theft, and keep a tidy computer with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 270 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about his must-have apps for a productive business and personal life. Get It Done Apps are great to help you become more productive, track your progress, and optimize your day. But which are our absolute favorites? The ones we rely on day after day, week after week to help us get it all done? That’s what Bjork is focusing on in this episode. You’ll hear about the apps and tools he uses to fly through email, stay on top of business and personal tasks, record quick videos, and stay hydrated with a color-changing water bottle. Yes, seriously. We’re excited to share some of our favorite apps with you today! And if you have any must-have apps, leave them in the comments at foodbloggerpro.com/270 –– we’d love to hear your suggestions! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Screen Time/Downtime works on Apple products How to use Things to remind yourself of business and personal tasks How to quickly manage your inbox How to send recurring emails How to use Asana as a team How video can help prevent miscommunication How to strengthen your passwords How to drink more water in a techy way How to store articles for later How to protect your computer or phone from theft How to keep your computer tidy and free from viruses Resources: Information about Apple’s Screen Time and Downtime 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen Things Superhuman Gmail Boomerang Asana Loom ScreenFlow 1Password Hidrate Pocket Tile CleanMyMac If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 08, 2020
Quality Content - How To Create The Best Recipes for Your Readers with Sally McKenney
How to manage a team as a blogger, republish content, and identify high-quality content with Sally McKenney. ----- Welcome to episode 269 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally McKenney about how she creates the very best recipe content for her readers. How To Create The Best Recipes for Your Readers We’re so excited to welcome Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction back to the podcast after five years. Fun fact: she was the first true interviewee on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This episode is loaded with valuable information for any blogger at any part of the blogging journey. Sally talks about what it’s like to run a blog and balance being a parent, how she delegates tasks, the work she’ll always do for her blog, and the kind of work that has been most beneficial to her blog’s growth. Then she’ll talk about the importance of creating awesome content for your readers. What does it look like? How do you update your older content to be even better? She answers all of these questions (and more!) in this interview. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Sally decided to hire help How her team helps her run her blog The things she’ll always do for her blog What has had the biggest impact on her blog and business How she thinks SBA may change in the future How she optimized for SEO How she republishes her content Why she doesn’t have any regrets What she wants to focus on in the future How she measures quality content How she would start a new blog today Resources: Sally’s Baking Addiction 003: Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction on Creating Success Follow Sally on Instagram and Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 01, 2020
FBP Rewind - Blogging Misconceptions, How to Choose a Host, and Why WordPress
Is the blogging niche too saturated, how to find a good host for your website, and the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. ----- Welcome to episode 268 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re resharing an episode in which we offer advice to new food bloggers. Blogging Misconceptions, How to Choose a Host, and Why WordPress We’re going back to basics today and resharing an episode from 2019 about starting a blog. If you have an idea for a blog, business, series, post, or product, we hope this episode will help give you a bit of a push to actually start. First, you’ll hear from Bjork. He covers three of the most common blogging misconceptions we hear from new bloggers and how you can switch your thought processes around them. Next up: Andrew, our Site Speed Expert here at Food Blogger Pro. In his section, he’s talking all about hosting. For instance, did you know he recommends changing hosts every few years?! Last, our old WP Tasty Lead, Raquel. She’s talking all about WordPress and why it’s the CMS we recommend for food bloggers. We think you’ll have a lot of great takeaways from this episode, regardless of whether your blog is brand new or if you’ve been blogging for years. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you don’t need to have a ton of content to launch Why you have to love the idea AND the work Why there’s still a place for your blog What hosting is How to find a good host When you should switch your hosting Why we use and recommend WordPress WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org What it means when a plugin is premium Resources: 1000 True Fans 213: Trends – The Latest in Site Speed, How to Find Timely Content, and Social Media Trends WP Engine Siteground BigScoots Cloudways NerdPress WP Tasty WordPress plugin directory Raquel’s personal site If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com" target="
Tue, August 25, 2020
FBP Rewind - An Architect’s Journey to Becoming a Freelance Food Photographer with Ashley McLaughlin
Creating a freelance photography business, shooting in manual mode, understanding a DSLR, and tips for improving your food photography skills with Ashley McLaughlin. ----- Welcome to episode 267 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode about freelance food photography with Ashley McLaughlin. Freelance Food Photography…with a side of Architecture We’re revisiting one of our past episodes about food photography this week! We interviewed Ashley McLaughlin back in 2017 about her freelance food photography business, and we’re resharing that episode with you today. Architecture and food…it doesn’t sound like there would be many similarities between the two, right? But there are, and Ashley’s background in architecture helped her understand experience, perspective, and design in a culinary setting. After staring her blog, Edible Perspective, as a way to stay creative, Ashley’s love of food transformed into a love of photography. After a long learning process, she went from a complete novice with a DSLR to understanding exposure meters, shooting in manual mode, and writing a food photography series on her blog. Now she’s a full-time freelance food photographer who has photographed multiple cookbooks for bloggers. It’s a good reminder that your blog isn’t the only money-maker in this industry; freelance food photography or writing can be a great way to build an income by doing what you love. In this episode, you’ll learn: How recipe creation is like architecture Why she launched her blog How she started using a DSLR Her tips for improving your food photography skills How she was able to become a full-time freelance food photographer Resources: Check out our recent Photography Live Q&A with Ashley! – for members only About the Slow Food Movement Michael Pollan books Canon 5D Mark III Canon 7D Oh She Glows Every Day Peas and Thank You Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love <a href= "https://www.am
Tue, August 18, 2020
FBP Rewind - Write More, Write Better, and Write Smarter with Gabriela Pereira
Learn how to write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community in this special FBP Rewind episode with Gabriela Pereira from DIY MFA. Welcome to episode 266 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to one of our most popular episodes about writing with Gabriela Pereira from DIY MFA. Write More, Write Better, and Write Smarter Writing –– do you love it or hate it? It seems to be one of those topics that really divide people; either you love the creative process of putting words onto paper or…you don’t. Today’s FBP Rewind episode will help you get those creative juices flowing and fine-tune your writing processes. A bit about our interviewee: Gabriela got her MFA in 2010, and after she graduated, she realized that a lot of people don’t actually need a formal education process in order to write. If you give yourself permission to own your creativity and writing, and if you learn a few key skills along the way, you can be a writer. She started her business, DIY MFA, to teach others how they can do exactly that. Gabriela has been able to practice, evaluate, and fine-tune her craft and teach others how to do the same. Gabriela’s strategies about finding the right writing system, tracking productivity, staying inspired, and understanding strengths and weaknesses all play into finding one’s voice and writing style. In this episode, you’ll learn: What an MFA is Why she considers herself an instigator How she calculates and tracks her productivity How to find a writing system that works for you How she stays inspired How she writes personal posts Why it’s important to get input from the right people Why you should know your strengths and weaknesses Resources: 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss DIY MFA DIY MFA book The Writer Igniter Setting the Mood for an Optimal Writing Session Gabriela’s personal post 20 things Bjork learned from writing income reports James Altucher <a href="https://diymfa.com/category/podcast" target="_blan
Tue, August 11, 2020
Adapting and Adjusting - Having a Gratitude Mindset with Beth Moncel
Delegating work, how to solve your readers' problems, and dedicating time to learn with Beth Moncel. ----- Welcome to episode 265 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Beth Moncel about adapting and growing her blog over the past five years. Adapting and Adjusting We’re so excited to welcome Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes back to the podcast today! She was our 11th guest on the podcast, so we’re excited to catch-up with her in this episode. While we do talk about the things that successfully help her run her blog in this episode, we also talk about where she has struggled these past few years. Between hiring, listening to her readers, and adapting to drops in traffic, Beth has learned and grown, and we hope that this episode will teach you how you can adjust to changes in your own blogging journey. In this episode, you’ll learn: How her blog has changed in the past five years Why she includes step-by-step photos in her blog posts Why her blog is a combination of her love of art and science How she dedicates time to learn How she grew her team and delegates her work How she adapted to her traffic dropping What E-A-T means in terms of blogging How she helps solve her readers’ problems The tools she uses with her team How she’s planning ahead to take some time off Where she sees herself and her business in the future Advice she’d give her past self Resources: Budget Bytes Pinch of Yum Pinch of Yum Income Reports More info about FIRE Mr. Money Mustache 011: Making the Leap to Full-Time Blogging with Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes Marie Haynes Budget Bytes’ About page The Budget Bytes app Budget Bytes Meal Plans Asana Slack Airtable The Intentional Growth Podcast Curbly Follow Budget Bytes on <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/bu
Tue, August 04, 2020
Persistence - Building a Seven-Figure Blogging Business with Chelsea Lords
Creating reader-first content, how to effectively work with brands, and creating a seven-figure income with Chelsea Lords. ----- Welcome to episode 264 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Lords about growing her website traffic and building her seven-figure blogging business. Persistence It’s time to welcome Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron back to the podcast! Her original episode on the FBP Podcast is one of our all-time most-downloaded episodes, and we’re so excited we had the chance to welcome her back to the show and catch up on how her blog has grown and evolved since we last talked to her. You’ll hear how her social media and traffic strategies have shifted, how and why she strives to create the most helpful content she can for her readers, and how she managed to grow Chelsea’s Messy Apron into a seven-figure revenue business. In this episode, you’ll learn: How she adjusts to the changing blogging landscape How Facebook traffic changed How she diversifies her income How she creates valuable sponsored content How she raised her sponsored content rates How she’s making seven figures of revenue Why it’s important to give up complete control How she makes her content more helpful for her readers Why it’s important to re-invest in your business Why a support network is so important Resources: Chelsea’s Messy Apron 092: How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron InfluenceKit Curbly The E-Myth Revisited Chelsea’s Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls Follow Chelsea on Instagram , Facebook , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 28, 2020
Creating with Confidence - Consistency, Quality Content, and Establishing Trust with Tieghan Gerard
How to advocate for your brand, the importance of content, and growing an Instagram following to 1.7 million with Tieghan Gerard. ----- Welcome to episode 263 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tieghan Gerard about running her brand, growing her blog, and working with her family. Creating with Confidence Today we’re welcoming Tieghan Gerard back to the podcast after four whole years! Tieghan has been pretty busy these past few years; she learned how to delegate work to her team, grow her personal brand, and set boundaries when they’re needed. She also realized that awesome, high-quality content needs to be at the core of everything she does because it helps her build a following and branch out to do other exciting projects that helps her grow her business. We loved catching up with Tieghan in this episode, and we know you’ll love getting a peek behind-the-scenes of how she runs Half Baked Harvest! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she manages work and projects as a business owner and blogger How she started delegating her work How she started working with an influencer management company How to effectively communicate and advocate for your brand Why her blog acts as her brand’s hub How she grew her Instagram following to 1.7 million How to deal with negative comments Why it’s important for Tieghan to keep her head down and focus on her own work Why it’s important to set boundaries on social media How she monetizes Half Baked Harvest Her predictions for the future of Half Baked Harvest Resources: Half Baked Harvest 043: How Tieghan Gerard used Photography, Recipe Development, and Hustle to Build Half Baked Harvest Digital Brand Architects Notion Half Baked Harvest Cookbook Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Tieghan’s South Korean Olympics posts - Part 1 and Part 2 Follow Half Baked Harvest on Instagram and Pinterest and connect with Tieghan via her blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions fo
Tue, July 21, 2020
A Food Blogging Journey - Freelancing, Ads, Working with Brands, Catering, and Writing a Cookbook with Mary Cressler and Sean Martin
How to understand your blog data, why blogging was more profitable than freelancing, and how to write a cookbook with Mary Cressler and Sean Martin. ----- Welcome to episode 262 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mary Cressler and Sean Martin from Vindulge about the journey to how they run their food blog today. The Journey of Food Bloggers Mary Cressler and Sean Martin have done it all: they freelanced, they worked with ad companies, they worked with influencer marketing companies, they catered, they wrote a cookbook –– all in the pursuit of finding what it is that they like to do. This conversation with the Vindulge team will inspire you to think about your own journey and dig deep to figure out the way you want to run your blog. There’s not a “right” way or a “wrong” way to run your blog; this episode will give you some ideas to help make your blogging journey the best it can be for you . In this episode, you’ll learn: How Mary and Sean started to work together How they transitioned to working on their own thing What it was like to establish their niche How Mary decided to focus on her own blog over freelancing How they started working on sponsored content How they monetize their blog Why it’s important to understand your data (and how to gather it) Why their email community is so important to them How they decide to spend their time How all of their content works together What connectional intelligence means How they wrote a book proposal and pitched their book Resources: Vindulge Mediavine AdThrive Sortable CLEVER SurveyMonkey Billy Parisi –– @chefbillyparisi Will Write for Food Dianne Jacob –– @diannemjacob Fire + Wine Cookbook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 14, 2020
Managing Sponsored Content - How to Work With Brands with Bruno Bornsztein
Why metrics are so important to brands, how to increase the probability of working with your favorite brand, and how content ownership works with Bruno Bornsztein. ----- Welcome to episode 261 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Bruno Bornsztein from InfluenceKit on how to understand the value of your sponsored content work. How to Work With Brands It's Part 2 of our Managing Sponsored Content series here on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! Bruno from InfluenceKit is rounding out this mini series in a conversation with Bjork about how to create awesome sponsored content. Creating sponsored content is like creating your regular content. You already publish an awesome recipe with great pictures on your blog or on social media. Sponsored content just allows you to continue to make the content that you love to make…and then get paid for it. There are parts of the sponsored content process, however, that are different. You need to build relationships, negotiate for your rate, sign contracts, understand the brand’s goals, and report back on the performance on your post’s performance. And it’s there where you can hunker down and optimize your work to create more value for brands, more value for your audience, and more revenue for you. If you want to learn even more about maximizing your sponsored content revenue, be sure to get registered for our free workshop with Bruno this Thursday, July 16 at 1pm ET / 12pm CT ! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Bruno got his start creating content How he moved into sponsored content as a source of revenue How his following correlated to sponsored content revenue How to increase the probability of working with a brand What it looks like to work with a brand How content ownership works What “work for hire” means How to negotiate with brands Why you should report your post’s performance What metrics are most important to brands Resources: InfluenceKit 168: How to Add More Value to Your Sponsored Content with Mandi Gubler Curbly ManMade Making the Moolah: Kickstart Your Sponsored Revenue in 2020 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 07, 2020
Managing Sponsored Content - How Pinch of Yum Works with Brands with Jenna Arend
How to communicate with brands, work with brands goals in mind, and manage sponsored content work with Pinch of Yum's Jenna Arend. ----- Welcome to episode 260 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jenna Arend from the Pinch of Yum team about some of the systems they use to manage their sponsored content work. Managing Sponsored Content Sponsored content is a great way to diversify your income as a blogger, and for the next two weeks on the podcast, we’re going to be talking about how you can manage your sponsored content work. Today, we’re starting the sponsored content conversation with an interview with the Communications Manager of Pinch of Yum, Jenna. She’ll give you a behind-the-scenes tour of how the Pinch of Yum team uses processes to handle their sponsored content work. Between establishing a system for initial conversations with brands to contract review, we’re hoping that you’re able to take some of the systems that the Pinch of Yum team relies on and use them to streamline your own sponsored content efforts. In this episode, you’ll learn: What Jenna does for Team Pinch of Yum What it was like when Pinch of Yum worked with an agency on sponsored content How they decided to bring the management of sponsored content in-house The kinds of systems the Pinch of Yum uses to manage sponsored content How to communicate with brands Tips for negotiating What’s included in Pinch of Yum’s media kit and rate sheet How contract review works How the Pinch of Yum team works with a lawyer How you can report on sponsored content campaigns What it means to offer a la carte items to brands Resources: Pinch of Yum Sway Questions on the Pinch of Yum Intake Form – for members only! Typeform LISS Legal Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts InfluenceKit Bar La Grassa Estelle If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, June 30, 2020
Keep Showing Up - Finding Success On YouTube with Beth Le Manach
Why watch time is important on YouTube, how to produce video content without a crew, and the types of videos that perform best on YouTube with Beth Le Manach. ----- Welcome to episode 259 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Beth Le Manach about effectively creating and sharing content on YouTube. Keep Showing Up Do you know how to create engaging content on YouTube? Or how to make money from YouTube videos? If not, you’re in luck! This week on the podcast, we’re talking to the talented Beth Le Manach from Entertaining with Beth about creating YouTube content and getting more views. If you want to start creating YouTube videos, or maybe you already post on YouTube and want to level-up your channel, we think you’ll learn a lot from this episode. But even if you’re not interested in YouTube, her advice about remembering the purpose of your content is a great reminder for everyone. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How podcasts were influential to Beth Where Beth creates content How Beth decided to create YouTube videos Where she earns her money How she produces content now that she’s not working with a video crew How to overcome the fear of negative comments What kinds of videos perform best on YouTube Why watch time is important on YouTube How to create content for your super fans How to get YouTube to suggest specific videos How to generate revenue on YouTube Resources: Entertaining with Beth 010: Working with Brands on YouTube with Beth Le Manach from Entertaining with Beth Kin Community The War of Art Amazon Influencer Program Saxsquatch Follow Beth on YouTube and Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Wed, June 24, 2020
Uncorked - Conversations on Race and Wine with Julia Coney
How to start having conversations about race, how wine and race intersect, and how to support black and people of color in the wine industry. ----- Welcome to episode 258 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Julia Coney about wine, race, and Netflix’s “Uncorked." Uncorked If you’ve listened to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast for a while, you’ll know that we love talking with creators and people who want to make an impact. We’re having another one of those conversations today with wine writer, Julia Coney. When it comes to understanding racial injustice, it’s important to invest the time in educating yourself and forever be in pursuit of making a difference. Julia’s insights and experiences are one way we can educate ourselves and lean into having these tough but valuable conversations. Today, you’ll hear Julia’s stories about race issues in the wine industry, advice for having important conversations about racial injustice, and thoughts about why the movie, “Uncorked,” is so impactful. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Julia started writing about wine How wine and race intersect How the Netflix movie, “Uncorked,” covers racism in the wine industry Why Julia is starting Black Wine Professionals How to start having conversations about race Resources: The Julia and the Sequin Technicolor Dream Coat video Myleik Teele CURLBOX Julia’s blog Dorothy Gaiter’s writings The story of the bookclub that was kicked off of the Napa Valley Train Your Wine Glass Ceiling is My Wine Glass Box. An Open Letter to Karen MacNeil and the Wine Industry. @blackwineprofessionals “Being Black in the White World of Wine” “Too White Wine” Gary Farrell Winery and their article, “We Stand with the Black Community and People of Color” E. & J. Gallo Winery and their <a href= "http:/
Tue, June 16, 2020
Where Do We Go From Here - Pinch of Yum Post Recap
Our favorite resources to help support black-owned businesses and learn more about being actively anti-racist with Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 257 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork and Lindsay talk about the resources they’re using to learn about racism and some ways that we can support black-owned businesses. Where Do We Go From Here After a two-week hiatus from the podcast, we’re back with an incredibly important episode from our fearless leaders, Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom. These past few weeks have been complicated, sad, frustrating, difficult, and unjust. Also in these past few weeks, we’ve listened to powerful conversations, participated in important discussions with our team, and are holding ourselves accountable to being actively anti-racist, challenging injustice, and using our platform to amplify messages of hope and change. In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay share some resources for supporting black-owned businesses and learning more about anti-racism. In this episode, you’ll learn: How we’re learning about racial injustice How we can challenge ourselves to help Resources: The Where Do We Go From Here post on Pinch of Yum @theconsciouskid @oshetamoore @austinchanning Brené with Austin Channing Brown on I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Unlocking Us Podcast Policing and Racial Trauma with Angela Davis, Terrible, Thanks for Asking Podcast 74 Seconds Brené with Ibram X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist, Unlocking Us Podcast NAACP We Love Lake Street Black Visions Collective North Minneapolis Business Community Relief How to be an Anti-Racist by Dr. Ibram X Kendi I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a W
Tue, June 02, 2020
An Update
We're taking a break from our normal podcast schedule this week to reflect and offer help and support to those who need it. Here are the links to the resources and organizations Bjork mentioned in this episode: The Where Do We Go From Here post on Pinch of Yum Lake Street Council NAACP The beauty of anti-racism is that you don’t have to pretend to be free of racism to be an anti-racist. Anti-racism is the commitment to fight racism wherever you find it, including in yourself. And it’s the only way forward. - Ijeoma Oluo
Tue, May 26, 2020
Career Transitioning - Love Your Next Career with Wendy Braitman
Why connection is important, how to make the most out of growth opportunities, and how to build a career that you love with Wendy Braitman. ----- Welcome to episode 256 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews career coach, Wendy Braitman about the importance of breaking big goals into small, actionable steps. Career Transitioning Do you have a specific career goal in mind? Maybe it’s a certain number of pageviews or working with a specific brand or making a full-time income from blogging. They’re all huge goals, and when goals are this big, it’s sometimes tough to figure out how you can get there. A lot needs to happen between now and the point where we achieve those goals, and that’s what Wendy is here to discuss today. This episode is all about the importance of accountability, setting up systems, and breaking those big goals into small, actionable, achievable steps. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Wendy changed careers How coaching works Why accountability is important Why you should break goals into achievable steps How to establish a mastermind and why connection is important How to make the most out of growth opportunities Resources: International Coaching Federation The 20-Minute Networking Meeting Notion Check out Wendy’s website If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 19, 2020
How-To Videos - Engaging Video Made Simple with Jake Poses
How the Jumprope app works, why how-to videos are great for recipe creators, and the importance of stories with Jake Poses. ----- Welcome to episode 255 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jake Poses from Jumprope about this new video-sharing app. How-To Videos Creating recipe videos can seem like a big undertaking. Between the set-up, the lighting, the gear, and the editing, it can seem like a lot for people just getting started with video. Jumprope is a new app that’s designed to make the process of producing video for your audience easier . Not only can you edit and share how-to videos within the Jumprope app, you can then export your videos from there in the sizes and formats you need for YouTube, Instagram, and blog posts. Create once and share everywhere . It’s a really slick app, and we think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation with Jake. Between his understanding what of it takes to build a business to his insights into what it means to drill for and find “oil,” this conversation will inspire you to do, share, and create. In this episode, you’ll learn: What he learned working in the early days at a startup What it means to “drill for oil” Why he wanted to start his own company How Jake got the idea for Jumprope How Jumprope works The importance of stories What amp is How people use Jumprope Resources: Thumbtack Jumprope Google Web Stories Download Jumprope on the Apple App Store or on the Google Play Store Connect with Jake on Instagram , Twitter , or via email If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 12, 2020
Leveraging Traffic - What You Can Do With More Website Traffic
Using Google Analytics to form content decisions, why email list signups are important for food bloggers, and the impact more traffic has on ad revenue. ----- Welcome to episode 254 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the results that come from getting more traffic to your blog. Leveraging Traffic As bloggers, we all want more traffic, right? It’s one of the main goals we hear from bloggers who are looking to level-up their blog and their business, and it’s an important step if you want to build your blog into a profitable business. But the benefits of more traffic far outweigh a higher number of pageviews; more traffic can impact your revenue, your email list, your content decisions, and more. In today’s episode, Bjork will talk about five opportunities that you may see as you build your site traffic. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How ads can be impacted by more traffic How to create affiliate income from more traffic Why email list signups are important for food bloggers How to use Google Analytics to form decisions How to surface popular content Resources: Pinch of Yum WP Tasty AdThrive Mediavine Sortable Amazon Affiliate Program 243: Best-in-Class Content – Keyword Research, Creating Value, and Authority with Ewen Finser Tasty Links Google Analytics Jumprope Slickstream 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 05, 2020
Growth Hacking - How Yumna Jawad Got 2.2M Followers on Instagram and 200K Followers on TikTok
How to grow an audience on social media, why connection is important, and how to post unique content to TikTok with Yumna Jawad. ----- Welcome to episode 253 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yumna Jawad from Feel Good Foodie about how she grew her social following. Growth Hacking In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Yumna from Feel Good Foodie. You may recognize the name because you may be one of her 2.2 million followers on Instagram or one of her 200,000 followers on TikTok. As you can probably imagine, we’re talking all about growing your social media audience with Yumna today. She, more or less, has figured out the secret sauce to growing an audience on Instagram and on TikTok, and she’s sharing her strategies and tips for “growth hacking” during this episode. It’s a really fun episode, and Yumna is just such a knowledgeable, hard-working blogger. We know you’ll have a ton of takeaways from this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she learned more about social media marketing How she grew her Instagram following to 2.2 million Her advice for growing an audience on any platform How to supplement your content on Instagram How she grows the right audience How she grew her blog Why connection is important How she got started with TikTok How to post unique content to TikTok How quickly her TikTok account is growing How TikTok posts can have a longer lifespan than posts on Instagram How TikTok works Resources: Feel Good Foodie Sign up for Food Blogger Pro Search News You Can Use Podcast Video Creators Podcast A Drink with James Fohr.co Blogilates on TikTok and Instagram Manfrotto tripods Follow Feel Good Foodie on Instagram , TikTok , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, April 28, 2020
Expert Check-In - What You Should Know About Traffic, Sponsored Content, and Pinterest in 2020
How website traffic and ad revenue are affected by the coronavirus, how to ask your audience what it needs, and how you can evolve your content calendar based on what's performing on Pinterest. ----- Welcome to episode 252 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrew Wilder, Danielle Liss, and Kate Ahl about traffic, sponsored content, and Pinterest strategies. What You Should Know About Traffic, Sponsored Content, and Pinterest in 2020 Today, Bjork is interviewing three of our Food Blogger Pro Experts. If you’re not a Food Blogger Pro member, or maybe you are a member and you’re not really sure what our experts do, they volunteer their time on the forum and during Live Q&As to help our members out with their trickiest questions. Our experts specialize in certain topics like SEO, affiliate marketing, social media, email marketing, and more, and that’s what they teach our members about on Food Blogger Pro. So in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Andrew Wilder, who specializes in WordPress tech and traffic, Danielle Liss, who’s a lawyer and focuses on sponsored content and all-things legal, and then Kate Ahl, who is our Pinterest Expert. All three are here on the podcast talking about what you need to know about traffic, sponsored content, and Pinterest in 2020. It’s safe to say that 2020 has gotten off to a unique start, so these areas of traffic, working with sponsors, and social media need to be approached in a different way. Traffic is up, sponsors are adjusting their strategies, and Pinterest has reported higher users than ever before. Today’s episode will equip you with some of the strategies and confidence you need to navigate this year as a business owner and blogger. In this episode, you’ll learn: How traffic and ad revenue has been impacted by the coronavirus Why you should be monitoring your uptime Why you might not want to use words like “quarantine” or “coronavirus” in your posts Why accessibility is going to be a big trend this year How alt text works How sponsored content can differ during this time How you can pivot your sponsored content to serve your audience Advice for pitching brands during the pandemic How to ask your audience what they need right now What CCPA means and how you can protect your site How you know that you’ve included everything you should in your privacy policy How Pinterest traffic has changed How the Today tab on the Pinterest app works How trends on Pinterest can influence your content calendar How to find out which of your existing posts are performing well right now What to do if your Pinterest account is marked as spam How you can evolve your content based on what’s performing on Pinterest Resources: <a href="https://www.foodbloggerp
Tue, April 21, 2020
Empathy - The Power of Understanding and Serving Your Audience with Laurie Buckle
How creators can navigate the pandemic, how you can evolve your content, and knowing who you're serving as a blogger with Laurie Buckle. ----- Welcome to episode 251 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Laurie Buckle from CookIt Media about knowing and serving your audience. Empathy Let’s talk about understanding your audience. As content creators, we publish tons of recipes, blog posts, resources…but are they actually serving our audience? Who is our audience, anyway? They’re interesting questions, right? It’s easy to go through the motions of developing, shooting, and publishing a recipe without really thinking about who we’re writing to or why they need this content . Luckily, Laurie from CookIt Media, an influencer marketing agency, is here today to talk through these questions and help you deeply and personally understand the audience you’re serving. It’s especially important to understand where your content fits into what your audience needs these days, but the advice Laurie gives during this interview will make a lasting impression on you and your blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: How creators can navigate the pandemic How to strike a healthy balance on your blog How you can start to understand your audience How you can evolve your content and know who you’re serving What should happen after you understand your content and your audience How your content can act as a multiplier How you can treat your blog as a website How you can know if you’re creating value for your audience Resources: 132: Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand with Laurie Buckle CookIt Media 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill Beyond the Blog Course - save 40% by using FOODBLOG40 at checkout Beyond the Blog Facebook Group If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, April 14, 2020
Focus Management - Conditioning Yourself to Do More Meaningful Work with Dave Crenshaw
The costs associated with switchtasking, the difference between time management and focus management, and how to restore your missing minute with Dave Crenshaw. ----- Welcome to episode 250 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Dave Crenshaw about productivity, avoiding “switchtasking,” and managing your focus. Focus Management Do you actually notice how many times your focus drifts from the task you’re supposed to be working on each day? Or how often you multitask? Maybe you’re experiencing switchtasking even more often during these difficult, strange times we’re currently experiencing. If this sounds like you, this episode will surely help you out. Dave shares some actionable strategies that can help you combat your wavering focus and reliance on staying connected in this episode, and you’ll even learn how you can download his newest book, “The Result,” for free. In this episode, you’ll learn: What switchtasking is The costs that are unavoidable due to switchtasking Why conditioning is more helpful than discipline Why you should turn off phone notifications The difference between time management and focus management How to restore your missing minute How do you know if your motivations are the right kind of motivations Why systems are so important How to be mindful of accountability Resources: Dave Crenshaw Dave’s books The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book: 101 of Chuck’s Favorite Facts and Stories The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People How to Slow Down and Be More Productive 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen Forest Evernote OneNote Get a free copy of “The Result” LinkedIn Learning Dave’s Time Management: Working f
Tue, April 07, 2020
Team Check-In - Redesigning a Membership Site, Fulfilling a Need in the Market, and Step-by-Step Recipe Videos
What to consider when launching a redesign, how to get involved with Clariti, and step-by-step videos with the Tasty Recipes plugin. ----- Welcome to episode 249 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, the team talks about some of the new and exciting projects they’re working on. Team Check-In Today’s episode is a little different from some of our more recent episodes. In fact, it’s kind of like a piece of content that we publish at the beginning of each month for our Food Blogger Pro members called a “Happening Now” video. In these videos, the team talks through some of the specific things they’re working on at the moment. We’ll talk about a new tool we’re using, a new process we’re implementing, new projects we’re working on, or just a new insight we’re excited to share. These videos are just a good reminder for us to check-in with the community and chat about what’s working and what’s not during that specific time, and it’s a great way for our members to be totally in-the-loop with what we’re up to. So today, we’re giving you a sneak peak of what a Happening Now video may sound like . We talk about the Food Blogger Pro redesign, a new tool we’re building, and an update to one of the plugins we built, so we hope you enjoy this little sneak peek behind-the-scenes ! In this episode, you’ll learn: Our rationale behind the Food Blogger Pro redesign What you might want to consider if you’re thinking about a site redesign What Clariti is and how to get involved What’s new with the newest Tasty Recipes update Resources: Interested in Clariti? Email Bjork WP Tasty Tasty Recipes - testimonials here 232: Repurposing Video – Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell Example of step-by-step videos on Pinch of Yum How to Get Started with Step-by-Step Video Editing Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 31, 2020
Running at an Incline - How Pinch of Yum is Approaching Content in a Difficult Season
How Pinch of Yum is approaching sponsored content, planning new content, and letting go of certain tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. ----- Welcome to episode 248 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about how Pinch of Yum is coping with this season. Running at an Incline What has your blog looked like these past few weeks? Are you posting more? Did you have to rearrange your entire editorial calendar? Are you sitting on recipes that you already have shot? Are you getting more done than usual? What have you had to let go? These are the types of questions Bjork asks Lindsay, bosswoman behind the food blog, Pinch of Yum, in today’s episode. It’s an incredibly honest and raw discussion on how Pinch of Yum is approaching the act of creating content during this uniquely challenging time, and Lindsay talks about how she’s planning on delivering value to her readers and finding her role in this season. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Lindsay is approaching content on Pinch of Yum What Pinch of Yum is doing with pre-created recipes What’s happening with sponsored posts during this time How Lindsay is proactively looking forward What Lindsay has had to let go of during this season Resources: Serious Eats Is Remote. Here’s How We’re Handling It. Just a Check In, Plus… Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Deep Dish Cookie Bowls for Two CoSchedule If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 24, 2020
Covering the Basics - Running a Business During a Pandemic
Remembering to care for the essentials, how to approach content creation during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the importance of avoiding disastertunity. ----- Welcome to episode 247 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how we’re approaching the COVID–19 outbreak personally and with our businesses. Covering the Basics Oof. These past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Not only is it confusing, stressful, and scary personally, it can add a whole level of uncertainty when you’re running a business. There isn’t a right or a wrong way to approach content during this time, but in this episode, Bjork talks about the ways we’re approaching business during the COVID–19 outbreak. One thing we really want you to remember during this strange time is that the content you’re creating is helpful, it is making a difference, and it is bringing people value. You can serve your audience during tough times – and this episode should give you some ideas on how to do that. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s important to think first about the essentials What content can look like during tough times How to avoid disastertunity Resources: Pinch of Yum’s COVID–19 Coffee Date post 086: How to Make a Successful Career Change with Jon Acuff If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 17, 2020
Hiring - Building a Better Team with Moses Balian
Hiring a contractor vs. an employee, how employee benefits work, and how you can start building your team with Moses Balian. ----- Welcome to episode 246 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Moses Balian about contractors, employees, and building a team. Hiring As you’re growing your business, there may come a time when you’re ready to hire some help. But should you hire them as a contractor or as an employee? That’s what Moses is here to talk about today! He’ll talk you through those initial decisions, using a PEO (that’s a Professional Employer Organization ), producing important tax and employee documents, and how employee benefits work. It’s a really interesting conversation, and if you’re at the point where you could use another set of hands to work on your business, we think this episode will help you navigate your next steps. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Justworks works and what a PEO is The difference between a contractor and an employee If you can start someone as a contractor and move them to an employee How you can start building a team How 1099s work If and when you should create an employee handbook How employee benefits work If you should have insurance when you’re building a team Resources: Justworks Understanding Employee vs. Contractor Designation If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 10, 2020
Feeling Stuck - What To Do When You Feel Like You've Done Everything with Bjork Ostrom
The importance of limiting comparison, how to be flexible, focusing on your craft, and why posting frequency isn't very important with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 245 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork reads an email we recently received and offers advice on how to overcome the feelings of feeling stuck. Feeling Stuck Today’s podcast episode is actually one of our new favorites because it actually came together in less than a week. We received an email from a fellow blogger last week, and in the email, she describes why she’s feeling a bit stuck. She’s optimizing her posts, she’s creating pictures for Pinterest, she’s focusing on email marketing, but her traffic isn’t where she wants it to be. She feels like there’s something that’s she’s missing – a key that will unlock her blog’s potential. And that sounds familiar, right? “I’m doing all of these things…why am I not seeing results?” So this episode is all about that – what to do when you feel like you’ve done everything. You’ll hear this blogger’s anonymous email in its entirety in this episode, and I’m sure the sentiments that are shared in the email will sound really familiar to you. Then Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement if you’re feeling stuck in a similar way. It’s definitely a different kind of episode, but we hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you’ll learn: The importance of limiting comparison How to be flexible and understand what you’re trying to achieve What it means to focus on your craft Why posting frequency isn’t super important Why it might make sense to “niche down” How to serve your audience Resources: 003: Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction on Creating Success 018: How to Build an Online Business Without Blogging with Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 03, 2020
Diversification - Solving Business Challenges & Acquiring Profitable Businesses with Kevin McArdle
How SaaS businesses solve problems, tips for diversifying your portfolio, and the importance of delegating with Kevin McArdle. ----- Welcome to episode 244 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle about running businesses, solving challenges, and building your portfolio. Diversification This week’s episode is a good one because it’s all about diversifying your portfolio, and not in the ways we typically talk about in terms of food blogging. Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle from SureSwift Capital about investing in businesses, building solutions to your audience’s needs, and the lessons Kevin when starting his business. I had so many takeaways from this episode, and we hope you learn of some ways that you can grow (both personally and financially) through diversification in this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: How he approaches investments What “software as a service” is How SaaS businesses solve problems Tips for diversifying your portfolio What the “no code” movement is all about How to work with website brokers How to pitch an idea The lessons Kevin had to learn when he started The importance of delegating The tools Kevin uses to run his business Resources: The tech.mn Podcast TECHdotMN SureSwift Capital 111: How to Build a Company of One with Paul Jarvis Makerpad MicroAcquire Slack Zoom Follow Kevin on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, February 25, 2020
Best-in-Class Content - Keyword Research, Creating Value, and Authority with Ewen Finser
Why keyword research is so important, what EAT means, and updating content with Ewen Finser. ----- Welcome to episode 243 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser about creating awesome content that search engines and your readers will love. Best-in-Class Content We hear from a lot of bloggers who are interested in increasing their traffic. And while there’s a ton of information out there about this very topic, today’s podcast episode focuses on a refreshing way to understand search engines and SEO: you want to give the best possible answer to your readers and to search engines. Simple as that. And that’s exactly what Ewen is here to discuss today. From organizing content in a logical way that maximizes SEO benefits to understanding the nitty gritty of keyword research, you’ll learn a lot about website structure and optimizing content in this interview. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he got into building and growing websites Why he thinks keyword research is so important Why it’s important to understand your readers’ journeys Why he doesn’t do link building What EAT stands for His process for keyword research What interlinking is and why it’s important Resources: Amazon Affiliate Program Owl Mountain Ahrefs SECockpit Connect with Ewen on Linkedin or email If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, February 18, 2020
Social Trends - Pinterest in 2020 with Kate Ahl
What fresh content is and why it's important for Pinterest, how to use Pinterest Trends, and how often you should be pinning with Kate Ahl. ----- Welcome to episode 242 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kate Ahl talks about using Pinterest in 2020. Social Trends: Pinterest in 2020 Today marks Part 2 of our two-part series on social media in 2020. Last week we focused on Facebook and Instagram, and this week is all about Pinterest. Pinterest can be a huge traffic-driver for food bloggers. In fact, it’s consistently in one of the top three spots of traffic drivers for food bloggers. That said, Pinterest is constantly in pursuit of making the platform better for its users, so it changes quite a bit. That’s why we’re excited to focus on the best practices for Pinterest in 2020 in today’s episode. Kate Ahl is here to give you her recommendations for finding what’s trending on Pinterest, pinning fresh content, writing awesome Pin descriptions, using promoted Pins, and more. In this episode, you’ll learn: What Pinterest is focusing on in 2020 How going public changed how Pinterest works What type of Promoted Pins work best How to use Pinterest Trends How often you should be pinning Traits of successful pinners What fresh content is and why it’s important for Pinterest in 2020 What you should include in your Pin descriptions Whether or not you should be using Rich Pins Resources: Simple Pin Media WP Tasty Pinterest Trends Google Trends Tasty Pins Follow Simple Pin Media on Pinterest 166: Answering Your Questions about Pinterest with Kate Ahl 157: More Clicks, Subscribers, and Sales with Pinterest with Kate Ahl 026: How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, February 11, 2020
Social Trends - Facebook and Instagram in 2020 with Abby Bayatpour
Facebook groups as part of a social strategy, building engagement on Instagram, and how to streamline writing your Instagram captions with Abby Bayatpour. ----- Welcome to episode 241 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Social Media Manager, Abby Bayatpour, about how food bloggers can be promoting their content on Facebook and Instagram this year. Social Trends: Facebook and Instagram in 2020 Today’s new episode marks the start of a two-part series here on the podcast, and in this series, we’re focusing on social media in 2020 – i.e. what you, as a blogger, should be focusing on when it comes to promoting your content and your brand on social media this year. We’re going to focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest during this series, and in today’s episode, our incredibly talented Social Media Manager, Abby, will be speaking about Facebook and Instagram trends for food bloggers. If you’ve ever stared at a social media platform and thought, “What do I post today?”, we think this series will help you form your social strategy for the new year. In this episode, you’ll learn: What kinds of posts perform best on Facebook How Facebook groups might fit into your social strategy How videos are performing on Facebook in 2020 How to build consistent engagement on Instagram How often you should post on Instagram How to streamline your Instagram caption writing What kinds of photos perform best on Instagram Resources: 237: The One Thing – What We’re Excited to Focus On in 2020 232: Repurposing Video – Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell 210: Pinch of Yum’s Instagram Playbook with Lindsay Ostrom Using Hashtags on Instagram to Grow Your Food Blog’s Followers and Reach How to Promote Your Food Blog on Instagram Facebook course - for members only Instagram for Food Bloggers course - for members only Social Media Strategy course - for members only Social Media Analytics
Tue, February 04, 2020
Income - Making More Money Without Doing More Work with Bjork Ostrom
How home office deductions work, why you should consider hiring a CPA, and how to track your mileage with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 240 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks through the ways you can create income without doing more work. Income Making more money without doing more work…that’s the dream, right? Well, now it’s a reality! Bjork is here today to chat through some of the ways you can work smarter and make more money without doing more work. It’s a really helpful reminder that we don’t necessarily need to be hustling all the time to get our businesses to a new level; some small tweaks in your day-to-day can help get you there as well. In this episode, you’ll learn: How business programs work How to track your mileage What purchases you can expense for your blog Why you should consider hiring a CPA When you should do an S-Corp election How you can hire help Why it’s helpful to review your expenses every quarter How home office deductions work How to be proactive and ask for a raise Resources: Apple Business Automatic Bill Shark If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 28, 2020
Ten Years - The Seasons of Pinch of Yum with Lindsay Ostrom
How to be light on your feet, the most impactful work for Pinch of Yum, and the sacrifices of building a business with Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 239 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about navigating the different seasons in her blogging journey. Ten Years Pinch of Yum is turning 10 this year, and as I’m sure you can imagine, it has changed quite a bit in that time. In today’s episode of the podcast, you’ll hear about the different seasons of Pinch of Yum and how Lindsay navigated them while building her blog into a business. And she covers it all – from running her blog as a side hustle to transitioning to it being her full-time gig to hiring team members to current day. Regardless of what season of your blogging journey you’re currently in, you’ll find a lot of advice in this episode that can help you navigate the good, the tough, and everything in-between. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Lindsay views the “seasons” of Pinch of Yum When Pinch of Yum became a “side hustle” What a “trickster” is Why sacrifices are a part of the side hustle How Lindsay prioritized work when she started working for herself The work that was most impactful when Lindsay was building Pinch of Yum What the current “season” of Pinch of Yum looks like What it means to be light on your feet Resources: 153: Playing the Game of Business with Kevin Waldron Big Magic Tasty Food Photography The Nora Roberts quote Follow Pinch of Yum and Lindsay on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 21, 2020
Understanding Ads - How to Increase Your Earnings from Ads with Bjork Ostrom
Ad-supported video players, why user experience is important, and understanding ad impressions with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 238 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how you can optimize and increase the earnings you receive from the ads on your site. Understanding Ads Ads can be an effective way to earn money from blogging, but how do you know you’re making the most out of your ad placements? That’s what Bjork is here to talk about today! He’s sharing seven tips to help you increase the earnings you’re receiving from the ads you’re running on your site without having to increase your pageviews. From understanding viewability and impressions to encouraging your readers to stick around on your site, this episode of the podcast will help you make sense of the wonderful world of ad revenue! In this episode, you’ll learn: What viewability is What impressions are Why it’s important to keep user experience in mind when it comes to placing ads on your site How you can encourage people to stick around on your site What overlay ads are What ad-supported video players are What sticky ads are Why you might want to delay using ads Resources: 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie Slickstream AdSense Mediavine AdThrive Sortable If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 14, 2020
The One Thing - What We're Excited to Focus On in 2020
How Pinch of Yum is repurposing recipe videos, how to manage a remote team, and what to expect with the Food Blogger Pro redesign. ----- Welcome to episode 237 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, the team talks about the “one thing” they’re excited to accomplish in 2020. The One Thing This is a different kind of podcast episode, but we think you’re really going to like it. Heading into a new year can feel a bit overwhelming, but it sometimes helps to narrow-down your focus and think through that “one thing” you’re excited to accomplish this year. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in this interview! Alexa, Bjork, and Emily each share the one thing they’re excited to tackle in 2020, and we hope that it encourages you to figure out your “one thing” as well. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Bjork manages a remote team Why we created a parent company Where the name “Tiny Bit” comes from How Pinch of Yum is repurposing video this year How Emily is creating step-by-step videos for Pinch of Yum blog posts How compilation videos work Resources: 204: Company Structure – LLCs, S-Corps, and Accounting, oh my! Blogging as a Business course - for members only QuickBooks Example of step-by-step videos on Pinch of Yum 232: Repurposing Video – Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 07, 2020
Themes - Performance-Focused Designs with Bill Erickson
How your site design can impact site speed, optimizing your category pages, and how to build your own thing with Bill Erickson. ----- Welcome to episode 236 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Bill Erickson about the impact your design can have on your blog. Themes Bill is a WordPress developer, and he’s here today to chat about the impact your site’s design can have on performance and user experience. Bill works with food blogs quite a bit (Pinch of Yum included), so you’ll really appreciate the advice he gives from a food blogging perspective. From figuring out what fonts to use to understanding how themes and design can impact site speed, this episode is packed with easy-to-understand tips and advice about design. It’s a really cool interview, kind of different from our norm, but we hope you enjoy it and learn something if you’re pursuing a site redesign this year. In this episode, you’ll learn: How design differs from development The differences between frontend and backend development How to find the best theme What system fonts are How themes and design can impact site speed How theme frameworks work How often you should redesign your site How category pages can be optimized How a redesign can negatively and positively impact your site Advice for building your own thing Resources: PageSpeed Insights Google Fonts WebPageTest Check out Bill’s website and contact him here If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 31, 2019
FBP Rewind - Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year with Bjork Ostrom
Setting SMART goals, understanding the why behind your goals, and the importance of gratitude with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 235 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how you can set better goals in the new year. Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year Tomorrow we welcome a new year and a new decade ( depending on who you ask ). And that’s why we thought it was important to rewind back to our 131st episode, Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year with Bjork Ostrom. We all know how new years resolutions or goals typically go: we’re ambitious and make a ton of changes, and we slowly but surely fall out of those habits we once wanted to strengthen. If you’ve experienced this with your new years goals, you’re not alone. And if you have some goals or resolutions you wish to keep this year, we think you’re really going to love this episode. Bjork’s tips will help you create goals that will last and help you accomplish those goals with the right mindset. In this episode, you’ll learn: What SMART goals are Why it’s important to understand why you’re setting a specific goal Why gratitude is so important Resources: Hygge If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 24, 2019
FBP Rewind - How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas
Why you should start gratitude journaling, the Five Minute Journal, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe with UJ Ramdas. ----- Welcome to episode 234 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews UJ Ramdas from Intelligent Change about gratitude, journaling, and meditation. How to Level Up Your Life For today’s FBP Rewind episode, we’re rewinding back to episode 124 – How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas. UJ is the co-creator of The Five Minute Journal and the co-founder of a company called Intelligent Change, and I thought this was a particularly fitting episode to reshare at the end of the year because we all like to review each year and make goals or resolutions for the new year. And our hope is that some of the principles and tools that UJ and Bjork talk about in this episode can make a positive impact in your new year. So if you’re looking for a little accountability and actionable ways you can accomplish those goals next year, I think you’re really going to enjoy this episode. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why he started Intelligent Change What gratitude journaling is How to use the Five Minute Journal What his morning routine looks like The benefits of meditation How to cultivate awe Why we sometimes don’t reach our goals How to go through a process of self-discovery Resources: Intelligent Change Five Minute Journal Productivity Planner Headspace Cal Newport Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 16Personalities DISC Personality Test StrengthsFinder Kolbe If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 17, 2019
7 Questions – Ask Yourself These Questions at the End of the Year with Bjork Ostrom
How to get things done and enjoy the work you're doing, why you should think about who you're serving, and how to improve over time with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 233 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks through seven questions to ask yourself as you look to the new year. 7 Questions At the end of each year, we all get a little retrospective. How did this year go? Was it a good year or a not-so-great year? What can I do differently next year? This episode will help you evaluate the current year in anticipation for the year ahead. Bjork outlines the seven questions you should ask yourself to help you assess, plan, and adjust the way you tackle your business each year. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to take a step back and figure out your goals How to get things done by finding the work you enjoy Why it’s important to think about your audience How to improve over time How to figure out what you need to stop or start doing Resources: Instacart If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 10, 2019
Repurposing Video - Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell
How to repurpose recipe videos, why watch time is important on YouTube, and how to charge for client work with Brita Britnell. ----- Welcome to episode 232 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Brita Britnell from Food with Feeling about repurposing recipe videos. Repurposing Video If you make recipe videos, you know how much work it takes to shoot, produce, and share these videos. And once the video is made, you’re done with that footage forever. Or are you? In this episode of the podcast, Brita from Food With Feeling talks about repurposing the video content she creates to give it new life and get more engagement from her audience. You’re doing all that work; don’t just archive that video content and forget about it. Repurpose it. And today, you’ll learn how. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she balances clients and her blog work Why she’s okay with slower blog growth How to approach video work How you can repurpose video Why it’s important to post different videos on each social media platform How she charges for video work How roundup videos work Why watch time is important on YouTube How Pinch of Yum is repurposing video Where you can repurpose video Resources: Take the State of Food Blogging in 2020 Survey! 090: How a Legislative Assistant Created Her Own Path to Working for Herself with Brita Britnell Food with Feeling 231: A Better Experience – Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie 206: YouTube for Food Influencers with Tim Schmoyer 050: The Secret to Engaging Video with Tim Schmoyer from VideoCreators.com Tim’s YouTube Consulting Adobe Premiere Pro Eating Bird Food Examples of Pinch of Yum repurposing video - No Knead Cheese Bread , The Best Swedish Meatballs Green Healthy Cooking Food Video Academy Facebook Group Follow Brita on <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/foodwithfeel
Tue, December 03, 2019
A Better Experience - Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie
Figuring out your "why," how to determine success based on metrics, and why search is so important on websites with Kingston Duffie. ----- Welcome to episode 231 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kingston Duffie about increasing engagement on websites. A Better Experience If you’ve been around the food blogging industry for the past few years, you’ve probably heard the word “engagement” more than any other metric. And that’s because brands, bloggers, and creators are putting a greater emphasis on engagement, even over other KPIs or metrics like pageviews or followers. And that’s why Kingston is here today! His company, Slickstream, is aimed at increasing engagement on bloggers’ sites. And if you’ve visited our sister site, Pinch of Yum, lately, chances are you’ve seen Slickstream in action. Heck, you might have even used Slickstream without even knowing. This is a really interesting interview focusing on ways that you can increase engagement on your own site–enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Kingston got his start Why you should reflect on your “why” Why listening is an important skill as a business owner Why it’s important to pivot How to determine your success with KPIs How Slickstream works Why search is so important on websites How to use Slickstream on your site Resources: Slickstream The Pinch of Yum - Slickstream case study If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 26, 2019
Membership Sites - How to Gain and Retain Members with Mike Morrison
Evergreen content, onboarding your members, reducing churn, and segmenting your marketing lists with Mike Morrison. ----- Welcome to episode 230 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mike Morrison about growing and retaining your membership site audience. Membership Sites You’re an expert in something, so you start a membership site to teach people what you know. But how do you grow your membership site audience? That’s where Mike comes in. He’s here today to talk to you about not only how you can gain members and grow your membership site, but also how you can retain and support your current members. And even if you don’t have a membership site, you’ll still be able to apply his tips on segmented marketing, onboarding, and surveying to your own blog. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How his membership site has changes in the past few years Why evergreen content is so important for membership sites Why their free Facebook group helps drive sales What churn is and how to reduce it Why onboarding is so important What it is that gives membership sites “stickability” How specific your niche should be Why audience surveys are important Why segmentation is important for marketing Resources: 062: How To Launch a Membership Site with Mike Morrison from The Membership Guys Membership Academy The Membership Guys The Membership Guys Podcast Membership Mastermind Facebook Group Churn Buster MemberPress Gravy 053: Pat Flynn’s Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly ActiveCampaign Teaching Packs The Empowered Educator Scott’s Bass Lessons Follow Mike on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 19, 2019
Email Marketing - Strategies for Bloggers with Allea Grummert
How to create a long-term nurture sequence, how to encourage your email list to take action, and a six-step process for implementing a successful email sequence with Allea Grummert. ----- Welcome to episode 229 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Allea Grummert about how bloggers can level-up their email marketing. Email Marketing What comes to mind when you hear the words, “email marketing”? Is it something you’re excited about? Or is it “yet another thing” you have to figure out? Whatever your relationship with email is, you’ll learn so much from this episode. Allea is here to talk all about email marketing strategies for bloggers and to take you through her six-step process for implementing a successful email marketing strategy. We’re so excited for you to check out this episode, and if you listen all the way through, you’ll find out how you can schedule a free 30-minute strategy call with Allea! In this episode, you’ll learn: Allea’s six-step process for email marketing How to audit your current email setup How to perform a technical audit of your current ESP Why you should segment your email lists How to know who is on your email list How to address objections from people on your lists What a long-term nurture sequence is How to move people to act via email Allea’s recommendations for automation-building Resources: Duett Mailchimp ConvertKit ActiveCampaign 140: From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry Schedule a 30-minute strategy call with Allea If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 12, 2019
Focus - The Freedom of a Niche with Isabel Orozco-Moore
Rebranding a food blog, leaning into a niche, and Keep-Delegate-Delete lists with Isabel Orozco-Moore. ----- Welcome to episode 228 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Isabel Orozco-Moore about leaning into a niche, delegating tasks, and more. Focus It seems a little counterintuitive that finding a niche, or a specialized focus, can actually give you more freedom as a blogger, but that’s exactly what Isabel found when she decided to rebrand and really fine-tune her niche. By hunkering down and really focusing on Mexican cuisine, Isabel has been able to strengthen her brand and exercise her expertise. But that’s not all that Isabel and Bjork cover in this episode. In just four years, Isabel has gone all-in on turning her blog into a business, and this episode focuses on that journey. From monetization to hiring to delegating to getting nominated for a Saveur Award, we know you’ll find useful and actionable tips in this episode. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she was nominated for a Saveur Award How and why she rebranded her blog Why she decided to focus on her niche How she monetizes her blog How she hired a virtual assistant How to make a Keep-Delegate-Delete list How to get better at specific tasks Resources: Designing Your Life Loom Isabel Eats Follow Isabel on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 05, 2019
BP Rewind - 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek
Why texture is important in food photography, how to capture shadows in food photography, and why color theory is important for food photography with Rachel Korinek. ----- Welcome to episode 227 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to one of our most popular episodes with food photographer, Rachel Korinek. 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography It’s time for another FBP Rewind episode, and this one is extra special because we’re rewinding back to one of our top five most downloaded episodes, 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek. Rachel is such a talented photographer, and this episode will help you fine-tune and tweak your photography to help create a more appealing and yummy visual. It’s a great episode, and we hope you can apply some of these tips and skills to your own photography. Let’s rewind! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why still life photography is difficult What a food stylist does Why it’s helpful to work with a team Why textured backgrounds are helpful How to capture shadows What negative fill is and how to work with diffused light Why layering is important in still life photography What color theory is The tools she recommends to have on hand Resources: Rachel’s free photography course @bealubas @foodstylingbackgrounds Erickson Surfaces Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens Everything Food Conference Rachel’s masterclasses Two Loves Studio Follow Rachel on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 29, 2019
FBP Rewind - The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman
How to navigate the fall, the importance of play, and protecting the everyday with Melissa Coleman. ----- Welcome to episode 226 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode with Melissa Coleman called, “The Year of the Pivot.” The Year of the Pivot We’re rewinding back to an episode we aired in December 2018 with Melissa Coleman, the blogger, author, and designer behind the blog, The Faux Martha. This episode is still one of our very favorite FBP Podcast episodes, and we think it’ll be helpful, especially since we’re already a month into the Q4 craziness that we typically face as food bloggers. I think Melissa’s experiences will resonate with you as she talks about why it’s important to play, how to recover from a “fall” in your business, and how to find what feeds your soul. This is such a great episode, and we’re so excited to re-share it with you today! In this episode, you’ll learn: What it was like to write a book Why she wanted to find a new direction How she navigated the fall Why it’s important to play What it means to protect the everyday Why it’s helpful to start with a problem and work to a solution How she’s preserving her asset How she approached hiring What’s next for her and her blog Resources: Todoist The Faux Martha The Minimalist Kitchen After the Fall The Horse Named Hustle Job Opening: Left Brain The Minimalist Kitchen Course Follow Melissa on Instagram 207: Consciously Uncoupling and Crafting the Ideal Workspace with Melissa Coleman If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 22, 2019
Your Questions Answered - Bjork Answers Your Blog Monetization, Content, and Social Questions
Using your area of expertise to create content, using ads for your website, and the biggest earning potential from blogging. ----- Welcome to episode 225 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork answers some questions from a recent member Live Q&A. Your Questions Answered This is an exciting podcast episode because it will give you a taste of what it’s like to be a Food Blogger Pro member! We hold an exclusive Live Q&A with our members every single month, and during those Q&As, members can ask Bjork, Lindsay, and/or our experts any questions they have about blogging. In this episode of the podcast, Bjork takes some of the questions we didn’t get to during our most recent Live Q&A and answers them for our FBP Podcast fam. He answers some of our members’ questions about video, ads, social media, and monetization today. Live Q&A days are always some of our favorite days of the month, and we’re so excited to be able to give you a sneak peek into how these member-only events work. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What Q&As look like on Food Blogger Pro If photos or videos are more important for a food blog How you can use ads for your website How to schedule your social media posts What can give you the most earning potential as a blogger How to build an audience using your area of expertise Resources: Slickstream Tasty Pins CoSchedule Tailwind Sprout Social 223: Full Potential – Extracting All of the Juice from Your Content with Bjork Ostrom If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 15, 2019
5 Routines - Adding Structure to Your Day with Bjork Ostrom
How to filter your emails, why you should create a morning routine, and how to perform quarterly Google Search Console reviews. ----- Welcome to episode 224 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about some of the routines he has implemented to help him stay focused. 5 Routines Routines can help you establish habits in your work and personal lives, and in this episode, Bjork covers some of the routines that have been the most impactful in his life. While you’re listening, we encourage you to take a look at your day to see where it might benefit from a routine. Maybe you can establish a new morning routine, or maybe you can find a way to make your inbox more manageable. We hope this episode gets you excited about the wonderful world of routines! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why it’s helpful to filter your emails How to label your emails Why Bjork likes morning routines How Bjork journals How to do a quarterly bank review When you should review Google Search Console Why it’s important to analyze the work you’re already doing How to process your inboxes How to evaluate your week Resources: Shoeboxed Things Asana Trello The Five Minute Journal 124: How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas Google Search Console course 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 08, 2019
Full Potential - Extracting All of the Juice from Your Content
What a post log is, how Pinch of Yum uses their blog post log, and how to automate the creation of your post log. ----- Welcome to episode 223 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the importance of a post log and how you can create one for your own blog. Full Potential As bloggers, we’re creating new content all the time. But what about your older content, the unsung heroes of your content catalog? Are you getting all of the “juice” out of them that you possibly can? This episode focuses on juicing your older content for all that its worth, and one of the ways to do that is by having a post log. Pinch of Yum uses their post log to track and document specific post updates, and you’ll learn how you can make one for your own blog. In this episode, you’ll learn: What a post log is How Pinch of Yum uses their post log How to help automate creating your post log Resources: Pinch of Yum’s first post Google Makes Big Change to Nofollow, Introduces 2 New Link Attributes Structured Data Testing Tool Email Bjork if you’re interested in a post log tool If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 01, 2019
All In - Leaving a Full-Time Job to Work on a Side Gig with Tommy Griffith
Why you're the most important part of your business, turning your side gig into your full-time job, and understanding your unfair advantage with Tommy Griffith. ----- Welcome to episode 222 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tommy Griffith from ClickMinded about his decision to turn his side gig into his full-time job. All-In Today’s guest is Tommy Griffith, the man behind ClickMinded, the site that helps businesses learn more about SEO. But that’s not the entire focus of today’s episode. In fact, it’s about leaving his stable full-time job to pursue his side-gig. He talks about the importance of finding your unfair advantage, why you’re the most important part of your business, and how to build a successful sales funnel. Tommy has such an interesting story, and we hope you enjoy this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he started managing SEO at big companies How he left his full-time job to focus on his side business Why you’re the most important part of your business What ClickMinded does How you should be approaching content to optimize for search How ClickMinded started to become profitable How to build a successful sales funnel The tools he likes to use for marketing What it means to have an unfair advantage Resources: 4-Hour Workweek Skin in the Game ClickMinded Udemy KWFinder Teachable ThriveCart Zapier Drip IFTTT RightMessage Burning the Boats on ClickMinded If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 24, 2019
Live - Bjork Goes Live to Answer Your Blogging Questions
Welcome to episode 221 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork goes live on Instagram to answer your questions about blogging. ----- Welcome to episode 221 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork goes live on Instagram to answer your questions about blogging. Live One of our favorite things about working with a community for food bloggers is connecting with that community. When we were thinking about ways we could connect with our podcast community, we quickly figured out that it’s difficult to connect with your podcast listeners. Podcast episodes are typically made up of two distinct “sides” — a recording happening on one side, and then the listening happening on the other. Rarely do those sides meet in the middle. That is, of course, until today. 😉 Bjork went live on Instagram yesterday to connect with our community and answer their blogging questions, and we turned it into today’s podcast episode! He answers questions SEO, keywords, podcasting, monetization, and more, and all of the questions you’ll hear are sourced from our incredible community. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What backlinks are and how to get them for your site When you’ll see results from your SEO work How many recipes you should have on your blog before you launch it How long it takes to monetize a blog If you try to optimize for long-tail or short-tail keywords How to monetize and grow a podcast Resources: 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom 108: From Struggling Podcast to Six-Figure Success with Natalie Eckdahl If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 17, 2019
Grow - Finding Your Tribe, Growing Your Social Media Reach, and Tools to Measure Growth
How to find your super friends, how to optimize your growth on social media, and what tools you should use to track your blog's growth. ----- Welcome to episode 220 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re focusing on growth, and you’ll learn about tribes, growing your social following, and tracking your growth with different tools. Grow If you have a blog, chances are you’re interested in extending your reach and growing your audience. Luckily for you, that’s exactly what this episode of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast is all about! First, Lindsay will talk about finding the Pinch of Yum “tribe” and publishing content specifically for that group of people. Finding your tribe is an important part of the growth puzzle because they’re the people who are your “super fans” of you and your content. Then, Abby, our Social Media Manager, talks about social media growth. She talks about how your growth strategies can differ from social media platform to social media platform, and she’ll walk you through some of the growth strategies that have worked for us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. And last, Bjork talks about tracking your growth and understanding how your content is performing. It’s important to understand where you’re starting and how far you’ve come, and these tools make tracking your progress super simple. Excited for you to dive into this episode and implement some of these growth strategies - enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What a “tribe” is Why it’s important to have a tribe How to find your tribe or super-friends Strategies for growing your Instagram account How engagement works on Instagram How to optimize for repins on Pinterest How to grow your following on Facebook using Facebook Groups What annotations do in Google Analytics How Google Search Console can help you figure out how your posts are performing Resources: Pinch of Yum’s Facebook Group Ahrefs SEMrush Google Analytics Google Search Console Ask Bjork Anything! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 10, 2019
Start - Blogging Misconceptions, How to Choose a Host, and Why WordPress
Why there's still a place for your blog, how to choose a good WordPress host, and why we recommend WordPress for food bloggers. ----- Welcome to episode 219 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re focusing on things you might believe when you first start your blog, how to choose a solid host, and why we recommend WordPress for food bloggers. Start We’re going back to basics today and focusing on starting . If you have an idea for a blog, business, series, post, or product, we hope this episode will help give you a bit of a push to actually start. First, we’ll hear from Bjork. He covers three of the most common blogging misconceptions we hear from new bloggers and how you can switch your thought processes around them. Next up: Andrew, our Site Speed Expert here at Food Blogger Pro. In his section, he’s talking all about hosting. For instance, did you know he recommends changing hosts every few years?! Last, WP Tasty Lead, Raquel. She’s talking all about WordPress and why it’s the CMS we recommend for food bloggers. We think you’ll have a lot of great takeaways from this episode, regardless of whether your blog is brand new or if you’ve been blogging for years. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why you don’t need to have a ton of content to launch Why you have to love the idea AND the work Why there’s still a place for your blog What hosting is How to find a good host When you should switch your hosting Why we use and recommend WordPress WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org What it means when a plugin is premium Resources: 1000 True Fans 213: Trends – The Latest in Site Speed, How to Find Timely Content, and Social Media Trends Ask Bjork a question for our AMA podcast episode! WP Engine Siteground BigScoots Cloudways NerdPress WP Tasty WordPress plugin directory Raquel’s personal site If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 03, 2019
Monetization: Display Ad Strategy, Finding Your Sponsored Content Rate, and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers
When you should add display ads to your site, how to find your sponsored content rate, and how to be an effective affiliate. ----- Welcome to episode 218 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re focusing on monetization and chatting through display ads, sponsored content, and affiliate marketing. Monetization It’s time to tackle one of the most popular topics we get asked about: monetization! We focus on three different ways that you can be monetizing your blog in this episode. First, you’ll hear from Bjork as he talks about display ads and how to evaluate their success. He also talks about why it’s important to consider your user experience when it comes to ad placement. Then, Danielle! She’s here to talk all about sponsored content. She focuses on how to find your rate, how to work with brands, and how to approach brands for future deals. Last, Alexa and Bjork talk about affiliate marketing. While we’re in the process of removing affiliate links from Food Blogger Pro, affiliate marketing can still be an effective way to generate income as a blogger. It’s a great episode, and we can’t wait for you to dive in. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How ads work When you should consider adding ads to your site What RPM is Why it’s important to consider user experience when it comes to ads How to find your sponsored content rate How to understand what a brand wants Why a sponsored content report is important How to approach brands for the upcoming year Why we’re removing affiliate links from Food Blogger Pro How to be an effective affiliate How to think strategically about monetization Resources: AdThrive Mediavine Sortable InfluenceKit The Get Your Price Course Businessese 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Join the Food Blogger Pro Affiliate Program If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 27, 2019
Processes - Storing Video Files, Producing a Podcast, and Managing Sponsored Content
How to store your files in the cloud, the process we use to produce the podcast, and how Pinch of Yum manages their sponsored content. ----- Welcome to episode 217 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, you’ll learn how we store large video files, produce the podcast, and manage Pinch of Yum’s sponsored content. Processes Today’s episode is focused around processes , and while that may not sound all that exciting, processes are essential for our work. We use processes every day at Food Blogger Pro and Pinch of Yum, and you’ll learn what we do and how we stick to these processes in this episode, First up is Emily, Pinch of Yum’s Video Specialist. Video files are huge, so the processes she follows to compress and store her video files helps keep her computer tidy and her content organized. Next, Alexa talks all about…the podcast! She walks you through the entire podcasting process - from scheduling interviews, to recording episode, to editing, to publishing, and beyond. And last, Pinch of Yum’s Communications Manager, Jenna, talks all about the way that Pinch of Yum manages their sponsored content work. From reviewing contracts to evaluating sponsors to getting paid, Jenna will teach you the ins and outs of making sure Pinch of Yum’s sponsored content work gets done. While you’re listening, we encourage you to think about some of the things you do every day or every week that could benefit from a formalized process. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why processes are helpful and important How Emily organizes Pinch of Yum video clips The tool we use for cloud storage Why it’s important to compress your files before uploading them to the cloud How we schedule interviews for The Food Blogger Pro Podcast What we use to record the podcast How we host the podcast and generate transcripts What Jenna’s role is when it comes to sponsored content on Pinch of Yum How brands reach out to Pinch of Yum How the Pinch of Yum Intake Form works How the Pinch of Yum team reviews contracts How Pinch of Yum issues campaign reports How Pinch of Yum follows up with brands Resources: Things The E Myth and The E Myth Revisited Process.st The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up G Suite <
Tue, August 20, 2019
Content - Are Recipes Copyrightable, Layers in Food Photography, and New Resources for Food Bloggers
How recipe copyrighting works, important parts of a food photograph, how to find your photography style, and new content on Food Blogger Pro. ----- Welcome to episode 216 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we talk about whether or not recipes are copyrightable, how to incorporate layers into your food photography, and some of the new resources we have for food bloggers on Food Blogger Pro. Content We’d go so far to say that content is the bread and butter of food blogs. If you look at all the techy stuff, the SEO, the plugins, the monetization…content is at the core of it all. And that’s our focus for today! First, you’ll hear from Danielle, our incredible Legal Expert here at Food Blogger Pro, and she talks all about recipe copyrighting and how to properly give credit to other content creators. We get asked questions about this all the time in the Food Blogger Pro forums, and Danielle makes it easy to understand and implement. Next up: Lindsay! And because we focus on food and we eat with our eyes, photography is a huge, important part of the content creation equation. She talks about styling, layering, and her approach to photography in this episode. And last: Alexa. You’ll hear a quick update about some of the new content we’ve recently published to Food Blogger Pro for our members. We talk about a recent Q&A, new tools we’re using, new courses we’re planning, and more. It’s a great episode, and our goal is that it helps you streamline your content creation process and helps eliminate some questions you might have around creating content for your food blog. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: What parts of your blog posts are copyrightable What you can do if you find a copy of one of your recipes online What a DMCA takedown notice is The right way to give credit to another recipe when you were “inspired by” it Important parts of a food photograph How layers work in food photography How to find your photography style Some of the new content we’ve published on Food Blogger Pro Resources: Foodimentary Thug Kitchen Pinch of Yum’s Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos Businessese Liss Legal Timeular Slack Google Search Console If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to p
Tue, August 13, 2019
Share - Encouraging Others to Pin Your Content, Creating an Instagram Story Series, and Understanding Engagement
Pinning what's important on Pinterest, establishing an Instagram Story series, and tips for understanding engagement. ----- Welcome to episode 215 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, you’ll learn how to optimize the time you spend on Pinterest, how to establish an Instagram Story series, how to calculate engagement, and more. Share Let’s talk sharing content! In this episode, we’re focusing on sharing content on social media. There are so many social media platforms and strategies, and this episode will help you create those processes to help you increase followers and engagement. First, you’ll hear from Kate Ahl, who is one of our Food Blogger Pro experts and who owns a Pinterest management company called Simple Pin Media. She’s here to share information about common traits of successful pinners, how to encourage readers to pin your content, and how to control what your readers share on Pinterest. Then Abby, the Social Media Manager for all of our brands, talks about how we’re using Instagram Stories for Food Blogger Pro. We use recurring series to engage our followers and constantly deliver value. And last, Bjork talks through what engagement actually is and how you measure it. We’re always talking about how important engagement is, and he’ll help you understand why that is. In this episode, you’ll learn: How pins go viral When you save vs. when you share on Pinterest Common traits of successful pinners How you communicate with pinners What Pinterest finds most important when you’re sharing content How to encourage readers to pin your content How to force-pin a specific image How much you should be pinning How Instagram Stories work How we structure Stories for Food Blogger Pro How engagement works How to calculate engagement Resources: Tailwind Tasty Pins Find pins from your site on Pinterest by using https://www.pinterest.com/source/foodbloggerpro.com/ where you replace foodbloggerpro.com with your URL NoPin: How to Tell Pinterest to Not Save an Image MiloTree Pinterest Developers Simple Pin Media The Simple Pin Collective Simple Pin Podcast Food Blogger Pro on Instagram </l
Tue, August 06, 2019
Optimize - Making Old Content Better, Building Authority, and Understanding the Impact of Your Optimizations
How to figure out which old posts you should optimize, what it means to "connect" your posts, and a simple way to track your optimization efforts. ----- Welcome to episode 214 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, you’ll learn how to optimize old posts, connect your posts to one another, understand the impact of your optimizations, and more. Optimize It’s time to talk optimization! And this episode will help equip you with the strategies and processes you need to optimize your posts, build authority, and First, you’ll hear from our SEO Expert, Casey Markee, as he talks about optimizing and republishing old posts. He also talks about whether or not it’s okay to have a 404 page and when you should consider noindexing your posts. Then you’ll hear from Jeff Coyle from MarketMuse, a content planning and optimization software, about connecting your posts to one another and the tools you can use to optimize your posts. And then Bjork Ostrom, rounds out this episode by talking about how you can track and monitor your optimization efforts to make sure that they’re having the impact you hoped. It’s a simple way to keep tabs on whether or not you’re targeting the right posts with the right optimizations. It’s a really helpful episode, and we hope you’ll be able to apply these tips to your own blogging efforts. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Who the Father of SEO was How to select old content to optimize and republish What it means to noindex a post If it’s okay to delete a post What technical SEO is and how to optimize for it How you can find posts to optimize Why it’s important to “connect” your posts Tools you can use to optimize your posts How to build authority How annotations in Google Analytics work Resources: Yoast SEO plugin SEMrush Moz Screaming Frog Broken Link Checker WP Rocket ShortPixel Cloudflare Contact Casey on his website, Media Wyse , and on Facebook Google Search Console MarketMuse Connect with Jeff Google Analytics If you have any comments,
Tue, July 30, 2019
Trends - The Latest in Site Speed, How to Find Timely Content, and Social Media Trends
Trends in site speed, how to publish trendy content on your blog, using hashtags on Pinterest, and creating a patterned Instagram grid. ----- Welcome to episode 213 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, you’ll learn about tips for optimizing your site speed, how Lindsay publishes trendy content, and how to share smarter on social media. Trends This week on the podcast, we’re focusing on trends, and you’ll hear tips from three experts on site speed, blogging, and social media. First, Andrew from NerdPress will talk about trends in site speed, and he’ll share his photo size recommendations, his favorite plugins, information about caching, and more. Then Lindsay from Pinch of Yum talks about how she publishes relevant content for her readers and how she stays on top of food trends. And last, Abby, Food Blogger Pro and Pinch of Yum’s Social Media Manager will talk about some of the trends we’re seeing on social media, namely hashtags on Pinterest and then Instagram pattern grids. It’s a great episode, and we can’t wait for you to dive in. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why site speed matters for bloggers How caching works What lazy loading is What the latest image size recommendation is How Lindsay approaches creating “trendy” content How hashtags work on Pinterest What Pinch of Yum uses to share content to Pinterest How we’re customizing the Food Blogger Pro Instagram grid Resources: Google Trends WP Rocket a3 Lazy Load ShortPixel 188: Optimizing Your Website’s Images with Simon Duduica NerdPress Tailwind Food Blogger Pro Deals Tasty Pins Follow Food Blogger Pro on Instagram , Pinterest , Facebook , and Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 23, 2019
New - A New Format, Crafting New Content, and New Courses for Bloggers
How Lindsay organizes and creates new content for Pinch of Yum, new courses on Food Blogger Pro, and why we're switching up our podcast format. ----- Welcome to episode 212 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, you’ll learn about the new podcast format, new courses on Food Blogger Pro, how bloggers can approach creating new content, and more. New It’s the first episode of our new format for the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! We’re trying a little 10ish episode experiment with this podcast format, and we’d love to hear what you think. In this new format, we’re going to split each episode up into a few mini interviews, all surrounding the same topic. Today’s topic is “New,” and we talk about the new format, some of the new content we’ve published to Food Blogger Pro, how bloggers can approach creating new content, and more. We’re so excited to launch into this new series! We cover: What’s up with the new Food Blogger Pro Podcast format What’s new on Food Blogger Pro How Lindsay creates new content for Pinch of Yum How a Food Blogger Pro member found success from connecting with others Resources: Food Blogger Pro enrollment is now open! Enroll today Food Blogger Pro Experts Asana Big Magic Food Blogger Pro Deals Hot Rod’s Recipes If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 16, 2019
Enrollment Week at Food Blogger Pro
How you can join Food Blogger Pro, when our prices are increasing, and how you can get access to a special master class called My Instagram Playbook. ----- Welcome to episode 211 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about Enrollment Week here at Food Blogger Pro. Enrollment Week at Food Blogger Pro Welcome to Enrollment Week! This is a really exciting week here at Food Blogger Pro because we’re holding a free, virtual event, opening enrollment, and giving you the ability to sign up for an exciting master class. Here are the deets: Tuesday, July 16 : Our Instagram Playbook Event Thursday, July 18: Enrollment opens on Food Blogger Pro Thursday, July 25 : The last day to get our current prices and access to the My Instagram Playbook Master Class An important note about this enrollment period is that Food Blogger Pro enrollment will stay open indefinitely , which means that enrollment will remain open after July 25! We are increasing our prices after that date, so if you want to lock-in our lower prices, be sure to join before then. Bjork summarizes all of the exciting events and offerings in this episode of the podcast, and we can’t wait to share it with you! In this episode, Bjork shares: Why Instagram is so important for Pinch of Yum How to sign up for the Our Instagram Playbook Event When you can join Food Blogger Pro When our prices are increasing How you can get access to the My Instagram Playbook Master Class How to find testimonials from past and present Food Blogger Pro members Resources: Sign up for the Our Instagram Playbook Event! Learn more about Food Blogger Pro Learn more about the My Instagram Playbook Master Class Check out Food Blogger Pro testimonials If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 09, 2019
Pinch of Yum's Instagram Playbook with Lindsay Ostrom
The two biggest decisions that helped Pinch of Yum grow their Instagram account, why it's important to track your social media habits, and how to register for our free, virtual Instagram Playbook event with Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 210 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about her Instagram Playbook. Pinch of Yum’s Instagram Playbook We have some exciting news for ya today - we’re holding a brand new, free, and virtual event next week called “Our Instagram Playbook.” During that event, Lindsay and Bjork will be opening the Pinch of Yum Instagram Playbook and talking through the intentional strategies and decisions that have helped grow the Pinch of Yum Instagram account to over 850,000 followers. This episode of the podcast is a bit of a teaser for that event, and Lindsay talks all about why having rules set up for the Pinch of Yum Instagram account has been so beneficial to her. You’ll learn all about where the idea of a playbook originated, what has contributed the most to the Pinch of Yum account’s growth, why we believe engagement is the most important, and more. And…be sure to register for our free event next week at foodbloggerpro.com/playbook! In this episode, Lindsay shares: How the Pinch of Yum team uses Instagram How they generate income on Instagram What a playbook is Why it’s helpful to have a playbook for something like Instagram Why it’s important to keep track of your social media habits The two things that have contributed the most to their Instagram growth Proof that engagement is actually king What social media meetings look like on the Pinch of Yum team How you can sign up for our free, virtual event next week! Resources: Pinch of Yum on Instagram Lindsay on Instagram Sign up for the Instagram Playbook event! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 02, 2019
FBP Rewind: How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron
How you can make money from a blog, what Chelsea's social strategy looks like, and how much to charge for a sponsored post with Chelsea Lords. ----- Welcome to episode 209 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to an episode from 2017 with Chelsea from Chelsea’s Messy Apron about how she made $40,000 in her first year of blogging. How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging We’re so thrilled to share another FBP Rewind episode with you today, and this episode with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron was originally published allllll the way back in 2017. That said, the advice and tips that she shares are all just as prevalent as they were back then. This is the story of how Chelsea made a whopping $40,000 in her first year of blogging. If you’re already monetizing your blog, or if you have a goal to start monetizing your blog sometime soon, you’ll love hearing about the decisions that Chelsea made in order to turn her blog into a profitable business. As you’re listening, we encourage you to note where you can tighten up some of your money-making processes in the pursuit of maximizing your blog income. In this episode, Chelsea shares: What her first step was to starting her blog as a business Why she underestimated the amount of money she would make in her first year Where her first year income came from The equation she used to calculate how much to charge for her first sponsored post How she balances family & work Why it takes her 15 hours to make a blog post How she decides what posts to make videos for What her Facebook strategy looks like What she would have done differently looking back Resources: Chelsea’s Messy Apron Chelsea’s eBook Adobe Premiere Pro Mixergy Podcast The sponsored post equation from Wooden Spoons Kitchen: (Time Spent x Hourly Rate) + ( (Page Views/1000) x Advertising rate)= $Price per Post If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, June 25, 2019
Success Story: Full-Time Blogging and Physical Products with Suzy Karadsheh
How to lean into a blogging niche, how to sell physical products online, and how blogging has changed through the years with Suzy Karadsheh. ----- Welcome to episode 208 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Suzy Karadsheh about growing a blog to a full-time job and selling physical products online. Full-Time Blogging and Physical Products Today we’re hearing from Suzy, the blogger behind the site, The Mediterranean Dish. Suzy’s story is really awesome because she found her niche and really leaned into that niche, and then her blog took off. From running her own online store for her own products to bringing team members on to help with her business, Suzy is totally owning her space in the blogging world, and she’s here to tell you how she’s doing it. You’ll learn about some of the tools and processes she relies on, how she sells physical products, how she finally decided to take blogging seriously, and so much more. Enjoy! In this episode, Suzy shares: How blogging has changed since she started When she decided she would take blogging seriously How she formed her niche What the Mediterranean diet is The decisions that helped her blog take off How she sells physical products How she wrote for a magazine Resources: Submit a podcast idea! The Mediterranean Dish WP Tasty Nutrifox 15 Ways to Avoid Blogger Burnout 059: 9 Ways to Avoid Blogger Burnout with Bjork & Lindsay Ostrom Shippo If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Iva from Food by Iva ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, June 18, 2019
Consciously Uncoupling and Crafting the Ideal Workspace with Melissa Coleman
Building routines to deal with daily chaos, how parameters help you design, and tips for refining your design with Melissa Coleman. ----- Welcome to episode 207 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Melissa Coleman about designing your perfect workspace. Consciously Uncoupling and Crafting the Ideal Workspace You may recall that Melissa Coleman from the food blog, The Faux Martha, was on the podcast just back in December talking about her Year of the Pivot. Today, she’s here to continue the conversation and talk about the project she has been working on recently: designing the new Pinch of Yum offices. If you don’t have a dedicated office to work from, you’re not alone. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make intentional decisions to refine and optimize your workspace. Melissa is here to talk through her process for designing a space, as well as the tips that you can and apply to your own workspace. In this episode, Melissa shares: How she’s pivoting her time Why it’s important to put some thought your workspace How she builds routines to deal with daily chaos Why you should start with the function of your space Why mood boards are helpful What parameters help you do The indicators that your space might be sub-optimal Tips for refining your design Resources: 181: The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman Melissa on Instagram The Faux Martha Get in touch with The Faux Martha team about their design work The Minimalist Kitchen If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, mak@sgt! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, June 11, 2019
YouTube for Food Influencers with Tim Schmoyer
How YouTube prioritizes videos, why YouTube is different from other social platforms, and the characteristics of successful YouTube accounts with Tim Schmoyer. ----- Welcome to episode 206 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tim Schmoyer about creating, delivering, and capturing value on YouTube. YouTube for Food Influencers While we know that “hands and pans” videos perform well on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, are they really the best types of videos to share on YouTube? Tim Schmoyer is here today to talk about the nuances that go into creating a powerful presence on YouTube. If you’re already making food and recipe videos, you’ll love learning about how you can create, deliver, and capture value on YouTube in this interview. If you’re not already creating content on YouTube, this episode should shed some light on the many positive outcomes of sharing videos on this platform. In this episode, Tim shares: Why YouTube is important for creators When he realized he could make a career out of YouTube Why you need to fail How he monetizes his channel If it’s too late to start on YouTube The characteristics of successful accounts How YouTube prioritizes videos Why YouTube is different from other social media platforms How to deal with haters His advice for creators who want to rely on YouTube for income What UTM parameters are and why they’re helpful Resources: 050: The Secret to Engaging Video with Tim Schmoyer Six Sisters Stuff Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money YouTube for Food Influencers course Video Creators Podcast If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, smallfarmbiglife! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, June 04, 2019
Fitness, Finance, and Fun - How (and Why) You Need to Build a Personal Board of Directors
What a Personal Board of Directors does, how to fill the seats on your Personal Board of Directors, and how your Personal Board of Directors can help you grow with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 205 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork wraps up our Projects series by talking about building his Personal Board of Directors. How (and Why) You Need to Build a Personal Board of Directors In the final episode of our four-part Projects series, Bjork is here to talk about forming his Personal Board of Directors. The people on his Personal Board of Directors help keep him accountable and encourage him to set aside the time to do the things that are important to him. In this episode, you’ll learn how to form a Personal Board of Directors for yourself, what seats you migh want to fill, and how the people on your Personal Board of Directors can help you grow as a business owner and person. Enjoy! In this episode, Bjork shares: What a Board of Directors does The seats he fills on his Personal Board of Directors Who is a part of his Personal Board of Directors What the future of his Personal Board of Directors could look like Resources: Things Zoom If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 28, 2019
Company Structure - LLCs, S-Corps, and Accounting, oh my!
What is an EIN, how to separate your business finances from your personal finances, and keeping your books in order with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 204 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how we’ve structured our businesses and the tools we use to manage them. LLCs, S-Corps, and Accounting, oh my! If you’re generating income with your blog, it’s important that you have your business structured in a way that you not only understand, but that helps you make strategic decisions in the future. Bjork is here today to chat through how we have our businesses set up, as well as the tools we use to keep track of our financials. You’ll learn why it’s important to separate your business income from your personal income, how to make sure your books are in order, and more to give you a better idea of how you could be managing your blog expenses and income. In this episode, Bjork shares: How you can be strategic with your losses Why it’s important to separate your business income from your personal income What an EIN is Why we’ve separated the financials for each of our businesses How we make sure our books are in order What tools we use to keep track of our purchases and income Resources: QuickBooks Pilot Shoeboxed Leave us a review on iTunes! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 21, 2019
Low-Hanging Fruit - How We’re Finding and Juicing the Low-Hanging Fruits in Our Businesses with Bjork Ostrom
Balancing the attention you give to ads, increasing your business' earning potential, and making a blog visit more valuable with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 203 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats about how we’re strategically targeting our low-hanging fruit. How We’re Finding and Juicing the Low-Hanging Fruits in Our Businesses Working smarter, not harder. Sounds like the dream, right? That’s exactly what this episode is about; putting in a bit of work and getting a big return. This episode is part two of our four-part “Projects” series, and Bjork is sharing some ways that you can be thinking more strategically about the low-hanging fruit in your own business. He’ll encourage you to find the things you’re already doing and do them a little bit better so that you can be more efficient and effective with your work. In this episode, Bjork shares: The two ways you can optimize the ads on your site How you can balance the attention you want to give up to ads How you can increase the earning potential of your business How to make a blog visit more valuable Resources: AdThrive Mediavine Slickstream OneSignal 202: WP Tasty – Our Early Stage Strategy for Building Traffic and Marketing with Bjork Ostrom If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 14, 2019
WP Tasty - Our Early Stage Strategy for Building Traffic and Marketing with Bjork Ostrom
Retargeting website visitors, specific opt-ins, and quick-start guides with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 202 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about WP Tasty’s traffic and marketing strategy. Our Early Stage Strategy for Building Traffic and Marketing We’re so excited for this episode because it marks the start of our three-part series, “Projects.” Today’s episode focuses on WP Tasty, our sister site for WordPress plugins for food bloggers. One of the words that you’ll hear Bjork say a few times throughout this episode is the word “intentional,” and it’s at the core of the strategies that we’re sharing today. We encourage you to take some of the strategies you’ll hear today and see if you can apply them to your own blog or business in an intentional way! In this episode, Bjork shares: Why WP Tasty’s churn rate is low Why support is so important Where traffic is for WP Tasty How WP Tasty is optimizing their traffic Why it’s helpful to create content in buckets How WP Tasty is handling content scheduling and planning How WP Tasty uses pixels to retarget customers How to make a “quick start” guide for your content Why a specific opt-in is more helpful than a generic one Resources: WP Tasty WP Tasty’s blog Ahrefs 091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO CoSchedule 201: Email Marketing for Bloggers with Matt Molen Moz Sign up for the Food Blogger Pro waiting list If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, May 07, 2019
Email Marketing for Bloggers with Matt Molen
Why you should be implementing an email strategy, how to get more readers on your list, and what to do once those readers are on your list with Matt Molen. ----- Welcome to episode 201 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matt Molen about implementing and maintaining a solid email list strategy. Email Marketing for Bloggers Today’s episode focuses on the unsung hero, the oft forgotten promotional medium of blogging: email marketing. It’s easy to just set up an RSS-driven email campaign, meaning that your subscribers automatically get new posts, and forget about it. But you can be doing a lot with your email list, and Matt is here today to talk about those strategies and plans that can help you grow a healthy, engaging email list. It’s a fun interview, and we hope you have a few takeaways that you can apply to your mailing list after listening. In this episode, Matt shares: Where the name Personalized Paths come from Why segmentation is important What it was like to move from full-time employment to self-employment Why content creators should be implementing an email strategy How to get more readers on your list What to send your readers once they’re on your list How to solve your readers’ problems How to maintain a healthy email list Resources: Personalized Paths Picture the Magic Calendly ConvertKit 140: From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry Email Jump Start Email on Autopilot Information on Matt’s consulting service If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Quackygirl33! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, April 30, 2019
The State of Food Blogger Pro with Bjork Ostrom
How we built a membership site on WordPress, how we work as a team, and how we run our business with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 200 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the tools that we use to run Food Blogger Pro. The State of Food Blogger Pro And the day is here! Welcome to the 200th episode of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! To celebrate, we’re focusing on…Food Blogger Pro! More specifically, this episode focuses on how we run Food Blogger Pro as a membership site, business, and producer of content. Bjork talks about all of the tools that are essential to running Food Blogger Pro, and we encourage you to think about the ways that you could incorporate some of them into your own blog or business. Whether this is your first Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode or your 200th, thank you for making the FBP Podcast a part of your week! In this episode, Bjork shares: How we built a membership site on WordPress The plugins we’re using on WordPress How we work as a team How the business works How the podcast works Resources: 000: Our Beliefs, Our Hopes, and Our Dreams 195: Some Exciting Updates Coming to Food Blogger Pro with Bjork Ostrom Restrict Content Pro bbPress Stripe PayPal Intercom Nutrifox ActiveCampaign ConvertKit Vimeo ScreenFlow Slack Asana Zoom Loom G Suite Quickbooks Shoeboxed Justworks Slavic401k PeopleKeep Track1099 Heil PR40 USBPre 2 Libsyn If you have any comment
Tue, April 23, 2019
The State of Pinch of Yum with Lindsay Ostrom
Tips for recipe development, using photography and writing templates, and working with a shoot assistant with Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 199 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about how she’s managing life, work, and her new normal. The State of Pinch of Yum Today marks part one of a two-part series here on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast where we’re focusing on the states of two of our businesses - Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro. Today’s focus is on Pinch of Yum. A lot has changed for Lindsay and her food blog these past few months. Lindsay now has a young daughter, she took a three-month maternity leave at the end of last year, and she’s now back at work three days a week. Because of these changes, her schedule and workflow has had to change a bit, and that’s what she’s here covering today. She’ll talk about her new schedule, how she works most efficiently, and why photography and post templates are especially helpful for her to get her tasks done. In this episode, Lindsay shares: What her schedule looks like now What takes away from her efficiency Her tips for recipe development What it’s like to work with a shoot assistant How she works with a photography template How she works with a blog post template Resources: Instacart Destination Delish Photo Mechanic Adobe Lightroom Toggl Follow Pinch of Yum and Lindsay on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, April 16, 2019
Using Google Ads as a Blogger with Chris Schaeffer
How Google Ads works, when you should consider using Google Ads, and best practices for YouTube ads with Chris Schaeffer. ----- Welcome to episode 198 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chris Schaeffer all about Google Ads. Using Google Ads as a Blogger We see ads all of the time, but do you know how to run, optimize, and analyze your own ads? Enter: Chris Schaeffer. He’s actually working with our WP Tasty team to help optimize their Google Ads, so he’s here today to chat about the strategies, tools, and placements you can consider as you’re getting ads set up for your content. If the idea of running your own ads makes you want to cry, this episode will calm those nerves and give you a great starting point to a pain-free ad strategy. In this episode, Chris shares: The difference between AdWords and Google Ads What Google Ads is and how it works Where you can see Google Ads The difference between Google Ads and AdSense When should you consider using Google Ads How to get up and running with Google Ads Strategies for using ads How ads work on YouTube Resources: Google Ads Paid Search Podcast Check out Chris’ website and services If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, April 09, 2019
Making Sense of Your Website Analytics with Jeff Sauer
Giving meaning to (not provided) data in Google Analytics, removing your own pageviews from your traffic, and making your numbers more accessible with Jeff Sauer. ----- Welcome to episode 197 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics about making the most of your analytics data. Making Sense of Your Website Analytics We’re so excited to welcome Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics back on the podcast. Jeff was actually on our podcast before, episode 76 to be exact, and he’s here today to continue that awesome conversation. Jeff is a pro at making analytics data meaningful , which helps him and his clients make smart decisions about their businesses. You’ll learn about some helpful tools that you can incorporate into your workflow, some important concepts to remember as you’re analyzing your analytics data, and how you can start to fully understand your readership and conversion numbers. In this episode, Jeff shares: How he started to work with analytics How he helps makes numbers more accessible What bot traffic is Why you want to remove your own traffic from your analytics How you can make sense of (not provided) information in Google Analytics How you can use goals in Google Analytics How to use Google Data Studio The outcomes of his 90 day content marketing challenge Resources: How to Increase Amazon Affiliate Earnings Jeffalytics MonsterInsights Jetpack Stats Google Tag Assistant How To Identify And Remove Bot Traffic In Google Analytics Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on Keyword Hero Data Driven Marketing Objectives: How To Define, Track, And Achieve Your Marketing Goals Google Data Studio Databox 90 Day Content Marketing Challenge Jeff’s resources for Food Blogger Pro Podcast listeners Check out Jeff’s courses
Tue, April 02, 2019
Answering Your Questions about Influencer Marketing with Nick Brucker
Measuring an ROI, how to fit into a brand's strategy, and long-term brand relationships with Nick Brucker. ----- Welcome to episode 196 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Nick Brucker from Sparq Designs about common questions about influencer marketing. Answering Your Questions about Influencer Marketing Nick knows marketing. His company, Sparq Designs, helps businesses with their online marketing, media needs, and strategic planning, and he has a deep understanding of marketing from both a brand and a blogger perspective. Today on the podcast, Nick is tackling your questions about influencer marketing, and…we’re answering real marketing questions from bloggers like you! We asked the Food Blogger Pro community about their influencer marketing struggles, and Nick is here to offer his advice and strategies for creating long-lasting and beneficial relationships with brands. In this episode, Nick shares: How he started Sparq Designs Why brands like to offer free product How to start getting paid from sponsors How to measure ROI How to narrow your niche (and if you should) How you can fit into a brand’s strategy How to start a long-term relationship with a brand How to change your mindset when you work with brands What brands and influencers are looking for Resources: Notion Sparq Designs Follow Sparq Designs and Nick on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, March 26, 2019
Some Exciting Updates Coming to Food Blogger Pro with Bjork Ostrom
How we started Food Blogger Pro, why we're switching to WordPress, and how to start something with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 195 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats about a big and exciting change we’re making on Food Blogger Pro. Some Exciting Updates Coming to Food Blogger Pro Something very exciting has been happening behind the scenes here at Food Blogger Pro HQ for the past few months, and we’re finally spilling the beans: we’re moving to WordPress! That’s right! We’re migrating Food Blogger Pro from a CMS called ExpressionEngine to our recommended CMS for food bloggers, WordPress. There are many reasons why we’re switching over to WordPress, and that’s what Bjork is here to talk about today. He’ll share how Food Blogger Pro was initially set up, why we think WordPress will be a huge win for our membership site, strategies for starting something big, and more. We’re so excited to share this new and improved version of Food Blogger Pro with you. :) In this episode, Bjork shares: The story of how Food Blogger Pro started How Food Blogger Pro is currently set up Why we’re moving to WordPress His thoughts about starting something Resources: Kicktastic FortySeven Media Sign up for the Food Blogger Pro waiting list! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, March 19, 2019
Making Great Content with Sam Adler
Finding your photography style, what makes quality content, and the Saveur Blog Awards with Sam Adler. ----- Welcome to episode 194 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sam Adler from Frosting and Fettuccine about the importance of creating quality content. Making Great Content Sam knows quality content. Whether she’s publishing on her blog or on her Saveur Blog Award-winning Instagram account, she’s constantly on the quest for creating the highest-quality content she can. That’s what she’s here to chat about today. You’ll learn about her approach to photography and color, her background in cooking, and what it was like to be nominated (and eventually WIN!) a Saveur Blog Award. Enjoy! In this episode, Sam shares: About her experience at Le Cordon Bleu How her understanding of colors helps with her food blog How she found her photography style What it was like to win a Saveur Blog Award Why the quality of your content is so important What makes quality content Resources: Planoly Frosting and Fettuccine Follow Sam on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, March 12, 2019
Doing Less to Accomplish More with Nora Schlesinger
The importance of a business plan, helpful tools for SEO, and making the most out of your old content with Nora Schlesinger. ----- Welcome to episode 193 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Nora Schlesinger from A Clean Bake about how she prioritizes her work and runs her blog. Doing Less to Accomplish More Nora had a few other blogs before landing on her current blog, A Clean Bake. Throughout her time running these blogs, she’s learned a lot. Most importantly, how to work less and still be able to accomplish everything she wants to. This interview focuses around the ideas of prioritizing your work and working smarter . It’s a fantastic interview, and you’ll love learning about her favorite tools, the course she took to understand SEO, and how she makes her older posts work for her. In this episode, Nora shares: How she ended up with A Clean Bake What happened when she took her blog full-time How she decided to go back to work Why she wrote a business plan The tools that she uses to run her blog How to make your old content work for you What it means to write for ads Resources: CoSchedule A Clean Bake Ahrefs SEMrush Hashtag Jeff SEO Mastermind Course Google Search Console AnswerThePublic Zapier Follow Nora on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, WisteriaJ7! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, March 05, 2019
Bootstrapped Cupcakes: How Rob and Jen Built a Successful Business
The importance of understanding a business at a whole, starting a brick and mortar business, and hiring help with Jen and Rob Morris. ----- Welcome to episode 192 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jen and Rob Morris from Cupcakeology about starting and growing their bakery. How Rob and Jen Built a Successful Business Have you ever dreamt of opening up your own bakery or restaurant? Jen and Rob did, too. They opened Cupcakeology in Philadelphia due to a love of desserts and management. Jen and Rob learned a ton about running their own business, and that’s what they’re here today to chat about. You’ll learn about how they overcame the difficulties of starting their own business, how they decided to hire help, and why they eventually started a blog. This is such a fun interview, and we know you’ll love learning about their journey. In this episode, Jen and Rob share: How they started baking When they realized they wanted to start a bakery Why it was important to understand both the food and the business The different businesses they started The hard lessons they needed to learn when they first started How they decided to hire help The importance of stories Why they started a blog Resources: Pinterest Strategy Recommendations from the Experts Cupcakeology Lovin’ from the Oven Follow Cupcakeology and Lovin’ from the Oven on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Wordnerdy! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, February 26, 2019
Building a Better Bio with Ryan Walker
Tips for Instagram success, building a product or website, and how to know when you should invest in your business with Ryan Walker. ----- Welcome to episode 191 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ryan Walker from Link in Profile and Tap Bio. Building a Better Bio If you’ve spent any time on Instagram, chances are that you’ve seen the words “Link in Profile” and / or “Tap Bio” before. Link in Profile and Tap Bio are Instagram bio tools that help send your followers to your blog content. Ryan Walker, the founder of these two companies is here today to chat about these tools and how they can help you with your Instagram strategy. He shares his tips for Instagram success, his advice for building a product or website, how to know when you should invest in your business, and so much more. Enjoy! In this episode, Ryan shares: His background in software How to know when you should invest in your business How he decided to start and build Link in Profile How Link in Profile works Tips for Instagram success Why he started Tap Bio The differences between Link in Profile and Tap Bio His advice for building something Resources: Link in Profile Tap.Bio Against All Grain Real or Fake: 5 Instagram Rumors Explained Follow @tap.bio on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Margaret! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, February 19, 2019
Push Notifications for Bloggers with Josh Wetzel
How notifications work, how to create a customer journey strategy, and writing engaging notifications with Josh Wetzel from OneSignal. ----- Welcome to episode 190 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Josh Wetzel from OneSignal about using push notifications on your blog. Push Notifications for Bloggers Chances are that you’ve seen a prompt on a blog that says something like, “Do you want to opt-in to browser notifications?” Pinch of Yum might be one of them! Those are called push notifications, and OneSignal is a company that helps you create those push notifications to increase user engagement on your site. Josh Wetzel, OneSignal’s Chief Revenue Officer, is here today to talk about the benefits of using push notifications on your blog and the results that you may see after enabling them for your website. In this episode, Josh shares: How he started with OneSignal How notifications work How voice notifications work How to create a customer journey strategy The different types of messages you can send with OneSignal How you can monetize notifications How you can write engaging notifications How intelligent delivery works Resources: Diversifying Traffic: How Different Sources Perform Over Time OneSignal In 2018, push alerts featured less yelling and more thinking Follow OneSignal and Josh on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Crackersandcabernet! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, February 12, 2019
Make Less Work with Blake Bailey
Why you should build your processes, how to create a more valuable business, and prioritizing your tasks with Blake Bailey. ----- Welcome to episode 189 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Blake Bailey from Process Street about the importance of documenting your processes. Make Less Work Whether you know it or not, there are a lot of processes that go into creating blog content. Photographing a recipe, publishing a post, sharing that post on social media, reaching out to sponsors, adding ads to your site. Blake from Process Street is here to talk about why you might to document these processes and how to get started documenting these processes. He’ll help you save time and work smarter by automating some of your most common to-dos and prioritizing your tasks. In this episode, Blake shares: What an SOP is How you can start creating processes Why you might want to start building processes How you can automate your processes How you can make less work for yourself and your team How to create a more valuable business with processes How you can build your processes and prioritize your tasks How to use Content Lock Resources: Process Street Zapier The Checklist Manifesto Ahrefs MarketMuse Checklists for Bloggers If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Sylvia! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, February 05, 2019
Optimizing Your Website’s Images with Simon Duduica
Retina images, how to start optimizing your site, and the different levels of image optimization with Simon Duduica. ----- Welcome to episode 188 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Simon Duduica about optimizing images on your website. Optimizing Your Website’s Images We know that optimization is important when it comes to building a website, so today’s interview focuses on optimizing images. Optimizing images on food blogs is especially important. Food blogs are typically heavy-handed with their use of images, and for good reason: people eat with their eyes. That said, it’s just as important that your images look good as it is to optimize them for site performance and speed. That’s where ShortPixel comes in. They help you optimize your images in a way that doesn’t compromise quality or that “drool-worthiness” we all want to see in our images. ShortPixel’s Head of Technology, Simon, is here to chat through what optimizing your images means and how you can make sure the images on your site are optimized. In this episode, Simon shares: How they started ShortPixel Why image optimization is important for website owners How images load How you can tell if your images are optimized The difference between optimization levels What retina images are and how you can optimize them How you can start optimizing your website Resources: Register for the Growing Your Food Blog Q&A with Bjork and Lindsay! ShortPixel WP Engine Cloudflare GTmetrix Google PageSpeed Insights If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Brenda from Become Betty ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, January 29, 2019
How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook with Chelsea Cole
What self-publishing is, how much you can expect to spend, and enlisting the help of others with Chelsea Cole. ----- Welcome to episode 187 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven about the process of self-publishing a cookbook. How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook It’s time for part 2 of our two-part publishing series! This week, we’re chatting with Chelsea Cole, sous vide master, all about the steps she took to self-publish her very own cookbook. Self-publishing is certainly different from traditional publishing, so this episode focuses on the nuances that make self-publishing so accessible and exciting for bloggers. You’ll learn how she found her topic, how much you should expect to spend if you’re self-publishing a book, and more. Enjoy! In this episode, Chelsea shares: Where her blog name comes from What sous vide is How she decided to focus on sous vide Why she started thinking about writing a cookbook How payments work when you write a cookbook How she managed her cookbook team and timeline How much you should plan on spending if you self-publish a cookbook How she promoted her book What she would do differently next time Resources: Delivering Happiness A Duck’s Oven Shoe Dog MacBreak Weekly Sous Vide 5-year trend on Google Trends Well Fed Diane Morgan Asana Amazon’s Royalty Calculator 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Everyday Sous Vide: It’s All French to Me BONUS! Check out Chelsea’s blog post all about her self-publishing process If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 22, 2019
How to Become a Published Author with Lindsey Smith
Fine-tuning your book idea, book proposals, and understanding your reader with Lindsey Smith. ----- Welcome to episode 186 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Lindsey Smith, aka. The Food Mood Girl, about the traditional publishing process. How to Become a Published Author You have an awesome book idea, but you have no idea what to do with it. If this sounds like you, then this episode is for you! Lindsey Smith is a publishing pro; she has gone through the self-publishing process in addition to working with a traditional publishing house. This episode, however, is focused on the latter–getting an agent, going through a publisher, and writing a book proposal. She also talks about how she started her own press and developed a conference for aspiring authors. The publishing process may seem a bit daunting, but you’ll learn a ton of helpful tips in this interview like how to set your pitch apart, how your pitches will change based on the type of book you’re writing, and how you can fine-tune your book idea and proposal. Enjoy! In this episode, Lindsey shares: How she started publishing her content What a press is The differences between an agent and a publisher How a nonfiction pitch differs from a fiction pitch How to set your pitch apart from others How she fine-tuned her book idea What you can do once you have a book idea Important parts of a book proposal Why it’s important to understand that you’re ahead of your reader How having a brand can help with the traditional publishing process Resources: Test your mobile site speed with Think with Google One Idea Press Pitch Publish Promote Food Mood Girl Lindsey’s books Macmillan Follow Lindsey on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, YumYoga! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, January 15, 2019
Darkness and Light: A Photographer’s Journey from Addiction to Success with Joanie Simon
Flash photography, the road to recovery, and building a business with Joanie Simon. ----- Welcome to episode 185 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Joanie Simon about using flash photography and recovering from addiction. Darkness and Light We typically talk about the benefits of shooting food photos with natural light - namely, it’s an easy way to make sure your photos look natural. But if you take a quick peek over at Joanie’s Instagram profile (@thebiteshot), you’ll see that she’s getting beautiful, natural-looking photos using flash. That’s right! Joanie has figured out a way to make flash photography the foundation of her successful YouTube channel, brand partnerships, and more. But that’s not the only reason you’ll love this episode. Joanie’s journey to food blogging and photography wasn’t an easy one, and you’ll hear about her road to recovery and her story of how she got to where she is today. In this episode, Joanie shares: How she got into blogging Why a chicken is so important to her story How relationships grew her photography business Why she shoots with flash How flash is different from artificial light The gear she uses for flash photography Resources: Joanie’s story “ 7 Habits of Highly Effective People The Bite Shot on YouTube Joanie’s courses Joanie’s flash photography gear Follow Joanie on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Betsy from The Dinner Sisters ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, January 08, 2019
Build Better, Not Bigger, Businesses with Paul Jarvis
Defining growth, figuring out your definition of success, and learning from those who are paying attention with Paul Jarvis. ----- Welcome to episode 184 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Jarvis about his new book, “Company of One,” and building better businesses. Build Better, Not Bigger, Businesses Paul is back on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast to chat about his new book, how to build better businesses, how to define growth, and so much more. Paul understands business in a pretty unique way. His ideologies of starting small, defining growth, and continual learning will help you evaluate your blog or business and challenge you to find your own definition of success. Plus, his new book, “Company of One,” will be out next week, so be sure to pre-order if you’re interested! In this episode, Paul shares: How you can preorder his book Why you should figure out your definition of success How he keeps simplicity in his work How you can get your Company of One business up and running What defining growth means Why you don’t need a massive audience What it means to learn from the people who are paying attention How to protect yourself from the ulcer of the soul Resources: Preorder Paul’s book ! 181: The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Carolyn from Umami Girl ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, January 01, 2019
183: FBP Rewind: How to Keep Going with Bjork Ostrom
Intentional effort, going by stopping, and finding the good with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 183 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to a Bjork solo episode where he talks about how to keep going when you’re not sure you can continue. How to Keep Going Happy 2019! For today’s podcast episode, we’re rewinding back to a solo Bjork episode called, “How to Keep Going.” This episode was originally published in August 2017, but the strategies, advice, and techniques Bjork shares will help you stay motivated in the new year. It’s tough to keep going, keep doing, and keep creating, especially when you’re trying to balance it with the other aspects of your life. The tips Bjork shares in this episode will help you get up each and every day to do the work. In this episode, Bjork shares: Why someone else’s path might not be the one for you How to find your own path Why time is a key ingredient How The Path differs from The Resistance How temporarily stopping can help you keep going Why deadlines are important and how they have impacted Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro Why gratitude moves you forward Resources: Open for Business Podcast Startup Podcast Smart Passive Income Podcast FE International Website Brokerage Quiet Light Brokerage Episode 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Pinch of Yum - Afton posts If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 25, 2018
FBP Rewind: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill
Narrowing your niche, increasing your traffic, and finding a business coach with Meggan Hill. ----- Welcome to episode 182 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to one of our most popular episodes with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill. How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business Today we’re rewinding back to one of our most popular podcast episodes ever with Meggan Hill from the blog Culinary Hill. Meggan has a firm understanding of her brand, her audience, and her niche, and that deep understanding helps drive her content creation and direction. And that’s exactly what Meggan talks about in this interview. You’ll learn how she defined her niche, how that then increased her traffic, how she just finds the time to do what she does, and so much more. Enjoy this rewind episode! In this episode, Meggan shares: How she narrowed down her niche Why finding a niche was freeing How refining her brand increased her traffic Why she is going to culinary school What the first step is to finding a business coach How she gets her morning started What she would have changed over the last few years How she finds time for her blog Resources: Culinary Hill CookIt Media Jadah Sellner Coaching 5 Minute Journal The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod Insight Timer meditation app Headspace meditation app Follow Meggan on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 18, 2018
The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman
How to navigate the fall, the importance of play, and protecting the everyday with Melissa Coleman. ----- Welcome to episode 181 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Melissa Coleman from The Faux Martha about the things she learned about herself this year. The Year of the Pivot Melissa Coleman of The Faux Martha had a big year. Not only does she run a successful blog, she also published her first book, The Minimalist Kitchen, this April. But they aren’t the only reasons she had a good year: she called this year The Year of the Pivot. She knew something needed to change, and she set out on a journey this year to make it happen. Without revealing too much, she learned quite a bit from this experiential year, and the lessons she learned serve as a powerful message to all bloggers in this episode. In this episode, Melissa shares: What it was like to write a book Why she wanted to find a new direction How she navigated the fall Why it’s important to play What it means to protect the everyday Why it’s helpful to start with a problem and work to a solution How she’s preserving her asset How she approached hiring What’s next for her and her blog Resources: Todoist The Faux Martha The Minimalist Kitchen After the Fall The Horse Named Hustle Job Opening: Left Brain The Minimalist Kitchen Course Follow Melissa on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, December 11, 2018
Establishing Your Expertise with Jeff Coyle
Quality content, becoming a subject matter expert, and finding connections in your content with Jeff Coyle. ----- Welcome to episode 180 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeff Coyle from MarketMuse about becoming an expert on your blog. Establishing Your Expertise Jeff helps run MarketMuse, an AI planning and optimizing software, and they focus on optimizing your content to improve your search engine ranking potential. This episode focuses around becoming a subject matter expert on your blog; choosing a topic to go all-in on and really become “the” expert of that topic. You’ll learn a lot about why subject matter expertise is valuable as a content creator, what a quality piece of content actually looks like, how you can prove you’re an expert, and so much more. Let’s dive in! In this episode, Jeff shares: What led him to MarketMuse Why subject matter expertise is valuable What a quality piece of content looks like How you can prove you’re an expert How to find connections in your content How narrow your expertise should be Resources: MarketMuse TechTarget Google Adwords Keyword Planner Follow MarketMuse on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Rebecca from No Big Bites ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, December 04, 2018
The Art of Buying Websites with Jeff Hunt
Why you might want to purchase a website, how to make smart buying decisions, and how to buy a process with Jeff Hunt. ----- Welcome to episode 179 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jeff Hunt about the process of buying and selling websites. The Art of Buying Websites If you want to secure a place on the internet with a website, you don’t always need to start it from scratch. Instead, you can buy a pre-existing website. Why would you want to buy rather than start? Well, that’s a good question, and the exact reason why Jeff is here today. He’ll talk about his decision to purchase his first website, how you can make smart buying decisions, how to avoid spammy links, and so much more. If you’re looking for ways to diversify your income, or perhaps start a new site, I think you’re really going to learn a lot from this interview. Let’s jump in. In this episode, Jeff shares: Why he moved overseas How he started buying websites Why you’d buy a website How you can be smart when buying a website What a spammy link is What it means to buy a process What it looks like to buy a website Resources: The Website Investor Podcast Flippa Ahrefs Flip Minds If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Dale & Valarie from Unstoppable Foodie ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, November 27, 2018
Life, Podcasting, Blogging, and Cookbook Writing with Sonja and Alex Overhiser
Consistent quality content, working together, and improving the process with Sonja and Alex Overhiser from A Couple Cooks. ----- Welcome to episode 178 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sonja and Alex Overhiser about balancing content, working together, and podcasting. Life, Podcasting, Blogging, and Cookbook Writing Sonja and Alex seem to be doing it all: publishing consistent quality blog content, focusing on SEO, sharing their content on social media, publishing a cookbook, and producing a podcast. How do they balance it all? That’s a good question. And that’s the exact topic of this episode. They cover their typical day-to-day, small changes that helped them find balance, and more. Let’s dive in. In this episode, Sonja & Alex share: How they started their blog How they keep improving their process What it was like to transition to working on A Couple Cooks full time What their typical day looks like How they work together as a family and find balance Why they started their podcast Resources: How to Make Sourdough Bread: The Simplified Guide on A Couple Cooks 12 Healthy Freezer Meals on Pinch of Yum Hashtag Jeff SEMrush Asana A Couple Cooks | Small Bites Podcast Pretty Simple Cooking Cookbook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Laine Oliver! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, November 20, 2018
A Video in 2019 Q&A with Emily Caruso
Lighting for recipe videos, different videos for different platforms, and finding your video style with Emily Caruso. ----- Welcome to episode 177 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emily Caruso, Pinch of Yum’s Video Specialist, as part of our recent Video in 2019 Summit. A Video in 2019 Q&A We recently held a free event called the Video in 2019 Summit, and it focused on ways you can level-up your recipe videos in the new year. Our last session of the day was a Q&A with Pinch of Yum’s Video Specialist, Emily Caruso, and she answered listener-submitted questions about style, lighting, tools, and more. Emily creates awesome Pinch of Yum recipe videos all by herself in her home, so if you’re producing videos without a fancy studio, you’ll find this episode inspirational, motivational, and full of helpful tips! In this episode, Emily shares: How she created different videos for different platforms How to fade music at the end of your videos What it’s like to shoot videos by herself How to figure out your rate for making videos for brands How to level your camera The importance of hooks Tips for finding your style If she treats lighting the same as she does with photography How video ads work How to deal with the nuances of natural lighting Resources: Premium Beat The Gear We Use for Recipe Videos Glide Gear OH 100 Cell Phone Mount 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss Google Drive File Stream If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Emily from Layers of Happiness ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, November 13, 2018
Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers with Chris Guthrie
Top mistakes of affiliates, buyer intent, and the authentic use of affiliate links with Chris Guthrie. ----- Welcome to episode 176 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chris Guthrie about making affiliate marketing work for you. Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers This is the greatest time of year. No, not because of the holidays…because it’s gift guide season! Joking aside, gift guides are just one of the many ways that you can make affiliate marketing work for you, and that’s exactly why Chris is here. He’s sharing some unique strategies for affiliate marketing, and he chats about important keywords for affiliate marketing, optimization, and more. If you’re looking for ways to up your affiliate income game, this episode is for you! In this episode, Chris shares: Why he started product review sites Why buyer intent is important and how to create content around it Why keywords like “best” and “top” are helpful for affiliate marketing The biggest mistakes affiliates make How you can authentically use affiliate links How you can win an optimization session with Chris Resources: SEMrush Ahrefs Top 7 Tips I Used to Make $41,438.42 in 2009 with Amazon Associates Amazon Associates Program Fee Schedule EasyAzon Amazon OneLink Up Fuel Follow Chris on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, November 06, 2018
FBP Rewind: How to Find Balance in Blogging with Ali Martin
Photography, blogging as a career, and finding balance with Ali Martin. ----- Welcome to episode 175 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to episode #24 with Ali Martin from Gimme Some Oven. How to Find Balance in Blogging Every once in a while, we like to rewind back to a past episode of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, and this one is a good one. It’s one of our most popular episodes, and while a lot has changed since this episode aired in December 2015, a lot of what Ali talks about is as important as ever. We’re so excited about this FBP Rewind episode because the advice that Ali gives in this interview is timeless. She talks about important self-care tips, following your passions, and how she grows her blog every day. In this episode, Ali shares: How she stumbled upon the idea for a blog & got started What motivated her to keep blogging when she didn’t even know she could make money with a blog Her tips for white photography When she quit her job to be a blogger full-time, and how long she thinks she’ll be doing it What she does to continue to grow her blog every day How she uses the Google Keyword Planner to get post ideas Why she surveys her readers every year Her best advice for new and experienced bloggers Resources: Food Blogger Pro enrollment opens on Thursday, November 8! Join at foodbloggerpro.com Gimme Some Oven 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic White Balance Eyedropper Tutorial Google Keyword Tool (note - this link will only work if you have an AdWords account set up) Gimme Some Oven on Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest , and Instagram Ira Glass quote on creative work foodbloggerpro.com/one If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Bethany from Maloney Made ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on
Tue, October 30, 2018
7 Ways To Practice 1% Infinity with Bjork Ostrom
A free event (and you're invited!), proactive content consumption, and microlearning with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 174 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the ways that you can practice 1% infinity with your blog or business. 7 Ways To Practice 1% Infinity If you’ve been around Food Blogger Pro for a while, chances are that you’ve heard of 1% infinity. It means making a little bit of progress, every single day, forever, and it’s our philosophy here at FBP HQ. But how do you actually practice 1% infinity in your own life? That’s the question Bjork is answering in today’s episode. And we’d love to know: what’s the #1 way you practice 1% infinity in your business? Let us know in the comments at foodbloggerpro.com/174! In this episode, Bjork shares: Why free events and webinars are valuable What proactive content consumption is How to block out time for microlearning An easy to fill your day with knowledge Why it’s important to connect with both similar and diverse groups of people How conferences or in-person events are inspiring What structure-free times are Resources: Register for our Video in 2019 Summit ! Pocket This Week in Startups Startups for the Rest of Us MacBreak Weekly Mixergy If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Aaron from Fat for Weight Loss ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, October 23, 2018
Creating What You Can't Find with Sven Raphael Schneider
Diversifying income, a smarter way to choose tools, and forming your path with Sven Raphael Schneider. ----- Welcome to episode 173 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sven Raphael Schneider from Gentleman’s Gazette about starting and growing his business by fulfilling a need. Creating What You Can’t Find Sven Raphael Schneider started his business, Gentleman’s Gazette, out of a need. He was looking for information on men’s fashion, and he couldn’t find it. So he fulfilled the need he saw and created the content himself. From there, he learned a lot about running a business, from diversifying his income to understanding the correlation between quality and sales. You’ll learn all about his strategies for growth in this episode. In this episode, Sven shares: How he formed his path online How he dealt with troubles early on The way he’s diversifying his income Why quality doesn’t always equate to sales Why you should think of your goals before choosing your tools Why they switched their focus from Instagram to YouTube Why he likes to produce content in advance Resources: Moleskine Gentleman’s Gazette ConvertKit InflusionSoft 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Traction EOS Follow him on YouTube If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Rosscito! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, October 16, 2018
Dreaming Big with Olena Osipov
Staying motivated, avoiding mistakes, and refreshing old content with Olena Osipov. ----- Welcome to episode 172 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Olena Osipov from iFOODreal about the importance of dreaming big in order to grow your blog. Dreaming Big Your goals, dreams, and aspirations shape the direction in which you take your business and blog, and Olena’s journey is a great example of that. You’ll learn how she stayed motivated and encouraged through all of the ups and downs of blogging and how she managed to take her blog full-time. Olena is living the dream, and she talks all about how she did it in this episode! In this episode, Olena shares: What it was like to move from Ukraine to Canada How she decided to start her blog How she stayed motivated How to keep going and connect with others What her biggest mistake was How she saw 75% growth in traffic SEO recommendations she received Why updating old recipes was so helpful Resources: Unsplash iFOODreal Pat Flynn 053: Pat Flynn’s Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill 132: Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand with Laurie Buckle 091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO Google Ads Keyword Planner Google Trends Ahrefs Moz 133: Optimizing Your Food Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee 136: Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith Tasty Recipes Nutrifox Tasty Pins Follow Olena on <a href= "https://ww
Tue, October 09, 2018
The Business of Podcasting with Noelle Tarr
How to keep creating content, stay relevant, and get sponsors with Noelle Tarr. ----- Welcome to episode 171 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Noelle Tarr from Coconuts & Kettlebells about strategically using a podcast to build a business. The Business of Podcasting Let’s talk about podcasting and how it can be an awesome opportunity to get your content seen and heard. Noelle has a blog, a cookbook, and a podcast, and she finds that the podcast is a great way to reach her audience on a deeper level and create a community with her followers. You’ll learn how she started her podcast, how she decides on topics, and so much more. If you’ve ever wondered if starting a podcast is right for you, this episode will help you understand the benefits and opportunities behind building your brand with a podcast. In this episode, Noelle shares: Why she started her podcast How she tracks the success of her podcast Which podcast topics perform best How she’s building her email list How they keep creating content How they schedule their podcast interviews How they keep topics relevant How they use their podcast to communicate other projects to their followers Tips for pricing podcast sponsorships Resources: Pocket Coconuts and Kettlebells Well-Fed Women Podcast Libsyn Coconuts & Kettlebells cookbook Podcasts Hit the Books How to Start a Podcast in 2018: Pat’s Complete Step-By-Step Podcasting Tutorial 053: Pat Flynn’s Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Dawn! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, October 02, 2018
What's Working and What's Not with the FBP Community
How to get your content seen, use other medias to share your content, and finding the time to get through your to-dos. ----- Welcome to episode 170 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we hear from three Food Blogger Pro members about what’s working to help them grow their blogs and what’s not. What’s Working and What’s Not We’re so excited to share this new episode with you today because it’s definitely a bit different from the episodes we’ve shared in the past. We’re highlighting three Food Blogger Pro members, Katie, Mary, and Sarah, as they talk about the things that really help their blog growth, and the things that they’ve been struggling with. Then Bjork responds and offers some ideas and encouragement to work through those tough situations. He talks about finding the time to work through your to-dos, tips for social media, and more. It’s a really fun episode, and we’d love to hear what you think in the comments! In this episode, Katie, Mary, and Sarah share: Using your blog as a portfolio Getting your content seen Using recipe videos How passion fuels progress Finding enough time Resources: Hey Nutrition Lady What is affiliate marketing? 12 Healthy Freezer Meals Mary’s Nest Mediawyse Blog Tutor Sustainable Cooks If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 25, 2018
Insights and Observations on Starting a Business with Josh Pigford
Caring for yourself as an entrepreneur, ignoring data, and being a painkiller with Josh Pigford. ----- Welcome to episode 169 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Josh Pigford from Baremetrics about the lessons he has learned in the 15+ years he’s been building businesses. Insights and Observations on Starting a Business The life of an entrepreneur is always changing, but after 15+ years in the business, you can expect to learn a thing or two. Josh is a self-proclaimed “maker” who “can’t stop making things.” As a blogger, you can probably relate. You can’t stop posting, stop photographing, stop social media-ing. Josh has 50+ projects and businesses under his belt, and he’s here today to share a few of the insights and observations he has learned along the way. From advice about whether you should have a painkiller or a vitamin business to whether or not it makes sense to strive towards perfection, you’ll learn all about the lessons Josh has learned to help him build a $1M+/year business. In this episode, Josh shares: When he became an entrepreneur What Baremetrics is Why his customers cancel His insights and observations for starting businesses Why you should ignore data early on The difference between a painkiller and a vitamin in business How to care for yourself as an entrepreneur Resources: Baremetrics WP Tasty Open Benchmarks Open Startups 140: From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry Josh’s Observations / Insights Shoeboxed Quickbooks Cedar & Sail Rockburg Follow Josh on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Becky Wink! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, September 18, 2018
How to Add More Value to Your Sponsored Content with Mandi Gubler
Why metrics are important, advice for growing your sponsored content, and how to stand out to brands with Mandi Gubler. ----- Welcome to episode 168 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mandi Gubler from Vintage Revivals about a new way to organize and report on sponsored content. How to Add More Value to Your Sponsored Content Let’s face it: sponsored content is tough . Determining your work’s value, fostering a relationship with a brand, and actually creating valuable content is certainly not the easiest way to monetize your blog. That said, it can be an extremely profitable way to monetize your site, and Mandi is here today to chat all about it. The majority of her blogging income comes from sponsored content, so she understands how the process works and how to deliver the most valuable content possible to the brands she’s working with. She wants to help you refine your sponsored content process and add more value to your campaigns. She’ll give you advice for standing out to a brand, choosing a project management tool, and more! In this episode, Mandi shares: How DIY blogging has changed since she started blogging The common income path for DIY bloggers Where the majority of her income comes from How to determine your sponsored content rate The problem she sees with project management tools Why metrics are so important in sponsored content work Advice for growing your sponsored content game How to stand out to a brand How to determine when you should increase your rate Where you can go to learn more about sponsored content Resources: Vintage Revivals Typeform Curbly Influence Kit Izea Bruno’s Sponsored Content Crash-Course Follow Mandi on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . If you’d like to be featured as our Reviewer of the Week in an upcoming episode of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review! We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, September 11, 2018
The Importance of Investing in Yourself with Jessica Gavin
How to manage your time, reinvest in your blog, and invest in yourself with Jessica Gavin. ----- Welcome to episode 167 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jessica Gavin about investing in your blog and yourself. The Importance of Investing in Yourself Jessica’s career has taken her to a lot of different places: attending culinary school, becoming a food scientist, writing a cookbook, creating an app, working with her husband, learning photography, and meeting other bloggers at conferences and workshops. And even with all of that going on, Jessica understands a lesson that’s sometimes tough to grasp: the importance of investing in yourself. Sometimes it’s necessary to buy that extra lens, attend that workshop, or join that group because you’ll grow through that situation. You’ll hear her talk about how she manages her time, how she formed her posting strategy, and why she chooses to reinvest in her blog and herself in this episode. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why she decided to not go to culinary school out of high school and decided to study food science instead When she decided to start her blog When she started to take the photos for her blog How she manages her time How she chose a posting strategy Why they choose to reinvest in the blog Resources: Learn about affiliate marketing Yoast Blog Tutor 091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO Everything Food Conference Jessica’s income reports 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill 132: Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand with Laurie Buckle CookIt Media SideChef Jessica’s app Follow Jessica on her blog 038: 7 Strategies to Build Traffic If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to po
Tue, September 04, 2018
Answering Your Questions about Pinterest with Kate Ahl
When you can expect a burst of Pinterest traffic, the ideal number of boards, and how to disclose sponsored links with Kate Ahl. ----- Welcome to episode 166 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing the Q&A from our recent Pinterest Traffic Bootcamp. Answering Your Questions about Pinterest Pinterest is a complex social media that requires time and a solid strategy to see success. That’s exactly why we held a Pinterest Traffic Bootcamp! We invited Kate Ahl, our FBP Pinterest Expert and the owner of the Pinterest management company, Simple Pin Media, to speak about strategies, building traffic, tools, and more. We hosted a Q&A with Kate at the end of the Pinterest Traffic Bootcamp, and she answered a ton of your most important Pinterest questions around topics like hashtag best practices, board management, and the highs and lows of Pinterest traffic. After listening to this episode, you’ll be equipped with knowledge to help you form your own successful Pinterest strategy. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: If keywords and hashtags are the same thing Best practices for hashtags on Pinterest If you should be using board sections What the ideal number of boards is If you should disclose your sponsored or affiliate links on Pinterest Why your Pinterest traffic might have gone down recently When you can expect a burst of traffic as a food blogger What giraffe pins are and why you shouldn’t be using them anymore What rich pins are and whether or not you should use them What the benefits of group boards are Whether or not you should delete pins How videos work on Pinterest Resources: Google Home Mini How to listen to podcasts on your Google Home Simple Pin Media Tailwind Join the Simple Pin Media newsletter Bitly How to upload video to Pinterest Simple Pin Podcast Simple Pin Media services If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Lois from Polish Housewife ! If y
Tue, August 28, 2018
Getting Things Done with David Allen
Creating a trusted system, creating a weekly review, and getting clearer with David Allen. ----- Welcome to episode 165 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with David Allen about his Getting Things Done Methodology. Getting Things Done Blogging comes with a never-ending to-do list. Reach out to that sponsor! Send so-and-so an invoice! Look into why my site is slow! Come up with an editorial calendar for next month! How do you ensure that you stay productive and on top of all of your to-dos? You have a set system of principles to keep you organized and motivated. That’s what Getting Things Done is all about. You’ll learn all about David’s productivity tips that will help you create order out of chaos in this episode! In this episode, David shares: What the GTD methodology is What the five steps are What it means to get clearer How to do nothing What mind like water means How to create a trusted system What lists you should use to get things done What the 2-minute rule is What it means to gather all of your open loops Why a weekly review is valuable What an “in basket” is Resources: Getting Things Done common tools Things Getting Things Done book Big Magic The War of Art Getting Things Done global partners Getting Things Done podcast GTD Connect If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Lauren from Lillian Dora ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, August 21, 2018
Bjork Gets Interviewed: How to Level-Up Your Food Blog
Advice for bloggers, starting a business, and publicizing income with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 164 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from The Businessese Influencer Marketing Podcast. In this episode, Bjork chats with Danielle Liss about trends in blogging, how they started all of their businesses, why they decided to write about their income on Pinch of Yum, and so much more! You’ll also learn about his favorite books and whether he’s a Mac or PC guy. In this episode, Bjork discusses: How he and Lindsay transitioned into entrepreneurship How Food Blogger Pro started Why it’s important to fulfill a need How Nutrifox and WP Tasty started 1% infinity and advice for bloggers Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Emily! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers. Resources: Get the resources for this episode here: https://www.businessese.com/episode48/
Tue, August 14, 2018
What WordPress’ Gutenberg Update Means for You with Raquel Smith
When Gutenberg is coming and how you can prepare for this WordPress update with Raquel Smith. ----- Welcome to episode 163 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Raquel Smith from WP Tasty about WordPress’ new Gutenberg update. What WordPress’ Gutenberg Update Means for You If you’re running your blog on WordPress, chances are you’ve heard of Gutenberg. Gutenberg is WordPress’ new WYSIWYG post editor, and it’ll be a part of WordPress core before we know it. But will this new way of editing impact you and your posts? You betcha. And Raquel is here to talk all about what you can expect once Gutenberg is live on your site. Between setting up a staging site to test your plugins to understanding what blocks are, this episode will get you prepared for the Gutenberg release later this year! In this episode, Raquel shares: Why version 1.6.0 is an important update for Tasty Recipes What a CMS is and what open-source means Why people self-hosted WordPress sites are beneficial What Gutenberg is What blocks are When we should expect to see Gutenberg How you can prepare for Gutenberg Resources: Shane and Simple 136: Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith Daniel Bachhuber Gutenberg Tasty Recipes is Gutenberg-Ready How to Migrate Your Blog to Gutenberg Frontenberg WordPress 4.9.8 Maintenance Release Gutenberg plugin WP Tavern WP Tasty blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Kim from Kickass Baker ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, August 07, 2018
The Power of Masterminds with Andy Traub
Being Spock, understanding masterminds, and charging to facilitate a mastermind group with Andy Traub. ----- Welcome to episode 162 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Andy Traub about masterminds. The Power of Masterminds A “mastermind group” might be one of those “buzz-terms” for influencers, but they can be a powerful way to build a community, collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs, and even contribute to your income stream. Andy is here today to chat about how to acquire committed members to your mastermind group, how to provide what your group needs, and how to develop deep and meaningful relationships with your group. Plus, he’s sharing the details about his new mastermind course and podcast! In this episode, Andy shares: Why he’s a “Spock” Why you shouldn’t fit in others’ stories What two things every person in a mastermind must have What a mastermind group actually is How mastermind groups work How to figure out how much to charge for your mastermind group Resources: Smile Always 064: Finding work you love with Dan Miller from 48 Days Zoom Dropbox 108: From Struggling Podcast to Six-Figure Success with Natalie Eckdahl Andy’s Start Your Mastermind course Follow Andy on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Ben from Ramshackle Pantry ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, July 31, 2018
Blog Business 101: Understanding Your Accounting with Ben Sutton
Opening a business bank account, learning from profit and losses, and what the new US tax law means for you with Ben Sutton. ----- Welcome to episode 161 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Ben Sutton from Mazuma about bookkeeping and taxes for bloggers. Blog Business 101: Understanding Your Accounting I know. Accounting, bookkeeping, and taxes aren’t the most exciting topics. That said, they’re necessary to understand if you’re running your own business. And Ben is here to make it all way more approachable. By tracking your expenses, profits, and losses, you can understand more about what’s working for your business and alleviate stress come tax season. You’ll learn why having a separate bank account for your business is helpful, how to start separating your expenses, and more! In this episode, Ben shares: Why he started his business When you should think about opening a separate bank account for your blog How specific should you be when categorizing your expenses How you should start tracking your expenses How you can use your profit and losses to help you understand your business How to start separating your expenses When you should start looking into forming an S-Corp What the new tax law means for you Resources: Mixmax Boomerang Mazuma Quickbooks If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Alicia from Daily Ration ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, July 24, 2018
A Sneak Peek into an FBP Live Q&A with Bjork Ostrom
Monetization strategies, thriving on social media, and ignoring comparison with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 160 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing a recording from our most recent Live Q&A on Food Blogger Pro. A Sneak Peek into an FBP Live Q&A You are getting a sneak peek into one of our favorite perks that comes with a Food Blogger Pro membership: Live Q&As! We hold a Live Q&A for our members every month, and they’re a chance for our members to get answers to their toughest blogging questions…live. Our Q&As are the perfect opportunity to invite our experts to chat about a specific topic, but they’re also great for picking Bjork and Lindsay’s brains. This month’s Q&A was an “Ask Bjork Anything,” and Bjork answered our members’ questions about email lists, photography, monetization strategies, and more. Enjoy this sneak peek into Food Blogger Pro Live Q&As! In this episode, you’ll learn: How Bjork and Lindsay monetized Pinch of Yum in the early days The difference between profit and revenue Strategies for new bloggers who want to reach out to brands How to handle new social media platforms like IGTV The ideal Pinterest image size How Lindsay stores her photography props The best ways to grow your email list How Pinch of Yum started to build a team How to not get discouraged while you’re growing your blog How to promote products on your blog What you should do with old content How we set up our bootcamps Resources: Apply for our Member Success Agent position! Pinch of Yum income reports 149: How to Get Your Content to Stand Out on Pinterest with Yuka Ohishi 10 Mistakes that Bloggers Make and How to Fix Them 7 Essential Tools You Need to Shoot Your Own Recipe Videos Wayback Machine Zoom If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Madison from A Joyfully Mad Kitchen ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out <a href= "https://wptasty.com"
Tue, July 17, 2018
Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust
Ways to pursue business growth and differentiating your income with Mark Daoust. ----- Welcome to episode 159 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage about testing new income streams and spending money to make money. Different Ways to Create an Income Online As an influencer, you have access to a ton of different ways to monetize your blog. And possibly some ways you haven’t even considered. Mark is here to chat about those ways and to give you a better understanding of how online businesses can differentiate themselves. Between understanding how valuable your company truly is to figuring out the right ways to sell your products to finding out what your readers are craving, Mark’s tips will help you create an established, sustainable business online. In this episode, Mark shares: What it was like starting his own podcast How to understand how much your business is worth What SaaS businesses are What ecommerce sites are and how to monetize them Ways you can spend money to make money What FBA stands for How to add an additional income stream to your business Resources: 1Password LastPass The Quiet Light Podcast 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Nutrifox Etsy Shopify How Micro-Goals Built a Food Blogging Empire Neil Patel More about Neil Patel’s $100k challenge Quiet Light Brokerage (get a free valuation here !) Sites for sale If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Sara from Real Balanced ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors,
Tue, July 10, 2018
How to Grow Your Instagram Following to 100k with Lise Ode
How to batch-create Instagram posts, improve your photography, and build a following with Lise Ode. ----- Welcome to episode 158 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Lise Ode from Mom Loves Baking about growing her Instagram following. How to Grow Your Instagram Following to 100k Growing your social media following sometimes feels like an impossible goal, but Lise has figured out the trick to quickly and authentically grow her Instagram following. Her Instagram account, @momlovesbaking, now has 100K followers. And that’s after having just a few thousand followers a few months ago. Lise will talk about the course that helped skyrocket her Instagram following, how she improved her photography skills, and the story behind her first post to ever go viral. If you’re looking for ways to increase engagement and growth on your Instagram account, you’ll learn a lot from this episode! In this episode, Lise shares: How her husband helped her start her blog How her business has transitioned How she improved her photography The most important photography tips she learned Why she focused on intentionally growing her Instagram account How she grew her Instagram following and engagement How she batch-creates her Instagram posts How she works with influencer companies Resources: Pixsy Mom Loves Baking Pillsbury Bake-Off Lise’s Chocolate Turtle Poke Cake Instagram Growth Formula Collective Bias Lise’s post about vision boards Follow Lise on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Kate from Tasty Seasons ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.
Tue, July 03, 2018
More Clicks, Subscribers, and Sales with Pinterest with Kate Ahl
Thinking about your person, treating Pinterest as a unique platform, and evaluating Pin success with Kate Ahl. ----- Welcome to episode 157 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media about treating Pinterest as a long-term game and generating conversions. More Clicks, Subscribers, and Sales with Pinterest Sharing your content on Pinterest is almost like being in a relationship. You have to show your commitment by giving it attention every single day. You need to completely understand your audience and give it what it needs. You need to face your challenges head-on in the hopes of creating a thriving, flourishing, and active connection. If it sounds like a lot, it is. But Kate is here help. She’s chatting about prioritizing your Pinterest efforts for maximum clicks, subscribers, and sales. You can grow your blog and business with Pinterest, and this episode will teach you how. In this episode, Kate shares: The challenges you should keep in mind when dealing with Pinterest Why Pinterest is a long-term game Why you need to treat Pinterest as a unique social platform Why you need to think about “your person” on Pinterest What’s most important on Pinterest How large your “long pins” should be How hashtags work on Pinterest How she gains clients How to evaluate your pin success How to leverage your other social channels for Pinterest success Resources: 026: How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media Simple Pin Media Simple Pin Podcast Bjork’s episode on the Simple Pin Podcast Everything Food Conference Tasty Pins Tailwind Simple Pin Media services If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Katie from 24 Carrot Life ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins spec
Tue, June 26, 2018
Building a Healthy Blog and a Healthy Life with Liz Della Croce
Prioritizing your work, choosing a focus, and leading a healthy life with Liz Della Croce. ----- Welcome to episode 156 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chats with Liz Della Croce about balance, health, and focus. Building a Healthy Blog and a Healthy Life Running your blog as a business takes a lot of balance. Especially if you have a well-rounded approach to health in mind. Between her journey through weight loss to growing her blog into a profitable business, Liz has figured out how to keep a healthy balance in both her personal and professional lives. You’ll learn about her work processes, her approach to balance, and how she prioritizes her work in this interview. Enjoy! In this episode, Liz shares: How she started her blog Her advice for exercise How to maintain a healthy lifestyle Why she focuses on one task at a time How she prioritizes her work Resources: 147: GDPR for Influencers with Danielle Liss Built With Similar Tech My Food Diary Getting Things Done Remember When The Lemon Bowl Follow Liz on Instagram and Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Bet from Bet on Dinner ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, June 19, 2018
Keeping it Fresh and Avoiding Burnout with Bjork Ostrom
Keeping a long-term mindset, "What I don't do" lists, and connecting with others with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 155 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about important ways to overcome blogger burnout. Keeping it Fresh and Avoiding Burnout Burnout happens to everyone, so it’s helpful to have a few tips and tricks in your back pocket for when that feeling strikes. That’s why Bjork’s here today. He’s talking about the seven burnout-fighting tips he implements in his own life. Between an efficient way to take a weekend trip to finding the perfect coffee shop when you want to switch up your work environment, this episode will equip you tools to knock out your blogger burnout. In this episode, Bjork shares: Why he has a long-term mindset Why you should view everything as an experiment Why you should unplug once in a while Why it’s helpful to switch up your work atmosphere How to make “what I do” and “what I don’t do” lists Ways to meet up with others Why it’s important to switch it up Resources: Gmail app If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Katie from Healthy Seasonal Recipes ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, June 12, 2018
5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek
The subtleties of still life photography, the importance of textures, and how to layer with Rachel Korinek. ----- Welcome to episode 154 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chat with Rachel Korinek from Two Loves Studio about improving your food photography with five powerful tips. 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography Spend five seconds on Rachel’s photography site, Two Loves Studio, and you’ll know that she knows photography. Rachel understands the important role food photography plays in the growth of any kind of food-based business. The saying, “Eat with your eyes” is much more true when your colors look real-to-life, your composition is authentic, and your prop choices make sense. From lighting to editing to color theory, Rachel explains these principles in detail on her blog, and she’s here today to share five important tips that can improve your food photography. In this episode, Rachel shares: Why still life photography is difficult What a food stylist does Why it’s helpful to work with a team Why textured backgrounds are helpful How to capture shadows What negative fill is and how to work with diffused light Why layering is important in still life photography What color theory is The tools she recommends to have on hand Resources: Rachel’s free photography course @bealubas @foodstylingbackgrounds Erickson Surfaces Nikon 85mm f/1.8G lens Rachel’s masterclasses Two Loves Studio Follow Rachel on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Julie from Julie’s Eats and Treats ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, June 05, 2018
Playing the Game of Business with Kevin Waldron
Evaluating your current reality, examining your past work, and becoming an effective leader with Kevin Waldron. ----- Welcome to episode 153 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chat with Kevin Waldron about being an effective business owner and achieving the life you want. Playing the Game of Business Kevin isn’t just a business coach, he’s Bjork’s business coach! He’s in the business of helping people evaluate their current business situation and giving them actionable ways to get to where they want to be. In this episode, Kevin talks about how you can play the game of business to get what you want. You’ll learn how to evaluate what you should be doing more of and, more importantly, what you shouldn’t be doing as you grow into an effective leader and business owner. Let’s dive in! In this episode, Kevin shares: How he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur The moment he became an entrepreneur How he approaches selling a business Why you might want to infuse your personality into your business What it’s like to no longer own your business How he found his sweet spot How he describes what he does to other people The most common things he addresses as a business coach Resources: The E Myth 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Waldron Leadership Subscribe for Kevin’s Ready for Monday email series If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Oriana from Mommy’s Home Cooking ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, May 29, 2018
6 Blogging Mistakes Made By a Veteran Food Blogger with Carrie Forrest
Dealing with burnout, making the tough decisions, and generating income your way with Carrie Forrest. ----- Welcome to episode 152 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chat with Food Blogger Pro member, Carrie Forrest, about 6 big mistakes that she made over her 9 years of blogging. 6 Blogging Mistakes Made By a Veteran Food Blogger Today’s podcast is extra special because we’re featuring a Food Blogger Pro member, Carrie from Clean Eating Kitchen! Carrie has been blogging for nine years, and as you can imagine, she has learned a lot about her readers, the blogging industry, and herself in that time. And that’s why she’s here today. Between learning the hard truth about what happens when you change your URLs to alienating her audience, she’s sharing the top 6 mistakes she made and how you can avoid making them yourself. In this episode, Carrie shares: What it was like blogging 9 years ago What burnout was like and why it made her want to quit blogging How she made the tough decisions about her blog What she learned from alienating her audience How she fixed her broken links How she refined her photography style Resources: Food Blogger Pro enrollment closes May 31! Enroll today! Clean Eating Kitchen Stitch Fix Redirection plugin Pretty Links Google Search Console Tasty Food Photography Backlinko 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Clean Eating for Women podcast Follow Carrie on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Karen from Seasonal Cravings ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, May 22, 2018
Designing Your Lifestyle with Stephanie Wise
When it's time to take a break, how to change your mindset, and what's next for her blog with Stephanie Wise. ----- Welcome to episode 151 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork chat with Stephanie Wise from Girl Versus Dough about stepping away from blogging and pivoting her focus. Designing Your Lifestyle When running a business online, it’s easy to experience burnout. Stephanie is familiar with the feeling; she actually stopped blogging at Girl Versus Dough for the majority of last year. In that time, she focused on her family and reevaluated what made her love blogging in the first place. Now that she’s back to blogging, she views the process of producing content in a new light. She’ll talk about what’s next for her and her blog, as well as her advice for others who are thinking about pivoting. In this episode, Stephanie shares: Why she decided to stop blogging When she realized it was time to take a break How her mindset has changed What’s next for her, her brand, and her home life How she deals with pushback Her advice for others who are thinking about pivoting Resources: Learn more about becoming a Food Blogger Pro member Stephanie’s cinnamon roll recipe and Girl Versus Dough 2.0 post 145: Present Over Perfect with Shauna Niequist Tiny Shiny Home Girl Versus Dough Follow Stephanie on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Alyssa from Simply Quinoa ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, May 15, 2018
Get to Know Bjork Ostrom
We're celebrating our 150th episode with a fun Q&A with Bjork. You'll learn about his management style, why he loves Minnesota, how they're A/B testing on Pinch of Yum, and more. ----- Welcome to episode 150 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is in the hot seat, and he chats about his favorite music, how he formed his management style, and his favorite Pinch of Yum recipe. Get to Know Bjork Ostrom Happy 150th episode day!! We’re so honored and thrilled to have you listening along to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast each week, so to celebrate, we’re publishing a fun Q&A episode with our fearless leader, Bjork Ostrom. We’ll focus on some business and blogging questions, and then dig into the personal stuff and discover more about Bjork’s music career (!!!) and his unconventional favorite Pinch of Yum recipe. This interview was a lot of fun, and we really hope you enjoy it! In this episode, Bjork shares: What his most memorable podcast episode is If there was ever an episode that inspired him to change a part of his business How he overcomes roadblocks How they’re using A/B testing on Pinch of Yum His and Lindsay’s AIM screen names The books he most recommends Why he loves living in Minnesota What he likes to listen to on Spotify How his music career helped shape his future careers What his favorite Pinch of Yum recipe is How it feels to have 150 episodes in the books Resources: Register for the SEO Bootcamp! ScreenFlow Zoom 145: Present Over Perfect with Shauna Niequist Present Over Perfect 104: How Bloggers Should Handle Their Taxes and Accounting with Cathy Derus 063: Personal Finance for Business Owners with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents 147: GDPR for Influencers with Danielle Liss Slack Intercom Google Optimize Y Combinator The War of Art <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/blog/
Tue, May 08, 2018
How to Get Your Content to Stand Out on Pinterest with Yuka Ohishi
How SEO works on Pinterest, how often you should be pinning, and the optimum size for pins with Yuka Ohishi. ----- Welcome to episode 149 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Yuka Ohishi about optimizing your posts for Pinterest. How to Get Your Content to Stand Out on Pinterest Pinterest can be one of the biggest sources of traffic for food bloggers, so it’s important to optimize your posts, descriptions, and photos for Pinterest success. That’s why Yuka is here today. She has worked at Pinterest for a few years, and she knows the ins and outs of the platform. She’ll answer some of our members’ most common Pinterest questions like how big your pins should be, how hashtags work, how to optimize Pinterest descriptions, and so much more. If you’re looking for ways to improve your Pinterest efforts, this episode is for you! In this episode, Yuka shares: How she started working with Pinterest How often you should be pinning Why the new profile will help you customize your presence on Pinterest Whether or not you should use rich pins How SEO works on Pinterest How to optimize your Pinterest descriptions How hashtags on Pinterest work The ideal size for long pins How to get more traffic from Pinterest Resources: Validate your rich pins Pinterest’s Business Site Pinterest Creators Blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Sara from Vegan Chickpea ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, May 01, 2018
Pivoting to Find Success with Steph Jones
How to craft your ideal day, why you should beta test your idea, and how to launch a course with Steph Jones. ----- Welcome to episode 148 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Steph Jones from Steph Yoga about realizing there needed to be a change in her career and how she made that change happen. Pivoting to Find Success Sometimes we think we know exactly what we want to be doing in life, only to learn that it’s not as fulfilling as we had hoped. That’s the exact situation that Steph found herself in when she realized that there needed to be a change. She decided to become a yoga instructor and wanted to take her passions to an online platform. Fast forward through a lot of work, testing her idea, and building her site, she now has a thriving yoga membership workout site that helps its members transform their health and bodies through yoga. You’ll learn all about how she found her passions and built her business in this interview. In this episode, Steph shares: What she did before she built her own business How she realized that she needed a change How she became a yoga instructor Why she decided to build a food blog How to craft your ideal day How she beta tested her idea How she launched a waiting list Why a drip campaign was helpful How she knew she was ready to launch Why an open / closed enrollment format works for her Resources: Audible You Are a Badass Essentalism The 4-Hour Workweek Teachable Steph Yoga ActiveCampaign Final Cut Pro X MemberPress 062: How To Launch a Membership Site with Mike Morrison from The Membership Guys Follow Steph on Instagram and on Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Alexa from Girl in Healing ! If you’d like to be
Tue, April 24, 2018
GDPR for Influencers with Danielle Liss
What GDPR is, why it’s important, and how to implement GDPR-compliant changes on your site with Danielle Liss. ----- Welcome to episode 147 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Danielle Liss from Hashtag Legal and Businessese about understanding GDPR. GDPR for Influencers Have you heard of GDPR? It’s a regulation in the EU about data protection, and it affects everyone with readers in the EU. These four letters are causing a lot of confusion and raising questions in our niche, so Danielle is here today to help us all understand its impact. It’s important to understand the rules and regulations of GDPR so that we can protect ourselves as bloggers and business owners, but it’s also important so that we can protect the privacy of our readers. You’ll learn how to audit your site for compliance, the difference between different types of data, and how you might be collecting data on your site visitors without knowing it. In this episode, Danielle shares: What GDPR is and why it’s important for influencers How you might be collecting data on your visitors The difference between personal and sensitive data is Why you should audit your site Why disclosing the information you collect might help your relationship with your readers How you can stay up-to-date on GDPR updates Resources: Google Security Checkup 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss Hashtag Legal GDPR checklist on Businessese GDPR plugin If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Caroline! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, April 17, 2018
$75,000 in Year 2 with Kate Kordsmeier
How to view your blog as a business from day 1, better serve your email subscribers, and hire help with Kate Kordsmeier. ----- Welcome to episode 146 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Kate Kordsmeier from Root & Revel about how she generated a full-time income from her blog in just two years. $75,000 in Year 2 One of the most common questions we get on Food Blogger Pro is when bloggers should start monetizing. What do you think? 6 months? A year? 1,000 followers on Instagram? 10,000 page views per month? Kate believes you should start monetizing as soon as possible (as in day one), and in this interview, you’ll learn all about the ways she has monetized and grown her blog over the past two years. In this episode, Kate shares: How she knew she needed a change from freelancing Why finding the Pinch of Yum Income Reports were helpful How she was intentional with her learning How she started viewing her blog as a business over a hobby Her approach to affiliate income and sponsored content What her weekly affiliate email is like How she uses tags to segment her email list How she found people to help her with her blog Resources: Root & Revel 046: How Kate Kordsmeier Doubled Her Income with Freelancing Pinch of Yum Income Reports Kate’s 2017 Income Report: “How I Made $75,000 Blogging in Year 2” Mediavine ButcherBox ConvertKit Simple Pin Media Mediawyse Kate’s business coaching Follow Kate on Facebook , Instagram , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Kitty from My Katie Blue ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, April 10, 2018
Present Over Perfect with Shauna Niequist
How to live with intention, say no, and seek silance with Shauna Niequist. ----- Welcome to episode 145 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Shauna Niequist about inspiration, knowing when to disconnect, and living with intention. Present Over Perfect Shauna understands how important it is to live a life full of meaningful choices and intentional seasons, but she didn’t always live this way. It took her coming to a breaking point to really evaluate her choices and understand what’s really important. As bloggers and entrepreneurs, we tend to feel the need to constantly be connected to social media, responding to comments, and answering emails. But while those things are important, it’s also important to recognize when you should disconnect, say no, and seek silence for a bit. You’ll learn how to live “Present Over Perfect” in this episode! In this episode, Shauna shares: What her interview with Oprah was like When she knew there needed to be a change in her life What inspired her to write Present Over Perfect How she applied the principles in Present Over Perfect to the promotion of her book What it means to have intentional seasons How she disconnected herself from metrics Why it’s important to understand when to say “no” Why it’s important to seek silence Resources: Shauna’s Super Soul Sunday episode Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes Shauna’s website Follow Shauna on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Jodie from Growing Book by Book ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, April 03, 2018
Netflix, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Somebody Feel Phil with Phil Rosenthal
How to implement a "yes and..." mindset, the importance of trying new things, and traveling to eat with Phil Rosenthal. ----- Welcome to episode 144 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Phil Rosenthal about building his career and his new Netflix-original show, “Somebody Feed Phil.” Netflix, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Somebody Feel Phil This is a bit of an unconventional interview for the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, but if you’re a food fan, we think you’re really going to enjoy it. You may have heard of Phil Rosenthal. He’s the creator and executive producer of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” an actor, an author, and most recently, the star of the Netflix-original food and travel documentary, “Somebody Feed Phil.” Phil is a die-hard food lover, and he shares that love as he travels across the globe and makes connections with locals. Building his career wasn’t always easy, but his “yes and…” attitude, fearless personality, and “never give up” outlook are all principles that you can apply to running your own blog and business. In this episode, Phil shares: Why Skype is an important part of his show Why having a niche is important How to not be afraid of trying new things What an egg cream is (let us know if you’d try it in the comments!) How to implement a “yes and…” mindset Resources: The War of Art Somebody Feed Phil I’ll Have What Phil’s Having Exporting Raymond Follow Phil on Twitter and Facebook 129: Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Katie from BlackFern Kitchen ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, March 27, 2018
2 Million Page Views in 2 Years with Jessica Beacom and Stacie Hassing
How to build authority, why they choose to guest post, and why connection is so important with Jessica Beacom and Stacie Hassing. ----- Welcome to episode 143 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Jessica and Stacie from The Real Food Dietitians about growing their blog to have over 2 million page views per month. 2 Million Page Views in 2 Years Jessica and Stacie’s story is impressive; not only do they operate their business from two different states, they’ve grown their audience to over two million page views per month in just two years! They’re here today to share the story of how they started their business together and why they ended up shifting their focus. They also will chat about why connection has been such an important part of growing their business and how they’re using Facebook to cultivate that connection. You’ll love hearing about how they’ve learned to thrive as the bloggers behind The Real Food Dietitians. In this episode, Jessica and Stacie share: What they did before they started their blog The most critical pieces of their journey How they connected at a conference How they started to work together How they’ve built authority on their site Why guest blogging works as part of their strategy How they made connections with other bloggers The most profitable aspects of their business How they work together in different cities Why they run a private Facebook group Resources: The Real Food Dietitians B-School Follow Jessica and Stacie on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Madison from Sunny Thymes ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, March 20, 2018
How to Fix 5 Common Blogging Tech Mistakes with Andrew Wilder
How to choose a hosting plan, why SSL is important, and how to optimize your images with Andrew Wilder. ----- Welcome to episode 142 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Andrew Wilder about the top five tech mistakes he sees on food blogs. How to Fix 5 Common Blogging Tech Mistakes The first time our Site Speed Expert, Andrew, was on the podcast, he chatted all about best practices for securing your website. Now he’s back to talk about five of the most common tech mistakes he sees on blogs. Between choosing the right hosting to optimizing images, there are a lot of tech decisions to make about your blog. Andrew’s advice will make you a lot more confident to make those decisions. Enjoy! In this episode, Andrew shares: What he does at Blog Tutor Why good hosting is important for food blogger The difference between popular types of hosting plans How you can tell if you have good hosting How big your images should be and why you should be optimizing What a fully enhanced recipe rich card is What an SSL certificate is Resources: Google Recipe Structured Data Guidelines Blog Tutor 020: How to Secure Your Food Blog with Andrew Wilder from Blog Tutor 137: One Million App Downloads in One Year with Trey George Byte Check Cloudways Foodie Pro Short Pixel Imagify 136: Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith 133: Optimizing Your Food Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool Google Search Console Is it time to switch your site to all-SSL? Blog Tutor Plans Connect with Andrew at support@blogtutor.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure
Tue, March 13, 2018
Hustling to Build Two Full-Time Businesses with Alexis Joseph
How to understand your customers, view your blog as a business, and adapt to where you are with Alexis Joseph. ----- Welcome to episode 141 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Alexis Joseph about building two thriving full-time businesses. Hustling to Build Two Full-Time Businesses Alexis is the definition of a #girlboss. She’s the co-founder of a thriving restaurant, the author of a successful blog, and a registered dietitian. How does she find time for it all? Good question. She’s here today to share all about it. You’ll learn about what she does in a typical day and how she balances it all. In this episode, Alexis shares: How she got interested in nutrition When and why she started her blog The things that made a difference in her blog How she started viewing her blog as a business Where her blog name came from How she decided to open a restaurant How she keeps up with her customers How she balances a full-time blog and restaurant What her typical day looks like Resources: Hummusapien Alchemy Juice Cafe Omnivore’s Dilemma Oh She Glows TRISM Follow Alexis on Instagram , Twitter , and Facebook Follow Alchemy on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Regan Jones from Blog Brûlée , Healthy Aperture , This Unmillennial Life , and The Recipe Redux ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, March 06, 2018
From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry
How to tier your pricing structure, why you should save your side business income, and how to incentivize word of mouth with Nathan Barry. ----- Welcome to episode 140 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Nathan Barry from ConvertKit about how he started his career and pivoted to focus on selling software. From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales Nathan started out as a designer and app developer, and he launched his first product to an email list of 800 people. Thus started his successful product sales career, writing three books, two courses, and building an email list. But then in October 2014, Nathan decided to pivot. He decided to focus on his email software, ConvertKit, which was making only $1,000/month in revenue at the time. Now ConvertKit has over 18,000 users, including Pat Flynn, Leo Babuta, and Chris Gillebeau. In this episode, Nathan shares: What he did before starting ConvertKit His suggestions about what you should do with your side business income Why he suggests to tier your pricing for a product How to price a product Why he wanted to make an email marketing platform How he decided to focus on software How to incentivize word of mouth Resources: A Brief Guide to World Domination 279 Days to Overnight Success 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom ConvertKit ConvertKit on Baremetrics Follow Nathan on his website, nathanbarry.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Tonia from Why Not Mom ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, February 27, 2018
Answering MORE Questions about Recipe Videos with the Pinch of Yum Team
Sharing videos on social media, filming tricky foods, and working with brands with the Pinch of Yum Team. ----- Welcome to episode 139 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing the Q&A from our recent Recipe Video Bootcamp. Answering MORE Questions about Recipe Videos Have you tried making recipe videos yet? They’re incredibly popular right now, and they’re a great way to grow your audience and social media following. We recently held a Recipe Video Bootcamp where we taught attendees how to shoot and edit their own food videos like a pro. Our last session of the day was a Q&A with Lindsay Ostrom and Alana Woolley from Pinch of Yum, and we’ve decided to share it as a podcast episode today! You’ll learn all about how the Pinch of Yum team handles producing and sharing high-quality video content every week. In this episode, Lindsay and Alana share: The best practices for sharing videos on social media How to work with tricky foods How to work with brands The gear they use How they handle shoots as a team How they come up with inspiration How to make your videos stand out How long your videos should be The settings they use to record videos Resources: 136: Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith 7 Essential Tools You Need to Shoot Your Own Recipe Videos Erickson Surfaces 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Kelly from A Side of Sweet ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, February 20, 2018
How to Get the Most Out of Your Content with Ashley Ward
Understanding your stats, owning your niche, and optimizing your content with Ashley Ward. ----- Welcome to episode 138 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Ashley Ward from SEMrush about optimizing the content on your website. How to Get the Most Out of Your Content Content is the core of your blog, but how do you know you’re getting the most out of the recipes and posts you publish? That’s why Ashley is here. She explains that there’s a lot you can do with your content after you set it live. Between evaluating your stats and forming strategies, optimizing your content can happen in different forms. If you’ve wanted to learn how to own your niche or use your competitors when creating content, this episode is for you! In this episode, Ashley shares: How she got started as a corporate speaker What SEMrush is What PPC is How to be strategic with your stats How to use your competitors when creating content How you can own your niche How long you should wait before looking at metrics Resources: Register for the Recipe Video Bootcamp today! SEMrush Google Optimize Follow Ashley on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Holly from A Baker’s House ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, February 13, 2018
One Million App Downloads in One Year with Trey George
How to build a self-promoting app, how to find a developer, and what to look for in an agency. ----- Welcome to episode 137 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Trey George about building, developing, and managing apps. One Million App Downloads in One Year Building an app can be an exciting addition to your online business, and Trey is a pro at managing apps at A Color Story. Trey has had a hand in building four apps for the A Beautiful Mess brand (the A Beautiful Mess app, Party Party, A Color Story, and A Design Kit), and he has quickly learned what works, what doesn’t, and what’s important to consider when building an app. If you’ve ever thought about building an app for your blog, this episode is for you! In this episode, Trey shares: How he got started managing the A Beautiful Mess app How to charge more for your work How the A Beautiful Mess app was self-promoting Why hashtags were important for growth What to look for in an agency How to find an app developer His experience with in-app purchases Resources: SEO Site Checkup Alt Test How to Write Great Pinterest Image Descriptions How to Craft Alt Text for Images 121: How to Overcome Your Failures and Find Success with Emma Chapman A Beautiful Mess App A Color Story If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Anushree from Simmer to Slimmer ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.
Tue, February 06, 2018
Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith
How to run ads on a recipe print page, optimize images for search results, and set Pinterest descriptions with Raquel Smith. ----- Welcome to episode 136 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Raquel Smith about how optimize search results on Google and Pinterest. Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest Structured data, optimization, and rich snippets are common things for bloggers to think about, but just because they’re common doesn’t mean they’re easy to understand. If SEO talk is enough to make your head spin, you’re not alone, so Raquel is here to make recipe SEO much more approachable and understandable. She has managed the development of WP Tasty’s two WordPress plugins, Tasty Recipes and Tasty Pins, and you’ll learn how these plugins can have a major impact on your recipes. In this episode, Raquel shares: How she get started with Food Blogger Pro The difference between WP Tasty and Tasty Recipes What a recipe plugin is and why it’s important What Googlebot is How to run ads on a recipe print page What rich snippets are and how they’re different from rich cards How to optimize images for search results What Gutenberg is If you need to optimize for everything The problem that Tasty Pins is solving Why a blogger might hide an image from a post Resources: WP Tasty Pass the Plants Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less 133: Optimizing Your Food Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee How to find out the last time Google crawled and indexed a website 011: Making the Leap to Full-Time Blogging with Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes Gutenberg 089: How to Build a Plane with Alexa, Jasmine & Raquel from Food Blogger Pro Tasty Recipes Tasty Pins Questions? Reach out to Raquel at hello@wptasty.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com" target="
Tue, January 30, 2018
Bjork Gets Interviewed: Making a Living from Blogging from the Dishing with Delishes Podcast
How to launch a membership site, name a blog, and hire a team with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 135 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Dishing with Delishes podcast. In this episode, Bjork chats with Elaine about starting Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro, building a team, and developing plugins. You will also learn how Lindsay and Bjork met. Spoiler alert: they’re high school sweethearts! Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Kate from Gift of Hospitality ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. In this episode, Bjork discusses: What he and Lindsay did before food blogging How they met - How they decided on the Pinch of Yum name When they decided to hire a team The difference between contracted workers and employees How they launched Food Blogger Pro What’s included in a Food Blogger Pro membership Why they decided to publish their income reports How WP Tasty started Resources: Get the resources for this episode here: https://www.dishingwithdelishes.com/014-bjork-ostrom-food-blogger-pro/
Tue, January 23, 2018
FBP Rewind: Creating Success with Sally McKenney
Comparison, how to juggle a blog and a full-time job, and cookbook deals with Sally McKenney. ----- Welcome to episode 134 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This episode is a special FBP Rewind episode where we’re rewinding to one of our first and most popular episodes with Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Creating Success If you haven’t been over to Sally’s Baking Addiction yet, you are certainly missing out. Sally creates baked goods to swoon over - from cheesecake to brownies to pies, and everything you can imagine with funfetti. She’s also a whiz when it comes to blog success. Sally took her blog from zero to hero (read: full time job) in just two years. She is now the author of three cookbooks, Sally’s Baking Addiction , Sally’s Candy Addiction , and Sally’s Cookie Addiction . If you dream of taking your hobby blog to full-time status, this episode is not to be missed! In this episode, Sally shares: Why comparing your baby blog to the big guns is not a good strategy What she attributes to her rapid success (hint: it’s not luck!) How she juggled her full-time job and growing her food blog How she got a cookbook deal - and kept up her blog while writing it Where her traffic comes from And the advice she would give herself back when she started her blog Resources: Sally’s Baking Addiction Sally’s Baking Addiction Sally’s Candy Addiction Sally’s Cookie Addiction Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Theodore Leaf from theodoreleaf.com ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 16, 2018
Optimizing Your Food Blog's SEO with Casey Markee
Voice searches, nofollow links, featured snippet mismatches, and on-page optimization with Casey Markee. ----- Welcome to episode 133 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Casey Markee about the changing landscape for online searches, recipe cards, and more. Optimizing Your Blog’s SEO We’re so excited to welcome FBP SEO Expert, Casey Markee, back to the podcast today! At his company Media Wyse, Casey handles site audits for algorithm and rank issues, spammy structured markup actions, and unnatural link issues for food blogs, and he is one of our go-to resources for all things recipe SEO. SEO can be confusing, but this episode will help you understand nofollow links, optimization (both on-page and off-page), the mobile-first index, and more. So grab a pencil and paper, and let’s jump in! In this episode, Casey shares: How he got into food and recipe SEO Why SEO is important What on-page optimization means and why it’s different from off-page optimization When you should use nofollow links What the mobile-first index is When long-form and short-form content is best What recipe cards and the mobile carousel is What JSON-LD is Resources: Alfred Wox Best practices for bloggers reviewing free products they receive from companies Introduction to Structured Data Casey’s featured image presentation Evaluation of Speech for the Google Assistant Insights from Google’s Voice Search Quality Rater Guidelines Cook with Google Assistant Check out Casey’s website , Facebook page , or contact him about an audit If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Gaby from Veggie World Recipes ! If you’d like to be featured, leave a
Tue, January 09, 2018
Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand with Laurie Buckle
Why your story is important to your brand, how to figure out your brand position, and how to find information about your audience with Laurie Buckle. ----- Welcome to episode 132 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Laurie Buckle from CookIt Media about the importance of the story behind your brand. Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand Laurie has an acute understanding of the power of story. Your brand’s story is the reason why your brand exists, and it helps facilitate a connection with your readers that creates loyalty throughout your blogging career. Over at CookIt Media, Laurie helps bloggers solidify their stories and brands. She believes that story is the best communication tool that you can use, and she’s here to speak about how you can discover and perfect your own brand’s story. In this episode, Laurie shares: Why stories are so important How she got started with CookIt Media What your brand position is How to find information about your audience How to determine your target audience Resources: Tasty Pins 118: How Discovering Your Brand Can Help You Grow with Gaby Dalkin Meredith 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill CookIt Media Work with CookIt Media Enter the CookIt Consulting Intro Giveaway! Leave a comment on this episode’s blog post or leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, screenshot your review, and send it to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . The deadline is January 31, 2018. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, January 02, 2018
Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year with Bjork Ostrom
Clarifying your why, finding gratitude in all things, and knowing it's possible with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 131 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about setting goals for the new year. Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year Have you ever set a goal for the new year and not followed through? We’ve all been there. Bjork is here to help you with three mental frameworks that will help you make smarter goals and keep you motivated in the new year. Between understanding why you’re setting a specific goal to why it’s important to practice gratitude, this episode will help you strategically and intentionally create goals to help you and your business grow. In this episode, Bjork shares: What SMART goals are Why it’s important to understand why you’re setting a specific goal Why gratitude is so important Resources: Hygge If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 26, 2017
Creating a Full-Time Income from Sponsored Content with Jenny Melrose
Creating an avatar, securing brand sponsorships, and why you should follow-up with brands after a campaign with Jenny Melrose. ----- Welcome to episode 130 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Jenny Melrose about making the transition to being an entrepreneur, connecting with brands online, and using a website that helps you price your sponsored content. Creating a Full-Time Income from Sponsored Content Sponsored content is a popular way for bloggers to monetize their businesses. You partner with a brand, create posts promoting their products, and then you’re paid based on a rate you negotiate. If it seems like a lot of work, it is. But on top of that work, how do you make sure that you’re producing content that’s of value to the brands you’re working with? That’s where Jenny’s expertise comes in. She has cracked the code on creating awesome sponsored content that is both on-brand and useful to the companies you’re working with. Her tips on creating an avatar, staying true to your voice, and pitching the right people can all help you earn an income from sponsored content work. In this episode, Jenny shares: Why she started The Melrose Family How she created an avatar Why it’s important to pay attention to your reader demographics How to find the right contact for the brands you want to work with When to pitch a brand How she secures brand sponsorships The difference between PR agencies and working with a brand directly Why you should follow-up with brands after a campaign What tool she uses to keep track of her campaigns What tool you can use as a guideline for your sponsored content rates Resources: The Melrose Family Google Docs Social Bluebook Jenny Melrose Influencer Entrepreneur with Jenny Melrose If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 19, 2017
Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz
How to blog while writing a cookbook, the importance of user experience, and how to approach your brand and business with David Lebovitz. ----- Welcome to episode 129 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with David Lebovitz about how to develop the ability to stick with it, a lesson that helped him build his brand, and his a-typical approach to blogging analytics. Forging Your Own Path 1999 was a big year for David; he left his job as a pastry chef to write his first cookbook, Room for Dessert and started a recipe blog. Little did he know that he was becoming one of the pioneers of the food blogging industry! From there, David moved to Paris, wrote a few more cookbooks, and learned how to do what he loves while providing value to his readers. You’ll learn about his philosophy on email etiquette, his favorite social media platform, and why his blog is so important to his cookbook-writing process. In this episode, David shares: Why recipe development is an ongoing process How to pronounce “L’appart” and why he chose it as a book title What it was like to be one of the first food bloggers How he approaches his brand and business The important word he learned when he moved to Paris Why he doesn’t look at his Google Analytics What his favorite social media platform is Why it’s important to think about user experience Resources: L’Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home 101 Cookbooks Simply Recipes The Amateur Gourmet Movable Type 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic David’s blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 12, 2017
Maximizing Your Blog's Potential with Katy Widrick
Important Google tools, switching to https, and how to perform effective keyword research with Katy Widrick. ----- Welcome to episode 128 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Katy Widrick from Make Media Over about marketing strategies, search engine optimization, and Google tools that can help you refine your blog. Maximizing Your Blog’s Potential Katy got her start in television news, but she realized that her love was actually behind-the-scenes. Content creation, writing an email newsletter, consulting, and helping others start their blogs - that’s where Katy thrives. She started her business, Make Media Over, a managed services and consulting business, to help start-ups and developed brands with online and influencer marketing. She helps her clients understand and use marketing funnels, SEO tools, and social media platforms to grow their following and increase engagement. Learn some of her tips and tricks in this interview! In this episode, Katy shares: Why switching to https is important What “mixed content” means How she started her business Why you should be using Google Search Console How you can help nudge people to click through to your post How to use Pinterest for SEO Resources: Katy Widrick Make Media Over Designing Your Life Google Search Console Google Analytics Google Keyword Planner Moz Ahrefs Mailchimp ConvertKit ActiveCampaign Infusionsoft Mad Mimi Make Media Over services If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, December 05, 2017
How to Land a Book Deal with Maria Ribas
What publishers look for when they're signing an author and how you get paid as an author with Maria Ribas. ----- Welcome to episode 127 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Maria Ribas from Cooks & Books about what you could be doing today to set you up for a future book deal. How to Land a Book Deal Maria is a literary agent, which means that she represents the interest of authors in the book publishing process. She has a lot of experience working with cookbook authors, and she started a blog, Cooks & Books, to teach others what she’s learned. This episode is perfect for the bloggers who are interested in publishing a cookbook. Maria and Bjork cover the whole book publishing process in detail, from understanding who your true fans are to figuring out how to pitch to a publisher. In this episode, Maria shares: What a literary agent does How to analyze your book idea What to consider when pitching your idea How long a typical cookbook publishing process will last The difference between an advance and royalties Resources: Cooks & Books Peas & Thank You If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 28, 2017
Fueling Your Passion with Your Day Job with Sean McCabe
How to grow a sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business with Sean McCabe. ----- Welcome to episode 126 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Sean McCabe about how to grow a sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business. Fueling Your Passion with Your Day Job Turning your passion into your day job. That’s the dream, right? Not so fast. Sometimes it’s better to have a day job outside of your passions, and Sean is here to tell you why. In addition to this lesson, Sean also explains why investing in your audience is one of the most important decisions you can make when building your business. Learn how to grow your sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business in this interview. In this episode, Sean shares: How to build an audience-driven business How to balance a passion and full-time job How he found his focus and then expanded into other areas Why it’s important to document the process How he defines success How to make sure you’re heard The common characteristics of your community members Why you should curate what you share Resources: Sean’s About page Follow Sean on Instagram Overlap The Overlap Book Documentary 086: How to Make a Successful Career Change with Jon Acuff If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 21, 2017
Monetizing as an Entrepreneurial Chef with Shawn Wenner and Chris Hill
The common characteristics of chefs, how to diversify your online income, and what it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial chef. ----- Welcome to episode 125 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Shawn Wenner and Chris Hill from Entrepreneurial Chef about the common characteristics of chefs, how to diversify your online income, and what it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial chef. Monetizing as an Entrepreneurial Chef Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s often really really tough. Especially when food is involved. That’s why Shawn and Chris started Entrepreneurial Chef: to provide tools and resources for food entrepreneurs so that they can grow successful brands and businesses. They’ve built a brand around their own skills to help others in the food space monetize, serve customers, and pursue their dreams. In this episode, Shawn and Chris share: How they got their start in food How they met and started working together The common traits of chefs How powerful trust is in a partnership Creative ways to monetize How to become a restaurateur Resources: Entrepreneurial Chef Making the Cut Podcast Process Street Making the Cut Dear Chefs 120: How to Shape Your Own Career Destiny with Dorie Clark 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Tim Ma Entrepreneurial Chef Issue 11 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Thu, November 16, 2017
How Two Food Blogger Pro Members are Pursuing Their Passions and Following Their Dreams
How they left their full-time jobs, how they got their start blogging, and why a desire to learn is so important. ----- Welcome to episode 124.5 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Katy Keck from Palate Passion Purpose and Ben Myhre from Ramshackle Pantry. How Two Food Blogger Pro Members are Pursuing Their Passions and Following Their Dreams We’re so excited about this bonus episode! Today we’re featuring two of our members: Katy Keck and Ben Myhre. They’re living the food blogging dream: blogging full-time, connecting with readers, and creating content every week. Hear them talk about leaving their full-time jobs, growing their blogs, and more, covering the ups and downs of blog and business ownership. Plus, they share how they’ve used the fundamentals learned on Food Blogger Pro on their own blogs. In this episode, Katy and Ben share: How Katy got her start in food How Katy has grown her brand What Katy’s favorite parts of Food Blogger Pro are How Ben got his start blogging and cooking Why a passion to learn has been so important to Ben’s growth How Ben decided it was the right time to leave his full-time job What Ben’s biggest learning curve was Resources: [Join Food Blogger Pro](https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/signup/] today! Palate Passion Purpose Ramshackle Pantry on Instagram Pinch of Yum Workshops Pinch of Yum Traffic and Income Reports Gary Vaynerchuk Tasty Recipes The pet post on FBP Kate Winslet the St. Bernard! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 14, 2017
How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas
Why you should start gratitude journaling, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe with UJ Ramdas. ----- Welcome to episode 124 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with UJ Ramdas from Intelligent Change about why you should start gratitude journaling, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe. How to Level Up Your Life If you’re interested in the self-improvement space, you’ve probably read about the power of having a morning routine. That’s exactly why UJ helped start Intelligent Change and the Five Minute Journal. The Five Minute Journal is designed to help you make positive changes in just five minutes in the morning and five minutes at night. UJ believes that the Five Minute Journal is a simple way to focus on the good, become more mindful, and live with intention. Learn how you can apply the principles in your own life today. In this episode, UJ shares: Why he started Intelligent Change What gratitude journaling is How to use the Five Minute Journal What his morning routine looks like The benefits of meditation How to cultivate awe Why we sometimes don’t reach our goals How to go through a process of self-discovery Resources: Join Food Blogger Pro today! Intelligent Change Five Minute Journal Productivity Planner Headspace Cal Newport Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 16Personalities DISC Personality Test StrengthsFinder Kolbe My Commitment If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, November 07, 2017
Why Every Blogger Needs to Own Their Brand with Phil Pallen
Why you should consider your audience's needs above your wants, how to write a strong social media bio, and questions you can ask yourself about your brand with Phil Pallen. ----- Welcome to episode 123 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Phil Pallen about refining your brand, strengthening your social media presence, and considering your audience’s needs. Why Every Blogger Needs to Own Their Brand While his title is Celebrity Brand Expert, Phil says that he’s in the business of crafting first impressions. And that’s exactly what your brand is: a reader’s first impression of you and your business. Phil knows exactly how important a solid understanding of your brand is for your blog, and he has helped dozens of people and businesses refine their brand, create goals, and spruce up their social profiles. He’ll give you ideas about how you can fine-tune your brand so that you’re noticed and remembered. In this episode, Phil shares: What it’s like behind-the-scenes of TV interviews How to write a solid social media bio Why others’ needs are more important than what you want Why photography is key His tips for Bjork’s personal brand Resources: Skype Zoom 118: How Discovering Your Brand Can Help You Grow with Gaby Dalkin Work with Phil: Phil Pallen Collective Learn more about Phil Pallen Academy Follow Phil on Twitter and Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 31, 2017
Site Speed in a Mobile-First World with Lauren Gray
What "mobile-first" means, tips for making your website fly, and why you might choose to use a framework with Lauren Gray. ----- Welcome to episode 122 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Lauren Gray from Once Coupled about mobile-first considerations, site speed recommendations, and theme frameworks. Site Speed in a Mobile-First World Mobile-first, frameworks, photo size, https…you’ve probably heard these terms in the blogging space before. And the words alone are enough to make your head spin. Developer and Food Blogger Pro Expert Lauren Gray is a pro at helping you make these tech decisions for your blog. And while they might seem like small decisions, they really will have a big impact on your site’s usability, search engine ranking, and workflow. This episode focuses on why you should start thinking about making these decisions for your business. In this episode, Lauren shares: How she started her company The difference between developers and designers Why she likes using a framework What “mobile-first” means and why it’s different than “mobile friendliness” How site speed is measured How you should size your blog photos How to think about automating certain tasks Why it’s important to start thinking about switching to https Resources: Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts Once Coupled Genesis Framework 119: How an Accidental Entrepreneur went from $0 to $80,000 in Five Months with Brian Gardner Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test WPtouch Padsquad Brunch Pro Theme GTmetrix Google PageSpeed Insights Hotjar 004: How Understanding Your Visitors Can Help You Create an Income with Dr. David Darmanin from Hotjar 020: How to Secure Your Food Blog with Andrew Wilder from Blog Tutor Pinch of Yum’s source code <a href="https://www.relatedpostsforwp.
Tue, October 24, 2017
How to Overcome Your Failures and Find Success with Emma Chapman
Finding your path, starting new ventures, and solidifying your brand with Emma Chapman. ----- Welcome to episode 121 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Emma Chapman from A Beautiful Mess about starting new ventures, solidifying your brand, and finding your path. How to Overcome Your Failures and Find Success Blogging and business ownership wasn’t always one of Emma’s goals. In fact, right after college, she decided to move to Hollywood to start an acting career. When that career path didn’t work out, she didn’t give up; instead she changed her focus and worked to build a job she loves. Now as Founder & CEO of A Beautiful Mess, Emma focuses on building brands, creating apps, writing books, and producing content. Learn how she shaped her career after starting in a place of uncertainty. In this episode, Emma shares: How she decided to move to Hollywood How she learned about herself and grew after college How to change your focus What her role is at A Beautiful Mess How they decided to make their first hire How they decided to focus solely on their blog Why they’re so personal on their blog How they developed different brands How they test new product ideas Why they run two different companies Resources: A Beautiful Mess Oui Fresh Weekday Weekend Cookbook A Beautiful Mess Courses A Color Story WooCommerce Pinch of Yum’s Traffic and Income Reports Follow Emma , Elsie , and A Beautiful Mess on Instagram Get 30% off your first order at Oui Fresh using coupon code fbp30 ! Let us know who you want to hear on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast: podcast@foodbloggerpro.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 17, 2017
How to Shape Your Own Career Destiny with Dorie Clark
How to reinvent yourself, become an authority figure, and invest in your business with Dorie Clark. ----- Welcome to episode 120 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Dorie Clark about her new book, Entrepreneurial You . How to Shape Your Own Career Destiny Becoming an entrepreneur and working on your side gig can be tough, but by understanding and applying a few different strategies, you can build the business you dream of. Dorie’s new book Entrepreneurial You is a “blueprint for professional independence.” In it, she talks about just how important it is to have a strong brand when you’re building a business, how to become an expert and be trusted, and how that can help you sell your products and services. This podcast episode dives deep into the principles Dorie teaches in her book and shows you how you can take action on developing your business today. In this episode, Dorie shares: How to monetize because of something How her entrepreneurial story ties into her books How to reinvent yourself How to become an authority in a certain area The priorities of industry experts Why an email list is so important The tools she uses to grow her email list The best investment you can make in your business Resources: Entrepreneurial You Reinventing You Stand Out 119: How an Accidental Entrepreneur went from $0 to $80,000 in Five Months with Brian Gardner Dorie’s courses 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Real Men, Real Style Seth Godin I Will Teach You To Be Rich ConvertKit Constant Contact AWeber Leadpages Sumo 88 Question Self-Assessment Follow Dorie on her website If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodblog
Tue, October 10, 2017
How an Accidental Entrepreneur went from $0 to $80,000 in Five Months with Brian Gardner
How to deal with competition, the benefits of using a framework, and how to practice minimalism with Brian Gardner. ----- Welcome to episode 119 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Brian Gardner from StudioPress about building his business, dealing with competition, and practicing minimalism. How an Accidental Entrepreneur went from $0 to $80,000 in Five Months Brian was the pioneer of premium WordPress themes, and it happened a bit by accident. He was balancing a full-time job and his WordPress theme business at the same time. But once he realized that it would be “financially irresponsible” to work both jobs, he decided to jump head-first into his WordPress business. From there Brian built StudioPress, which powers over 500,000 WordPress sites with its Genesis Framework. Learn how he dealt with competition, how he built his business, and why it’s helpful to use a framework and child theme for your blog. In this episode, Brian shares: How he went from working at an architecture firm to becoming an online entrepreneur How he got started working with WordPress The mistakes he made when he built his business How he dealt with competition Why it’s helpful to use a framework and child theme How he practices minimalism in his business Resources: StudioPress StudioPress FM The Business of Food Blogging: Is it Lucrative? Press75 iThemes Thesis Copyblogger Genesis StudioPress themes Yoast SEO 091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO Tasty Recipes No Sidebar Designing Your Life Follow Brian at StudioPress , No Sidebar , and Authentik If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 03, 2017
How Discovering Your Brand Can Help You Grow with Gaby Dalkin
How to understand your brand, adapt for your different audiences, and develop a product line with Gaby Dalkin. ----- Welcome to episode 118 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Gaby Dalkin from What’s Gaby Cooking about understanding your brand, developing a product line, and working with a team. How to Discovering Your Brand Can Help you Grow Gaby’s blogging story isn’t the typical blogging story. She started as a private chef for Jessica Simpson, built a team, and even worked with Williams Sonoma on a product line. Oh, and she also managed to build a hugely successful food blog, What’s Gaby Cooking. But all of her success is rooted in a strong understanding of her personal and blog brand. She has an acute understanding of her audiences across all of her platforms, and that understanding influences how she interacts with those audiences. In this episode, Gaby shares: How she got interested in food How she got hired as a private chef for Jessica Simpson What it was like working with a brand consultant Her advice for doing live content How she keeps organized What it’s like working with a team How she decides how personal to get on her blog and social channels How she launched a salsa line with Williams Sonoma Her advice for working with a brand manager Resources: What’s Gaby Cooking TeuxDeux Gaby’s salsa line with Williams Sonoma Follow Gaby on Instagram , Facebook , and Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 26, 2017
How to Sustain a Successful Blog for 10+ Years with Maria Lichty
Launching a meal planning site, learning how to adapt with a changing industry, and working with brands with Maria Lichty. ----- Welcome to episode 117 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Maria Lichty from Two Peas and Their Pod about how blogging has changed in the past 10 years. How to Sustain a Successful Blog for 10+ Years When Maria started blogging at Two Peas and Their Pod, the food blogging industry looked quite different. Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest weren’t around, videos weren’t as popular, and the industry as a whole was much smaller. But Maria has learned to adapt to this quick-changing world and to work to her strengths while growing her blog. She has hired a team to help her manage her social media and video work while she focuses on the work she loves like recipe testing, photography, and more. In this episode, Maria shares: How blogging has changed since she first started her blog How to work as a husband-wife team How she chooses the sponsored posts she does How she prioritizes her work What her typical day looks like How she likes to engage with her followers How she grew her Facebook following How she built a meal planning site Her advice for negotiations with brands Resources: Two Peas and Their Pod Kalyn’s Kitchen Simple Pin Media 026: How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media Sweet Peas Meals How Sweet It Is Check out Maria’s home posts - don’t miss her beautiful pantry ! Follow Maria on Instagram or Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 19, 2017
Answering Questions about Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss and the Pinch of Yum Team
How to start sponsored content, how to price your work, and how to reach out to brands with Danielle Liss and the Pinch of Yum team. ----- Welcome to episode 116 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re sharing the Q&A from the Sponsored Content Bootcamp. You’ll hear Danielle Liss and the Pinch of Yum team talk about starting sponsored content, pricing your work, and reaching out to brands. Answering Questions about Sponsored Content Sponsored content is a great way to generate income for your blog and make connections with brands you really love. At the Sponsored Content Bootcamp on September 12, 2017, we showed attendees how to price their work, the tools you need to create sponsored content, and how the Pinch of Yum team handles their sponsored content work. We also held a Q&A at the end of the day where we answered questions from our attendees about sponsored content. We’re sharing that Q&A with our podcast family today, and we couldn’t be more excited. Danielle Liss from Hashtag Legal and Businessese and Lindsay and Jenna from Pinch of Yum answer some of your questions about creating awesome sponsored content. In this episode, Danielle, Lindsay, and Jenna share: How to approach brands Why you should be sharing campaign reports How to charge different rates for different work How to license your images How to deal with long-term relationships with brands How to track campaign results Resources: Get Your PRICE course CoSchedule Follow Danielle at Businessese and Hashtag Legal Follow Lindsay at Pinch of Yum or on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 12, 2017
How to Write a 5-Star Cookbook with Kathryne Taylor
Advice for future cookbook authors, how to decide when it's the right time to make your first hire, and choosing a focus for your blog with Kathryne Taylor. ----- Welcome to episode 115 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Kathryne Taylor from Cookie & Kate about how she decided her blog would have a food focus, when she chose to make her first hire, and her advice for future cookbook authors. How to Write a 5-Star Cookbook While Kathryne’s blog Cookie & Kate didn’t start out as a food blog, she transitioned to sharing healthy, whole food recipes. From there, Cookie & Kate became her full-time job, and she quickly learned the ins and outs of blogging, web development, and design. Just a few months ago, Kathryne released her first cookbook, Love Real Food , which has gained a ton of praise (including nearly 200 5-star reviews on Amazon). She learned a lot from the cookbook publishing process, and she has a few tips that will help aspiring cookbook authors turn their ideas to realities. In this episode, Kathryne shares: What she did before blogging Why she started her blog and transitioned to sharing recipes How she transitioned to working on her blog full-time How she learned how to handle the design and development side of blogging How she decided to hire help What her typical week looks like How she chose a publisher for her cookbook How she got paid for writing her cookbook What she learned from editing her cookbook Resources: Cookie & Kate The Faux Martha Show Me How To Do It Cupcakes & Cashmere Goop What to Eat The Omnivore’s Dilemma Saveur Blog Awards Mr. Money Mustache Treehouse Lynda Codecademy Evernote Check out Kate’s cookbook, the Love Real Food Cookbook Follow Kate on Instagram and Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them
Tue, September 05, 2017
How to Run a Successful Blog as a Partnership with Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer
How to work with different personalities, divide responsibilities, and split your income with Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer. ----- Welcome to episode 114 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer from Thriving Home about working as a partnership on their blog. How to Run a Successful Blog as a Partnership A blog is typically started as a sole venture, but Polly and Rachel decided to start their blog, Thriving Home, as a team. While they both have different personalities, they use those differences to their advantage to divide tasks and grow their business. But even though they’re running their blog as a team, anyone can take lessons away from the way they treat their blog as a business. You’ll learn how they made their first $1, the most important thing that makes their partnership work, and the intentional way they invest back into their business, and more. In this episode, Polly and Rachel share: How Polly and Rachel met Why they decided to start a blog together How they work with their different personalities What they focused on when they first started blogging together How they compliment each other How they navigate difficulties in a partnership What their State of the Unions look like How they divide responsibilities How they handle constructive criticism How they decided to start working on their blog full-time How they divide their income and how they decide what to invest in Why they set up their business as an S-Corp What their typical days look like Resources: Thriving Home Dave Ramsey From Freezer to Table Cookbook - releasing September 12! Profit First ConvertKit Leadpages Shopify If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 29, 2017
How to Gain 90K Instagram Followers in 2 Years with Ashley Walterhouse
How to use an Instagram strategy, get involved in blogging groups, and get advice from other bloggers with Ashley Walterhouse. ----- Welcome to episode 113 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Ashley Walterhouse about working with brands, building her following, and growing her Instagram account to over 90K followers in two years. How to Gain 90K Instagram Followers in 2 Years Yep, that says 90K. In two years! If you’re anything like me, you randomly post to Instagram whenever you remember to in hopes of gaining followers and getting some click-throughs to your website. But Ashley’s social media success is proof that it’s helpful to have a strategy when growing your social media presence. Posting at the right times every day, engaging with comments, and sharing the right recipes all play into growing your Instagram account. Ashley has cracked the code on Instagram growth and engagement, and she’s sharing how she managed to grow her two-year-old blog, Fit Mitten Kitchen, into a full-time job. In this episode, Ashley shares: Where her blog name comes from How she got advice about blogging How she keeps organized How many times she posts on Instagram per day How to she recycles recipes on social media Which big accounts she tags on her Instagram images How she landed her first sponsored post Why you should always have a contract when you work with a brand How she got involved in blogging groups What has helped her with photography Resources: Fit Mitten Kitchen Fit Foodie Finds The Healthy Maven The Feed Feed Businessese 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss Nicole Culver Blissful Bites Podcast Follow Ashley on Instagram & Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 22, 2017
Perfecting the Art of Food Photography with Taylor Mathis
How to get perfect lighting and a consistent style with Taylor Mathis. ----- Welcome to episode 112 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Taylor Mathis from Photographing FOOD about lighting, consistency, and his go-to equipment. Perfecting the Art of Food Photography Photography is one of the most important aspects of food blogging. We’re always told that people eat with their eyes, and that couldn’t be more true when trying to gain a following as a blogger. While Taylor started his photography career as a wedding photographer, his interests quickly settled on food photography. He has devoted his career to perfecting the art of food photography, and now he’s sharing what he has learned with you. His composition, lighting, and gear tips will give new insights into your photography setup and planning. In this episode, Taylor shares: How he got interested in photography How he started his photography business Why it’s important to understand light as a photographer Why he suggests shooting in RAW Why he prefers to shoot with flash The equipment he recommends for beginners Why macro lenses are great for food photography How he prepares for difficult shoots His essential gear Resources: Lynda.com Creative Live Lowel Ego Lights Ikan Lights 100mm Canon Macro lens 50mm Canon lens 17–40mm Canon Wide Angle lens Photographing Food eBooks Photographing Food Follow Taylor on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 15, 2017
How to Build a Company of One with Paul Jarvis
Why engagement is more important than numbers, how to run a business that doesn’t require growth, and how to find your rat people with Paul Jarvis. ----- Welcome to episode 111 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Paul Jarvis about building a company of one, the most important part of his online business, and finding your “rat people.” How to Build a Company of One Paul has been working for himself for nearly 20 years, and his career has taken him in a few different directions. Starting out as a web designer, he began working for himself as a freelancer for clients like Danielle LaPorte, Marie Forleo, and Mercedes-Benz, and then he started selling his own software and courses. And he wrote a vegan cookbook along the way. While he built his business, he learned what it means to own, run, and grow a “company of one.” Paul’s experiences and advice will inspire you to think about your own business in exciting and unconventional ways. In this episode, Paul shares: Why he releases his podcast in seasons How he successfully “batch-creates” his content Why he measures engagement over signups Why a mailing list is powerful How he spent less than $100 on creating his vegan cookbook How he transitioned his business from client work to products How he uses artificial constraints for creativity Why he focuses on the people who are already paying attention What it means to run a profitable and sustainable business that doesn’t require growth How to build a “company of one” Why you should find your “rat people” Resources: Sunday Dispatches Newsletter Sunday Dispatches Podcast pjrvs.com Eat Awesome Mailchimp The super-cute picture of Paul’s rats Danielle LaPorte Marie Forleo Chimp Essentials Mr. Money Mustache Psychotactics Basecamp Derek Sivers Read Paul’s articles If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@
Tue, August 08, 2017
10 Simple Habits That Create BIG Growth for Your Business with Bjork Ostrom
How to work in your zone, set a morning routine, and optimize your workspace with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 110 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about 10 habits that can help your business grow long-term. 10 Simple Habits that Create BIG Growth for Your Business Forming habits can have an exponential affect on your business’ growth, and Bjork has seen that first-hand as he built Food Blogger Pro. Bjork talks about 10 habits that have had a huge impact on his productivity and on Food Blogger Pro’s growth. He recommends apps, systems, philosophies, and practices that you can implement today into your business to see growth long-term. In this episode, Bjork shares: What a “black book” is How to keep track of your to-dos How a morning routine can impact your business How to get to “Inbox Zero” An easier way to keep track of receipts How to save articles to read later How to optimize your workspace Why you should turn off all push notifications How do perform a time audit How to find ways to “work in your zone” Resources: Evernote Things Asana Trello Getting Things Done Clear Koalcat’s Clear Five Minute Journal Headspace Mixmax Boomerang Shoeboxed Pocket Moment Rescue Time The War of Art If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 01, 2017
How Systems and Courses Can Build a Profitable Business with Greg Hickman
How to implement systems, shift your business' focus, and narrow your offerings with Greg Hickman. ----- Welcome to episode 109 of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Greg Hickman about building systems, building courses, and building a profitable business. How Systems and Courses can Build a Profitable Business Shifting the focus in your business might be a scary step. But for Greg, shifting his business focus came via a challenge, and he learned that it was a necessary step for growing his business. He went from focusing on mobile marketing to automation and marketing funnels. Now he helps other businesses narrow down their offerings and use trends to build out their systems. He talks about finding the right product to sell, tools he recommends for marketers, and how you can give your audience value. In this episode, Greg shares: How he got started helping businesses with their funnels and automation How he knew how to make a shift in his business How a challenge led him to his new business model Why he helps his clients understand their problems Why narrowing down your offerings makes running your business easier How to not be a slave to your business How to use trends to build your systems and automations How to figure out a product to sell Why you should go as premium as you can The tools he recommends for marketers Resources: System.ly Zero to Scale Podcast The Mobile Mixed Podcast Infusionsoft WP Curve Amy Porterfield Funnels That Scale 056: Working in Your Area of Brilliance with Meghan Telpner 105: How Food Bloggers Use Courses to Build their Businesses with Randle Browning ActiveCampaign Leadpages ClickFunnels Unbounce Instapage No Leads Left Behind Facebook Group How to Use Marketing Automation to Scale Your Funnel from 6 to 7 Figures Webinar If you have any comments, questions, or sugg
Tue, July 25, 2017
From Struggling Podcast to Six-Figure Success with Natalie Eckdahl
Common mindsets for entrepreneurs, how to find success through breakthroughs, and how to grow a podcast into a success with Natalie Eckdahl. ----- Welcome to episode 108 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Natalie Eckdahl about growing her podcast into a six-figure success. From Struggling Podcast to Six-Figure Success “If you build it, they will come.” That’s what Natalie thought of her audience when she first built her podcast back in 2014. While that wasn’t exactly the case, Natalie started to understand her audience and quickly grew her struggling podcast, The Biz Chix Podcast, to a six-figure business. Along the way, Natalie has coached many different types of women entrepreneurs, and she has learned about their struggles, issues, and tools for success. The lessons she has learned helps her educate, encourage and promote entrepreneurial women looking to grow their businesses. In this episode, Natalie shares: Why she decided to start her podcast How she scaled that podcast into a seven figure business Why it’s important to understand your audience Why she recommends joining a mastermind group The common mindset issues she sees in her clients How to be intentional with your time Resources: BizChix The BizChix Podcast 24 Exceptional Women-Hosted Podcasts for Entrepreneurs in 2017 The 5 Best Podcasts for Women Entrepreneurs Dave Ramsey Entrepreneur on Fire Amy Porterfield Michael Stelzner Pat Flynn Flipped Lifestyle On Air Coaching Work with Natalie The Five Second Rule Will Smith on Skydiving 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less and Making More <a href= "https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bizch
Tue, July 18, 2017
How to Go Viral, Kill Your Blog, and Start Over with Sarah Wu
Why “going viral” early might not be best with Sarah Wu. ----- Welcome to episode 107 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Sarah Wu about her viral blog and why “going viral” quickly might not be the best thing for everyone. How to Go Viral, Kill Your Blog, and Start Over Going viral. It’s the dream for all bloggers, right? Not exactly. Sarah Wu experienced what it’s like to have a viral blog early in her blogging career. She was featured on news outlets like Good Morning America, AOL, and Yahoo, saw her page views quickly grow, and started getting more comments. However, going viral wasn’t what was best for Sarah and her blog about school lunches. In this episode, Sarah shares: Why she decided to document school lunches How her blog grew Why she decided to start as an anonymous blogger How she was featured on Good Morning America, AOL, and Yahoo Why you should focus on becoming an expert Why smaller goals are important for growing your blog Why going viral early might not be the best thing for your blog Why it’s important to be yourself Resources: Fed Up with Lunch Andy Bellatti Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator Speech is Beautiful Follow Sarah on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 11, 2017
Discovering Your Unique Brand with Carol Cox
How to refine your brand, share your story, and help others with Carol Cox. ----- Welcome to episode 106 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Carol Cox about refining your brand and sharing your story. Discovering Your Unique Brand How would you define your brand? It’s an interesting and important question to answer about your business. Carol, however, thinks it's even more important to gauge how your audience defines your brand. Once you understand that, you can then refine your brand and use your expertise to support your audience. Carol’s advice will show you how you can help your readers by choosing the stories you share and the niche you pick. In this episode, Carol shares: What a brand actually is How to gauge the way your audience views your brand How to refine your brand Why you should excavate your story Why failures make good stories How to create a story bank Why you should process through your story before you write about it How to help someone along their “Hero’s Journey” How you can find your niche How to make a “signature talk” Resources: 360°Reach Gorilla Suit and the London Marathon Hero’s Journey Speaking Your Brand Calendly Grab your free PDF Follow Carol on Facebook and Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, July 04, 2017
How Food Bloggers Use Courses to Build their Businesses with Randle Browning
How to pick a course topic, price your course, and feel confident to teach with Randle Browning. ----- Welcome to episode 105 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Randle Browning from Teachable about creating courses to generate income and leads. How Food Bloggers Use Courses to Build their Businesses What are you an expert at? Maybe it’s cake decorating. Maybe it’s vegan cooking. Or maybe it’s cooking with the ever-so popular Instant Pot . Regardless, you can make a course about it. And creating that course is a great way to build your online presence and business. Randle Browning works for Teachable, a site that helps you build and sell your own online courses. She has so many tips that will help you pick the perfect course topic, create your course, and then successfully launch your course. In this episode, Randle shares: Why you should pre-sell a course How to segment your email list based on a course How to gauge interest in your course idea How to price your course How to pick a topic for your course What “expert” means and how to feel confident enough to teach a certain topic Why you don’t need to be the “Ultimate Expert” Resources: The Waco Vegan Liberty Harbor RV Park Teachable 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom How to Create a Mini Course to Build Your Business Make Fabulous Cakes The Raw Academy The Creative Curator MailChimp ConvertKit Tim Ferris Tasty Food Photography Follow Randle on Instagram and Twitter Get 1 free month of the Pro Teachable Plan with promo code food (valid until August 15th) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, June 27, 2017
How Bloggers Should Handle Their Taxes and Accounting with Cathy Derus
How to track expenses, pay yourself, and set up bank account for your business with Cathy Derus. ----- Welcome to episode 104 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Cathy Derus about tax advice for bloggers. How Bloggers Should Handle Their Taxes and Accounting Photographing, cooking, connecting, writing…these are typically the aspects of blogging we all love. Cathy, on the other hand, loves spreadsheets, tracking expenses, and talking to other bloggers about taxes. Cathy started her businesses, Brightwater Financial and Brightwater Accounting, as a way to help small business owners like bloggers navigate the confusing tax side of their businesses. It’s a topic that is incredibly important for all bloggers to understand, and Cathy’s goal is to make the process a little easier. From setting up a bank account for your business to tracking expenses, this episode is a crash-course to understanding taxes and accounting. In this episode, Cathy shares: How her diverse knowledge helped her launch her own practice How her blog helped her explore her interests and experiences The difference between accounting and financials When you should start expensing blog purchases Why you should have a separate business bank account for your blog How to pay yourself from your business’ money How to put aside money for the IRS What an EIN is and why you should get one What quarterly taxes are and why they’re important for businesses Resources: 063: Personal Finance for Business Owners with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents Brightwater Financial Brightwater Accounting Tax Checklist for Food Bloggers The Lively Show by Jess Lively 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss Quickbooks Online Shoebox Ed Profit First Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits <a href= "https://quickbo
Tue, June 20, 2017
Answering Questions about Recipe Videos with the Pinch of Yum Team
How to find inspiration, deliver value, and grow your engagement with the Pinch of Yum Team. ----- Welcome to episode 103 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Lindsay and Alana from Pinch of Yum about creating awesome recipe videos. Answering Questions about Recipe Videos Spend five minutes on Facebook or Instagram, and I bet you’ll see at least one or two recipe videos in your feed. Recipe videos are the thing for food bloggers right now, and we always get questions from bloggers about how they can make viral food videos that will help deliver value, boost engagement, and grow followings on social media. That’s exactly what Alana, Bjork, and Lindsay talk about today. Today we’re sharing the Q&A session from our recent One-Day Recipe Video Bootcamp event. Alana, Bjork, and Lindsay answer some of your questions about gear, lighting, writing engaging captions, and their personal success with recipe videos in this Q&A. In this episode, Alana, Bjork, and Lindsay share: How video has changed Pinch of Yum’s social media presence How to easily keep track of your Instagram statistics What kind of lenses and monitors you can use for food videos What kind of lighting you should use for food videos Why Lindsay doesn’t include links to her recipes on her food videos on Instagram What Alana’s two most important food video purchases are How the POY team decides on the recipes they turn into videos How Bjork makes his famous “Fresh Baked Cookies” ;) Resources: Get the Bootcamp Bundle! Nutrifox Edit Academy Pinch of Yum Social Blade Canon 28mm f/1.8 lens Canon 70–200mm f/2.8 lens smallHD 701 Lite Monitor VIVO Ultra HD Monitor Imorden 7" Articulating Hotshoe Mount Arm The Scran Line Bon Appetit Food and
Tue, June 13, 2017
Write More, Write Better, and Write Smarter with Gabriela Pereira
How to write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community with Gabriela Pereira. ----- Welcome to episode 102 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks to Gabriela Pereira about becoming a better writer and building a community around your writing. How to Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, and Build Your Community Gabriela got her MFA in 2010, and after she graduated, she realized that a lot of people don’t actually need a formal education process in order to write. If you give yourself permission to own your creativity and writing, and if you learn a few key skills along the way, you can be a writer. She started DIY MFA to teach others how they can do exactly that. By focusing on the work at hand, Gabriela has been able to practice, evaluate, and fine-tune her craft and teach others how to do the same. Gabriela’s strategies about finding the right writing system, tracking productivity, staying inspired, and understanding strengths and weaknesses all play into finding one’s voice and writing style. In this episode, Gabriela shares: What an MFA is Why she considers herself an instigator How she calculates and tracks her productivity How to find a writing system that works for you How she stays inspired How she writes personal posts Why it’s important to get input from the right people Why you should know your strengths and weaknesses Resources: 099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss DIY MFA DIY MFA Book The Writer Igniter Setting the Mood for an Optimal Writing Session Gabriela’s personal post James Altucher DIY MFA Radio podcast Starter Kit If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, June 06, 2017
What I Learned After Five Years of Income Reports with Bjork Ostrom
How to trust your gut, why you need to build your own path, and why you should pursue the work (not the end) with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 101 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the lessons he learned after five years of publishing Income Reports on Pinch of Yum. What I Learned After Five Years of Income Reports The Pinch of Yum Income Reports chronicle the experiment Bjork and Lindsay started as a way to find out if it was possible to create an income from a food blog. Spoiler alert: It is. After five years of publishing these income reports and sharing the process of turning Pinch of Yum into a business, Bjork has learned quite a few lessons. From learning to trust his gut to building their own path to learning how to learn, the 20 lessons Bjork discusses will help anyone in pursuit of starting their own business and becoming their own boss. In this episode, Bjork shares: How and why he started writing the Pinch of Yum Income Reports Why you need to listen to your gut How you can learn more information about your industry Why you should dedicate time to reflection Why working with the right people is important Why you need to build your own path Resources: Register for the One-Day Recipe Video Bootcamp! Pinch of Yum on Facebook and Instagram Pinch of Yum Income Reports Youth Frontiers This Week in Startups podcast The James Altucher Show Mixergy podcast Marketing School podcast MacBreak Weekly podcast How I Built This podcast This American Life The War of Art If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to
Tue, May 30, 2017
How FBP Listeners Have Used the Podcast to Grow Their Blogs and Businesses
Our listeners' favorite FBP podcast episodes, what they've learned, how how they've applied what they've learned to their blogs ----- Welcome to episode 100 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re celebrating our 100th episode with a special community episode! How FBP Listeners Have Used the Podcast to Grow their Blogs and Businesses There have been 99 Food Blogger Pro Podcast episodes before this one, and we’ve heard from a lot of amazing people. From full-time bloggers to SEO experts to social media pros, this podcast has seen no shortage of inspirational interviewees! We’re really excited about this episode because we’re hearing from you. We asked our listeners what their favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode was, and we’re so excited about the response. It’s so exciting to hear which episodes came to you at a specific point in your blogging career and how the podcast helped you overcome obstacles, become more confident, and grow your business. We hope that this episode will help you find an episode you might have missed or remind you of an episode that you’d like to go back and listen to again. Thanks so much for a great 100 episodes! These are our listeners’ favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episodes: 038: 7 Strategies to Build Traffic 035: How to 10x Your Facebook Following in One Year with Stephanie from Spaceships & Laser Beams 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom 013: An interview with Molly Yeh, the author behind Saveur’s 2015 Blog of the Year 083: The 1% Infinity Improvement Plan with Marly McMillen from the Chopped Podcast 094: How to Keep Going with Bjork Ostrom 019: How to Master Pinterest for your Food Blog with Susan Wenner Jackson from Ahalogy 001: Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum on Life as a Career Blogger 089: How to Build a Plane with Alexa, Jasmine & Raquel from Food Blogger Pro <a href= "https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/blog/article/5-tips-for
Tue, May 23, 2017
Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss
How to price sponsored content, what type of business structure you should have for your blog, and what legal essentials your blog should have ----- Welcome to episode 99 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Danielle Liss from Hashtag Legal about how you can create solid sponsored content. Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth If you do sponsored content, you know how much work a campaign can be. From developing the recipe to aligning with the brand’s goals, many considerations go into creating solid sponsored content for a brand. From understanding FTC guidelines to knowing the legal disclaimers all blogs should have on their sites, Danielle and her business partner cover it all at their practice, Hashtag Legal. While most bloggers want to focus on the creative side of their businesses, it’s important to have a handle on the business and legal side of things as well. Danielle saw this as an opportunity to help get bloggers to the point where they’re comfortable with pricing their work and structuring their businesses. In this episode, Danielle shares: How influencer networks work Why you should understand a brand’s goal for sponsored content How to come up with your sponsored post rate and why it should be fluid Why you should be paying attention to your Cost Per Engagement Why you should be doing campaign reports Why case studies are important How to solidify a strong pitch What type of business entity you can set up for your blog Why you should have a Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimer Resources: Record a message for our 100th episode! Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts The Price Method Businessese Pretty Link Lite Bit.ly Google Slides Canva Closing Strong Info on campaign reports and case studies Dude Perfect case studies Trademark Searches Hashtag Legal
Tue, May 16, 2017
An Architect's Journey to Becoming a Full-Time Freelance Food Photographer with Ashley McLaughlin
How recipe creation is like architecture, how to improve your food photography, and how to become a full-time freelance food photographer. ----- Welcome to episode 98 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Ashley McLaughlin from Edible Perspective about becoming a full-time freelance food photographer. An Architect’s Journey to Becoming a Full-Time Freelance Food Photographer Architecture and food…it doesn’t sound like there would be many similarities between the two, right? But there are, and Ashley’s background in architecture helped her understand experience, perspective, and design in a culinary setting. After staring her blog, Edible Perspective, as a way to stay creative, Ashley’s love of food transformed into a love of photography. After a long learning process, she went from a complete novice with a DSLR to understanding exposure meters, shooting in manual mode, and writing a food photography series on her blog. Now she’s a full-time freelance food photographer who has photographed multiple cookbooks for bloggers. In this episode, Ashley shares: How recipe creation is like architecture Why she launched her blog How she started using a DSLR Her tips for improving your food photography skills How she was able to become a full-time freelance food photographer Resources: Record a message for our 100th episode! About the Slow Food Movement Michael Pollan books Canon 5D Mark III Canon 7D Oh She Glows Every Day Peas and Thank You Simple Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love Canon 35mm f/1.4L Bubble Level Ashley’s Photography Series Follow Edible Perspective on Facebook , Instagram ,
Tue, May 09, 2017
How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom
How to make money from blogging, why you should divide your income into eggs, and how to fill your egg carton with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 97 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about dividing income into multiple “eggs” in a carton of blogging income. How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging using The Egg Carton Method For a lot of us, “pro” blogging (i.e., making a full-time income from blogging) is the dream. In order to do that, however, income needs to be coming in from multiple channels. Bjork likes to think of these “channels” as eggs in an egg carton; you need to fill your egg carton with different revenue streams in order to create a sustainable income from your blog. It’s really difficult to create a full-time blogging income from only one “egg,” so diversifying your egg carton can help you get there even sooner. In this episode, Bjork shares: Two things that make an impact on making an income on your blog How to divide your income stream into multiple “eggs” A way to figure out how much you need to be making from each of your “eggs” 15 different ways you can make money blogging Resources: Record a message for our 100th episode! ProBlogger How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords Finding Success on the Verge of Quitting with Dustin & Lacey Baier How to Connect with Brands & Find Sponsored Content with Francesca Bandicci Pinch of Yum on Instagram Generating Income through Self-Publishing a Cookbook with Jason Logsdon Food Blogger Pro waiting list FBP Affiliate Program Eventbrite
Tue, May 02, 2017
How to Create the Perfect Recipe Post with Bjork Ostrom
What recipe plugins are, why you should be using one, and how to create the perfect search result with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 96 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks about recipe plugins and why you need one. How to Create the Perfect Recipe Post Regardless of where you are in your blogging journey (just starting out to full-time), chances are you’ve heard the words recipe plugin before. These plugins are incredibly important for food bloggers to be aware of because they not only make your recipes look beautiful, but they also help your blog communicate with search engines like Google and Pinterest. There are so many elements to consider when choosing a recipe plugin for your blog, and it’s important to choose one that checks off “all of the SEO boxes.” So when Bjork noticed the recipe plugin Pinch of Yum was using wasn’t quite keeping up with the times, he decided it was time to build one in-house. In this episode, Bjork shares: What a recipe plugin is and why food bloggers should be using one What structured data is and why it’s important How to view your recipe posts like a search engine Why recipe plugins are helpful for both search engines and your readers How to create the perfect search result in Google How you can start using Tasty Recipes today Resources: Tasty Recipes on WP Tasty 8-year-old drives to McDonald’s Joost De Valk (Yoast SEO) podcast episode Info about JSON Info about Microdata Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool How to search for a specific search result on Google: site:pinchofyum.com pesto asparagus noodles Yoast SEO Plugin Nutrifox
Tue, April 25, 2017
How Embracing the Mess Propelled a Career with Jillian Tohber Leslie from MiloTree
How she started Catch My Party, what problem MiloTree solved for their business, and using popups on mobile. ----- Welcome to episode 95 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Jillian Tohber Leslie from Catch My Party and MiloTree about making successful career changes by embracing the mess. As with life, business isn’t always pretty. No matter how put-together someone’s business looks from the outside, you can bet your bottom dollar that they’ve had their own fair share of messy affairs to deal with in their business. Jillian Tohber Leslie learned early in her career that the key to moving forward was embracing this messiness and using it to help propel her career and her businesses forward. She and her husband started Catch My Party, the largest party ideas site on the web, and went on to found MiloTree, a social and email growth popup that’s perfect for bloggers. In this episode, Jillian shares: How she successfully changed careers a number of times Why messiness in life and business is okay What her first drafts look like Why she left Hollywood to start Catch My Party How Catch My Party’s users defined their business How she solves tech problems How they monetize Catch My Party Why they built MiloTree Whether or not you can use popups on mobile Resources: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott Let Me Google That For You MiloTree Catch My Party Catch My Party on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , & Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, April 18, 2017
How to Keep Going with Bjork Ostrom
How finding the right path for you can help you keep going with your blog. ----- Welcome to episode 94 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks about how to keep going when you're not sure you can continue. Whether you’ve been blogging for a few months or a few years, you’ve no doubt had the thought at some point or another: How do I keep going? Blogging can be tough. You might be fitting it in after your regular full-time job hours. You might be running your blog as a business with not enough hours in the day. You might be juggling it on the side while trying to raise a family. Whatever your situation, you’ve likely found out that blogging isn’t easy, and on some days it’s tough to imagine how you’ll keep it up. Today, Bjork talks about some techniques that he and Lindsay have used in their businesses to help them get up in the morning and do The Work. In this episode, Bjork discusses: Why someone else’s path might not be the one for you How to find your own path Why time is a key ingredient How The Path differs from The Resistance How temporarily stopping can help you keep going Why deadlines are important and how they have impacted Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro Why gratitude moves you forward Resources: Open for Business Podcast Startup Podcast Smart Passive Income Podcast FE International Website Brokerage Quiet Light Brokerage Episode 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Pinch of Yum - Afton posts If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, April 11, 2017
How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill
How finding a niche can be freeing and how proper branding skyrocketed her traffic with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill. ----- Welcome to episode 93 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork chats with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill about how finding a niche transformed her business. As an internet entrepreneur, it can be tempting to try to appeal to everyone. You don’t want to send potential traffic away from your website, right? However, successful bloggers have said time and again that a big contributor to success is finding a specific audience and sharing only content that fits that audience perfectly. In other words, finding a niche . Meggan Hill started her blog, Culinary Hill, with an aim of pleasing everyone. And… it didn’t work out so well. Her blog did okay, but she ended up feeling discouraged and gave it up for a while. A couple years ago, though, she decided it was time to make some changes and make this blogging thing work for her. With the help of a branding agency, she was able to find a niche, free up her creativity by sticking to that niche, and nearly triple her traffic in just one year. Today, she’s here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Chelsea shares: How she narrowed down her niche Why finding a niche was freeing How refining her brand increased her traffic Why she is going to culinary school What the first step is to finding a business coach How she gets her morning started What she would have changed over the last few years How she finds time for her blog Resources: CookIt Media Jadah Sellner Coaching Meggan’s Geocities Angel Blog 5 Minute Journal The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod Insight Timer meditation app Headspace meditation app If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, April 04, 2017
How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea's Messy Apron
The thing she did when starting her blog, where her first year income came from, and what she would do differently now. ----- Welcome to episode 92 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron about making $40,000 in her first year of blogging. Most bloggers start out with the long-term plan in mind: they probably won’t make much money in the first year or two, but it’ll pay off in the end. And while this path works for a lot of people (Bjork and Lindsay included!), other bloggers decide to do it a bit differently. Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron hit the ground running with her blog and ended up making $40,000 in just the first year. Today, she talks about the first steps she took on her path to success, how today is different from that first year, and what she would have done differently looking back. In this episode, Chelsea shares: What her first step was to stating her blog as a business Why she underestimated the amount of money she would make in her first year Where her first year income came from The equation she used to calculate how much to charge for her first sponsored post How she balances family & work Why it takes her 15 hours to make a blog post How she decides what posts to make videos for What her Facebook strategy looks like What she would have done differently looking back Get the resources for this episode at foodbloggerpro.com/92 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 28, 2017
Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO
Should you delete old content, SEO in other languages, structured data for recipes, and repurposing old content with Joost de Valk from Yoast SEO. ----- Welcome to episode 91 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Joost de Valk, the founder of Yoast SEO, about optimizing SEO for your food blog. SEO is something we bloggers hear a LOT about. It’s so important! But it can also be really confusing, even with the abundance of information out there. Fortunately, there are tools such as the Yoast SEO plugin to help us navigate this often confusing landscape. Yoast SEO was founded by Joost de Valk and is one of the most popular WordPress plugins in use today. That’s… kind of a big deal. Joost met with Bjork for this interview to discuss a wide range of SEO topics, including why SEO matters for your recipes and how you can optimize it. In this episode, Joost shares: How you actually pronounce his name How SEO changes with languages other than English How to structure your site for usability Whether or not you should delete older content How to repurpose old content If your recipes should show dates in search results Why you need structured data for your recipes Why your blog might not show up in search engines right away Resources: Yoast.com Yoast SEO plugin Yoast SEO course on Food Blogger Pro Google Search Console Screaming Frog scraping tool SEO for WordPress Tasty Recipes If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 21, 2017
How a Legislative Assistant Created Her Own Path to Working for Herself with Brita Britnell
Making money outside of your blog, quitting your job, and finding a service in demand with Brita Britnell. ----- Welcome to episode 90 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Brita Britnell about how she stepped off the beaten blogging path and found a new way to work for herself. Most bloggers start on their blogging journey hoping to eventually work full-time for themselves on their blog. While this is definitely an admirable and achievable goal, some bloggers have found that this is not the only way. Brita started making videos for her blog about a year ago and unexpectedly found that she absolutely loved it. She knew there was demand for bloggers to create video, but she also knew that most bloggers just didn’t have the time to learn a new skill. So, she started making videos for other bloggers and found the demand so great that she had to start a waitlist for clients. In just a few months she was able to leave her job and work for herself doing something that she loved. Today, she’s here to share her story. In this episode, Brita shares: What motivated her to turn her blog into a business Why she recommends bloggers go to conferences What the different stages of her blog were Why videos were addicting to create How she managed a full-time job and her growing blog What made her feel comfortable with quitting her job How she found her first clients to work with What it looks like to work with clients What advice she would give to herself when she was starting out Resources: Canon 6D Canon 50mm f/1.8 Lens Canon 60D Canon 85mm f/1.8 Lens Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens Adobe Premiere Premiere course on FBP Adobe After Effects Tasty Recipes bbritnell.com Video & Photography resources on B. Britnell If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpro.com" target= "_blank
Tue, March 14, 2017
How to Build a Plane with Alexa, Jasmine & Raquel from Food Blogger Pro
Our best advice for new (or experienced) bloggers, how to manage an affiliate program, and where you can find what to blog about in the coming month. ----- Welcome to episode 89 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews FBP team members Alexa, Jasmine, and Raquel about what goes on behind the scenes, and what they’ve learned about blogging during their time as FBP employees. ----- Alright, alright. This episode is not really about building a plane. Not a real one, at least! But “building a plane” is an analogy we use nearing the end of the episode when we talk about the most important advice we would give to new (or experienced) bloggers. This advice is so important, in my humble opinion, that I’m wiling to give you a free pass and tell you to skip right to the end if you only have 5 minutes to listen. If you’ve got more than 5 minutes, settle on in for a listen about how we run Food Blogger Pro behind the scenes, and how you can use the same tools, processes, and techniques as we do to take your blog to the next level. In this episode, Alexa, Jasmine, and Raquel share: Why you need to be using a recipe plugin on your website What the Happening Now videos are and why you should be watching them How Jasmine manages the affiliate programs What deals you can find as a member of Food Blogger Pro What purpose the Trending Now articles serve for food bloggers How we communicate with our customers What tool Raquel uses to optimize email Why coupon sites aren’t allowed in our affiliate programs How Raquel felt giving up her career in microbiology What makes working at Food Blogger Pro really smooth for Jasmine How to build a plane! Resources: Asana Asana course on Food Blogger Pro Food Blogger Pro Blog Google Trends Ahalogy FBP Podcast Episode 019: How to Master Pinterest for your Food Blog with Susan Wenner Jackson from Ahalogy Intercom KickoffLabs Inbox by Gmail Mixmax ShareASale foodbloggerpro.com/design If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodblog
Tue, March 07, 2017
How We Run Pinch of Yum with Alana Woolley & Jenna Arend
How Pinch of Yum employs full-time workers, communicating on a remote team, finding what works with video, and tips for working remotely. ----- Welcome to episode 88 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews two key Pinch of Yum employees, Alana Woolley and Jenna Arend, about what goes on behind the scenes of Pinch of Yum. If you’re not a food blogger, it might seem like it’s a job that would be easy to do in your free time. If you are a food blogger, you know that there’s way more time that goes into it than that! Many people are surprised to hear that Pinch of Yum employs a team of people, 3 of whom work full-time, to keep the blog up and running. Alana and Jenna are two of those people - Alana is the Pinch of Yum Video Specialist, and Jenna is the Pinch of Yum Office Manager. Today, they’re here to break it down for us and talk about how it all works. In this episode, Alana and Jenna share: What they do on a day-to-day basis How they communicate on a remote team What Jenna’s “lifeline” is for her job What Alana’s video editing procedure looks like How she manages backing up giant video files to the cloud What tool they’ve been using to manage sponsored content contacts How they experiment with video to find what works How Jenna got more engaged with Pinterest scheduling Their tips for working remotely Resources: Slack Asana Asana course on Food Blogger Pro Process.St Crashplan Highrise CRM foodbloggerpro.com/design If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 28, 2017
How to Take Permission and Grow Your Business with Andy Traub
What it means to take permission, the ugly truth about online marketing, and how to genuinely connect with influencers with Andy Traub. ----- Welcome to episode 87 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Andy Traub, a business coach who specializes in helping you take permission in your career. The phrase “take permission” might settle a bit weird in your brain. Don’t you ask for permission? That’s exactly what Andy’s all about. He feels that for your business to really thrive, you have to be comfortable with simply taking permission. Take permission to start. Take permission to invest. Take permission to learn. This mindset is crucial to not only finding success as an entrepreneur, but also finding out what your best, most useful skills and roles are in your business. With this mindset, you can really see your business grow. In this episode, Andy shares: What inspired him to work for himself How he got started with his business What it means to take permission The hard, ugly truth about internet marketing How to genuinely connect with influencers Why he makes short, simple courses What is more important than simply following the footsteps of successful people Resources: Take Permission 48 Days by Dan Miller Episode 064: Finding work you love with Dan Miller from 48 Days Making Money On-line; It’s Not As Easy Or As Difficult As You Think Zoom Wirecast Andy’s Short Courses Reach by Andy Molinsky Strengths Finder Read to Lead podcast Tribe Writers course by Jeff Goins Startups.co If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 21, 2017
How to Make a Successful Career Change with Jon Acuff
Reinvent your Mondays, transition to a new career, and start Do Overs in all areas of life with Jon Acuff. ----- Welcome to episode 86 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Jon Acuff, a New York Times bestselling author who helps you work a job you love. While many entrepreneur-motivators will promote the strategy of quitting your job first, then figuring your new career out later, Jon Acuff takes a different stance. In his most recent book, Do Over , Jon talks about preparing yourself for a new career well before you ever need to actually start one. Jon’s books have helped thousands of people reinvent their Mondays, transition to a new career, and start Do Overs in all areas of life. In this episode, Jon shares: What a Do Over is and how you can track their effects Why you shouldn’t quit your day job How to utilize your time without sacrificing your family What you need to have in place to be prepared for a Do Over Why hustle is a key component, even if you have everything else What a Career Savings Account is and why you need one The best way to build relationships and be remembered Resources: Jon’s books including Do Over and Quitter Powerhouse by James Andrew Miller Jon on Twitter and LinkedIn Acuff.me If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 14, 2017
9 million visitors & 450 contributors: the Story of Her View From Home with Leslie Means
Working with contributors, monetizing from day 1, and finding your support person with Leslie Means from Her View From Home ----- Welcome to episode 85 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Leslie Means, cofounder of Her View From Home, about scaling her website to over 450 contributors and 9 million visitors per month. Leslie Means started her website just like many of us did - with a passion and a dream. However, instead of the typical create-publish-promote-repeat agenda, she took a bit of a different path: she wanted to publish articles from contributors and pay those authors based on article performance. Today, Her View From Home has over 9 million monthly visitors and pulls from a pool of 450 contributors. The business is thriving, and Leslie is here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Leslie shares: How Her View from Home started, and where it is today How she monetized her website from the beginning Why writing a business plan was instrumental for her success Why her husband was so helpful in the early days When she started working with contributors and why How they afforded to pay contributors When she started taking an income from the site What she would have done differently at the start What social media platform has worked best for HVFH Resources: AdThrive The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson Her View from Home Become a contributor for Her View From Home If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 07, 2017
New Year's Motivation: 1% Infinity
Gratitude, constant growth, and keeping overwhelm at bay. ----- Welcome to episode 84 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks about gratitude, constant growth, and keeping blog overwhelm at bay. In this episode, Bjork discusses: How your past is relevant to your future Examples of using past skills to grow your business How you can contrast negative thoughts with grateful thoughts to stay balanced How you can simultaneously be content, yet still aiming to learn and grow What the difference is between blogs that thrive and those that get stuck Why just creating consistent content is not enough How you can apply 1%∞ today How 1%∞ can keep things from becoming overwhelming Resources: foodbloggerpro.com/afton Pinch of Yum Workshops Lynda.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 31, 2017
The 1% Infinity Improvement Plan with Marly McMillen from the Chopped Podcast
How Lindsay organizes her day, how to apply 1% infinity to your daily life, and where Bjork got his name. ----- Welcome to episode 83 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Chopped Podcast with Marly McMillen. In this episode, Marly covers a lot of ground with Bjork and Lindsay. They talk about how Lindsay organizes her days, what it means to practice 1% infinity every day, and, my personal favorite, she asks them some random questions that were really fun to hear their answers to, like where Bjork’s name came from. In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay share: How they came up with the name Pinch of Yum Why Lindsay incorporates teaching into her blog How they organize their days What 1% infinity is and how they apply it every day How Bjork got his name What Lindsay’s favorite phone app is Resources: Day Designer Passion Planner Chopped Conference Namely Marly If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 24, 2017
How a 4th Grade Teacher Built a $20k/mo Blog with Andrew from Mixergy
Why they pushed forward after initial non-success, how she rose above negative comments, and why being vulnerable draws people in. ----- Welcome to episode 82 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Mixergy podcast with Andrew Warner. In this episode, Andrew chats with Lindsay about Pinch of Yum’s history and where they are today. Andrew takes the time to dig deep and ask some really interesting questions that wouldn’t normally get asked, and Lindsay’s answers might just help you understand what’s going on with your blog a bit better. In this episode, Lindsay shares: What her big motivating factor was in the early days Whether they thought about money when starting How many photos she will take for a single post Why they kept going with the monetization after not making much money initially How living in the Philippines changed the blog How she found out that she was “expert enough” to write Tasty Food Photography Why she got negative comments and why they got her down What helped her keep going despite negative people online How she gets featured on Buzzfeed so often Why being vulerable draws people in Resources: Gary Vaynerchuck Pinch of Yum Income Reports Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon Tasty Food Photography Resources for Food Bloggers page on POY Tribes by Seth Godin
Tue, January 17, 2017
The Mistake that Bloggers Make that Hinders Success from Martin Luenendonk
The thing that can hinder you from blogging success, what keeps Pinch of Yum running, and why they create digital products instead of physical ones. ----- Welcome to episode 81 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Cleverism podcast with Martin Luenendonk. In this episode, Martin goes over the beginning story of Pinch of Yum with Bjork, and then they dive into some quick but targeted questions about what keeps Pinch of Yum running. My personal favorite: Bjork divulges the #1 mistake he sees bloggers make that can hinder their success. In this episode, Bjork discusses: How Pinch of Yum got started When they realized that it could be a business How they monetized POY in the early days How they monetize POY today Why they chose to create digital products instead of selling physical ones What software and services they use on POY How A/B testing has been valuable for them What mistakes many bloggers make that hinder success What they do to attract traffic from Pinterest Resources: Get the resources and transcript for this episode here: https://www.cleverism.com/cp15-podcast-bjork-ostrom-pinch-of-yum-food-blogging/
Tue, January 10, 2017
Biz Planning for the Long Haul with Bjork from Kirsten Oliphant
Welcome to episode 80 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast. This week, Kirsten Oliphant interview Bjork about practicing 1%∞ through the different phases of business. As you may have heard, Bjork and Lindsay recently suffered a loss, which you can read a bit more about on Pinch of Yum. While Bjork takes some time off to grieve their loss and to celebrate Afton’s short life, we’re bringing in a couple interviews that Bjork did with other podcasters. This week’s podcaster is Kirsten Oliphant, author and podcaster at Create If Writing . She interviewed Bjork about a year and a half ago and they talked a lot about what it takes to run a business for the long haul. Bjork chalked a lot of this up to practicing 1%∞, a concept that he put a name to a long time ago and tries to practice every day. In this episode, Bjork discusses: How 1%infinity came about and what it means What the different “phases” of Pinch of Yum were How he and Lindsay applied 1% infinity to the different phases of Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro Why perfecting small things can hinder progress How to determine which things deserve your 1% Why outsourcing everything isn’t always the best option What the reality is for running a membership site How priorities for business investment change over time Resources: Get the resources for this podcast at createifwriting.com/061
Tue, December 27, 2016
How Finding a Unique Niche Led to YouTube Success with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food
Achieving career dreams, moving to YouTube, finding a niche, and working with multichannel networks with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food. ----- Welcome to episode 79 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food about how she grew her YouTube following. When starting (or running) a business, it can be tempting to look at what other successful people have done and try to do the same thing. If they were successful doing this, then you should be, too, right? While that scenario sometimes plays out, oftentimes you just become another fish in a sea of fish that are all doing the same thing. Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food found her success by diving into a newer niche and producing content in a way that no one else had done before. And it worked - she amassed just about 200k followers in just one year on YouTube. Today she’s here to talk about how it all went down. In this episode, Lauren shares: How she was able to achieve her teenage career dream What goals she had when starting her blog What her typical day looks like How she started doing YouTube videos What inspired her popular Recipe? segment How they set up their lighting & audio How their social following helped grow their YouTube channel How an MCN helped her monetize her channel How brand partnerships work with Hot for Food Resources: Adobe Premiere Episode 010: Working with Brands on YouTube with Beth Le Manach from Entertaining with Beth Kin Community Network Hot for Food on Instagram , Pinterest , Facebook , and Twitter Lauren in Real Life on YouTube Hot for Food on YouTube Hot for Food Blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, December 20, 2016
How to Build a Sales Funnel with Chris Davis from Automation Bridge
What marketing automation is, why funnels will help you sell, and what email and automation platforms you should be using for your business. ----- Welcome to episode 78 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Chris Davis from Automation Bridge and ActiveCampaign about using marketing funnels to drive sales for your business. When most people have a new product for their business, the first thing they want to do is go tell the world how amazing it is and try to get people to buy. That’s the point of creating a product, right? Not so fast, says Chris Davis from Automation Bridge. The sale starts way before you every publish your product or need people to start buying. The sale starts with your first interaction with your potential customer - and that interaction should be friendly, helpful, and interesting to the customer. This is the start of your sales funnel, and in this episode Chris talks about what to do next. In this episode, Chris shares: What marketing automation is and what it does for your business If “marketing automation” means no work What a sales funnel is and why it’s important Why funnels are more natural than cold sales How the stages of a sales funnel work Why you need a product to sell How your existing processes can show you what to automate How email marketing differs from marketing automation What email platform you should be using for your business Resources: ActiveCampaign LeadPages Clay Collins AWeber MailChimp ConstantContact Campaign Monitor VerticalResponse GetResponse ConvertKit Ontraport AutopilotHQ Infusionsoft Episode 041: Ninja Email Marketing for Bloggers with Barry Moore from The Active Marketer activecampaign.com/learn Chris on Twitter @autobizchris Automation Bridge If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to <a href= "mailto:podcast@foodbloggerpr
Tue, December 13, 2016
How To Stay Inspired by Using New Tech with Joel Comm
Which social platforms serve what purpose, why live video is so important, the next big thing, and sticking with your business. ----- Welcome to episode 77 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Joel Comm about how embracing trending technologies has kept his business fresh. Last week Bjork interviewed Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics about how correctly utilizing Google Analytics can superpower your blog. To go back and listen to that episode, click here . Staying Inspired with New Tech In the internet world, things move at a very fast pace and new technology - think social platforms, media, and gadgets - come out all the time. So do you jump on the bandwagon and try these new technologies, or wait until they’re vetted by others? Joel Comm has found that trying new technologies not only increases your chance of success (just think about his iPhone app that went to the top!), but that it can also help you stay inspired with your business. In this episode, Joel shares: What his first iPhone app was that gained tons of traction How he decides what social platforms to use What platforms serve what purpose for his business Why he thinks live video is worth the investment right now What the next thing beyond live video is What types of live videos he does His advice for sticking with your business over tough times Resources: iFart App adsense-secrets.com joel20.live - 20% off any regular domain name iMovie Windows Movie Maker JoelComm.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, December 06, 2016
Using Analytics to Build Your Blog with Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics
Using analytics to help you generate ideas for content, show you what's really working, and help you guide your business overall with Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics. ----- Welcome to episode 76 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Jeff Saur from Jeffalytics.com about how you can use Analytics to increase your chances for blog success. Oftentimes, when new bloggers start blogging, the only stat they really care about is whether or not their content is being seen by someone .It’s satisfying to see the first day we get 50 pageviews, or 100, or even 1,000. We check our analytics to make sure our content is getting seen. However, Analytics can be much more powerful than this. Used correctly, they can help you generate ideas for content, show you what’s really working, and help you guide your business overall. In short, proper use of Analytics can really help you accelerate your blog and business. Jeff Sauer has made his career out of helping people use Google Analytics. Today, he’s here to give us some of his best tips. In this episode, Jeff shares: Why Google Analytics was so revolutionary and powerful What the phases of Analytics use are What universal analytics is and why it’s important How you can use GA for more than just pageviews What your bounce rate means to your business What reports you should be looking at in Google Analytics How to leverage the existing traffic you have Why ranking for more specific keywords is better How you can use goals to improve your website Resources: Jeffalytics Jeff’s Google Analytics Course (use coupon code foodbloggerpro) Jeff’s Google Adwords Course Viral Posts & Hit Songs blog post by Bjork Google Analytics Google Webmaster Tools If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 29, 2016
How To Effectively Share Your Content on Social with Garrett Moon from CoSchedule
How many times to share each piece of content, planning ahead, and their long road to overnight success. ----- Welcome to episode 75 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Garrett Moon, cofounder of the popular social media and editorial planning tool CoSchedule. When it comes to blogging, there is a lot more to do than it would initially appear. Not only do you have to create content, you have to plan it out (preferably well in advance) and promote it after it’s done (preferably for a long time after). Keeping tabs on everything you need to do - including promoting it now, in a couple weeks, and around those holidays when it would make good shareable content - can be really tough. So, Garrett and his cofounder Justin created CoSchedule to make this process easier. Along the way, they discovered some unique insights into the world of social sharing. In this episode, Garrett shares: How they started CoSchedule Their long road to overnight success How they figured out if people wold actually buy their product How planning ahead helps you promote your content How many times they share each piece of content they produce Why it’s okay to share a single piece of content so many times How they track the effectiveness of their social campaigning Resources: Moz CoSchedule CoSchedule Blog CoSchedule on Twitter Garrett on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 22, 2016
How to Use Your DSLR Camera to Make Awesome Videos with Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter
What kinds of file backups you should have, why DSLRs make good video cameras, and what camera settings to use. ----- Welcome to episode 74 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter about how you can use your DSLR camera to make great food videos. By now, it’s pretty apparent how powerful food videos can be for a brand. They’re awesome! However, there are a lot of technical things to know when it comes to using your DSLR camera as a video camera. Caleb Pike has made his name by helping people learn how to use their DSLR cameras for shooting video. In this episode, he not only talks about important settings you need to pay attention to, but he also talks about how to make sure none of your video ever gets accidentally deleted. In this episode, Caleb shares: Why DSLRs were such an important invention for video How he monetized his website in the early days Why he thinks creating digital product are the best way to make money How he knew people would want to buy his products Whether you should use a DSLR or mirrorless camera for video How he manages storing video files so he doesn’t lose anything What camera settings he recommends using Why he stopped writing blog posts and started to focus only on video Resources: ProBlogger Essentialism by Greg McKeown Making it Podcast Transcend 64gb Class 10 Memory Card Final Cut Pro Carbon Copy Cloner Course: Equipment & Settings Course: Video Pre-Production If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 15, 2016
How to Publish Consistent and Quality Content with Jessica Merchant from How Sweet It Is
Welcome to episode 73 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Jessica Merchant from the blog How Sweet It Is about consistently creating great content. In blogging, content is huge. It’s not the only important thing, but it’s the foundation of your business. Creating great content is really important . Just as important is creating content often. A blog needs fresh, exciting ideas to thrive. New content is what your existing readers want to see. However, doing both those things - creating really great content on a consistent basis - can be really tough. It definitely involves dedication and skill to do right. Jessica Merchant from How Sweet It Is definitely has that dedication and skill, and today she’s here to tell us just how she manages to make consistent and quality content every single week. In this episode, Jessica shares: How she discovered blogging and decided to leave her job What it took to build her blog before leaving her job How she networked with other bloggers Where she finds inspiration for her blog How she manages raising her son and working full time on her blog Why she does “batch cooking” days Why she doesn’t do much sponsored content What it takes to publish content all the time How doing exactly what she wants has helped her find success Resources: How Sweet It Is How Sweet It Is on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , and Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 08, 2016
FBP Member Spotlight: Sam Turnbull from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken
Our first ever member spotlight interview! In this interview we chat with FBP member Sam Turnbull from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken. Sam talks about her decision to make take the leap into blogging full-time and what it was like to land a cookbook deal.
Tue, November 01, 2016
Finding your Raving Fans through Facebook Live with Amanda Rettke from I Am Baker
Welcome to episode 71 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Amanda Rettke from I Am Baker about her success with Facebook Live and how it has helped connect her with her audience. They say you only need 1,000 raving fans to create a successful business. Just 1,000! However, raving fans can be hard to come by. Where do you get them? How do you know they love you and the work you are doing? Amanda struggled with this a bit for the first few years she was in business. She knew she had great fans, but she didn’t feel like she really connected with them. And then she decided to try Facebook Live. Her raving fans loved being able to see and interact with her live, and she loved being able to connect with them. Facebook Live has been the experience Amanda needed to feel connected with her readers, and today she is here to tell us how she did it. In this episode, Amanda shares: What it was about I am Baker that people loved Why it’s important to appreciate the work that you’ve done How her live videos created raving fans How to keep your viewers interested in your videos Why consistency is key What her viewers love most about her videos Whether you can do live videos by yourself How she records on her phone but still keeps tabs on what’s going on Resources: Decorating from the Inside Out - Amanda’s Craftsy Class Mevo Cameras I Am Baker I Am Baker on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, October 25, 2016
The Story Behind Two Successful (But Very Different) Online Businesses with Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com
Welcome to episode 70 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com about building two eCommerce businesses - one that sells physical products, and the other that sells digital products. -- Steve’s wife Jennifer decided to quit her job in 2007, and within one year replaced her six-figure income with an eCommerce business selling physical products. Steve started blogging about how she did it and later quit his job - fully replacing his salary - with an eCommerce business selling digital products. These two businesses had one thing in common: they were eCommerce businesses. Everything else, from the customer acquisition to the time it took to generate a decent income, varied widely. However, Steve and his wife have learned a lot over the last few years running their two eCommerce businesses, and today Steve is here to share some of his knowledge with us. In this episode, Steve shares: What two businesses he and his wife run Why one business wasn’t as profitable as the other in the beginning How to find what products to sell What it’s like working with vendors in foreign countries Whether he would recommend selling physical or digital products What the best way is to sell your first physical product What FBA is and why you might use it Why they stopped selling on eBay How he markets their digital and physical products Resources: osCommerce Shopify Squarespace TeraPeak Jungle Scout Alibaba Shoe Dog by Phil Knight s2Member Fulfillment by Amazon Ecwid Klaviyo ConvertKit How to add a Facebook pixel to your website Bumblebee Linens MyWifeQuitHerJob.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, October 18, 2016
Building a Brand on National TV with Jocelyn Delk Adams from Grandbaby Cakes
Welcome to episode 69 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Jocelyn Delk Adams from Grandbaby Cakes about growing her audience and building her brand by way of National TV. If you’ve ever dreamed of being a TV star, starting a food blog probably wasn’t your first idea for how to get there. However, for Jocelyn Delk Adams of the popular blog Grandbaby Cakes, her food blog was just the ticket she needed. Jocelyn started her TV career with her local TV channels, then slowly moved up to the big networks. She’s now been seen on National shows such as Rachel Ray and the Today Show. She loves where her experiences have taken her and attributes much of her blog’s success to her effort to get her blog in front of new faces via TV appearances. In this episode, Jocelyn shares: How she transitioned from running her blog as a side-gig to a full-time thing How she secured a contract with Pillsbury after just 5 months of blogging Why she thinks of her business as a brand, not a blog Whether people are natural-born TV stars or not What kind of equipment to expect to have on hand on TV Why TV appearances can help you attract brands Why she decided to create a Craftsy class How she got to be on national TV Whether she enjoys the hustle, or if she does it because it’s necessary Resources: Grandbaby Cakes Make Mine Mini Craftsy class I am Baker Grandbaby Cakes on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , and Snapchat If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, October 11, 2016
How to Earn Income Off Your Side Hustle with Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation
Welcome to episode 68 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork chats with Nick Loper, founder of Side Hustle Nation, about making money with your projects on the side. The majority of bloggers aren’t doing it full time. In fact, many bloggers fit blogging in between their hectic schedules that includes a full-time job, kids, and hobbies. However, the dream of earning an income from blogging still persists, but many wonder if it’s possible to do when it’s just a side gig. Nick Loper, founder of Side Hustle Nation, says it’s totally possible. He has successfully run a number of side hustles that contributed to his monthly income, all while having a full-time job. He’s been so successful at it, in fact, that he created his own full time job just showing people how to create an income from their own side hustles, and today he’s here to give us some tips. In this episode, Nick shares: What a side hustle really is What his first side hustle taught him Where Nick makes money from his website How you can make more money with your food website Why working for free is sometimes a good idea How people in all different industries have made successful side hustles Resources: Side Hustle Nation The Side Hustle Show The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy Udemy EatWith Feastly BonAppetour MiumMium Zozi Rover Dogvacay Wyzant Neil Patel , QuickSprout Bryan Harris, Videofruit Fiverr buybuttonsbook.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, October 04, 2016
Scaling a Business by Building a Team with Amy Roskelley from Super Healthy Kids
Welcome to episode 67 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Amy Roskelley from Super Healthy Kids about scaling her small business into a thriving brand by building a team. So many bloggers dream of building a team to help them run their blog. However, it often gets put off in the name of waiting to find success. Unfortunately, putting off on growing a team can hamper your ability to find “success,” while choosing to grow your team can really propel your forward. Amy from Super Healthy Kids plodded along quite well with her blog for many years before starting to build a team. However, after she joined a partnership with her now-co-owner Natalie, she found herself free to pursue more of the things that she was really good at. Each subsequent hire has allowed Amy to fine-tune her skillset in certain areas while letting others do the work she wasn’t as passionate about, but they were. Since building a team, Super Healthy Kids has grown in amazing ways, and today Amy is here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Amy shares: How her blog supported her larger vision for her business Why it took her so long to turn a profit How she secured a consistent revenue stream with a membership aspect of SHK How she found and hired her business partner How hiring someone else to do a specific task liberated her What the turning point was that took her from “getting by” to “wildly successful” Why she needed to separate work and the other parts of her life How her revenues have increased though traffic has gone down Resources: Super Healthy Kids SHK on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , and Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, September 27, 2016
Tools, Tricks, & Techniques for Making Killer Recipe Videos with Alana and Lindsay from Pinch of Yum
Welcome to episode 66 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Alana Woolley and Lindsay Ostrom about creating awesome recipe videos for Pinch of Yum. We’ve all heard it: video is the new thing. If you want to grow an audience quickly, if you want to be extremely helpful to your readers, if you want to take advantage of sponsored content opportunities galore… get into video. But.. how?? It can seem so daunting to get started with. There’s all the equipment you (think you) need, the amount of time it takes, the pressure to make perfect videos… So many things! Fortunately, our guests today have a lot of experience creating recipe videos, and they’re here to make it a bit easier for you. Please welcome: Alana Woolley & Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum! In this episode, Alana & Lindsay share: How much engagement their videos get as compared to photos What Alana’s goals are for each video What the video creation process involves What gear they use to create the videos If solo bloggers (those without a team) can do video well The most important thing you need when making video Why they keep their videos short What settings you need to change when uploading to Instagram Where they put links for the videos on Facebook Resources: Promaster Tripod Manfrotto arm smallHD 701 Lite Monitor ( here’s a cheaper alternative ) Tortus Copenhagen Canon 7D Mark II , 28mm lens Final Cut Pro Adobe Premiere Pro hello@pinchofyum.com See a photo of the POY video setup at foodbloggerpro.com/66 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, September 20, 2016
Michelle Tam from Nom Nom Paleo on Building a Brand, Launching an App and Publishing a Cookbook
Welcome to episode 65 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Michelle Tam from Nom Nom Paleo about building a brand across many channels. If you’ve been blogging for a while, or even a short time, you might have found that it’s really difficult to establish your blog on a variety of different channels and mediums. There’s only so much you can do! Some bloggers excel at it, though, despite the constraints of work, family, and life. Michelle Tam from Nom Nom Paleo is one such blogger. She’s managed to secure a brand presence not only on all the big social networks, but also in the form of her own iPhone app and her own cookbook. She’s a branding queen, and today she’s here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Michelle shares: How she got started with Nom Nom Paleo Why they started with Tumblr instead of WordPress What her partner’s role in the business is Why she decided to publish a cookbook in print How she kept creative control while still working with a publisher How she deals with people who accuse her of not being paleo Resources: Nom Nom Paleo Musicl.ly Gary Vaynerchuck The Tim Ferris Show The Sporkful Gastropod Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income This American Life 99% Invisible Serial Startup Podcast Gimlet Media Humans of New York Dave Ramsey Charles Ives Nom Nom Paleo on Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , Twitter , and Snapchat (michitam) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, September 13, 2016
Finding work you love with Dan Miller from 48 Days
Welcome to episode 64 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Dan Miller from 48 Days about finding work that you love through understanding yourself. Most of us have been there before: working a job that just isn’t right for us. Maybe it doesn’t pay enough, or the passion isn’t there, or it doesn’t work with your lifestyle. Whatever the reason, being in this position is just lame. At some point, you might have realized that you want to do something else - you saw a friend or a coworker or an internet role model find success, and you want to do what they did. You would love job! The problem is that it can be really difficult to know if you actually will love that job. Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love, has seen this scenario play out many times. Through his books, speaking, and personal coaching, he’s mentored thousands of people to help them find the work they’ll love, and today he talks with Bjork about this common conundrum. In this episode, Dan shares: How to know if you are doing meaningful work How you can find your passion How to know when your hobby should stay just a hobby What business you shouldn’t go into in the food industry How to know if you’ll enjoy a certain type of work Resources: StrengthsFinder DISC Profiles on 48 Days Entrepreneur on Fire 48 Days to the Work You Love 48 Days 48 Days Podcast 48Days.net Community If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, September 06, 2016
Personal Finance for Business Owners with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents
Welcome to episode 63 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents about making sound decisions about your finances for your business and your personal life. If you’re serious about this blogging stuff, you’ve may have already created a business for your blog - or at minimum, you’ve thought about it. However, registering as a business isn’t the only decision you need to make. Running a business means dealing with your money properly to secure for both your business and your personal financial future. Jeff Rose is both a certified financial planner and a blogger, and he does both in support of his business. He’s made his living by helping others manage theirs, and his wealth of information will help you plan for a secure financial future. In this episode, Jeff talks about: How to financially transition into working for yourself How to organize your time for business success The first thing you need to do to prepare for working for yourself What your savings are actually good for Where you should be investing your money as a small business owner What types of insurance you should have Resources: Good Financial Cents The Strategic Coach YouNeedABudget.com Mint.com YNAB Subscriptions Scottrade TD Ameritrade Betterment Vanguard Life Insurance by Jeff Marriage More If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, August 30, 2016
How To Launch a Membership Site with Mike Morrison from The Membership Guys
Welcome to episode 62 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Mike Morrison about launching and running a successful membership site. While most food bloggers set their monetization sights on generating income through ads or sponsored content, there might be another good avenue to look toward. Mike Morrison cofounded The Membership Guys, a website and podcast dedicated to helping people learn how to run successful membership sites. He has found that, when done properly, having a membership site can be a lucrative and reliable business. When membership sites are the last thing on the minds of most bloggers, it may very well be a fantastic way for you and your website to stand out in the crowd. In this episode, Mike talks about: What a membership site exactly is What the important metrics are for a membership site Whether you should launch without a following How large your audience needs to be to be successful Where to find your audience How to validate your idea What WordPress plugins your should use to build your site What makes people successful in the membership arena Resources: The Membership Guys Member Site Academy talkmemberships.com Will It Fly by Pat Flynn Membership plugin info If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, August 23, 2016
Our First Ever Community Podcast: Advice and Insight from the FBP Community
Welcome to episode 61 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! We have a special episode today - our first ever community podcast! In this episode, we hear from members of the Food Blogger Pro community talk about what’s working for them right now. The only bummer about the FBP Podcast is that we just can’t interview everyone. There are so many bloggers out there who we would love to hear from, though! So, the idea for a community podcast episode was born. Listeners from all over the globe called in to share their tips, tricks, and techniques that are working for them to grow their blog. Ranging from tips to help manage social media to techniques for staying on top of things, this episode has a little bit of everything. Enjoy! In this episode, FBP listeners share tips on: Finding your own voice Being useful Creating a business directory Increasing engagement by being engaged Running group giveaways Being part of an accountability group Building an editorial calendar Using your blog to find clients and so much more! Resources: Back to Her Roots Let’s Taco Bout It Food Truck Empire Modern Honey Food Fashion & Fun Wok & Skillet Teaspoon of Spice Homemade Italian Cooking CoSchedule (members get a deal on the FBP D&D page !) Adobe Lightroom Wanderlust & Wellness Workweek Foodie Veggie Primer Fooduzzi How to follow pages on Facebook Almond to Zest Paleo Scaleo Life is Better with Tea Food Fit Fabulous Breaking Down Nutrition Froment Free Dish by Dish Bet on Dinner Over app
Tue, August 16, 2016
8 Food Blog SEO Tips
Welcome to episode 60 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork finishes off the solo trio with some fantastic advice on SEO for food bloggers. SEO can seem mysterious and scary for bloggers. There’s so much information on it out there, but it can be confusing and difficult to read. Moz, an popular and well-regarded SEO site, published once upon a time a blog post called the Beginner’s Guide to SEO. Bjork read through this whole post (it’s so long it has chapters!) and pulled out a bunch of things he learned from the post. In today’s podcast, Bjork talks about these things and relates them specifically to food blogging. He talks about what the purpose of SEO is and how people use it, as well as how you can improve the SEO of your website. In this episode, Bjork discusses: What it is that SEO is meant to influence Why people use search engines - and why it matters to you What keywords you should be trying to rank for Whether or not your site design matters for SEO How search engines can track whether or not your website is engaging your visitors What the (not provided) keyword in Google Analytics means Resources: Moz.com The Beginner’s Guide to SEO January 2015 Income Report on POY 10 Food Blog SEO tips from Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO [original post] How to combat the (not provided) results (here’s another good one ) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, August 09, 2016
9 Ways to Avoid Blogger Burnout with Bjork & Lindsay Ostrom
Welcome to episode 59 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay talk about 9 ways to avoid blogger burnout. It’s August and summer is in full swing. As happy as that generally makes us, summer can often be a difficult time for bloggers - it even has its own moniker, the summer slump . During the summer slump, traffic goes down, ad income falls, and worst of all, bloggers can get totally burned out. Bjork and Lindsay are no strangers to burnout. They’ve both experienced it many times with their businesses. However, they’ve also been intentional about learning how to deal with burnout when it happens and what steps they can take in the future to keep it at bay. In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay share 9 tips (plus 1 bonus tip!) that you can use to avoid blogger burnout. In this episode, Bjork & Lindsay talk about: The importance of taking time fully off Why you should pass up good opportunities Getting an office for your work How to separate yourself from negative comments Why it’s okay to not produce 10/10 content all the time How unplugging helps you feel refreshed Finding other people to talk to about your business How to redefine your definition of success BONUS: How to be a trickster, not a marauder Resources: foodbloggerpro.com/call Lindsay’s “At the Cabin” post from 2015 CoSchedule (Food Blogger Pro members get a deal on CoSchedule on the Deals page !) Asana Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, August 02, 2016
5 Tips for Overcoming the Resistance
Welcome to episode 58 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork goes solo and talks about overcoming “the resistance.” One of the hardest things about doing a creative endeavor is simply doing it . Not getting distracted. Not doing other less important things. Not putting it off endlessly because the idea of actually doing it is scary. This is called the Resistance. The Resistance is what keeps us from moving forward, from trying new things, and from making progress. And we all have it somewhere inside, and it usually shows up much more often then you would like to imagine. But once you are aware of the resistance and what it looks like, you’ll see it everywhere. In this episode, Bjork gives 5 tips that help you overcome the Resistance when it rears it’s ugly head. In this episode, Bjork talks about: What the resistance is and how is presents itself How “building your castle” can help you find motivation to create content How rewarding yourself for the Work can help you move forward Why taking the very first small steps can help you start a seemingly huge project Why fixing small things can hinder progress Why being too committed can keep you from being outstanding Resources: 5 ways to make money for your blog Essentialism by Greg McKeown If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, July 26, 2016
Viral List Building with Josh Ledgard from Kickoff Labs
Welcome to episode 57 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Kickoff Labs founder Josh Ledgard about finding the right idea and growing your audience. Josh Ledgard started his entrepreneurial journey while still working at Microsoft - he would start projects, bring them in, and then gain support for the project from his superiors. He then slowly and methodically planned to start his own business, saving up money for a year and dreaming up big ideas. The business he and his cofounder eventually started was not one of their original ideas. Instead, they “happened upon” a product that people really wanted to use, and they ran with it. Learn more about Josh, his awesome story, and their amazing marketing product, Kickoff Labs, in this enlightening interview. In this episode, Josh shares: How he was an “internal entrepreneur” at Microsoft before he started his own business How he transitioned from a corporate employee to self-employed When he hires work out instead of doing it himself How Kickoff Labs started What Kickoff Labs does to help you launch a product How Kickoff Labs has helped launch PlateView How you can build a following for your blog A critique of the PlateView landing page Resources: Kickoff Labs 4 hour workweek PlateView Nutrifox If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, July 19, 2016
Working in Your Area of Brilliance with Meghan Telpner
Welcome to episode 56 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Megan Telpner about creating a business, staying small, and finding the work you should be doing. Meghan Telpner is the CEO of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, an online school where students learn to create healthy lives through cooking. The school has certified over 700 people to practice as culinary nutritionists and Meghan is a sought-after speaker about entrepreneurship. She didn’t start there, though. Meghan’s career online began back in the early 2000s, and she’s fine-tuned (and rough-tuned) her business to grow it into what it is today. Meghan has found that just “doing the work” isn’t good enough, and that to really excel you need to be working in your area of brilliance. In this episode, Meghan shares: How she got started in the nutrition space Why she folded her blog into her personal business Why she deleted a large part of her content to get more traffic in the long run Why she keeps such a small team despite the revenue to expand How she keeps from getting bored with her business The advice she would give herself a few years ago Resources: The Marilyn Denis Show Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (the trickster book Bjork mentions) MeganTelpner.com culinarynutrition.com Meghan on Twitter Academy of Culinary Nutrition on Twitter and Instagram Nutrifox If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, July 12, 2016
Generating Income through Self-Publishing a Cookbook with Jason Logsdon
Welcome to episode 55 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jason Logsdon from Amazing Food Made Easy about self-publishing a cookbook. For many bloggers, getting a cookbook deal sounds like a dream come true. That’s when they know they’ve “made it.” As it turns out, though, getting a cookbook deal with a major publisher isn’t all puppies and roses. When it comes down to it, publishing a cookbook is more about brand awareness than it is about income, and much of the legwork done for creating and marketing the book is still up to the author. Jason Logsdon published his first cookbook when his blog was still rather small - and he quickly discovered how self-publishing can actually be a simple, rewarding process that allows you to generate income even with a relatively small audience. In this episode, Jason shares: Why he chose such a specific niche to blog in The 4 simple steps to self-publishing When it’s better to self publish vs. traditional publish What an average blogger can expect to make from a traditionally published cookbook How much money a self-published book can bring in How much traffic he had when he published his first book Who does the editing when you self-publish Why it’s a good idea to publish a print book What tools he uses to layout his books Resources: CreateSpace Under Pressure by Thomas Keller Goats in Trees Calendar Amazon Whispernet 052: How to Sell 4,000 Cookbooks Before You Even Publish with Megan Gilmore from Detoxinista Amazing Food Made Easy Selfpublishacookbook.com Self Publishing Made Easy by Jason Logsdon If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, July 05, 2016
How Bloggers Become Entrepreneurs with Jeni Elliott from The Blog Maven
Welcome to episode 54 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jeni Elliot from The Blog Maven . Jeni Elliott knows that just doing the work isn’t going to turn your business dreams into a reality. Instead, she’s a proponent of doing the right kind of work, using both tactics and strategies to achieve your overarching goals, and maintaining a work-life balance. She got her start not in the blogging world, but in the business world, where she helped small business owners meet their goals. As an avid blog reader, though, she found that she could apply her strategies to blog businesses and see profound impact. So, she made The Blog Maven her career’s work, and along the way has learned what it takes to turn a blogger into an entrepreneur. In this episode, Jeni shares: How you can have a business and still have a life Why a good website isn’t the only thing you need Whether or not “making money” is an acceptable blogging goal What the difference is between a blogging tactic and a blogging strategy What tactics entrepreneurs can use to build their business If food bloggers should think of themselves as a source of recipes How you can find a niche that your audience is interested in Why finding solutions is different from providing recipes Resources: ConvertKit The Blog Maven If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, June 28, 2016
Pat Flynn's Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly
Welcome to episode 53 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with someone most of us are probably familiar with, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. Do I even need to introduce Pat? I mean, he’s kind of an online business celebrity. In the world of passive income, Pat has come to embody what it means to run a passive income business. If you haven’t heard of passive income before, definitey check out Pat’s website where he talks a lot about it. This episode doesn’t go too deep into the intricacies of what passive income is. Instead, Pat talks about what he’s done to determine whether a passive income business idea will really take off - whether or not it will fly . He talks about his two passive income business and how they continue to bring in money today after creating them years ago. He talks about how he can manage with so many things on his plate while still adhering to The One Thing that Jay Papasan talked about in this episode. In all, it’s a really incredible episode, so let’s just jump right in! In this episode, Pat shares: What he would do if he had to start over again How reading a dating book helped him learn how to meet people Why getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to him How you can do many things while only focusing on one at a time How he makes passive income with two niche websites Why people don’t find success How he gets real feedback from his audience What you can do to see if your business idea is viable Resources: The Game by Niel Strauss Videofruit Internet Business Mastery IBM 68 | Cubicle Escape Story with Cornelius Fitchner Green Exam Academy Smart Passive Income Evernote The One Thing 047: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results with Jay Papasan Secutiry Guard Training HQ FoodTruckr.com Will it Fly by Pat Flynn foodbloggerpro.com/survey If you have any comments, questi
Tue, June 21, 2016
How to Sell 4,000 Cookbooks Before You Even Publish with Megan Gilmore from Detoxinista
Welcome to episode 52 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Megan Gilmore from Detoxinista. We all know that writing a cookbook is a LOT of work. From the recipe development to the photography, a cookbook author is a busy bee. One thing you might not know, though, is that the author is also expected to presell copies of their book to their audience before it even publishes. As you might imagine, this can be quite the task! When Megan Gilmore, the author behind Detoxinista, set out to presell copies of her first cookbook, they expected the average number of sales - somewhere around 500 cookbooks. Instead, she blew everyone at 10 Speed Press out of the water with a whopping 4,000 cookbook presales - the largest presale in the history of 10 Speed Press. Today, she’s here to tell us how she did it. In this episode, Megan shares: How she got her first book deal What the difference is between an advance and royalties Why a cookbook deal isn’t necessarily a good way to make money, but is a good business decision Why cookbook authors run presale campaigns What she gave away as part of the preorder campaign How she raised awareness about her book before it was released How she promoted her book once it was officially released What the writing process is like What you need to do before you create a cookbook Resources: 015: How to Find Your Voice and be Heard in a Noisy World with Dianne Jacob Lutefisk Just Say No mug Physique57 Detoxinista Every Day Detox by Megan Gilmore Detoxinista on Facebook , Pinterest , Twitter , and Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, June 14, 2016
Building a Brand for your Business with Aaron Scott from Your Brand Week
Welcome to episode 51 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork dives into the intricacies of branding with Aaron Scott from Your Brand Week. For some new businesses, branding can be an afterthought, or even something that isn’t thought about much at all. In reality, though, your branding can be the first and last impression that a visitor can have about your business. A logo can convey meaning, type can encourage continued reading, and colors can invoke emotion. When it all comes together, your branding can be a powerful tool for your business. Aaron Scott and his wife, Amanda, recently launched Your Brand Week, a boutique branding agency geared toward helping small businesses create meaningful brands in an affordable and efficient manner. Today, Aaron chats with Bjork about what a cohesive brand is and how it can impact your business. In this episode, Aaron reveals: How they found clarity about what direction their business should take How they turned a service into a product What branding is When rebranding is necessary What you should be thinking about when designing a logo How to know if your branding conveys the correct meaning for your business Why typography is so important How to use different fonts on your website Why complimentary colors aren’t the best choice when choosing colors What your brand guidelines should include Resources: Built to Sell by John Warrillow SPI 158: How to Productize your Service-Based Business Google Fonts Adobe TypeKit Adobe Color Moo.com - FBP members get a discount ! yourbrandweek.com/foodbloggerpro for $1000 off blog branding Your Brand Week on Twitter & Facebook Pickles & Honey If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, June 07, 2016
The Secret to Engaging Video with Tim Schmoyer from VideoCreators.com
Welcome to episode 51 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks all things video with Tim Schmoyer from VideoCreators.com. We’ve all heard it recently: video is the new thing. Get into video. Video is key. Okay, okay. We get it. We need to get into video. But once we make that commitment and dive right in, how do we get people to watch it? And beyond that, how do we get them to keep watching it? Keeping viewers engaged with your video is extrememly important. The longer they watch your video, the more interested they are in your content, and the more positive signals they send to YouTube (or whereever you upload). Tim Schmoyer, founder of VideoCreators.com and long-time successful YouTube Vlogger, is here today to share his secrets to creating engaging videos that your viewers just can’t peel their eyes away from. In this episode, Tim shares: What his very first video was like How he comes up with new content every week The most important thing video needs to have How to keep a person’s eyes glued to the screen The best kind of video cuts for YouTube How long your videos should be How to satisfy viewers’ expectations within the first 15 seconds How to prepare before recording a video Whether or not you need a team to be successful Resources: Frame.io Find Your Voice Upwork Video Creators on YouTube Videocreators.com Schmovies on YouTube If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, May 31, 2016
The Power of Accountability with Allison Schaaf from PrepDish
Welcome to episode 49 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork chats with Allison Schaaf from the meal planning service PrepDish. Allison Schaaf started her entrepreneurial adventure with two key components: a focused goal and great branding. But what has kept her going in creating a business that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars every year was something else entirely. In a word: Accountability. Allison found a while back that working with business coaches has helped her business skyrocket. And while the coaches helped her get to where she is today, she also discovered that accountability of any sort, from a coach to a friend to a dedicated group, is what helps her set and achieve her goals. In this episode, Allison shares: The very first step she took when starting her new online business What set her apart from other similar businesses How she worked through struggles at the beginning How she gets the word out about her business What she learned from her business coach and how it’s helped How an accountability group helps her reach her goals The process she uses to set strong, realistic goals Resources: Entrepreneur on Fire episode 1310 with Allison SPI episode 201 with Allison 047: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results with Jay Papasan InfusionSoft CrateJoy MailChimp WooCommerce Leadpages prepdish.com/pro If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Thu, May 26, 2016
Finding success on the verge of quitting with Dustin & Lacey Baier from A Sweet Pea Chef
Welcome to episode 48 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Dustin & Lacey Baier from A Sweet Pea Chef . A few years ago, A Sweet Pea Chef was floundering. Dustin & Lacey had grown it to the point where it was getting expensive to maintain, but they hadn’t unlocked the secrets to turning it into a successful business. They bounced from great idea to great idea, but just weren’t able to get anything to stick. Until, one day, an internet passer-by pounced and described how inferior they were to the competition. Little did they know, this angry email would lead them down a path that would help them properly monetize their website and start turning things around. Since then, Dustin & Lacey learned how to say no to good opportunities to focus on what’s most important, cracked the code for viral vide, and took A Sweet Pea Chef to new heights. In this episode, Dustin & Lacey share: Why they almost gave up their blog How they narrowed their focus and eliminated most of what they had worked on How an angry email inspired them to do better Why they decreased the amount of content they were putting out Why they decided to focus on video How they work together as a team and balance each other out How they approach sponsored posts when many opportunities are for processed foods Lacey’s advice for getting over perfectionism with video Resources: foodbloggerpro.com/sweetpea Stripe Baremetrics ClickFunnels A Sweet Pea Chef Take Back your Health Academy Married to your Business A Sweet Pea Chef on Instagram , Facebook , Pinterest & YouTube Episode 47.5 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, May 17, 2016
The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results with Jay Papasan
Welcome to episode 47 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Jay Papasan, coauthor of the New York Times Bestseller The ONE Thing . If you’re anything like me, there are always more things to do than we have time for, and prioritizing what to work on every day can be really tough. As a result, we’re pulled in so many different directions working on different projects that we find it really difficult to make any measurable progress on any one thing. If this describes you, you are not alone. Jay Papasan and Gary Keller discovered that this was a problem that faced so many of their employees and coworkers at the Keller Williams Realty group. After Gary worked for years with his employees to help them discover the things they should be focusing on, he and Jay, a NYT bestselling book editor, came together to write a book about it, called The ONE Thing. Today, Jay joins Bjork in an interview that is sure to change the way you are thinking about your projects and priorities. In this episode, Jay shares: How he went from Real Estate professional to book author Why defining a single priority can help move you forward How saying no to opportunities can be relaxing How to make sure you get your priority done Whether you can make yourself a morning person How to know what to focus on when there are so many different areas of life that need attention How to take huge goals and make them manageable for today What the #1 thing is that makes people succeed Resources: TheOneThing.com JayPapasan.org If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, May 10, 2016
How Kate Kordsmeier Doubled Her Income with Freelancing
Welcome to episode 46 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Kate Kordsmeier from the blog Root & Revel about her successful freelance writing career. While many of us dream about the days when we could find enough success with our blogs that we could write for magazines like Cooking Light and Conde Nast Traveler, Kate’s already been-there-done-that. With a little experience in copywriting and a lot of drive, Kate was able to quit her full-time job and double her income with freelance writing - before she ever had a food blog. In this interview, Kate shares a lot of tips and tricks she’s learned along the way so that you, too, can try your hand at freelance writing. In this episode, Kate shares: What the hardest part of freelancing is when you’re first getting started (hint - it’s not just writing excellent pieces) An example pitch she recently gave a magazine (and got the job for) How to find editors to contact Whether or not you should follow up after pitching When in the process you talk about payment Whether or not you should work for free What the dynamic is between web and print media Why she’s building a blog instead of just freelancing Resources: Texture app ed2010.com Ed2010 Human Resources Contact Info Media Bistro Boomerang for Gmail Six Figure Freelancing by Kelly James-Enger Will Write for Food by Diane Jacob The Anti 9–5 Guide and My So-Called Freelance Life by Michelle Goodman Kateparhamkordsmeier.com Root & Revel Kate on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , and Pinterest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, May 03, 2016
How to use Facebook ads to reach the right people with Tony Rulli from IntentionalSpark.com
Welcome to episode 45 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Thisweek,Bjork interviews Tony Rulli from Intentional Spark aboutadvertisingon Facebook. In today’s day and age, the internet can bereally noisy . There are ads all over the place for productsyoumay or may not be interested in, all sorts of conpanies askingyouto buy their products, and more and more things to look ateveryday. So what makes you pay attention to the few things that catchyoureye? A lot of the time, what makes you pay attention isrelevancy -the thing that caught your eye has something to do withyou andsolves a problem you already have. So, if you’re selling a product, promoting your company, orjustwanting to get the word out, the best way to get people topayattention is to target the right people in the first place. While this sounds complicated, Facebook actually makes itprettyeasy! Listen in to today’s podcast with Tony Rulli to learnhow toleverage Facebook’s powerful remarketing tools to help youcreatean income from your blog. In this episode, Tonyshares: His first foray into selling products online Why Facebook ads have huge potential for food bloggers The difference between boosting posts and runninganadvertisement How Facebook retargeting works and who should be using it How you can use Facebook retargeting to make money even whenyoudon’t have a product to sell What a sales funnel is in laymen’s terms How to attract the right people as potential customers His top 3 action items for getting started withFacebookmarketing Resources: IntentionalSpark.com IntentionalSpark.com/foodbloggerpro foodbloggerpro.com/45 JimGaffigan -Disney Howtoinstall a Facebook Pixel on your website 041: Ninja Email Marketing for Bloggers with Barry Moore fromTheActive Marketer Buzzsumo If you have any comments, questions, or suggestionsforinterviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us oniTunes!
Tue, April 26, 2016
Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing with Justine Grey
Welcome to episode 44 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Justine Grey about how low-traffic bloggers can make an income through affiliate marketing. Last week, Bjork interviewed Tieghan Gerard from the popular blog Half Baked Harvest about her inspiring photography, inventive recipes, and the drive that keeps her moving forward. To go listen to that episode, click here . Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing Many bloggers wonder how they can make an income from their blog when they don’t have a lot of traffic. As we all know, ads pay per impression (or click), and sometimes it takes a lot of impressions to get the dollars to add up. However, bloggers with lower traffic numbers still can make money with their blogs. How? With affiliate marketing! By sharing the products they love with their readers, smaller bloggers are able to earn commissions on those products and start earning an income sooner. Justine Grey is an affiliate marketing guru, and she is here today to tell us all about the world of affiliate marketing. In this episode, Justine shares: How she ended up making affiliate marketing her career What affiliate marketing is and how it can be used to monetize your blog What an affiliate cookie is and how long it’s valid Why being an affiliate isn’t about selling products How you can be a better, more successful affiliate How to get a better rate for your affiliate sales What you should pay affiliates for your own products Whether or not you should use a large network like ShareASale for your affiliate network Why you shouldn’t automatically add all affiliates that apply Resources: Digital Product Deilvery (DPD) Gumroad Gumroad course on FBP Best affiliate programs for food bloggers JustineGrey.com Justine on Twitter , Pinterest , and Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, April 19, 2016
How Tieghan Gerard used Photography, Recipe Development, and Hustle to Build Half Baked Harvest
Welcome to episode 43 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork is bringing on an oft-requested guest, Tieghan Gerard from Half Baked Harvest! We occasionally ask in the podcast for guest requests - bloggers or other inspiring individuals that our listeners would like to hear from. One person who came up quite a few times was fellow FBP member, Tieghan Gerard. When I think of bloggers who inspire me for photography, Tieghan is definitely near the top of the list. I’ve often thought about what makes her photography so special, and in this podcast episode I finally learned what it is: mood. When Tieghan heads into a photo shoot, the first thing she thinks about is the mood that she wants to set in the photo. How will this dish make the viewer feel? And how can I protray that with a photograph? Tieghan talks about her photography process and how she sets a mood as well as a lot of other awesome info in this great podcast episode. In this episode, Tieghan shares: When she started her blog - and why What kept her going through the difficult first year What a “normal” day looks like for her How she is approaching recipe development & photography for her upcoming cookbook What she thinks about when heading into a photography shoot Where she finds inspiration for her creative recipes How many times she will make a recipe before posting it What she thinks is the most important social media platform Resources: How to shoot tethered to Lightroom Canon 5D Mark III Canon 5DS Canon 50mm f/1.4 , 35mm f/2 , and 24–70mm f/4 Viraltag Half Baked Harvest Half Baked Harvest on Facebook , Pinterest , Instagram , and on Snapchat as hbharvest If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to <a href="https://www.food
Tue, April 12, 2016
Building a Successful Bilingual Blog with Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini
Welcome to episode 42 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork interviews Clotilde Dusouiler from the popular food blog Chocolate & Zucchini about running a bilingual blog. Many of our Food Blogger Pro members reign from places all over the world where English might not be the primary language. This presents a bit of a difficult decision for these bloggers - what language should they use to blog? Clotilde from Chocolate & Zucchini decided to not even make that decision a while back. Instead, she chose to blog in both languages, and today you’ll find both an English and a French version on her long-standing website. In this episode, she talks about why she blogs in both languages and what that looks like from a process standpoint, as well as how she manages to stay relevant after being in the blogging game for over a decade. In this episode, Clotilde shares: What she does as a food trend consultant Why she decided to write her blog in multiple languages How she prepares posts for both English and French How running a multiple language blog affects her SEO What tools she uses to help users select a language How sponsored posts and ad networks differ on her blog Why Clotilde is willing to try new things with social media Why she is so excited about live video How she prepares for a live video session Resources: 12 Amazing Instagram Accounts for Paris Lovers Snapchat & Facebook Live for Food Bloggers: 5 Reasons to Get Started Weight / Volume Conversion Chart Episode 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic Chocolate & Zucchini Chocolate & Zucchini on Twitter , Instagram , Pinterest , Snapchat , and Facebook If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, April 05, 2016
Ninja Email Marketing for Bloggers with Barry Moore from The Active Marketer
Welcome to episode 41 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, talks with Barry Moore, an expert in email marketing. Have you ever received an email and thought, “Wow! That was just what I needed to hear right now. How did they know?” To put it simply, whoever sent that email to you at the exact time you needed to hear it is practicing something called Ninja Email Marketing, and it’s definitely something you want to get familiar with real quick. In this episode, Barry Moore from TheActiveMarketer.com talks about some ninja techniques for email marketing and how they can change the way you see your website visitors and customers - and how they see you. In this episode, Barry talks about: What it means to be an “active marketer” Why it’s a good idea to be sending emails out regularly What the different types of emails are How advanced email marketing services track your subscribers How you can use tags to send emails to the right people Where new bloggers should start with email marketing How you can use lead magnets to get more subscribers Resources: The Active Marketer ActiveCampaign SendGrid Mandrill How to install a Facebook pixel on your website Zapier ActiveCampaign Course on Udemy The Active Marketer Podcast If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 29, 2016
How to Monetize a Podcast from Day 1 with Allison & Suzy from the Food Heals Podcast
Welcome to episode 40 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews a couple podcasters about… podcasting! Most of the time when we talk about food media, we immediately think of food blogging. We are Food Blogger Pro, after all! However, there definitely are other mediums out there that are just as effective at reaching your potential audience, and one of these is podcasting. Allison & Suzy started their Food Heals podcast less than a year ago and are already helping people, reaching their ideal audience, and finding huge success in the podcasting arena. They’re also making money at it. In fact, Allison & Suzy started to monetize their podcast from day one. Listen in on this episode to learn how they’ve created such great success and made podcasting a part of their business. In this episode, Allison and Suzy talk about: Their top tips for getting healthier today How they made their passion into a podcast What tools and software they use How many episodes you should have ready to go before you launch When they do their recordings during the week What you need to know about licensing music for a podcast How to determine rates for sponsorships What steps they took to start monetizing right away Resources: Audacity GarageBand Audiotechnica Pro Tools Software Hile PR 40 Screenflow Call Recorder Music Bed Fiverr Audio Blocks APM Music AudioJungle Amazon Echo Libsyn Midroll Food Heals Nation on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram Foodhealsnation.com
Tue, March 22, 2016
12 Ways to Overcome Online Jealousy with Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum
Welcome to episode 39 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Lindsay (yes, that Lindsay) about online jealousy. There’s a big green monster in the room and no one really wants to talk about it. That monster is Jealousy, and it’s something every one of us experiences from time to time. Jealousy can be difficult to overcome, and it can even ruin you day if not controlled. Lindsay recently experienced this when she saw someone had made a video similar to one she was in the process of making. Once she realized what was going on, she took a step back and decided to think about some techniques she could use to overcome this jealousy. She took those thoughts and put them into words in a blog post on Pinch of Yum. Because this is such an important topic, Bjork asked if Lindsay could come on the podcast to talk a little more in-depth about the 12 different techniques you can use to overcome online (or offline) jealousy. In this episode, Lindsay talks about: Why unfollowing people isn’t being harsh How Bjork wishes he was like Taylor Swift How to truly find inspiration - as opposed to trying to copycat How much time you should be dedicating to creating content vs. consuming content How to use abundance mindset to combat feeling inadequate Why having non-blogger friends can be like a drink of fresh water How to turn a jealous feeling into a team feeling How gratitude can help Resources: POY Post on Jealousy Facebook News Feed Eradicator for Chrome Daring Greatly by Brené Brown If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 15, 2016
7 Strategies to Build Traffic
Welcome to episode 38 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks about 7 strategies to build traffic for your for blog. When it comes to making a business out of your blog, there is one thing that can have a really big impact: traffic. We get asked all the time about things that you can do to help grow your traffic. There are the easy, well-known tips, like putting each post on social media and submitting your recipes to FoodGawker. But there are also some things you can do that aren’t as simple or intuitive that can make a really big difference, and that’s what Bjork is talking about today. In this episode, Bjork talks about: How offering your content to influencers can increase sharing Why you should become an influencer yourself How to use Google Analytics to guide your content How linkable content can build your internet clout How to create content for specific platforms How to learn more about different platforms without becoming an expert on them Why you need to create a lot of content to find success See the show notes at foodbloggerpro.com/38. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 08, 2016
Food Styling Through the Years with Delores Custer
Welcome to episode 37 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork is talking with renowned food stylist Delores Custer about how food styling has changed through the years, Delores Custer has been in the food styling game for a long time - she even worked with Julia Child in her day! So, she’s seen a lot come and go in the world of food styling, and she’s here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Delores talks about: How she made the jump from elementary education to food styling How to write a good recipe How food styling has changed over the years What she thinks made Julia Child really special How artificial light can sometimes be better than natural light Some tips for styling specific foods, like a cheeseburger Her essential tools for styling Her advice for getting started in the field of food styling. See the show notes and enter to win the book at foodbloggerpro.com/37. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, March 01, 2016
What Bloggers Need to Know about Copyrights, Trademarks & Contracts with Becky from My Utensil Crock
Welcome to episode 36 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking with Becky Brown, a lawyer by day and food blogger by night, about copyrights, trademarks, and other legal stuff that surrounds blogging. Becky Brown is an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, and she has been for a rather long time. She started her food blog as a way to document what she did in her free time - namely, cooking! However, as she got more and more involved with her blog she realized that there were legal implications for some of the things she did online. She also realized that there wasn't a good resource for bloggers that explained these legalities and and helped people navigate through them. So, she and Liz Vaysman got together and put together an ebook specifically for bloggers that describes everything you need to know about the legalese of blogging in plain, easy-to-understand English. The ebook is called Think Like a Lawyer, Blog Like a Pro and helps bloggers avoid legal pitfalls that can otherwise catch you totally off guard. As a special bonus, Becky is offering her book, Think Like a Lawyer Blog Like a Pro at a special discount for Food Blogger Pro members! To get the discount, head on over to our Deals page . If you're not an FBP member, you can still get the ebook on Becky's website here ! In this great episode, Becky talks about: How her "linear interest in her hobby" led her to start a food blog What types of intellectual property bloggers have right to How she partnered with another legal expert to write the ebook How to write your Copyright notice for your blog The difference between a copyright and a trademark Whether or not recipes are copyright How Buzzfeed and HuffPost get away with sharing so much of other peoples' content Whether or not you should legally protect your content Get the show notes at foodbloggerpro.com/36 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 23, 2016
How to 10x Your Facebook Following in One Year with Stephanie from Spaceships & Laser Beams
Welcome to episode 35 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking about Facebook with Stephanie Keeping from Spaceships and Laser Beams (i.e. the coolest blog name ever). I know that title seems really outrageous and like a big, fat lie. But Stephanie actually did that in 2015. At the beginning of the year, she had a Facebook following of ~50,000 people, and by December she was up to 500k - a 10x increase. This exponential gain in followers didn't just happen. Instead, Stephanie made the conscious decision to focus on Facebook and use it to leverage her blog. Her dedication to this one goal has massively grown her blog traffic, her income, and her ability to do what she loves full time. In this inspiring episode, Stephanie shares: What her blog Spaceships & Laserbeams is all about Why she decided to focus on Facebook even after failing at it for a while Where she learned about tactics to grow her Facebook audience How she uses the "Watch Page" feature to keep tabs on similar pages Why she focuses on shares more than comments or likes How she changed her mindset to crack the code for organic Facebook reach Why she doesn't share all her blog content on Facebook What tool she uses to schedule her posts Where she gets the content that she shares How her Facebook growth has impacted her income Resources: Spaceships and Laser Beams Spaceships and Laser Beams on Facebook Holly Homer, Kids Activities Blog PubExchange If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 16, 2016
How to Start a Career in Professional Food Photography and Styling with Pheasant & Hare
Welcome to episode 34 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking with Richard Westley Wong and Sara Bartus - a food photography and styling team based out of Minneapolis, MN. If you've ever dreamed of leaving it all behind and starting a brand new career in food photography or food styling, then this episode is for you! Both Sara and Richard started their professional careers in totally different fields - but they both landed in the creative space of food photography. Now, they work together as a team, shooting both editorial content and banner shots for large companies. So, how did they get to where they are today? Listen in to find out! In this inspiring episode, Richard and Sara reveal: - How they left their corporate jobs and started new careers in food photography and styling - The equipment Sara just couldn't do without - Why they're getting into video - How they feel abut used camera equipment - What their respective jobs actually do to get the perfect shot - Whether the food in their shots are "fake" or actually edible - Their advice for newer photographers
Tue, February 09, 2016
Notes on the Pinch of Yum Redesign
Welcome to episode 33 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork goes solo as he talks about the Pinch of Yum redesign. If you frequent the Pinch of Yum website at all, you may have noticed some big (and small!) changes lately. While the general feel of the website is the same, things are certainly different. The change is the result of a complete theme switch on Pinch of Yum, and today Bjork takes this podcast hour to talk about it. He starts off with some background info and metaphors of The Matrix (whaaaaat?), and then gets into some new things you'll be seeing around POY. Sit down, grab a coffee and a pen, and get ready to hear some great stuff! In this solo journey, Bjork talks about: What Bjork & Lindsay are hoping to do with the POY redesign (hint: you might be able to buy this!) Why the internet is actually a real-life version of the matrix How links form the backbone of the internet Why "committing to the long term" isn't just a buzzphrase What design has looked like for Pinch of Yum over the years How Pinch of Yum is focusing on email marketing in 2016 Why they implemented continuous scroll on POY How retina images can impact your site How the Shop and Recipe pages were built If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, February 02, 2016
Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage
Welcome to episode 32 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Mark Doust about buying and selling established websites. Most of you probably aren't thinking of selling your website right now. But even if you aren't, knowing what makes a website "sellable" can really help you in the future if that day ever does come. Mark Daoust has made his living by helping people buy and sell websites since 2007, and he's become a go-to expert in the field. Lucky for us, he decided to come on the podcast today and tell us everything he knows - well, as much as he can in an hour! In this really educational interview, Mark shares: The difference between selling profitable vs. non-profitable websites Why having a "personal" approach to your website can limit sellability How you can transition from a "personal" website to a more general one when it comes time to sell The 4 factors that contribute to a sellable business How diversifying income and traffic sources can lower your website's risk The simplest & most important part of owning your business The most important factors that contribute to your business value Listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast below or check it out on iTunes : [[podcast episode embedded here]] Resources: Quiet Light Brokerage QuickBooks Online Google Analytics BareMetrics Cyfe.com The Princess Bride (purchase on Amazon !) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 26, 2016
Rebranding Your Blog with Erin Clarke from Well Plated
Welcome to episode 31 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Erin Clarke from Well Plated about rebranding her food blog. Back when Erin started her blog, it wasn't called Well Plated. Instead, it was called The Law Student's Wife - and that's because 1) she was a law student's wife, and 2) it wasn't necessarily about food. But after blogging under that name for a while, she decided that she loved posting recipes. And unfortunately, the name of her blog just didn't fit any more. So, she made the really tough decision to rebrand her blog, and she did it! But it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, though. There wasn't much info about the process of rebranding out there, so she had to go at it all on her own. In this episode, Erin shares what she learned along the way, and her #1 resource for learning what it takes to rebrand your blog. In this amazing interview, Erin shares: Why she started a blog and what it was all about When she was able to go full-time with her blog What made her decide to rebrand her blog What went in to choosing her new blog name How she figures out what her readers want to see The best thing she did for her blog (aside from rebranding) Her advice for new bloggers Resources: Well Plated Whois.net Namechk.com Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh Rebranding Your Blog eBook Well Plated on Twitter , Pinterest , Facebook , Instagram , and YouTube If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 19, 2016
Blogging for the Long Term with Nick Evans from Macheesmo
Welcome to episode 30 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews a member of the Food Blogger Pro community, Nick Evans from Macheesmo! Many of you listening to this podcast right now know Nick Evans from the Food Blogger Pro community forums. Nick is always a voice of inspiration, motivation, and encouragement to other members on the forum. What you might not know is that Nick has been doing this blogging thing for quite a long time - 8 years to be exact! And in this interview, he shares some really great realistic tips for maintaining a blog over the long term. In this great interview, Nick shares: What it was like to be on the Food Fighters cooking show What he thinks the "next big thing" is for food blogging How he got started with making videos for Macheesmo How he manages to keep on top of everything he does His secret to blogging for the long term (over 8 years!) How he turned his hobby blog into a business His experience using Blab to connect with his audience How he decides which posts to update with new images, keywords, or graphics Resources: Macheesmo Adobe Creative Cloud What you should include in your Media Kit Chatroulette Parody of Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball 028: How to Boost Your Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse Macheesmo on Facebook , Pinterest , Instagram , Twitter , and Blab If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 12, 2016
The Phases of Pinch of Yum with Bjork & Lindsay Ostrom
Welcome to episode 29 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This is a special edition of the FBP podcast featuring... you guessed it! Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom. It's always so interesting to hear about the stories people have with their blogs - when they started, how they got going, what keeps them inspired. However, it's pretty rare to get a full breakdown of all the phases that the blog and the blogger(s) went through from day 1. Usually the stories talk about the beginning, and then the present. But today, Bjork and Lindsay sit down together (literally) and talk about the 4 distinct stages Pinch of Yum went through up until today. It's just so interesting. And if you listen alllll they way through to the end, they also have some cutesy married-couple moments that I distinctly decided not to edit out. It's adorbs. In this peek back in time, Bjork & Lindsay share: What the first year of blogging was all about for Lindsay What she would have done differently when they started Pinch of Yum Her advice for those who are still in the "first stage" of blogging Bjork's favorite Ira Glass quote (again) What it was like when Lindsay started "playing the game" with blog numbers Why Lindsay finds surveys so valuable Whether a custom website design or good content is more important When they entered the "high stakes" game with Pinch of Yum What it was like to work full time and grow Pinch of Yum at the same time Why Pinch of Yum is still a very personal site instead just a collection of recipes And more! Resources: 10 Mistakes that Bloggers Make & How to Fix Them eBook Episode 028: How to Boost Your Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse Google Analytics Google Analytics course on Food Blogger Pro Hotjar Hotjar course on Food Blogger Pro SurveyMonkey Wayback Machine If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, January 05, 2016
How to Boost Your Blog's SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse
Welcome to episode 28 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! We are starting the new year off strong with a podcast all about optimizing your blog so that you can show up higher in search results. Last week on the podcast, Bjork interviewed Ali Maffucci from Inspiralized . They talked about how she built a really strong brand in a really specific niche, and how it worked out really well for her. She now even sells her own physical product! To go back and listen to that episode, click here . How to Boost Your Blog’s SEO SEO can sound like a really scary acronym - what does it even mean, and how can I make it work for me?! But fear not, because even though it can be pretty complex to master, it can also be pretty easy to get started with. Casey Markee from Media Wyse specializes in boosting SEO for food blogs. He kind of fell into this niche by accident, and by now has worked with 50+ bloggers to help them rank higher in search. In this interview, he and Bjork talk about some of the really quick and easy things you can do to improve your blog’s SEO, as well as some of the higher-level stuff that can give you an extra SEO boost. In this super informative interview, Casey shares: What SEO is and why it is so important for your food blog What the biggest component of ranking online is How backlinks affect your search rankings How you can go about link-building in an ethical, Google-approved way The one thing you should make sure you have set up for your blog in 2016 What structured data is and how it can indirectly help your organic traffic How Google uses authorship to gauge EAT - expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness Why you should be updating your popular posts yearly How site speed will affect your rankings now and in the future A few small, easy things you can do to boost your blog’s SEO Resources: Media Wyse Moz Search Ranking Factors Searchmetrics Ranking Factors Casey’s Slideshare Channel Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool Google Search Rater Quality Guidelines Redirection WordPress Plugin AMP Wordpress Plugin <a href="
Tue, December 29, 2015
Committing to a Niche and Building a Brand with Ali Maffucci from Inspiralized
Committing to a Niche and Building a Brand Welcome to episode 27 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This is the last episode of 2015 - crazy! This week on the podcast, Bjork is talking with Ali Maffucci from Inspiralized! When most bloggers start out, committing to a specific niche can seem scary - we don't want to turn anyone away from our new blog! However, finding a small niche that you are really passionate about can help propel your blog into success. Ali Maffucci has certainly found a small niche with Inspiralized. She posts recipes that all use a spiralizer, and she loves it! She's been featured in many magazines, has her own product to sell, and has really captured the love and attention of fellow spiralizers. In this inspiring interview, Ali shares: Why she decided to start a blog all about spiralizing How she got the Inspiralized name out there with "self PR" How she approached her brand even when it was just getting started Her advice for creating and selling a physical product How she stays organized and gets the most important things done Resources: Inspiralized 025: How to Connect with Influencers with John Corcoran from Smart Business Revolution Evernote 004: How Understanding Your Visitors Can Help You Create an Income with Dr. David Darmanin from Hotjar Hotjar course on FBP Canon 5D Mark III Adobe Creative Cloud Premiere Pro Inspiralized on YouTube , Instagram , Facebook , Twitter
Tue, December 22, 2015
How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media
How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog Welcome to episode 26 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week marks the 6th month anniversary of the FBP podcast - so exciting! We’ve learned so much in the last 6 months, and we’ve really loved sharing it with all of you. Thank you thank you for being our loyal subscriber! This week on the podcast, Bjork is talking with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media about Pinterest! For most bloggers (myself included), Pinterest Analytics are really just used as a comparison tool - how the blog did this week versus last week. However, Kate from Simple Pin Media specializes in digging deep into Pinterest Analytics to really see what works - and then she coaches her clients on how to use that information to grow their blogs. In this insightful interview, Kate shares: What Pinterest is and how it is used How Pinterest out-performs other social media channels like Facebook and Twitter How to get your pins to show up higher in search What the difference is between a user account and a business account on Pinterest How you should be using Pinterest analytics How to use “content upgrades” to increase opt-ins on your site using information from Pinterest The first thing Kate and her team do for a new client’s Pinterest profile How to keep tabs on what’s trending on Pinterest How to find the boards that perform well for you Resources: Simple Pin Media Episode 19 - Susan Wenner Jackson YesWare TextExpander business.pinterest.com Pinterest course on FBP LeadPages GetResponse Active Campaign Mailchimp Aweber Mad Mimi Pinterest Email Settings (log in to Pinterest first) If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to <a href="https://www.foodbloggerpro.
Tue, December 15, 2015
How to Connect with Influencers with John Cocoran from Smart Business Revolution
How to Connect with Influencers Welcome to episode 25 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with John Cocoran from Smart Business Revolution about connecting with influencers. Growing your blog can be tough - aside from all the cooking, photographing, and writing, you also have to figure out how to get your name out there. John Cocoran argues that connecting with influencers and growing your relationships with them can be one of the best ways to get your name out there. So how do you do it? Listen in as John shares his personal experiences with networking, his best tips to meet influencers, and why you should rank peoples' importance from a business standpoint. In this grounding interview, John shares: What an influencer is and why they are important to your business How providing content for others helped him grow his business Why you should give more than you get to grow relationships How to identify the people you should be getting in contact with Why you should be using lists in Twitter to keep track of your How you can use interviews to get to know people How to connect with people at conferences Resources: Smart Business Revolution How to create a list in Twitter smartbusinessrevolution.com/quick-introductions Contactually foodbloggerpro.com/one If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, December 08, 2015
How to Find Balance in Blogging with Ali Ebright from Gimme Some Oven
How to Find Balance in Blogging I am SO excited about this week's episode because it goes over some really important things that I think all bloggers need to hear. This week, Bjork talked with Ali Ebright from Gimme Some Oven about finding balance in the busy world of blogging. We all know what it feels like to feel totally overwhelmed about all the things we "need" to do - and excel at - as bloggers. First it's cooking, then web administration, and photography, then social media, Twitter parties, monetization, writing... and the list goes on! But in today's episode, Ali shares her best advice for bloggers - and it includes slowing down and taking some time for yourself. In this grounding interview, Ali shares: How she stumbled upon the idea for a blog & got started What motivated her to keep blogging when she didn't even know she could make money with a blog Her tips for white photography When she quit her job to be a blogger full-time, and how long she thinks she'll be doing it What she does to continue to grow her blog every day How she uses the Google Keyword Planner to get post ideas Why she surveys her readers every year Her best advice for new and experienced bloggers Listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast below or check it out on iTunes : [[podcast episode embedded here]] Resources: Gimme Some Oven Episode 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic White Balance Eyedropper Tutorial Google Keyword Tool (note - this link will only work if you have an AdWords account set up) Gimme Some Oven on Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest , and Instagram Ira Glass quote on creative work foodbloggerpro.com/one If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, December 01, 2015
Building a Team for your Online Business with Melissa Lanz from The Fresh 20
Building a Team for Your Online Business Welcome to the 23rd episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! These numbers are getting pretty big... in just 3 more episodes that means we'll have been making podcast episodes for half a year! So crazy. On to the episode! This week, Bjork had a conversation with Melissa Lanz, the CEO and founder of The Fresh 20, a meal planning service. They talk a little bit about what her business does, and a LOT about how her business does it. Melissa Lanz wasn't always an entrepreneur. In fact, she started out as a "miserable, but comfortable" corporate worker making well over $100k per year. So she started her own business - and it grew to the point that she simply couldn't do it all on her own. So, she hired some help. And in the years since, she's become a master at hiring, firing, running her online business, and helping others do the same. In this awesome interview, Melissa shares: What her husband said that helped her change her direction in life to pursue her own business How she afforded to quit her job and pursue her own business full time Where she found the time to start her new venture How she perfected her product using friends' feedback When she realized she needed to hire someone, and where she found help How systematizing the team's work allowed the Lanz family to take a 5 week vacation last year How giving team members authority made sure all bases were covered How to determine whether your hires should be employees or contract labor Resources: The Fresh 20 Zendesk Jing Screen Capture Tool BaseCamp Infusionsoft Melissa Lanz & Co service@melissalanz.com foodbloggerpro.com/one If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, November 24, 2015
Sponsored Content from a Brand's Perspective with Zach Tackett from DeLallo
Sponsored Content from a Brand's Perspective Hello hello! We're back at it this week on the FBP Podcast and we're talking with Zach Tackett from DeLallo about sponsored content from the brand's perspective. It's the ultimate food blogger goal - to get paid to use a brand's product in a recipe you post on your website. What could be cooler?! The tough part can be actually finding the brands that you want to work with - and who want to work with you, too. Fortunately, Zach Tackett from DeLallo Foods met up with Bjork and Lindsay to talk about exactly what brands are looking for in bloggers, what the process looks like, and what to expect. In this really insightful interview, Zach shares: Where the DeLallo company got its roots What DeLallo advertising looked like back in the early days, and how they tackle it now What the DeLallo brand looks for in food bloggers for sponsored content Whether you have to work with an agency to get sponsored content What the actual process looks like for sponsored content Why DeLallo works with "brand ambassadors" instead of paying bloggers for one-off posts How to make your sponsored posts sound authentic How to get brands' attention Resources: DeLallo.com @DeLalloFoods on Instagram , Pinterest , Facebook , Twitter Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk Poetry Magazine Poetry Foundation Poets.org Our Andromeda by Brenda Shaughnessy
Tue, November 17, 2015
How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free with Amy Lynn Andrews
How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free Welcome to another week of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This episode, Bjork and Lindsay talk with Amy Lynn Andrews about time management. If I were to guess, I would say that the most common question we get from our members is, "How do I manage my time when there are so many things to do?!?" And yes, it usually comes with two question marks and at least one exclamation point - this question is usually posed by those feeling overwhelmed and at a point of desperation. Finding the time to do all of the things you want to do can be really tough, especially when everybody and their mother is telling you about the next coolest thing you just HAVE to do to make your blog readership grow. Fortunately, Amy Lynn Andrews has been doing this blogging stuff for quite a while now, and she has some great tips to share with all of us who are struggling to prioritize and fit it all in. In this really helpful interview, Amy Lynn shares: Her "getting started" tips for blogging as a business How she sets a purpose, plan, place, and plot for her business and her life How she uses her quadrant method to prioritize activities How to clarify what your most important goal is and use that to set priorities How to be flexible with your time management Resources: amylynnandrews.com The Useletter 11 Things to Do Before Making Money Online
Tue, November 10, 2015
How to Secure Your Food Blog with Andrew Wilder from Blog Tutor
How to Secure your Food Blog Welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Andrew Wilder from Blog Tutor about blog security. When you're starting and maintaining your food blog, there are so many things to do. From getting your website designed just right to making that batch of double chocolate cookies 5 times to make it perfect, a food blogger pretty much always has a full plate (har har). So when someone tells you that you should take some of your precious, precious time and use it to create strong passwords and back up your blog , I'll admit that I'm not the first person to jump up and down in excitement. However, these things are so, so important. It only takes one small event - which are often caused by factors out of your control - to bring your blog down. And if you don't have it all backed up, you could lose all of your hard work just like that. Andrew Wilder specializes in blog security, and today he's here to tell us what we need to do to make sure our blogs are safe from both intentional and unintentional harm. In this really important interview, Andrew shares: How he transitioned from being a studio lighting designer to a food blog security master The two most important things you can do for your blog's security How databases work and why you need to back them up What tools he recommends for your website backups Whether or not you should use your hosting company's backups Why you should use a password manager Why you should update your WordPress software and plugins What two-factor authentication is and why you should be using it How he helps webmasters keep their websites live and secure all the time Resources: Eating Rules Blog Tutor VaultPress UpDraft Plus BackUp Buddy CodeGaurd 1Password KeePass LastPass WordFence iThemes Security Login Security Solution Google Authenticator for iPhone and <
Tue, November 03, 2015
How to Master Pinterest for your Food Blog with Susan Wenner Jackson from Ahalogy
How to Master Pinterest for your Food Blog Welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews Susan from Ahalogy, a Pinterest marketing Partner. As food bloggers, we've all heard it: Pinterest can, and should, be a major driving force for your blog. Get Pinterest figured out and you'll be set with all the traffic your little blogging heart desires. Unfortunately, mastering Pinterest isn't that easy. Deciding what size images to use, whether or not you should make a compilation of images, and if you should be adding text are all tough questions. Thankfully, Susan Wenner Jackson from Ahalogy, a Pinterest Marketing Partner, is here to help us out! In this insightful interview, Susan shares: How she would describe Pinterest from a user's perspective Why you should start with your existing personal account Why you should think of Pinterest as a search engine Whether or not you should be deleting old pins Why you should enable rich pins for your domain How you should be writing your pin descriptions If food bloggers should be using promoted pins How Ahalogy works with bloggers and brands Resources: foodbloggerpro.com/focus Ahalogy SusanWennerJackson.com @SusanWJackson Working Moms Against Guilt Trend Report for Ingredients
Tue, October 27, 2015
How to Build an Online Business Without Blogging with Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies
Welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews the cofounder of Simple Green Smoothies, Jadah Sellner, about building a successful online business without blogging. Wait a minute here. We're Food Blogger Pro. What is this "business without blogging" stuff all about? Well, our main goal here at FBP is to help people create a business at the intersection of food and the web. While blogging is a common, even well-defined, path to that, we also realize it's possible to build a business doing less blogging and more of everything else. Take, for example, Jadah Sellner and Jen Hansard, the cofounders of Simple Green Smoothies. They tried blogging at first, but found success when the started to focus on one specific idea and sharing that idea freely on Instagram. They now run a successful business (with a website and an occasionally-updated blog) and have a massive tribe of followers who love their microblogged content on social media. In this truly awesome interview, Jadah shares: How Simple Green Smoothies came to be The first failed business attempts that led to Simple Green Smoothies Why inner confidence is so important when you're building your business The resources that inspired Jadah when she had yet to find success Why you should tease your products before the launch How to find the products that will be successful Why you shouldn't take people out of their dance club (say whaat?!) How many people you should be talking to in your blog posts Why you need to be flexible as an entrepreneur
Tue, October 20, 2015
How to Connect with Brands & Find Sponsored Content with Francesca Banducci from Sway Group
How to Connect with Brands and Find Sponsored Content We are back with another episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews the COO of Sway Group, Francesca Banducci, about sponsored content. In today's changing ad landscape (you know, with mobile ad blockers and such), finding alternate ways to monetize your food blog is becoming more and more important. Sponsored content is a really great way to do this. Francesca Banducci is the COO of Sway Group, a rapidly growing company that helps connect bloggers with the brands they want to talk about. In this really insightful interview, Francesca shares: What sponsored content is and why it is becoming so important The different types of ways bloggers can work with brands How even small blogs can be valuable to brands How to open up a conversation with a brand without even contacting them The mistakes bloggers should avoid when trying to find sponsored opportunities What beginner, intermediate, and advanced bloggers should focus on in regards to sponsored content If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, October 13, 2015
How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic
Welcome back, friends! On this episode of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, Bjork interviews the maker of one of the most popular food blogs in the world - Elise Bauer from Simply Recipes . There are people who have been blogging for a long time. And then there are people who have been blogging since before blogging was a thing . Elise is one of those people, and you could definitely say she was at the forefront of the food blogging tidal wave. Today, she runs one of the most popular food blogs in the world, and is here to tell us about the journey - which has definitely included its fair share of ups and downs. In this candid interview, Elise shares: How she started her blog and got her domain name The decisions she made when getting started to promote her success Why she buys good photography equipment What Panda updates are and how Google now looks at new content How search engine algorithm updates can affect your blog How she recovered from a major traffic dropoff How she uses Pin scheduling to keep bringing in traffic for popular recipes What keeps her motivated even after blogging for over 13 years
Tue, October 06, 2015
How to Find Your Voice and be Heard in a Noisy World with Dianne Jacob
Welcome back, friends! This week, Bjork interviews Diane Jacob, the author behind the book and blog Will Write for Food . If ever there was a mentor you wished you had when it came to writing, Dianne Jacob is that person. And the awesome thing is that she has made it her job to help people like you and me write about food better. From helping new bloggers find their voice to assisting seasoned ones with a cookbook proposal, Dianne has done it all. We were so excited to talk to Dianne about writing for this episode, and we definitely weren't disappointed. In this awesome episode, Dianne tells: The difference between self-publishing and working with a publisher What it means to get an advance & royalties What it takes to write a great book proposal When a recipe can be considered your own Why your voice is so important How to get over "writer's block" and get the writing done How to manage your internal critic Resources: Will Write for Food Will Write for Food book Facebook Twitter Contact Dianne If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 29, 2015
Celebrity Chefs and Award Winning Video with Jamie and Saukok Tiampo from See Food Media
Hello hello! Another week, another episode. #stoked! This week, Bjork interviews husband and wife team Jamie and Saukok Tieampo from New York's SeeFood Media . Jamie and Saukok didn't always work in the food industry, but they've made quite the splash since they've arrived. SeeFood Media has become the go-to food video production studio in New York and beyond - they've filmed personalities from Bobby Flay to Kelly Senyei . Through their work in the food video industry, Jamie and Saukok have really boiled it down to what makes a great cooking video - and they're here to share their secrets with you! In this awesome episode, Jamie & Saukok reveal: How they found their way into the visual food industry Why they didn't open a restaurant instead Why video is taking over the internet The big secret to making great videos All their knowledge about lighting videos (these work for photos, too!) The equipment they would recommend to those new to video Resources: See Food Media Phantom Camera C300 camera Zoom recorders If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 22, 2015
An interview with Molly Yeh, the author behind Saveur’s 2015 Blog of the Year
Hi friends! We are back with another week of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, Bjork is talking with city girl turned country blogger Molly Yeh from My Name is Yeh . So what do you do when you live on a farm in North Dakota and your husband spends all day out in the fields? You make cakes. And macaroni. And everything else delicious on the planet. Such is the life of blogger Molly Yeh. While her husband works the fields of North Dakota, Molly brings us beautiful, delicious recipes from her kitchen, as well as stories from life on the farm. Her unique angle makes for quite the intriguing blog experience, and has helper he become the blogging powerhouse she is today. In this awesome episode, Molly shares: What it's like to be a food blogger living in the middle of nowhere What it means to be the most extreme version of yourself How journaling led her to start a blog How she balances posting food and lifestyle posts on the same blog Her tips for photography and photo editing How she deals with trolls (it has to do with butts!) How interacting with the blog community has helped her find success Resources: My Name is Yeh VSCO Amelia's notebooks Adobe Lightroom Molly's Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, September 15, 2015
Solopreneur Food Blogging with Kelly Senyei from Just a Taste
Solopreneur Food Blogging Hello, and welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, Bjork is talking with veteran blogger, cookbook author, and YouTuber Kelly Senyei from Just a Taste . When I think of Kelly Senyei, I wonder how in the world one person has done everything she's accomplished. From her degrees in Journalism and culinary school, to working at Food Network, to writing the book on food blogging (literally), Kelly seems to have done it all. Amazingly, she's done all of this on her own, including the monetization, social media, and content management. In this inspiring episode, Kelly reveals: Why she thinks consistency is so important The steps she went through to make sure she could be an authority in her market How she applied her various degrees to food blogging Why she went to culinary school and how it has helped her career How she found jobs in the food industry and how those experiences helped her build a successful blog Her favorite restaurants in CA and NY What the most difficult things were for her when deciding to pursue Just a Taste full-time Where her revenue comes from Why she takes the time and effort to make cooking videos The advice she would have given herself when she was just starting out Resources: Just a Taste Food Blogging for Dummies Playground, Santa Ana, CA Tamarind, New York General Assembly Accounting for Dummies Mailchimp Facebook Pinterest Instagram foodbloggerpro.com/episode12 foodbloggerpro.com/kelly
Tue, September 08, 2015
Making The Leap To Full-Time Blogging with Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes
Making the Leap to Full-Time Blogging Another week, another episode! We hope you've been enjoying the FBP podcast so far. We've sure had fun making it! Today's episode features Beth Moncel from the awesome food blog Budget Bytes . So many of us hope and dream that one day we could make blogging our full-time job. Well, Beth was once one of us, but now she's actually living the dream! However, this didn't just magically happen. Instead, Beth did a slow transition from corporate to self-employed, and it made the switch a little less stressful. In this inspiring episode, Beth reveals: What it was like transitioning from her day job to working for herself How she got started on her blog Why she switched from Blogger to Wordpress and how it affected her blog How she managed her time while working full time and running her blog simultaneously How social media has contributed to her success Her top 5 tools she couldn't live without The one thing she wishes she did sooner How she is planning on getting into video Resources: Budget Bytes Blogger platform Wordpress.org Yoast SEO plugin Adobe Creative Cloud Google Analytics PicMonkey Budget Bytes Twitter Budget Bytes Pinterest Budget Bytes Facebook Budget Bytes Instagram foodbloggerpro.com/beth
Tue, September 01, 2015
Working with Brands on YouTube with Beth Le Manach from Entertaining with Beth
Working with Brands on YouTube Welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today's episode features Beth Le Manach from the YouTube cooking channel Entertaining with Beth . We had our first YouTube-centric interview a few weeks ago with Chris and Hilah of Hilah Cooking. While that interview covered more of the actual video topics, today's talk with Beth Le Manach gets into the other stuff - how to work with brands, what multi-channel networks are, and finding your "value" on YouTube. This episode is sucha a great listen for those interested in YouTube, but might be a little bogged down in the details. Beth helps clear the murky water that is YouTube and gives some great advice for those looking to jump in. In this info-packed episode, Beth reveals: How to choose a multi-channel network How multi-channel networks are turning into multi-platform networks What metrics are important to pay attention to on YouTube How long your videos should be Where to find your "value" Why YouTube is such a personal platform How she deals with negative comments What it takes to shoot her videos Her advice for those who want to jump into video Resources: Entertaining with Beth In Beth's Garden Kin Community Channel The Oatmeal comic on content creation Final Cut Pro X Byron Talbott YouTube Channel Rachel Talbott YouTube Channel Hot for Food YouTube Channel Domestic Geek YouTube Channel VidCon
Tue, August 25, 2015
Mastering Your Blog Business with Jaden and Scott Hair from Steamy Kitchen
For today's episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, Bjork interviews Jaden and Scott Hair from the inspiring food blog Steamy Kitchen . Food blogging starts out as a hobby for most, but after all the learning, hard work, and pride in what they've built, many people decide they want to turn their hobby into their business. But, that road can seem like a rough ride if you don't know what to expect. Fortunately, Jaden and Scott Hair, the makers of Steamy Kitchen, Food Blog Forum, and Kitchen Table Mastery, are here to tell us a little bit more about it. In this fun episode, Jaden & Scott reveal: The two traits they see in all successful bloggers The secret to doing the difficult things Their biggest secret to creating an income from a food blog (it has to do with Robots) How to find out what people need Why they think building an email list is the most important thing you can do Why diversification was the key to Steamy Kitchen's success Who is on their imaginary board of directors - and why they're there How to determine your "worth" Listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast below or check it out on iTunes : Resources: Steamy Kitchen Kitchen Table Mastery Food Blog Forum Fit Radio App Focus at Will App Mad Mimi Infusion Soft If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Tue, August 18, 2015
Simplifying Ad Optimization with Andy Marzka from AdThrive
Simplifying Ad Optimization with Andy Marzka from AdThrive For today's episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, Bjork talks with Andy Marzka, founder and CEO of ad optimization service AdThrive . Ad optimization is one of those things that totally clicks for some people and totally doesn't click for others. And even for the people it "clicks" for, it can be a confusing, befuddling, and frustrating process to get it all figured out. Fortunately, Andy Marzka agreed to help us understand it all a little better. Andy is the founder and CEO of AdThrive, an ad optimization service that helps you make the most money possible with your ads. In this eye-opening episode, Andy reveals: What DFP is and why AdThrive uses it How passbacks work and why they are important The number of ads you should have and how to place them How the ad industry is changing - and what it means for you Why ad impressions don't always add up to equal the number of pageviews What cookies are and how they work When you should start using ads as a new blogger When you should think about getting an ad manager His advice for making money in blogging The importance of mobile and what it means for your ads Resources: AdThrive.com Doubleclick for Publishers (DFP) Google Adsense
Tue, August 11, 2015
The Art of Photography with Ashley and Gabe from Not Without Salt
For this episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, Bjork and Lindsay team up to talk with Ashley and Gabe Rodriguez from the blog Not Without Salt . On the last episode of the FBP podcast, Bjork interviewed Hilah Johnson and Chris Sharpe from the YouTube cooking channel Hilah Cooking . We got a real-life look into what it takes to run a successful cooking channel and the work it took to get there. If you didn't get a chance to listen to that episode (or if you want to hear it again!), click here . The Art of Photography with Ashley and Gabe from Not Without Salt Not Without Salt was the winner of the 2013 Saveur Best Cooking Blog award. That's a big deal. But this award wasn't just handed over to Ashley and Gabe - no, it was won after years and years of dedication and hard work. Photography and art are two really important things to both Ashley and Gabe - Ashley went to school to be a high school art teacher, and Gabe shoots weddings for a living. However, it's at the intersection of photography and art where the blog Not Without Salt really shines. {image2} In this 64-minute episode, Ashley and Gabe reveal: How they work together as a team to get work done and still enjoy their lives How Not Without Salt got started Where Ashley finds motivation to keep it up after all these years Why Gabe started taking the photos - and how Ashley took over and learned the trade Their individual pieces of advice for how to get better at photography Why experiencing The Resistance means you're doing something right The tools they use during and after shooting The advice they would give themselves back when they got started Resources: Not Without Salt 2013 Saveur Cooking Blog of the Year foodbloggerpro.com/episode7 Date Night In Cookie Mix The War of Art Bird By Bird by Ann LaMott Canon 5D Mark II <a href="http:
Tue, August 04, 2015
Building a YouTube Cooking Channel from 0 to 260,000 subscribers with Hilah & Chris from Hilah Cooking
For this episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, we're taking with Hilah Johnson and Chris Sharpe from the YouTube channel and food blog Hilah Cooking. On the last episode of the FBP podcast, Bjork talked with Jason Leake from 100 Days of Real Food. Jason gave us a really great look into what it takes to run a food blog behind the scenes. If you missed that episode, check it out here . Hilah Johnson & Chris Sharpe: Broke filmmakers turned YouTube cooking channel stars Hilah and Chris did not get started in video with their cooking channel. It all started, in fact, with a "post-apocalyptic horror comedy" film they did together - which ultimately took a dive and failed. But just a few years later, Chris and Hilah are a very successful and popular team in the Youtube video industry. They joined Bjork on the Food Blogger Pro podcast to talk all about their journey to YouTube success. In this 66-minute episode, Hilah and Chris reveal: How they got started in video Why you should read the comments on your videos and blog posts Which followers are your most important, and how to foster your relationship with them The equipment they used to take their video game up a notch How to get used to being "on camera" The nitty gritty of shooting a recipe video Their advice for those getting started with online video content This interview gives some great insight into what it takes to run a YouTube cooking channel, and is a great resource for those thinking of starting to incorporate videos into their food blogs. Resources: Hilah Cooking Night of the Comet film Jerry! web show Information on Google Panda YouTube Multi-Channel Networks ScreenFlow FinalCut Pro Adobe Premiere <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-Digital-18-55mm-Lens/dp/B00BW6LWO4/ref=sr_1_1?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1435259
Tue, July 28, 2015
The Business of Food Blogging with Jason Leake from 100 Days of Real Food
For this episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, we're taking with Jason Leake from 100 Days of Real Food. Jason Leake: The business of food blogging For those outside the food blog world, blogging seems pretty simple - just make some food, take a few pictures, and put it up on the internet. For those of us inside the food blog world, the last sentence really just made you laugh. Well, Jason Leake is right there with you. Jason went from supportive-but-not-interested husband to full-time behind the scenes blog manager in less than 2 years. He takes care of almost everything that goes on at 100 Days of Real Food that doesn't involve cooking, photographing or writing posts. What that means is that Jason knows a LOT about what it takes to make a food blog run beyond the cooking & photographing part - and this is where most of us get stuck. This interview is definitely not one to miss. {image2} In this 64-minute episode, Jason reveals: How 100 Days of Real Food got started, and how Jason felt about being involved The techniques Lisa used to bring attention to her blog What it means for your blog to publish a hard-copy book How Jason handles doing "the books" The resources Jason uses for managing 100 Days of Real Food on a day-to-day basis This interview gives a real-life look into what it takes to run a food blog behind the scenes. Jason has a lot of information to share that can help bloggers like you and me up our blogging game. Resources: 100daysofrealfood.com problogschool.com Smart Passive Income Blog & Podcast Amazon Affiliate Program Xero Accounting Software Trello.com The E Myth Jing Videos Food Blog University Conference ShiftCon Conference foodbloggerpro.com/jason If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to
Tue, July 21, 2015
How Understanding Your Visitors Can Help You Build Traffic and Create an Income with Dr. David Darmanin from Hotjar
Today on the Food Blogger Pro podcast, we're turning up the heat (pun intended) as we talk about some tech-geek stuff with Dr. David Darmanin from HotJar . For this episode, Bjork interviews the founder and CEO of HotJar , a revolutionary startup whose goal is to provide highly important website visitor information to web administrators (people like you and me). And the best part? It's free. Dr. David Darmanin: How Understanding Your Visitors Can Help You Build Traffic and Create an Income If you haven't implemented HotJar on your site yet, you most likely just haven't heard of it yet. What Google Analytics can't do for you (or does with way too many details), HotJar makes as simple and beautiful as you can imagine. Dr. David Darmanin, the founder and CEO of HotJar, worked for years as a professional conversion expert and as a user experience (UX) designer for websites. When you put those two skills together, you get a tool that is so easy to use your grandmother could do it, and that is so good at converting your visitors into customers or subscribers that you'll wonder how you ever survived without it. In this 57-minute episode, David reveals: The power of HotJar and what it can do for your website How understanding your visitors can get you more traffic and create more income from your blog What heat maps are and what you can learn from them (you'll be amazed!) How funneling information can tell you where your visitors are dropping off before they convert What a feedback loop is and how you can use it to increase your conversion What a net promoter score is and what it means for your blog This interview has so much important information that you'll probably want to listen to it twice. The knowledge that Dr. David shares will definitely impact how you look at your website's analytics. Resources: HotJar.com Hot Jar Action Plan foodbloggerpro.com/david If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com . Be sure to review us on iTunes!
Tue, July 14, 2015
Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction on creating success, ignoring the competition, and writing cookbooks
Welcome back to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast! For this episode, Bjork had the pleasure of talking with Sally McKenney, founder and creator of Sally's Baking Addiction . Sally McKenney on creating success, ignoring the competition, and writing cookbooks. If you haven't been over to Sally's Baking Addiction yet, you are certainly missing out. Sally creates baked goods to swoon over - from cheesecake to brownies to pies, and everything you can imagine with funfetti. She's also a whiz when it comes to blog success. Sally took her blog from zero to hero (read: full time job) in just two years. She is now the author of two cookbooks, Sally's Baking Addiction and the soon-to-come Sally's Candy Addiction . In this 41-minute episode, Sally reveals: Why comparing your baby blog to the big guns is not a good strategy What she attributes to her rapid success (hint: it's not luck!) How she juggled her full-time job and growing her food blog How she got a cookbook deal - and kept up her blog while writing it Where her traffic comes from And the advice she would give herself back when she started her blog This interview was such a great peek into the behind-the-scenes work that went into - and still goes into - the Sally's Baking Addiction blog. We loved learning from Sally and know you're going to love what she had to say. Resources: Sally's Baking Addiction Sally's Baking Addiction Cookbook Sally's Candy Addiction Cookbook foodbloggerpro.com/sally If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com .
Mon, June 29, 2015
Bjork Ostrom from Food Blogger Pro on building a membership site from scratch, morning routines, and books that every entrepreneur should be reading
In the second episode of the Food Blogger Pro podcast, the tables are turned while Lindsay interviews Bjork about how Food Blogger Pro got started and his tips for success. Bjork Ostrom: Non-profit opportunity seeker turned invaluable food blog resource & entrepreneur If you thought you knew Bjork, you didn't know him this well. Lindsay asks the personal questions that only a wife can get away with - like what pills he takes in the morning and can he please parse those two paragraphs down into one sentence? This fun interview helps us get to know the main guy behind Food Blogger Pro (and this podcast!) just a little bit better. In this 58-minute episode, Bjrok reveals: What his day looked like 5 years ago, and how it contrasts with today How he uses books to propel him forward in his career and personal life How Food Blogger Pro got started - and what he would change if he were to do it again His one tip for multiplying success How to outsource work so you can do more of what you enjoy Resources: 5 Minute Journal Exponential Organizations, Salim Ismail Things App The Mixergy podcast The War of Art, Steven Pressfield Smart Passive Income Bjork's Twitter bjork@foodbloggerpro.com If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Fri, June 26, 2015
Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum on life as a career blogger, building a blog while working full-time, and tips for sticking with it
In the first podcast episode, Bjork interviews Lindsay about her food blog, Pinch of Yum, and digs deep into the motivation behind POY and how Lindsay built her blog. Lindsay Ostrom: Former 4th grade teacher turned successful food blogger, dog mom, and inspirational figure. We all know Lindsay. She's a big part of the reason we are all here right now. But how well do we really know her? How did Pinch of Yum get started? Was it's Bjork's idea in the first place? How in the world did she take her baby food blog that started on Tumbler to the beautiful & inspiring food resource that it is today? In this 58-minute episode, Lindsay tells Bjork: Just how Pinch of Yum came to be What her weekly schedule looks like The longest amount of time she went without posting Why she has been able to keep it up for over 5 years Why Technical skills aren't needed to start a food blog The reason she keeps her blog within the personal sphere And where you can get more info on the infamous and entirely adorable Sage (and what her nickname is) Resources: Pinch of Yum Pinch of Yum VIP Facebook Group Lindsay's Instagram Lindsay's Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Be sure to review us on iTunes! [[link to iTunes review]]
Thu, June 25, 2015
Our Beliefs, Our Hopes, and Our Dreams
We are so excited to give you the very first episodes of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast. Buckle your seatbelts, because we've got a lot of awesome information here for you to listen to. First, we've got an introductory episode for you, called Episode 000: Our Beliefs, Our Hopes, and Our Dreams. In this short blurb, Bjork talks just a bit about why he is here doing this podcast, what it means for him, and what you can expect from the FBP podcast.
loading...