The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Give to Grow with Mo Bunnell Nov 19, 2024

Cultivating and nurturing relationships, the power of reciprocity, and the role relationships play in growing your business.

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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:

Bunnell Idea Group
Give to Grow (Mo's newest book!)
James Clear’s paper clip strategy
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

Thank you to our sponsor!

This episode is sponsored by Yoast.

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.

Evolving Your Brand: When and How to Sell Products as a Food Creator Nov 12, 2024

Mastering product development and sales, prioritizing problem-solving for your audience, and overcoming perfectionism with Jillian Leslie from MiloTree.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by 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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Differentiating Your Content in a Crowded Market with Brian Watson Nov 05, 2024

Prioritizing your blog, freeing yourself from metrics, and building a digital cookbook with Brian Watson from Thee Burger Dude.

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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:

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Yoast 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.com/membership.

Actionable Steps to Shape a Successful Brand with Katie Trant Oct 29, 2024

Creating a brand to withstand algorithm changes, going beyond branding basics, and how your brand can influence your business strategy.

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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:

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Tailor Brands. 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.

Building Brand Relationships that Last with Chris Pieta Oct 22, 2024

Working with brands, communicating with clients, and staying organized with Chris Pieta from Creative Biz Launch.

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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 Course: Google WorkSpace
Alex Hormozi’s YouTube channel
Follow and/or DM Chris on Instagram, YouTube, and for photo and video work, check out Pieta Productions
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 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.

Achieving Quiet Success as a Six-Figure Food Creator with Elizabeth Emery Oct 15, 2024

Prioritizing passive income, overcoming burnout, and rediscovering joy as a food blogger with Elizabeth Emery from Vancouver with Love.

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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:

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Tailor Brands and Yoast. 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.

The Importance of Building Community with A Couple Cooks Oct 08, 2024

Balancing passion, building a sustainable business, and predicting the future of food blogging with Alex and Sonja Overhiser from A Couple Cooks.

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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:

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Member Kitchens 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.

How to Thrive in the Creator Economy and Build Successful Brand Partnerships Oct 01, 2024

Legitimizing the creator economy and working with brands with Chandice Probst and Abbey Rodriguez from Tastemaker Conference

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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 Instagram
Email Chandice at chandice@tastemakerconference.com
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Tailor Brands. 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.

How to Build a Thriving Membership Site Sep 27, 2024

Building community, providing exclusive value, and streamlining membership sites with Jen Matichuk from Memberful.

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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 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, 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.

Maximizing the Impact of Your Email List with Nathan Barry from Kit Sep 24, 2024

Leveraging email lists, boosting revenue, and building relationships with Nathan Barry.

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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
Clariti
Kit
Kit Studios
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

This episode is sponsored by Member Kitchens 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 at foodbloggerpro.com/work-with-us.

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.

The Secret to Generating Recurring Revenue with Bjork Ostrom Sep 19, 2024

The power of recurring revenue and breaking down key metrics for running a membership site with Bjork Ostrom

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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:

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, 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.

The Art of Cookbook Publishing with Danielle Walker Sep 17, 2024

Publishing a cookbook, fostering a community, and creating a work-life balance with Danielle Walker

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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:

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Yoast 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.

A Common Problem with Food Blogs (and How to Fix It) Sep 10, 2024

Income diversification, monetization strategies, and memberships with Bjork Ostrom

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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:

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, 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.

Leveraging Reddit as a Traffic Source Sep 03, 2024

Diversifying your traffic sources, the power of community, and using Reddit as a growth hack with Ewen Finser

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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

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This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Member Kitchens. 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.

Advanced SEO Q&A with Casey Markee Aug 27, 2024

Creating effective category pages, navigating keyword research, and balancing SEO with creativity with Casey Markee from Media Wyse.

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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.

Grow Your Email List and Connect with your Audience with Allea Grummert Aug 20, 2024

Growing your email list, connecting with your audience, and working with sponsors with Allea Grummert from Duett

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by Yoast 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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

How Caroline Chambers Grew Her Substack Newsletter Into a 7-Figure Business Aug 13, 2024

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.

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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:

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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.

Future-Proofing Your Content with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe Aug 06, 2024

Diversifying your traffic sources, building your email list, and the tools to help you build your audience with Andrew Wilder and Colin Devroe

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by Yoast 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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

472: Coaching Call: Increasing Search Traffic, Determining What to Prioritize, and Strategizing for Business Growth with Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes Jul 30, 2024

Auditing their website, strategizing to increase search traffic, and diversifying revenue sources with Cameron Crawley and Sarah Cobacho from plantbaes.

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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
430: Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network with Nathan Barry
ConvertKit
Primal Kitchen
452: YouTube, Meal Plans, and Business Growth with Nisha Vora
The Lean Startup
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Circle
Pillars of Productivity
Memberful
Follow plantbaes on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

471: Unlocking Success through Strategic Goal-Planning, Partnerships, and Providing Services with Matthew Gartland Jul 23, 2024

Offering services, building partnerships, and goal-planning with Matthew Gartland from SPI Media

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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
Basecamp
Facebook Groups
Teachable
Snackdive
Connect with Matthew via email
Follow Smart Passive Income on X and check out their podcast
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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This episode is sponsored by 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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

470: How Working as Ina Garten's Assistant Kicked Off Lidey Heuck's Career as a Food Creator and Cookbook Author Jul 16, 2024

Contributing recipes to NYT Cooking, avoiding the comparison trap, and working with the Barefoot Contessa with Lidey Heuck.

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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:

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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.

469: How Erin Collins Went from 25,000 to 250,000 Instagram Followers While Self-Publishing a Cookbook Jul 09, 2024

Outsourcing tasks, growing a social media following, and self-publishing a cookbook with Erin Collins from Meaningful Eats.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by 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 at foodbloggerpro.com/work-with-us.

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

468: Breaking into the Private Chef Industry and Sharing What You’re in Pursuit of with Celebrity Chef Kenneth Temple Jul 02, 2024

Becoming a private chef, prioritizing projects, and sharing your aspirations with others with Kenneth Temple.

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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
Mediavine
Grandbaby Cakes
Follow Kenneth on Instagram and Other platform - facebook, youtube, tiktok, whatever seems most important for them
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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.

467: Pinterest Strategy in 2024 Q&A with Kate Ahl Jun 25, 2024

Strategizing for growth, pivoting to Pinterest as an alternative to SEO, and branding on Pinterest with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media.

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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

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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.com/membership.

466: How to Respond to the Recent Google Updates with Ann Smarty Jun 18, 2024

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.

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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 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.

Tiny Bites: Don’t Lose Your Universal Analytics Data Jun 14, 2024

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.

465: Creating a Subscription Platform for Your Food Blog with Jen Matichuk Jun 11, 2024

Monetizing through a membership as a food creator, choosing a subscription platform, and marketing a membership to your community with Jen Matichuk from Memberful.

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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 Group

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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.com/membership.

464: How Email and High-Quality Content Helped Jason Norris Reach Millions of Monthly Pageviews with Recipe Teacher Jun 04, 2024

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.

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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
Google AdSense
Upwork
Pinch of Yum
Keysearch
Semrush
Google Search Console
Google Trends
Duett
Allea on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast here, here, and here
ConvertKit
Constant Contact
Email Jason
Follow Jason on Facebook and Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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.

463: How a Love of SEO and Entrepreneurship Helped Shaunda Necole Grow Three Successful Websites and Hit 1 Million Monthly Pageviews May 28, 2024

Leaning into the science of SEO, committing to a niche, and dividing attention between three websites and businesses.

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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:

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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.

462: Monetizing Three Blogs, Outsourcing Tasks, and Self-Publishing a Cookbook with Julie Evink from Julie's Eats & Treats May 21, 2024

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.

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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:

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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.com/membership.

461: Building a Career as a Photographer and Storytelling Through Visuals with Alanna O'Neil May 14, 2024

Developing a photography portfolio, growing a career in photography, and the importance of telling a story through your photographs with Alanna O'Neil.

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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

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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@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

460: How Yasmin Henley Recommitted to Her Blog and Grew to 85,000 Monthly Sessions May 07, 2024

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.

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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

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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.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

459: How Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone Diversified Her Business and Found Work-Life Balance Apr 30, 2024

Balancing a business and home-schooling 8 children, building a team, and diversifying your business to different platforms with Lisa Bass.

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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, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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.com/membership.

458: SEO Tips from a Food Blogger Who Works Full-time at an SEO Agency with Marley Braunlich Apr 23, 2024

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.

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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:

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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.

457: How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog with Parker Thornburg Apr 16, 2024

Acquiring an existing food blog, navigating traffic drops, and reimagining a site to make it your own with Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by CultivateWP 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.com/membership.

456: Monetizing, Diversifying, and Leaning Into Pinterest and Email with Chelsea Clarke Apr 09, 2024

Navigating the creator landscape, improving the value of your site, and the importance of diversifying with Chelsea Clarke.

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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:

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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.

455: Creating Your Own Products and Adding a Revenue Stream with Barbara Hobart Apr 02, 2024

Developing your own product line, diversifying income streams, and increasing brand awareness with Barbara Hobart.

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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:

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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.

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.

454: Catherine Zhang on Being a Netflix Star and the Power of Social Media Mar 26, 2024

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.

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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
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

453: Balancing a Full-time Job and Your Food Blog with Vincent DelGiudice Mar 19, 2024

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.

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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:

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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.

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.

452: YouTube, Meal Plans, and Business Growth with Nisha Vora Mar 12, 2024

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:

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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.

451: Staying True to Yourself as a Content Creator with Katie Higgins from Chocolate Covered Katie Mar 05, 2024

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.

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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

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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, 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.

450: Planning for Extended Time Away from Your Food Blog with Jessica Hylton Leckie Feb 27, 2024

Delegating tasks, batching content, and planning ahead with Jessica Hylton Leckie from Jessica in the Kitchen.

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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

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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 podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

449: Monetizing Through Bread, Courses, and a Food Blog with Matthew Duffy Feb 20, 2024

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.

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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

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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.

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.

448: How Faith Christensen Grew Her TikTok and Instagram Platforms to 2.5 Million Followers Feb 13, 2024

Using trending audio on TikTok, navigating the social media algorithms, and creating video content with Faith Christensen from Faith's Fresh.

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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

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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.

447: How to Diversify Your Traffic and Income with Ewen Finser Feb 06, 2024

Approaching risk as an entrepreneur, diversifying your income, and learning more about the changes in the world of search with Ewen Finser.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by CultivateWP 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.com/membership.

446: How to Position Yourself as an Expert with Erin Jeanne McDowell Jan 30, 2024

Promoting your work, creating multiple forms of content for different platforms, and positioning yourself as an expert with Erin Jeanne McDowell.

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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

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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 podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

445: Zero-Based Dream Building for Content Creators with Bjork Ostrom Jan 23, 2024

Pursuing zero-based dream building, being intentional about educating yourself, and focusing on yourself and the needs of your audience with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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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.

444: Overcoming Fear, Judgment, Imposter Syndrome, and Perfection as an Entrepreneur with Sally Zimney Jan 16, 2024

Leveraging the power of your voice, overcoming mental barriers to trying new things, and tackling imposter syndrome with Sally Zimney.

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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

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Tiny Bites: The Corporate Transparency Act and What You Need to Know Jan 11, 2024

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.

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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.

443: Why David Lebovitz Switched from Blogging to Substack Jan 09, 2024

Working as a food creator for 25+ years, transitioning from food blogging to Substack, and future-proofing your content against AI with David Lebovitz.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by CultivateWP 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.com/membership.

442: How Eric King Took easygayoven Full-Time by Diversifying His Income Streams Jan 02, 2024

Diversifying income streams, leaning into your voice, and navigating algorithms with Eric King from easygayoven.

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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.

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.

441: FBP Rewind — Blogging with a Full-Time Job – How Focusing on SEO Led to $2,000 Monthly Earnings with Cree Carraway Dec 26, 2023

Focusing on SEO rather than social media, implementing keyword research, and sharing content authentically with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss.

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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

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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, 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.

440: FBP Rewind — Blogging with a Full-Time Job – Optimizing Your Time with David Crowley Dec 19, 2023

Connecting with your community, being strategic with your time when blogging, and hiring the right people with David Crowley from Cooking Chat.

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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:

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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 at foodbloggerpro.com/work-with-us.

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.

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

439: Developing a Content Strategy to Stand Out From The Crowd with Joe Pulizzi Dec 12, 2023

The importance of finding your niche, building an audience, and crafting a content marketing strategy with Joe Pulizzi.

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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:

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.

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.

Tiny Bites: How Can Food Creators Succeed in a World with AI? Dec 07, 2023

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.

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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:

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.

438: Balancing Lifestyle and Recipe Content with Remy Park from Veggiekins Dec 05, 2023

Creating a brand aesthetic, sharing lifestyle content, and prioritizing brand partnerships with Remy Park from Veggiekins.

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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:

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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.

437: How Grief, a Diagnosis with MS, and Biracial Background Shaped Marta Rivera Diaz's Career as a Food Creator Nov 28, 2023

Finding your voice as a creator, understanding cultural appropriation, and cultivating gratitude with Marta Rivera Diaz from Sense and Edibility.

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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

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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.

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.

436: How to Find Success on Pinterest in 2024 with Kate Ahl Nov 21, 2023

Understanding the Pinterest algorithm, focusing on user engagement, and hiring out the management of your Pinterest account with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media.

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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 interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

435: Prioritizing Recipe Testing and Purpose in Food Blogging with Michelle Cehn from World of Vegan Nov 14, 2023

Running a mission-driven food blog, balancing business with purpose, and creating a recipe-testing process with Michelle Cehn from World of Vegan.

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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:

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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

Tiny Bites: Understanding and Reacting to Google Algorithm Updates Nov 09, 2023

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.

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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 matters (i.e. does your content cover too broad of a subject matter? Do you have gaps in your content?)

How should you respond to Google algorithm updates?

The first thing to do after any update is to let the dust settle. It usually takes two weeks to roll out an update. Wait to change anything on your site so that you can determine that any traffic changes were, in fact, due to the update (and not just a natural ebb or flow).

Ewen shared lots of great tips for reacting to Google updates and creating content that is more resilient when these algorithm updates do come. Here are a few of our favorites:

Use data (like from Google Analytics) to inform decisions.
Experiment and test hypotheses.
Understand what your audience wants.
Avoid chasing trends that are only working right now.
Solve a problem for your audience.
Follow SEO best-practices.

If you’re looking for more concrete suggestions for responding to an algorithm update traffic dip, consider:

Turning down the ads on your site for a bit, or removing intrusive video ads for a time.
See if that change has any effect on user experience and/or site traffic.
Filter through your content and consider the posts that aren’t getting any traffic at all.
Update those posts if they are relevant to your overall content strategy and have the potential for traffic.
Otherwise, delete/redirect.
Look at your inventory to assess where you have big gaps in content.
Consider diversifying your traffic sources (email, social, etc.).

Last, but not least, check out this guide from Google with questions to ask yourself to help you uncover potential opportunities for improving your content.

Thanks, again, to Ewen for joining us on the podcast. We hope this episode provided some additional context, guidance, and encouragement when it comes to Google algorithm updates.

Learn more:

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.

434: Navigating Google Algorithm Updates, Leaning into Email Marketing, and Running Three Food Blogs with Taryn Scarfone from Joy Filled Eats Nov 07, 2023

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.

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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:

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.

433: Transitioning from the Corporate World to Full-time Creator with Zhen Zhou from Greedy Girl Gourmet Oct 31, 2023

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.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by 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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

432: Creating a Community of Food Bloggers with Morgan Peaceman from Nomaste Hungry Oct 24, 2023

Evolving your content strategy as a creator, building a village of food creators, and managing outreach to brands with Morgan Peaceman from Nomaste Hungry.

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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

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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

431: The Highs and Lows of Being a Food Creator for Over a Decade with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food Oct 17, 2023

Starting a membership site, managing slow periods as an entrepreneur, and shifting your mindset around success with Lauren Toyota from hot for food.

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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:

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This episode is sponsored by Once Coupled 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

430: Grow Your Email List with ConvertKit’s Creator Network with Nathan Barry Oct 10, 2023

Getting started with ConvertKit's Creator Network, collaborating with other creators to accelerate growth, and monetizing your email list with Nathan Barry.

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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:

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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.

429: Tips for Styling, Editing, and Monetizing Food Photography with Rachel Korinek Oct 03, 2023

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.

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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:

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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

Tiny Bites: How to Customize GA4 to be More Like UA Sep 28, 2023

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:

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

428: How to Diversify Your Income with a Meal Planning Membership App with Liam Smith from MealPro App Sep 26, 2023

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.

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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:

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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

427: Why Diversifying Your Website Traffic Matters with Arman Liew from The Big Man's World Sep 19, 2023

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.

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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

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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

426: Social Media Deep Dive: Threads, X, and AI with Andrea Balogun Sep 12, 2023

Developing a social media strategy, avoiding overwhelm, and navigating new tools and trends in the social media space with Andrea Balogun.

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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:

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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

425: Thriving within a Niche and Creating Your Dream Job with Amy Palanjian from Yummy Toddler Food. Sep 05, 2023

Blogging within a narrow niche, diversifying your income streams, and growing your team with Amy Palanjian from Yummy Toddler Food.

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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:

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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

424: The Future of Content Creation (and Protection) in a World of AI with Paul Bannister from Raptive Aug 29, 2023

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.

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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:

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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

423: How Liz and Lauren Allen Built a Food Blog with 11 Million Monthly Pageviews Aug 22, 2023

Educating their audience about data privacy, prioritizing annual goal setting, and building a team with Liz and Lauren Allen from Tastes Better from Scratch.

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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
Manychat
Follow Liz and Lauren on Instagram and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

422: Why Success as a Food Blogger Isn't Linear with Liz and Paul Madsen from Zardyplants Aug 15, 2023

Reinvesting in your business, working together as a couple, and prioritizing video with Liz and Paul Madsen from Zardyplants.

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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 Mirrorless Cinema Camera
Adobe Premiere Pro
BigScoots
Bluehost
WPEngine
Filmic Pro
InShot
Jeremy Giffon
Follow Zardyplants on Instagram and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

421: Scaling Three Food Blogs and Tips for Hiring a Virtual Assistant with Cheryl Malik Aug 08, 2023

Growing and diversifying your business, managing your time efficiently, and hiring team members.

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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

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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

420: ChatGPT, Substack, and the Changing Landscape of Food Writing with Dianne Jacob Aug 01, 2023

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.

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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
Chez Panisse
129: Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz
Alison Roman’s Substack
Pinch of Yum’s Meal Plans
Connect with Dianne via email
Follow Dianne on Instagram and Substack
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

419: Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging with Anne Mauney Jul 25, 2023

Balancing lifestyle and SEO-friendly posts, outsourcing tasks that don't bring you joy, and diversifying income streams with Anne Mauney from fANNEtastic Food.

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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:

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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

418: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Technology in Food Blogging with Lauren Gray Jul 18, 2023

Understanding plugins, the future of custom themes, and WordPress Site Editor with Lauren Gray from Once Coupled.

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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:

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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

417: Why Ann Baum Built a Recipe-Sharing App to Drive Traffic to Food Blogs Jul 11, 2023

Brainstorming, building, and marketing an app and WordPress plugin for saving online recipes and sharing them with friends.

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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

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/small.

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

416: Preserving Family Recipes with a Food Blog with Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life Jul 05, 2023

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.

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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
Designing Your New Work Life
Follow The Woks of Life on Instagram and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/small.

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

415: How and Why To Self-Publish a Cookbook with Matt Briel from Lulu Jun 27, 2023

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.

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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
Lulu’s YouTube Page
Connect with Matt via email
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

414: How Kyleigh Sage Combines Brand Work and Ad Revenue to Make $10,000-$15,000 a Month Jun 20, 2023

Blogging While Working Full-Time, Pitching Brands, and Determining Your Rates with Kyleigh Sage from Barley & Sage

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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

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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

413: Lessons in Burnout, Persistence, and Creativity after Ten Years of Food Blogging with Maggie Zhu Jun 13, 2023

Growing a food blog while working full-time, outsourcing tasks for your business, and limiting burnout with Maggie Zhu from Omnivore's Cookbook.

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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

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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

412: How to Support Your Mental Health as a Content Creator with Sherry Walling Jun 06, 2023

Navigating grief, managing anxiety, and prioritizing your physical health with Sherry Walling from ZenFounder.

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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:

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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

411: Working with Brands and Knowing What Your Work is Worth with Shanika Graham-White and Darnell White May 30, 2023

Running a business as a couple, working with brands, and creating content for your audience.

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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 Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

410: AI, Third-Party Cookies, and Changes in Video Advertising Standards with Paul Bannister from Raptive May 23, 2023

Navigating the changing landscape of video advertising, adapting to a future with AI, and understanding the removal of third-party cookies with Paul Bannister

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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
363: What Bloggers Need to Know About Google Analytics 4 with Alison Bechdol
Google Analytics Course on Food Blogger Pro
IAB Tech Lab
Raptive Blog
Follow Paul on Twitter
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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This episode is sponsored by Duett. Learn how the Duet team can leverage your email list for ever more site traffic at duett.co/foodbloggerpro.

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

409: Legal Hot Topics: AI, Privacy Policies, and Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss May 16, 2023

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.

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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:

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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

408: How a Diagnosis with a Chronic Illness Transformed Helena Murphy’s Career in Food Photography May 09, 2023

Investing in education, self-publishing a cookbook, and shaping a career in food photography following a diagnosis with a chronic illness with Helena Murphy.

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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:

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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

407: How Core Web Vitals and Image Size Impact Search Ranking with Andrew Wilder May 02, 2023

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.

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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
Google Search Console
Google Discover
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop
WP Recipe Maker
ShortPixel
Imagify
Smush
NerdPress Frequently Asked Questions
Follow Andrew on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

406: Monetization Strategies in the Influencer Industry with Brittany Hennessy Apr 25, 2023

Navigating the influencer industry as a food creator, working with brands, and building a more profitable business.

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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
Getty Images
DBA
Follow Brittany on Instagram and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

405: How Keyword Research, Resilience, and Resourcefulness Helped Casey Rooney Make a Six-Figure Income in Two Years Apr 18, 2023

Focusing on keyword research, creating a workflow, and monetizing your blog.

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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:

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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

404: Habits for Creators: A Gratitude Practice for Your Business Apr 11, 2023

Incorporating gratitude into your routines, shielding yourself from the negative, and brainstorming what you're grateful for at work.

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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:

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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

403: Habits for Creators: Building the Habit of Who Apr 04, 2023

Creating a personal board of directors, determining who your experts are, and asking "who can help me with this?"

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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:

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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

402: Habits for Creators: How to Prioritize Continual Learning Mar 28, 2023

Balancing quick and slow knowledge, using time blocks for continual learning, and pairing habits with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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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

401: Habits for Creators: Why You Should Start a Monthly Review of Your Business Mar 21, 2023

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.

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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:

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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

400: 4 Takeaways from 400 Episodes of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Mar 14, 2023

Prioritizing your time and talent, cultivating a bias toward action, and embracing the grind with Bjork Ostrom.

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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

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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

399: E-E-A-T, Static Homepages, AI, and More Food Blog SEO Advice with Casey Markee Mar 07, 2023

Five food blog SEO takeaways from our member Q&A with Casey Markee.

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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:

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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.

398: The Importance of Surveying Your Audience with Email with Allea Grummert Feb 28, 2023

Developing an email marketing strategy, serving your audience, and building brand loyalty with Allea Grummert from Duett.

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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

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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

397: Demystifying Finances and Taxes as a Food Creator with Amy Northard Feb 21, 2023

Strategies for effective bookkeeping, navigating business expenses, and confidently managing tax season as a creator with Amy Northard from Amy Northard, CPA.

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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
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

396: The Business of Sprinkles with Sweetapolita’s Rosie Alyea Feb 14, 2023

The transition from blogging to owning a shop, how community drives brand awareness, and the importance of building an audience with Rosie Alyea.

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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

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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.

395: Scaling Your Business (and Your Revenue) with Chad Cannon Feb 07, 2023

Important questions to ask about your customers or audience, defining your H1, and why bloggers may want to sell products with Chad Cannon.

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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:

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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.

394: How Leslie Stephens Grew Her Substack Newsletter to Thousands of Paid Subscribers Jan 31, 2023

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.

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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

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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

393: How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog with Maurizio Leo Jan 24, 2023

How passion and growth are connected, how to reinvest in a website, and growing a loyal audience with Maurizio Leo.

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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:

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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.

392: How Pinch of Yum’s 1.1 Million Follower Instagram Account Got Hacked (and Recovered!) Jan 17, 2023

Dealing with hacked Instagram and Facebook accounts and tips for securing your own social media accounts with Bjork Ostrom.

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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

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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

391: Behind the Scenes of the Cookbook Publishing Process with Sally Ekus Jan 10, 2023

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.

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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 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

390: Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator with Karishma Pradhan Jan 03, 2023

Overcoming feelings of burnout, becoming a full-time content creator, and creating multiple revenue streams with Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective.

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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:

389: FBP Rewind – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews Dec 27, 2022

Investing money into your business, deleting posts to encourage growth, and the importance of having accountability partners with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks.

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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:

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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

388: FBP Rewind – How Emma Duckworth Doubled Her Pageviews by Focusing on SEO Dec 20, 2022

Improving your food photography skills, getting a cookbook deal, and focusing on SEO with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes.

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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
Follow Emma on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

387: How to Optimize Your Website Design as a Food Blogger with Madison Wetherill Dec 13, 2022

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.

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/membership

386: Getting the Most Out of Your Email Marketing Strategy with Matt Ragland Dec 06, 2022

Getting started with email marketing, encouraging people to sign up for your list, and creating a strong email marketing strategy with Matt Ragland.

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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:

-----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

385: Teaching Cooking Classes in Your Community as a Food Creator with Ashley Covelli Nov 29, 2022

Getting comfortable on camera, running online cooking classes, and maximizing your productivity with Ashley Covelli from Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen.

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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:

384: How Toni Okamoto Runs Two Food Blogs and Grew Her Email List to Over 80,000 Subscribers Nov 22, 2022

Running two food blogs, building a team, and rapidly growing an email list with Toni Okamoto from Plant-Based on a Budget.

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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:

-----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

383: TikTok, Whisk, and the Importance of Leaning into Video as a Food Creator with Julie Tran Deily Nov 15, 2022

Creating viral food videos, sharing videos on TikTok, and editing your videos for different platforms with Julie Tran Deily.

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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 Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
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

382: 4 Tips for Negotiating Sponsored Content Contracts and Setting Your Rates with Jenny Meassick Nov 08, 2022

Reaching out to brands, negotiating sponsored content contracts, and determining your rates with Jenny Meassick from Chocolate & Lace.

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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
Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media
LISS Legal
Find Danielle Liss on FBP
Follow Jenny on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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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

381: Developing Foolproof Recipes with Katie Webster Nov 01, 2022

Knowing a recipe is ready to publish, why recipe testing starts at the grocery store, and starting with a Hypothesis Draft with Katie Webster.

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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:

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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.

380: What Google is Expecting from Food Creators with Arsen Rabinovich Oct 25, 2022

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.

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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:

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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.

379: 5 Tips for Growing Your Blog with a Full-Time Job with Shweta Garg Oct 18, 2022

Managing your time as a blogger, investing in your business, and building connections with other food bloggers with Shweta Garg from Masala and Chai.

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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:

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

378: Monetizing as a Food Creator Through Digital Products, Cookbooks, and Ads with Tessa Arias Oct 11, 2022

Diversifying your revenue streams, selling digital products, and finding your niche as a food creator with Tessa Arias from Handle the Heat.

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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 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

377: Q4 Advice for Food Creators from the Food Blogger Pro Experts Oct 04, 2022

Creating a content plan for Q4 and maximizing your revenue as a food creator with advice from the Food Blogger Pro Experts.

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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:

376: Organizing and Running Large-Scale Virtual Events for Creators with Stefani Pollack Sep 27, 2022

Running virtual events, getting brands involved, and promoting the events to creators with Stefani Pollack from The Bake Fest.

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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, Facebook, and Pinterest
Follow The Bake Fest 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

375: From Blogger to Cookbook Author (Part Two) – Preserving Family Recipes Through Cookbooks with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack Sep 20, 2022

Writing a cookbook proposal, finding a literary agent, and writing a cookbook with a co-author with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack from Muy Bueno.

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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:

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

374: From Blogger to Cookbook Author – How Adrianna Adarme Sold 110,000 Copies of Her Cookbook Sep 13, 2022

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.

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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:

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

373: How to Leverage Your Expertise and Passion to Teach Online Cooking Classes with Cynthia Samanian Sep 06, 2022

Finding your purpose as a business owner and teaching engaging online cooking classes with Cynthia Samanian from Culinary Creator Business School.

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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:

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

372: How Elena Davis Went From 20k to 100k+ Monthly Pageviews and Got Accepted Into Mediavine Aug 30, 2022

Getting accepted into Mediavine, running in-person cooking classes, and selling products as a content creator with Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena.

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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:

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

371: Becoming Full-Time Entrepreneurs and Growing Multiple Businesses with Bjork & Lindsay on the Simple Pin Podcast Aug 23, 2022

Becoming full-time entrepreneurs, building a team, and growing multiple businesses with Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom.

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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:

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

370: How Caitlin Shoemaker Became a Full-Time Food Creator with 778K Subscribers on YouTube Aug 16, 2022

Becoming a full-time content creator, growing a YouTube channel, and repurposing content across different platforms with Caitlin Shoemaker from From My Bowl.

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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:

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

369: Developing Your Voice and Connecting With Your Readers When Writing with Jessica Holmes Aug 09, 2022

Writing compelling blog posts, developing your voice, and connecting with your readers with Jessica Holmes from Sweetest Menu.

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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

368: Becoming a TV Personality and Growing a Food and Lifestyle Brand with Rosalynn Daniels Aug 02, 2022

Booking TV appearances, working with brands, and growing a food and lifestyle brand with Rosalynn Daniels.

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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

367: Brainstorming Content Ideas with Ranking Potential and Writing Great Blog Posts with Ashley Segura Jul 26, 2022

Developing a content strategy and writing blog posts that will get traffic to your blog with Ashley Segura from TopHatContent.

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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 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

366: How Rob and Jen Morris Teach Home Bakers How to Start a Successful Bakery Business Jul 19, 2022

Starting a small business academy and teaching others how to start a successful bakery business with Rob and Jen Morris.

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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

365: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron Jul 12, 2022

Finding your Zone of Genius, knowing when to hire, and writing a compelling job listing with Emily Perron.

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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:

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

364: Self-Publishing a Cookbook as an Online Food Creator with Chelsea Cole Jul 05, 2022

Self-publishing two cookbooks, staying organized when writing a cookbook, and tips for writing a cookbook with Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven.

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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:

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

363: What Bloggers Need to Know About Google Analytics 4 with Alison Bechdol Jun 28, 2022

Installing Google Analytics 4 and understanding the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics with Alison Bechdol from Digital-ade.

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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 podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

362: How to Increase Your Organic Traffic with Keyword Research with Aleka Shunk Jun 21, 2022

Getting started with keyword research, finding the right keyword research tool, and tracking your keywords with Aleka Shunk from Cooking With Keywords.

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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 Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

361: Earning $2,500 in One Day and Traveling Full-Time as a Food Blogger with Eric Samuelson Jun 14, 2022

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.

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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:

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

360: How Eden Westbrook Shifted Her Mindset and Became a Full-Time Food Blogger Jun 07, 2022

Shifting your mindset, finding your niche, and becoming a full-time food blogger with Eden Westbrook from Sweet Tea and Thyme.

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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

359: 5 Mistakes Food Creators Make with Email Marketing with Amy Katz May 31, 2022

Growing your email list, increasing your open rate, and earning revenue through email marketing with Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day.

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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

358: How Anela Malik Grew a Successful Subscription-Based Membership Community May 24, 2022

Becoming a full-time creator and building a subscription-based membership community with Anela Malik from Feed The Malik and Magic at the Margins.

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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:

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

357: How Content Batching Helped Amanda Scarlati Go From 7,500 to 65k Pageviews in One Year May 17, 2022

Batching content, investing in your business, and strategically planning out your content with Amanda Scarlati from Saporito Kitchen.

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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:

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

356: Achieving Financial Independence, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, and Sharing Content Confidently with Jillian Johnsrud May 10, 2022

Achieving financial independence, overcoming imposter syndrome, and sharing content confidently with Jillian Johnsrud.

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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:

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

355: 5 Easy Ways to Improve Your Food Photography with Joanie Simon May 03, 2022

Shooting in manual mode, understanding lighting, and other photography tips with Joanie Simon from The Bite Shot.

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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:

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

354: Sharing Zambian Food and Growing a Freelance Photography Business with Clara Kapelembe Bwali Apr 26, 2022

Growing a freelance photography business, developing your photography skills, and sharing Zambian food with the world with Clara Kapelembe Bwali from Black Garlic.

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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:

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

353: Getting the Most Out of Pinterest as a Content Creator in 2022 with Jane Ko Apr 19, 2022

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.

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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

352: How to Optimize Your Ad Revenue with Paul Bannister and Courtney Kahn from AdThrive Apr 12, 2022

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.

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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:

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

351: Understanding Data Collection, GDPR, and CCPA as a Content Creator with Danielle Liss Apr 05, 2022

Diversifying your revenue streams as an influencer, understanding GDPR and CCPA, and protecting your business with Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal.

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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:

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

350: Results and Takeaways from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey Mar 29, 2022

Setting actionable goals, working through common struggles as a food creator, and more takeaways from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Listener Survey.

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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
Akismet
Imagify
Google Web Stories
Rank Math
WP-Optimize
Nutrifox
ConvertKit
Creating Content courses – available for FBP members!
Instagram for Food Bloggers course – available for FBP members!
Keyword Research Live Q&A – available for everyone
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

349: How to Live More Sustainably and Avoid Food Waste as a Food Blogger with Marley Goldin Mar 22, 2022

Making conscious decisions about food, living more sustainably, and avoiding food waste as a food blogger with Marley Goldin from Marley's Menu.

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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:

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

348: Leaning into a Niche, Blogging as a Creative Outlet, and Embracing Each Step of the Journey with Camila Hurst Mar 15, 2022

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.

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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:

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

347: Building Accessible Websites – Writing Good Alt Text, Identifying Issues, and Creating Content That’s Accessible for Everyone with Bet Hannon Mar 08, 2022

Identifying accessibility issues, writing accessibility policies, and writing good alt text with Bet Hannon from Bet Hannon Business Websites.

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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:

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

346: 600K YouTube Subscribers – How Jenné Claiborne Built Her Team, Leaned into Video, and Went From Private Chef to Content Creator Mar 01, 2022

Growing on different social platforms, transitioning businesses, and building a team with Jenné Claiborne from Sweet Potato Soul.

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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:

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

345: Building Long-Term Relationships with Brands – Running a Creative Production Agency with Alisha Cohen Feb 22, 2022

Starting a creative production agency, using social media to book clients, and nurturing long-term relationships with brands with Alisha Cohen from LISH Creative.

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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
Follow Alisha on Instagram
Apply for the FBP Content Specialist position!
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

344: Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Three) – Running a Niche Blog with a Partner with Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams Feb 15, 2022

Leaning into a niche, blogging as a partnership, and focusing on short-term goals with Sara Mohr and Louisa Williams from Real Meals Modified.

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/membership

343: Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part Two) – How Focusing on SEO Led to $2,000 Monthly Earnings with Cree Carraway Feb 08, 2022

Focusing on SEO rather than social media, implementing keyword research, and sharing content authentically with Cree Carraway from Cooking With Bliss.

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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 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

342: Blogging with a Full-Time Job (Part One) – Optimizing Your Time with David Crowley Feb 01, 2022

Connecting with your community, being strategic with your time when blogging, and hiring the right people with David Crowley from Cooking Chat.

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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:

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

341: Eat the Culture – Building Community and Empowering Black Culinary Creators with Meiko Temple Jan 25, 2022

Building community, empowering Black culinary creators, and building a bridge for equity and representation in food media with Meiko Temple from Eat the Culture.

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/membership

340: TikTok Strategy – How Benjamin Delwiche Gained 500K TikTok Followers in One Year Jan 18, 2022

Leaning into a niche on TikTok, repurposing videos across different platforms, and working with brands on TikTok with Benjamin Delwiche from Benjamin the Baker.

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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

339: Tech Check-In – The Best Plugins and Tools for Food Bloggers in 2022 with Andrew Wilder Jan 11, 2022

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.

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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:

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

338: Reflecting and Looking Forward – 5 Themes From 2021 with Bjork Ostrom Jan 04, 2022

Creating valuable content, delegating and elevating tasks, and setting business and life goals with Bjork Ostrom.

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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

337: Shifting Your Mindset – Leaning into SEO and Learning from Industry Experts with Ali Stafford Dec 28, 2021

Focusing on SEO, diversifying your revenue streams, and developing a consistent email marketing strategy with Ali Stafford from Alexandra’s Kitchen.

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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:

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

336: FBP Rewind – The Freedom of a Niche with Isabel Orozco-Moore Dec 21, 2021

Rebranding a food blog, leaning into a niche, and Keep-Delegate-Delete lists with Isabel Orozco-Moore from Isabel Eats.

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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

335: Baking for Business – How Amanda Schonberg Helps Home Bakers Start, Grow, and Scale Their Baking Businesses Dec 14, 2021

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.

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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:

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

334: Crafting the Perfect Pitch – How to Build and Nurture Strong Relationships with Brands with Chandice Probst Dec 07, 2021

Focusing on your strengths, creating a strong media kit, and crafting enticing pitches for brands with Chandice Probst from This Vivacious Life.

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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
The Foreign Fork
Marco Polo
Growth University
Mediavine
InfluenceKit
Follow Chandice 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

333: Serving Your Audience – How Emma Duckworth Doubled Her Pageviews by Focusing on SEO Nov 30, 2021

Improving your food photography skills, getting a cookbook deal, and focusing on SEO with Emma Duckworth from Emma Duckworth Bakes.

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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 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

332: Featured Podcast – Strategically Monetizing Your Food Blog with Bjork on the Eat, Capture, Share Podcast Nov 23, 2021

Transitioning to full-time blogging, leaning into your strengths, and following your own path as an entrepreneur with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

331: Building Community – How Abbey Rodriguez Founded and Grew Tastemaker Conference Nov 16, 2021

Founding a food blogging conference, getting brands involved with a conference, and building community around events with Abbey Rodriguez, founder of Tastemaker Conference.

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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
Attendify
The Minne Stuga
Zillow SNL Skit
The Inspired Home Show
Follow Tastemaker Conference on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
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

330: Honing Your Craft – How Ana Zelić Improved Her Food Photography Skills and Got Her Debut Cookbook Deal Nov 09, 2021

Growing a blog with a full-time job, taking photography courses, and getting a cookbook deal with Ana Zelić from Ana's Baking Chronicles.

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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:

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

329: Social Media Strategy – Creating a Content Plan, Growing Your Following, and Diversifying Your Platforms with Andrea Balogun Nov 02, 2021

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.

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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:

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

328: Hosting Events – How Liz Della Croce Plans and Runs Successful Food Blogger Retreats Oct 26, 2021

Hosting food blogger retreats, diversifying your income streams, and capitalizing on your strengths with Liz Della Croce from The Lemon Bowl.

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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:

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

327: Understanding the Google Algorithm – Tracking Google Updates and Analyzing Traffic Drops with Casey Markee Oct 19, 2021

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.

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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:

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

326: Content Batching – Planning, Scheduling, and Creating Blog Posts Months Ahead of Time with Karli Bitner Oct 12, 2021

Batch producing content, choosing a niche, and strategically delegating tasks with Karli Bitner from Cooking with Karli.

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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, YouTube, 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

325: Bilingual Blogging – How Alejandra Graf Shares Recipes on Her Blog in English and Spanish Oct 05, 2021

Using a plugin to blog in multiple languages, strategically growing your team, and maximizing your productivity with Alejandra Graf from BrownSugar&Vanilla.

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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:

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

324: Building Strong Partnerships – How Bob's Red Mill Works with Content Creators on Sponsored Content Sep 28, 2021

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.

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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

323: Understanding the Numbers – Optimizing Your Blog's Financials with Ansley Beutler Sep 21, 2021

Tracking your expenses, optimizing your business for tax season, and setting yourself up for success financially with Ansley Beutler from Peach Perfect Financials.

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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:

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

322: Going All In – How Sarah Cook Went From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews Sep 14, 2021

Investing money into your business, deleting posts to encourage growth, and the importance of having accountability partners with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks.

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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:

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

321: The EXITpreneur's Playbook – Maximizing Your Profits When Selling a Business with Joe Valley Sep 07, 2021

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.

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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:

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

320: Learning By Doing – How Chelsey White Grew Her Online Community of Millions as a Solopreneur Aug 31, 2021

Succeeding on different social media platforms, managing partnerships with brands, and shifting content strategies over time with Chelsey White from Chelsweets.

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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

319: From Attorney to Food Blogger - How Mike Johnson Grew His Popular Instagram Account into a Full-Time Business Aug 24, 2021

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.

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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 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

318: FBP Rewind – How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4 Aug 17, 2021

Maximizing your Q4 revenue, how to keep the Q4 momentum, and republishing content with Bjork Ostrom and Jenna Arend.

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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:

317: Optimizing for Growth - Developing Habits for Long-Term Success with Nisha Melvani Aug 10, 2021

Creating content you're passionate about, choosing the right tools for success, and finding a work-life balance with Nisha Melvani.

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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:

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

316: Book Nook – Five Takeaways from Rich Dad Poor Dad with Bjork Ostrom Aug 03, 2021

How to invest in yourself, how to make your money work for you, and other key takeaways from Rich Dad Poor Dad.

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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:

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

315: Decolonizing the Food Industry — Sharing African Food, Breaking Down Stereotypes, and Combating Cultural Appropriation with Zoe Adjonyoh Jul 27, 2021

How to combat food stereotypes, understand cultural appropriation, and support an African food revolution with Zoe Adjonyoh.

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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:

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

314: Creative Food Photography — How Kimberly Espinel Teaches and Inspires Food Photographers Jul 20, 2021

How to find your unique photography style, create content for your audience, and grow a successful business with Kimberly Espinel.

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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:

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

313: Side Hustle Income - How Charli Prangley Doubled Her Side Hustle Income in One Year Jul 13, 2021

How to make business branding decisions, what it means to be authentically vulnerable, and diversifying income with Charli Prangley.

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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:

About This Week's Sponsor

We're excited to announce that this week's episode is sponsored by our sister site, Clariti!

With Clariti, you can easily organize your blog content for maximum growth. Create campaigns to add alt text to your posts, fix broken images, remove any broken links, and more, all within the Clariti app.

Sign up for the Clariti waitlist today to receive:

Early access to their $25/Month Forever pricing
Optimization ideas for your site content
An invitation to join their exclusive Slack community
And more!

You can learn more and sign up 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

312: FBP Rewind – How Pinch of Yum Works with Brands with Jenna Arend Jul 06, 2021

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.

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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:

311: Finding Your Why - Creating Intentional Content as a Creative Outlet with Katie Olsen Jun 29, 2021

Blogging as a creative outlet, balancing a blog with a full-time job, and creating intentional content with Katie Olsen from Katiebird Bakes.

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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:

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

310: The Confident Pitch - How to Naturally Build Relationships with Brands with Candice Ward Jun 22, 2021

Finding the right clients, strategies for creating a media kit, and making money from freelance food photography with Candice Ward.

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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

309: Create with Intention - $130,000 in the First Week by Creating Premium Offerings for Your Audience with Shawn Blanc Jun 15, 2021

Charging for content, creating an online course, and going from indie blogger to multi-business owner with Shawn Blanc.

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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:

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

308: Virtual Events - Earn an Income by Teaching Classes Online with Tomas Hoyos Jun 08, 2021

How to host a successful live event, monetize live cooking classes, and promote your classes with Tomas Hoyos.

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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

307: Will Write for Food - How to Make Money by Writing about Food with Dianne Jacob Jun 01, 2021

Working with publishers, earning an income through food writing, and paid newsletters with Dianne Jacob.

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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

306: Core Web Vitals - What Food Bloggers Need to Know About User Experience and Google with Andrew Wilder May 25, 2021

What Core Web Vitals are, how they impact Google search rankings, and when they'll impact the Google search algorithm with Andrew Wilder.

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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:

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

305: Non-Traditional Success - Optimizing for Happiness with Jason Glaspey May 18, 2021

Selling a business, doing the work you enjoy, and connecting with others online with Jason Glaspey.

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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

304: FBP Rewind - Making Great Content with Sam Adler May 11, 2021

Winning a Saveur Blog Award, using color to enhance food photography, and the elements of high-quality content with Sam Adler.

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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:

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

303: Breaking Boundaries - Building, Running, and Monetizing a Content Brand with Kelly Senyei May 04, 2021

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

302: Growth Strategies - Growing Your Brand on YouTube and Beyond with Nisha Vora Apr 27, 2021

Ways to grow your online brand, the most important YouTube metrics, and building a team with Nisha Vora.

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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

301: Less Work, More Traffic - A Free Workshop (+ 7 Ways to Strategically Use Google Search Console!) Apr 20, 2021

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.

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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

300: Core Values - Who We Are and Why We Do What We Do with Bjork Ostrom Apr 13, 2021

How we're going to start incorporating video into our podcast episodes and the five TinyBit core values with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

299: Product Management - Building the Right Things for the Right People with Ben Holland Apr 06, 2021

Interviewing your audience, understanding your customer's problems, and product management tools with Ben Holland.

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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:

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

298: Book Nook - Six Takeaways from The E Myth Revisited with Bjork Ostrom Mar 30, 2021

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.

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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:

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

297: Blog Flipping - Developing, Monetizing, and Selling Websites with Chelsea Clarke Mar 23, 2021

Why people sell websites, how the website buying and selling process works, and the characteristics that make a site more valuable with Chelsea Clarke.

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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

296: Web Stories - An Informal, Intentional Way to Engage Your Audience and Reach New People with Kingston Duffie Mar 16, 2021

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.

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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:

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

295: Writing and Developing Recipes - From Culinary School to Working in a Restaurant to Blogging with Leslie Jeon Mar 09, 2021

How to test recipes, communicate the important features of a recipe, and standardize the recipes on your blog with Leslie Jeon.

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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:

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

294: Bake Offs – Producing a Different Kind of Recipe Content for a Food Blog with Erika Kwee Mar 02, 2021

How to create unique recipe content, balance a blog and a full-time job, and produce content your readers will love with Erika Kwee.

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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:

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

293: A $100k Side Hustle - How to Balance a Full-Time Job and a Profitable Side Hustle with Brett Lindenberg Feb 23, 2021

Keyword research and content types and the decisions that helped increase Food Truck Empire's income with Brett Lindenberg.

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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:

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

292: Life Profitability - Building a Business that Can Serve Your Life with Adii Pienaar Feb 16, 2021

How to measure Life Profitability, practicing mindfulness, and how your personal values can connect to your brand's values with Adii Pienaar.

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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:

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

291: Going Live - How to Inspire Your Audience Through Live Events with Angel Marie Feb 09, 2021

Inspiring your audience, how to confidently host a live event, and communication before and after an event with Angel Marie.

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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 the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

290: Blogger Burnout - Ways to Strengthen Your Relationship with Your Work with Bjork Ostrom Feb 01, 2021

How to track user-controlled analytics, what a mental activity monitor is, and how to align with your journey with Bjork Ostrom.

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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

289: The Rise - How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected the Restaurant Industry and Celebrating Black Culture in American Food with Marcus Samuelsson Jan 26, 2021

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.

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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

288: Email for Bloggers - Maximizing the Value of Your Email List with Allea Grummert Jan 19, 2021

Setting up a welcome sequence, how to segment your email subscribers, and gaining new subscribers with Allea Grummert.

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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:

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

287: Entrepreneurial Balance - An Honest Conversation about Life and Business with Russ and Natalie Monson Jan 12, 2021

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.

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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:

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

286: Build Your Team - How to Write an Eye-Catching Job Listing and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron Jan 05, 2021

Screening applicants, knowing you're ready to hire, and the best questions to ask in an interview with Emily Perron.

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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:

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

285: FBP Rewind - Feeling Stuck - What To Do When You Feel Like You’ve Done Everything with Bjork Ostrom Dec 29, 2020

How to pay attention to when you feel tension, focusing on your craft, and serving your audience as a blogger with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

284: FBP Rewind - Income - Making More Money Without Doing More Work with Bjork Ostrom Dec 22, 2020

How to understand small business taxes, what S-Corp elections are, and how to review your blogging expenses every quarter with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

283: Looking Forward - How to Make 2021 a TinyBit Better with Bjork Ostrom Dec 15, 2020

The value of offering help, utilizing processes to make decisions, and reserving some unstructured time for yourself with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

282: 9 Things - Helpful, Impactful Takeaways from This Year with Bjork Ostrom Dec 08, 2020

How to use a framework to accomplish a goal, asking for help, evaluating your needs, and thinking about your legacy with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

281: The Business of Food Photography - Building a Food Photography Career with Christina Peters Dec 01, 2020

How to build a high-quality food photography business, finding clients, and organizing shoot days with Christina Peters.

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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:

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

280: A New Recipe Experience - Getting Started with SideChef with Sandie Markle Nov 24, 2020

How SideChef works with partners, creating clear step-by-step recipes, and how to use SideChef with Sandie Markle.

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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

279: Financial Independence - How to Be Efficient with Your Money with Anna Rider Nov 17, 2020

Trimming unnecessary spending, how to start tracking your spending and budgeting, and working towards financial freedom with Anna Rider.

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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:

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

278: Lessons from a Veteran Food Blogger - How to Overcome a 60% Dip in Traffic with Carrie Forrest Nov 10, 2020

Deleting content on a blog, noindexing posts, and optimizing blog category pages with Carrie Forrest.

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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:

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

277: Care For Yourself - Mental Health for Entrepreneurs with Sherry Walling Nov 03, 2020

Finding balance in entrepreneurship, engaging with your significant other about your business, and dealing with burnout with Sherry Walling.

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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 foodbloggerpro.com/membership

276: Featured Podcast - Scaling Your Business & Providing Massive Value with Bjork on the Irie Lemon Podcast Oct 27, 2020

Transitioning to full-time blogging, running a blog as a business, and making every day enjoyable with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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

275: Optimizing Ads - How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Display Ads with Paul Bannister and Becca Clark Oct 20, 2020

Ad revenue in Q4, common traits of top ad revenue-earning sites, and balancing ad revenue and user experience with AdThrive.

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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:

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

274: Q&A - How Food Bloggers Can Make the Most Out of Q4 Oct 13, 2020

Maximizing your Q4 revenue, how to keep the Q4 momentum, and republishing content with Bjork Ostrom and Jenna Arend.

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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:

273: Protecting Your Content - Policies and Trademarks and Disclaimers...oh my! with Danielle Liss Oct 06, 2020

How to create and maintain Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, disclaimers, and more to protect your content with Danielle Liss.

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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:

272: Create Your Own Room - Finding Balance with Les Alfred Sep 29, 2020

Tips for dealing with Imposter Syndrome, managing a podcast, and starting a new brand with Les Alfred.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

271: Serving Your Subscribers - Running a Subscription-Based Business in 2020 with Melissa Lanz Sep 22, 2020

How consumers use subscriptions, how to stay competitive as a subscription-based business, and how to get paid for your work with Melissa Lanz.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

270: Get It Done - 11 Apps to Make You Superhuman with Bjork Ostrom Sep 15, 2020

How to remind yourself of personal and business tasks, protect your stuff from theft, and keep a tidy computer with Bjork Ostrom.

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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.

269: Quality Content - How To Create The Best Recipes for Your Readers with Sally McKenney Sep 08, 2020

How to manage a team as a blogger, republish content, and identify high-quality content with Sally McKenney.

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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.

268: FBP Rewind - Blogging Misconceptions, How to Choose a Host, and Why WordPress Sep 01, 2020

Is the blogging niche too saturated, how to find a good host for your website, and the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

267: FBP Rewind - An Architect’s Journey to Becoming a Freelance Food Photographer with Ashley McLaughlin Aug 25, 2020

Creating a freelance photography business, shooting in manual mode, understanding a DSLR, and tips for improving your food photography skills with Ashley McLaughlin.

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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
Canon 35mm f/1.4L
Bubble Level
Ashley’s Photography Series
Follow Edible Perspective 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.

266: FBP Rewind - Write More, Write Better, and Write Smarter with Gabriela Pereira Aug 18, 2020

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

265: Adapting and Adjusting - Having a Gratitude Mindset with Beth Moncel Aug 11, 2020

Delegating work, how to solve your readers' problems, and dedicating time to learn with Beth Moncel.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

264: Persistence - Building a Seven-Figure Blogging Business with Chelsea Lords Aug 04, 2020

Creating reader-first content, how to effectively work with brands, and creating a seven-figure income with Chelsea Lords.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

263: Creating with Confidence - Consistency, Quality Content, and Establishing Trust with Tieghan Gerard Jul 28, 2020

How to advocate for your brand, the importance of content, and growing an Instagram following to 1.7 million with Tieghan Gerard.

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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 for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

262: A Food Blogging Journey - Freelancing, Ads, Working with Brands, Catering, and Writing a Cookbook with Mary Cressler and Sean Martin Jul 21, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

261: Managing Sponsored Content - How to Work With Brands with Bruno Bornsztein Jul 14, 2020

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.

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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:

260: Managing Sponsored Content - How Pinch of Yum Works with Brands with Jenna Arend Jul 07, 2020

How to communicate with brands, work with brands goals in mind, and manage sponsored content work with Pinch of Yum's Jenna Arend.

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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:

259: Keep Showing Up - Finding Success On YouTube with Beth Le Manach Jun 30, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

258: Uncorked - Conversations on Race and Wine with Julia Coney Jun 24, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

257: Where Do We Go From Here - Pinch of Yum Post Recap Jun 16, 2020

Our favorite resources to help support black-owned businesses and learn more about being actively anti-racist with Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

An Update Jun 02, 2020

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 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

256: Career Transitioning - Love Your Next Career with Wendy Braitman May 26, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

255: How-To Videos - Engaging Video Made Simple with Jake Poses May 19, 2020

How the Jumprope app works, why how-to videos are great for recipe creators, and the importance of stories with Jake Poses.

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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.

254: Leveraging Traffic - What You Can Do With More Website Traffic May 12, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

253: Growth Hacking - How Yumna Jawad Got 2.2M Followers on Instagram and 200K Followers on TikTok May 05, 2020

How to grow an audience on social media, why connection is important, and how to post unique content to TikTok with Yumna Jawad.

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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.

252: Expert Check-In - What You Should Know About Traffic, Sponsored Content, and Pinterest in 2020 Apr 28, 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.

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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:

Meet the Food Blogger Pro Experts
NerdPress
UptimeRobot
Pingdom
WebAIM
What is Website Accessibility?
Six Ways to Make Your Website More Accessible
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Connect with Andrew via email – support@nerdpress.net
Businessese
Liss Legal
Sponsored Content Bootcamp– for members only
Connect with Danielle on Instagram
Simple Pin Media
How people use Pinterest
Pinterest Trends
Pinterest Business blog
Google Analytics course – for members only
Email Pinterest support – creators-support@pinterest.com
Pinterest Account Suspended? Here’s What to Do
The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on Pinch of Yum
Simple Pin Podcast
Follow Kate on Pinterest

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

251: Empathy - The Power of Understanding and Serving Your Audience with Laurie Buckle Apr 21, 2020

How creators can navigate the pandemic, how you can evolve your content, and knowing who you're serving as a blogger with Laurie Buckle.

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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.

250: Focus Management - Conditioning Yourself to Do More Meaningful Work with Dave Crenshaw Apr 14, 2020

The costs associated with switchtasking, the difference between time management and focus management, and how to restore your missing minute with Dave Crenshaw.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

249: Team Check-In - Redesigning a Membership Site, Fulfilling a Need in the Market, and Step-by-Step Recipe Videos Apr 07, 2020

What to consider when launching a redesign, how to get involved with Clariti, and step-by-step videos with the Tasty Recipes plugin.

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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.

248: Running at an Incline - How Pinch of Yum is Approaching Content in a Difficult Season Mar 31, 2020

How Pinch of Yum is approaching sponsored content, planning new content, and letting go of certain tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

247: Covering the Basics - Running a Business During a Pandemic Mar 24, 2020

Remembering to care for the essentials, how to approach content creation during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the importance of avoiding disastertunity.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

246: Hiring - Building a Better Team with Moses Balian Mar 17, 2020

Hiring a contractor vs. an employee, how employee benefits work, and how you can start building your team with Moses Balian.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

245: Feeling Stuck - What To Do When You Feel Like You've Done Everything with Bjork Ostrom Mar 10, 2020

The importance of limiting comparison, how to be flexible, focusing on your craft, and why posting frequency isn't very important with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

244: Diversification - Solving Business Challenges & Acquiring Profitable Businesses with Kevin McArdle Mar 03, 2020

How SaaS businesses solve problems, tips for diversifying your portfolio, and the importance of delegating with Kevin McArdle.

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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.

243: Best-in-Class Content - Keyword Research, Creating Value, and Authority with Ewen Finser Feb 25, 2020

Why keyword research is so important, what EAT means, and updating content with Ewen Finser.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

242: Social Trends - Pinterest in 2020 with Kate Ahl Feb 18, 2020

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

241: Social Trends - Facebook and Instagram in 2020 with Abby Bayatpour Feb 11, 2020

Facebook groups as part of a social strategy, building engagement on Instagram, and how to streamline writing your Instagram captions with Abby Bayatpour.

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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 course - for members only
Social Strategy Live Q&A - for members only
Follow Abby on Instagram

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

240: Income - Making More Money Without Doing More Work with Bjork Ostrom Feb 04, 2020

How home office deductions work, why you should consider hiring a CPA, and how to track your mileage with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

239: Ten Years - The Seasons of Pinch of Yum with Lindsay Ostrom Jan 28, 2020

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.

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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.

238: Understanding Ads - How to Increase Your Earnings from Ads with Bjork Ostrom Jan 21, 2020

Ad-supported video players, why user experience is important, and understanding ad impressions with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

237: The One Thing - What We're Excited to Focus On in 2020 Jan 14, 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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

236: Themes - Performance-Focused Designs with Bill Erickson Jan 07, 2020

How your site design can impact site speed, optimizing your category pages, and how to build your own thing with Bill Erickson.

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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.

235: FBP Rewind - Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year with Bjork Ostrom Dec 31, 2019

Setting SMART goals, understanding the why behind your goals, and the importance of gratitude with Bjork Ostrom.

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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.

234: FBP Rewind - How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas Dec 24, 2019

Why you should start gratitude journaling, the Five Minute Journal, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe with UJ Ramdas.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

233: 7 Questions – Ask Yourself These Questions at the End of the Year with Bjork Ostrom Dec 17, 2019

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.

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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.

232: Repurposing Video - Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell Dec 10, 2019

How to repurpose recipe videos, why watch time is important on YouTube, and how to charge for client work with Brita Britnell.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

231: A Better Experience - Building Engagement, Not Just Traffic with Kingston Duffie Dec 03, 2019

Figuring out your "why," how to determine success based on metrics, and why search is so important on websites with Kingston Duffie.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

230: Membership Sites - How to Gain and Retain Members with Mike Morrison Nov 26, 2019

Evergreen content, onboarding your members, reducing churn, and segmenting your marketing lists with Mike Morrison.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

229: Email Marketing - Strategies for Bloggers with Allea Grummert Nov 19, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

228: Focus - The Freedom of a Niche with Isabel Orozco-Moore Nov 12, 2019

Rebranding a food blog, leaning into a niche, and Keep-Delegate-Delete lists with Isabel Orozco-Moore.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

227: FBP Rewind - 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek Nov 05, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

226: FBP Rewind - The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman Oct 29, 2019

How to navigate the fall, the importance of play, and protecting the everyday with Melissa Coleman.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

225: Your Questions Answered - Bjork Answers Your Blog Monetization, Content, and Social Questions Oct 22, 2019

Using your area of expertise to create content, using ads for your website, and the biggest earning potential from blogging.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

224: 5 Routines - Adding Structure to Your Day with Bjork Ostrom Oct 15, 2019

How to filter your emails, why you should create a morning routine, and how to perform quarterly Google Search Console reviews.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

223: Full Potential - Extracting All of the Juice from Your Content Oct 08, 2019

What a post log is, how Pinch of Yum uses their blog post log, and how to automate the creation of your post log.

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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.

222: All In - Leaving a Full-Time Job to Work on a Side Gig with Tommy Griffith Oct 01, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

221: Live - Bjork Goes Live to Answer Your Blogging Questions Sep 24, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

220: Grow - Finding Your Tribe, Growing Your Social Media Reach, and Tools to Measure Growth Sep 17, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

219: Start - Blogging Misconceptions, How to Choose a Host, and Why WordPress Sep 10, 2019

Why there's still a place for your blog, how to choose a good WordPress host, and why we recommend WordPress for food bloggers.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

218: Monetization: Display Ad Strategy, Finding Your Sponsored Content Rate, and Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers Sep 03, 2019

When you should add display ads to your site, how to find your sponsored content rate, and how to be an effective affiliate.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

217: Processes - Storing Video Files, Producing a Podcast, and Managing Sponsored Content Aug 27, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

216: Content - Are Recipes Copyrightable, Layers in Food Photography, and New Resources for Food Bloggers Aug 20, 2019

How recipe copyrighting works, important parts of a food photograph, how to find your photography style, and new content on Food Blogger Pro.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

215: Share - Encouraging Others to Pin Your Content, Creating an Instagram Story Series, and Understanding Engagement Aug 13, 2019

Pinning what's important on Pinterest, establishing an Instagram Story series, and tips for understanding engagement.

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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

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

214: Optimize - Making Old Content Better, Building Authority, and Understanding the Impact of Your Optimizations Aug 06, 2019

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.

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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, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

213: Trends - The Latest in Site Speed, How to Find Timely Content, and Social Media Trends Jul 30, 2019

Trends in site speed, how to publish trendy content on your blog, using hashtags on Pinterest, and creating a patterned Instagram grid.

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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.

212: New - A New Format, Crafting New Content, and New Courses for Bloggers Jul 23, 2019

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.

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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.

211: Enrollment Week at Food Blogger Pro Jul 16, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

210: Pinch of Yum's Instagram Playbook with Lindsay Ostrom Jul 09, 2019

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

209: FBP Rewind: How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron Jul 02, 2019

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.

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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.

208: Success Story: Full-Time Blogging and Physical Products with Suzy Karadsheh Jun 25, 2019

How to lean into a blogging niche, how to sell physical products online, and how blogging has changed through the years with Suzy Karadsheh.

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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:

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.

207: Consciously Uncoupling and Crafting the Ideal Workspace with Melissa Coleman Jun 18, 2019

Building routines to deal with daily chaos, how parameters help you design, and tips for refining your design with Melissa Coleman.

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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.

206: YouTube for Food Influencers with Tim Schmoyer Jun 11, 2019

How YouTube prioritizes videos, why YouTube is different from other social platforms, and the characteristics of successful YouTube accounts with Tim Schmoyer.

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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:

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.

205: Fitness, Finance, and Fun - How (and Why) You Need to Build a Personal Board of Directors Jun 04, 2019

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.

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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.

204: Company Structure - LLCs, S-Corps, and Accounting, oh my! May 28, 2019

What is an EIN, how to separate your business finances from your personal finances, and keeping your books in order with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

203: Low-Hanging Fruit - How We’re Finding and Juicing the Low-Hanging Fruits in Our Businesses with Bjork Ostrom May 21, 2019

Balancing the attention you give to ads, increasing your business' earning potential, and making a blog visit more valuable with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

202: WP Tasty - Our Early Stage Strategy for Building Traffic and Marketing with Bjork Ostrom May 14, 2019

Retargeting website visitors, specific opt-ins, and quick-start guides with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

201: Email Marketing for Bloggers with Matt Molen May 07, 2019

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.

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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:

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.

200: The State of Food Blogger Pro with Bjork Ostrom Apr 30, 2019

How we built a membership site on WordPress, how we work as a team, and how we run our business with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

199: The State of Pinch of Yum with Lindsay Ostrom Apr 23, 2019

Tips for recipe development, using photography and writing templates, and working with a shoot assistant with Lindsay Ostrom.

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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.

198: Using Google Ads as a Blogger with Chris Schaeffer Apr 16, 2019

How Google Ads works, when you should consider using Google Ads, and best practices for YouTube ads with Chris Schaeffer.

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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:

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.

197: Making Sense of Your Website Analytics with Jeff Sauer Apr 09, 2019

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.

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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:

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.

196: Answering Your Questions about Influencer Marketing with Nick Brucker Apr 02, 2019

Measuring an ROI, how to fit into a brand's strategy, and long-term brand relationships with Nick Brucker.

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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.

195: Some Exciting Updates Coming to Food Blogger Pro with Bjork Ostrom Mar 26, 2019

How we started Food Blogger Pro, why we're switching to WordPress, and how to start something with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

194: Making Great Content with Sam Adler Mar 19, 2019

Finding your photography style, what makes quality content, and the Saveur Blog Awards with Sam Adler.

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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:

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.

193: Doing Less to Accomplish More with Nora Schlesinger Mar 12, 2019

The importance of a business plan, helpful tools for SEO, and making the most out of your old content with Nora Schlesinger.

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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:

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.

192: Bootstrapped Cupcakes: How Rob and Jen Built a Successful Business Mar 05, 2019

The importance of understanding a business at a whole, starting a brick and mortar business, and hiring help with Jen and Rob Morris.

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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.

191: Building a Better Bio with Ryan Walker Feb 26, 2019

Tips for Instagram success, building a product or website, and how to know when you should invest in your business with Ryan Walker.

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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.

190: Push Notifications for Bloggers with Josh Wetzel Feb 19, 2019

How notifications work, how to create a customer journey strategy, and writing engaging notifications with Josh Wetzel from OneSignal.

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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.

189: Make Less Work with Blake Bailey Feb 12, 2019

Why you should build your processes, how to create a more valuable business, and prioritizing your tasks with Blake Bailey.

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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:

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.

188: Optimizing Your Website’s Images with Simon Duduica Feb 05, 2019

Retina images, how to start optimizing your site, and the different levels of image optimization with Simon Duduica.

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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:

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.

187: How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook with Chelsea Cole Jan 29, 2019

What self-publishing is, how much you can expect to spend, and enlisting the help of others with Chelsea Cole.

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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:

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, Bob! 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.

186: How to Become a Published Author with Lindsey Smith Jan 22, 2019

Fine-tuning your book idea, book proposals, and understanding your reader with Lindsey Smith.

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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.

185: Darkness and Light: A Photographer’s Journey from Addiction to Success with Joanie Simon Jan 15, 2019

Flash photography, the road to recovery, and building a business with Joanie Simon.

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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:

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.

184: Build Better, Not Bigger, Businesses with Paul Jarvis Jan 08, 2019

Defining growth, figuring out your definition of success, and learning from those who are paying attention with Paul Jarvis.

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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:

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.

183: FBP Rewind: How to Keep Going with Bjork Ostrom Jan 01, 2019

Intentional effort, going by stopping, and finding the good with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

182: FBP Rewind: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill Dec 25, 2018

Narrowing your niche, increasing your traffic, and finding a business coach with Meggan Hill.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

181: The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman Dec 18, 2018

How to navigate the fall, the importance of play, and protecting the everyday with Melissa Coleman.

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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:

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.

180: Establishing Your Expertise with Jeff Coyle Dec 11, 2018

Quality content, becoming a subject matter expert, and finding connections in your content with Jeff Coyle.

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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:

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.

179: The Art of Buying Websites with Jeff Hunt Dec 04, 2018

Why you might want to purchase a website, how to make smart buying decisions, and how to buy a process with Jeff Hunt.

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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:

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.

178: Life, Podcasting, Blogging, and Cookbook Writing with Sonja and Alex Overhiser Nov 27, 2018

Consistent quality content, working together, and improving the process with Sonja and Alex Overhiser from A Couple Cooks.

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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:

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.

177: A Video in 2019 Q&A with Emily Caruso Nov 20, 2018

Lighting for recipe videos, different videos for different platforms, and finding your video style with Emily Caruso.

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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:

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.

176: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers with Chris Guthrie Nov 13, 2018

Top mistakes of affiliates, buyer intent, and the authentic use of affiliate links with Chris Guthrie.

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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.

175: FBP Rewind: How to Find Balance in Blogging with Ali Martin Nov 06, 2018

Photography, blogging as a career, and finding balance with Ali Martin.

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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 iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.

174: 7 Ways To Practice 1% Infinity with Bjork Ostrom Oct 30, 2018

A free event (and you're invited!), proactive content consumption, and microlearning with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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.

173: Creating What You Can't Find with Sven Raphael Schneider Oct 23, 2018

Diversifying income, a smarter way to choose tools, and forming your path with Sven Raphael Schneider.

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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:

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.

172: Dreaming Big with Olena Osipov Oct 16, 2018

Staying motivated, avoiding mistakes, and refreshing old content with Olena Osipov.

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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:

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, HayMade! 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.

171: The Business of Podcasting with Noelle Tarr Oct 09, 2018

How to keep creating content, stay relevant, and get sponsors with Noelle Tarr.

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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:

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.

170: What's Working and What's Not with the FBP Community Oct 02, 2018

How to get your content seen, use other medias to share your content, and finding the time to get through your to-dos.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

169: Insights and Observations on Starting a Business with Josh Pigford Sep 25, 2018

Caring for yourself as an entrepreneur, ignoring data, and being a painkiller with Josh Pigford.

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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:

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.

168: How to Add More Value to Your Sponsored Content with Mandi Gubler Sep 18, 2018

Why metrics are important, advice for growing your sponsored content, and how to stand out to brands with Mandi Gubler.

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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:

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.

167: The Importance of Investing in Yourself with Jessica Gavin Sep 11, 2018

How to manage your time, reinvest in your blog, and invest in yourself with Jessica Gavin.

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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:

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, Katams! 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.

166: Answering Your Questions about Pinterest with Kate Ahl Sep 04, 2018

When you can expect a burst of Pinterest traffic, the ideal number of boards, and how to disclose sponsored links with Kate Ahl.

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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:

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 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.

165: Getting Things Done with David Allen Aug 28, 2018

Creating a trusted system, creating a weekly review, and getting clearer with David Allen.

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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:

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.

164: Bjork Gets Interviewed: How to Level-Up Your Food Blog Aug 21, 2018

Advice for bloggers, starting a business, and publicizing income with Bjork Ostrom.

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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/

163: What WordPress’ Gutenberg Update Means for You with Raquel Smith Aug 14, 2018

When Gutenberg is coming and how you can prepare for this WordPress update with Raquel Smith.

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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:

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.

162: The Power of Masterminds with Andy Traub Aug 07, 2018

Being Spock, understanding masterminds, and charging to facilitate a mastermind group with Andy Traub.

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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:

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.

161: Blog Business 101: Understanding Your Accounting with Ben Sutton Jul 31, 2018

Opening a business bank account, learning from profit and losses, and what the new US tax law means for you with Ben Sutton.

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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:

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.

160: A Sneak Peek into an FBP Live Q&A with Bjork Ostrom Jul 24, 2018

Monetization strategies, thriving on social media, and ignoring comparison with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

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 wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Jul 17, 2018

Ways to pursue business growth and differentiating your income with Mark Daoust.

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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:

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, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

158: How to Grow Your Instagram Following to 100k with Lise Ode Jul 10, 2018

How to batch-create Instagram posts, improve your photography, and build a following with Lise Ode.

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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:

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.

157: More Clicks, Subscribers, and Sales with Pinterest with Kate Ahl Jul 03, 2018

Thinking about your person, treating Pinterest as a unique platform, and evaluating Pin success with Kate Ahl.

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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:

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 specifically made for food bloggers.

156: Building a Healthy Blog and a Healthy Life with Liz Della Croce Jun 26, 2018

Prioritizing your work, choosing a focus, and leading a healthy life with Liz Della Croce.

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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.

155: Keeping it Fresh and Avoiding Burnout with Bjork Ostrom Jun 19, 2018

Keeping a long-term mindset, "What I don't do" lists, and connecting with others with Bjork Ostrom.

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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.

154: 5 Tips to Improve Your Food Photography with Rachel Korinek Jun 12, 2018

The subtleties of still life photography, the importance of textures, and how to layer with Rachel Korinek.

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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:

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.

153: Playing the Game of Business with Kevin Waldron Jun 05, 2018

Evaluating your current reality, examining your past work, and becoming an effective leader with Kevin Waldron.

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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:

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.

152: 6 Blogging Mistakes Made By a Veteran Food Blogger with Carrie Forrest May 29, 2018

Dealing with burnout, making the tough decisions, and generating income your way with Carrie Forrest.

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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.

151: Designing Your Lifestyle with Stephanie Wise May 22, 2018

When it's time to take a break, how to change your mindset, and what's next for her blog with Stephanie Wise.

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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:

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.

150: Get to Know Bjork Ostrom May 15, 2018

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.

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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:

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, Angel from Cheftographer! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.

149: How to Get Your Content to Stand Out on Pinterest with Yuka Ohishi May 08, 2018

How SEO works on Pinterest, how often you should be pinning, and the optimum size for pins with Yuka Ohishi.

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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:

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.

148: Pivoting to Find Success with Steph Jones May 01, 2018

How to craft your ideal day, why you should beta test your idea, and how to launch a course with Steph Jones.

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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 featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.

147: GDPR for Influencers with Danielle Liss Apr 24, 2018

What GDPR is, why it’s important, and how to implement GDPR-compliant changes on your site with Danielle Liss.

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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:

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.

146: $75,000 in Year 2 with Kate Kordsmeier Apr 17, 2018

How to view your blog as a business from day 1, better serve your email subscribers, and hire help with Kate Kordsmeier.

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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:

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.

145: Present Over Perfect with Shauna Niequist Apr 10, 2018

How to live with intention, say no, and seek silance with Shauna Niequist.

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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:

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.

144: Netflix, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Somebody Feed Phil with Phil Rosenthal Apr 03, 2018

How to implement a "yes and..." mindset, the importance of trying new things, and traveling to eat with Phil Rosenthal.

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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.

143: 2 Million Page Views in 2 Years with Jessica Beacom and Stacie Hassing Mar 27, 2018

How to build authority, why they choose to guest post, and why connection is so important with Jessica Beacom and Stacie Hassing.

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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.

142: How to Fix 5 Common Blogging Tech Mistakes with Andrew Wilder Mar 20, 2018

How to choose a hosting plan, why SSL is important, and how to optimize your images with Andrew Wilder.

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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:

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.

141: Hustling to Build Two Full-Time Businesses with Alexis Joseph Mar 13, 2018

How to understand your customers, view your blog as a business, and adapt to where you are with Alexis Joseph.

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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.

140: From $300k in Product Sales to $9m in Software Sales with Nathan Barry Mar 06, 2018

How to tier your pricing structure, why you should save your side business income, and how to incentivize word of mouth with Nathan Barry.

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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.

139: Answering MORE Questions about Recipe Videos with the Pinch of Yum Team Feb 27, 2018

Sharing videos on social media, filming tricky foods, and working with brands with the Pinch of Yum Team.

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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:

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.

138: How to Get the Most Out of Your Content with Ashley Ward Feb 20, 2018

Understanding your stats, owning your niche, and optimizing your content with Ashley Ward.

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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.

137: One Million App Downloads in One Year with Trey George Feb 13, 2018

How to build a self-promoting app, how to find a developer, and what to look for in an agency.

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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:

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.

136: Optimizing for Search Results on Google and Pinterest with Raquel Smith Feb 06, 2018

How to run ads on a recipe print page, optimize images for search results, and set Pinterest descriptions with Raquel Smith.

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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 podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Lauren from Zestful 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.

135: Bjork Gets Interviewed: Making a Living from Blogging from the Dishing with Delishes Podcast Jan 30, 2018

How to launch a membership site, name a blog, and hire a team with Bjork Ostrom.

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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/

134: FBP Rewind: Creating Success with Sally McKenney Jan 23, 2018

Comparison, how to juggle a blog and a full-time job, and cookbook deals with Sally McKenney.

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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:

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.

133: Optimizing Your Food Blog's SEO with Casey Markee Jan 16, 2018

Voice searches, nofollow links, featured snippet mismatches, and on-page optimization with Casey Markee.

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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:

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 review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review.

132: Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand with Laurie Buckle Jan 09, 2018

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.

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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.

131: Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year with Bjork Ostrom Jan 02, 2018

Clarifying your why, finding gratitude in all things, and knowing it's possible with Bjork Ostrom.

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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.

130: Creating a Full-Time Income from Sponsored Content with Jenny Melrose Dec 26, 2017

Creating an avatar, securing brand sponsorships, and why you should follow-up with brands after a campaign with Jenny Melrose.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

129: Forging Your Own Path with David Lebovitz Dec 19, 2017

How to blog while writing a cookbook, the importance of user experience, and how to approach your brand and business with David Lebovitz.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

128: Maximizing Your Blog's Potential with Katy Widrick Dec 12, 2017

Important Google tools, switching to https, and how to perform effective keyword research with Katy Widrick.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

127: How to Land a Book Deal with Maria Ribas Dec 05, 2017

What publishers look for when they're signing an author and how you get paid as an author with Maria Ribas.

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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:

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!

126: Fueling Your Passion with Your Day Job with Sean McCabe Nov 28, 2017

How to grow a sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business with Sean McCabe.

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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.

125: Monetizing as an Entrepreneurial Chef with Shawn Wenner and Chris Hill Nov 21, 2017

The common characteristics of chefs, how to diversify your online income, and what it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial chef.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

124.5: How Two Food Blogger Pro Members are Pursuing Their Passions and Following Their Dreams Nov 16, 2017

How they left their full-time jobs, how they got their start blogging, and why a desire to learn is so important.

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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.

124: How to Level Up Your Life with UJ Ramdas Nov 14, 2017

Why you should start gratitude journaling, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe with UJ Ramdas.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

123: Why Every Blogger Needs to Own Their Brand with Phil Pallen Nov 07, 2017

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.

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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.

122: Site Speed in a Mobile-First World with Lauren Gray Oct 31, 2017

What "mobile-first" means, tips for making your website fly, and why you might choose to use a framework with Lauren Gray.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

121: How to Overcome Your Failures and Find Success with Emma Chapman Oct 24, 2017

Finding your path, starting new ventures, and solidifying your brand with Emma Chapman.

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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.

120: How to Shape Your Own Career Destiny with Dorie Clark Oct 17, 2017

How to reinvent yourself, become an authority figure, and invest in your business with Dorie Clark.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

119: How an Accidental Entrepreneur went from $0 to $80,000 in Five Months with Brian Gardner Oct 10, 2017

How to deal with competition, the benefits of using a framework, and how to practice minimalism with Brian Gardner.

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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.

118: How Discovering Your Brand Can Help You Grow with Gaby Dalkin Oct 03, 2017

How to understand your brand, adapt for your different audiences, and develop a product line with Gaby Dalkin.

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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.

117: How to Sustain a Successful Blog for 10+ Years with Maria Lichty Sep 26, 2017

Launching a meal planning site, learning how to adapt with a changing industry, and working with brands with Maria Lichty.

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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.

116: Answering Questions about Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss and the Pinch of Yum Team Sep 19, 2017

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.

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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.

115: How to Write a 5-Star Cookbook with Kathryne Taylor Sep 12, 2017

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.

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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 to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

114: How to Run a Successful Blog as a Partnership with Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer Sep 05, 2017

How to work with different personalities, divide responsibilities, and split your income with Polly Conner and Rachel Tiemeyer.

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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.

113: How to Gain 90K Instagram Followers in 2 Years with Ashley Walterhouse Aug 29, 2017

How to use an Instagram strategy, get involved in blogging groups, and get advice from other bloggers with Ashley Walterhouse.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

112: Perfecting the Art of Food Photography with Taylor Mathis Aug 22, 2017

How to get perfect lighting and a consistent style with Taylor Mathis.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

111: How to Build a Company of One with Paul Jarvis Aug 15, 2017

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

110: 10 Simple Habits That Create BIG Growth for Your Business with Bjork Ostrom Aug 08, 2017

How to work in your zone, set a morning routine, and optimize your workspace with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

109: How Systems and Courses Can Build a Profitable Business with Greg Hickman Aug 01, 2017

How to implement systems, shift your business' focus, and narrow your offerings with Greg Hickman.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

108: From Struggling Podcast to Six-Figure Success with Natalie Eckdahl Jul 25, 2017

Common mindsets for entrepreneurs, how to find success through breakthroughs, and how to grow a podcast into a success with Natalie Eckdahl.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

107: How to Go Viral, Kill Your Blog, and Start Over with Sarah Wu Jul 18, 2017

Why “going viral” early might not be best with Sarah Wu.

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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.

106: Discovering Your Unique Brand with Carol Cox Jul 11, 2017

How to refine your brand, share your story, and help others with Carol Cox.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

105: How Food Bloggers Use Courses to Build their Businesses with Randle Browning Jul 04, 2017

How to pick a course topic, price your course, and feel confident to teach with Randle Browning.

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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.

104: How Bloggers Should Handle Their Taxes and Accounting with Cathy Derus Jun 27, 2017

How to track expenses, pay yourself, and set up bank account for your business with Cathy Derus.

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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:

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!

103: Answering Questions about Recipe Videos with the Pinch of Yum Team Jun 20, 2017

How to find inspiration, deliver value, and grow your engagement with the Pinch of Yum Team.

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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:

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!

102: Write More, Write Better, and Write Smarter with Gabriela Pereira Jun 13, 2017

How to write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community with Gabriela Pereira.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

101: What I Learned After Five Years of Income Reports with Bjork Ostrom Jun 06, 2017

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

100: How FBP Listeners Have Used the Podcast to Grow Their Blogs and Businesses May 30, 2017

Our listeners' favorite FBP podcast episodes, what they've learned, how how they've applied what they've learned to their blogs

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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:

Resources:

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!

099: Sponsored Content and Getting Paid What Your Work is Worth with Danielle Liss May 23, 2017

How to price sponsored content, what type of business structure you should have for your blog, and what legal essentials your blog should have

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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:

098: An Architect's Journey to Becoming a Full-Time Freelance Food Photographer with Ashley McLaughlin May 16, 2017

How recipe creation is like architecture, how to improve your food photography, and how to become a full-time freelance food photographer.

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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, Pinterest, and Twitter

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom May 09, 2017

How to make money from blogging, why you should divide your income into eggs, and how to fill your egg carton with Bjork Ostrom.

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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:

096: How to Create the Perfect Recipe Post with Bjork Ostrom May 02, 2017

What recipe plugins are, why you should be using one, and how to create the perfect search result with Bjork Ostrom.

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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

095: How Embracing the Mess Propelled a Career with Jillian Tohber Leslie from MiloTree Apr 25, 2017

How she started Catch My Party, what problem MiloTree solved for their business, and using popups on mobile.

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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!

094: How to Keep Going with Bjork Ostrom Apr 18, 2017

How finding the right path for you can help you keep going with your blog.

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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:

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!

093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill Apr 11, 2017

How finding a niche can be freeing and how proper branding skyrocketed her traffic with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill.

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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:

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!

092: How to Make $40K in the First Year of Blogging with Chelsea Lords from Chelsea's Messy Apron Apr 04, 2017

The thing she did when starting her blog, where her first year income came from, and what she would do differently now.

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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!

091: Optimizing Recipes for SEO with Joost De Valk from Yoast SEO Mar 28, 2017

Should you delete old content, SEO in other languages, structured data for recipes, and repurposing old content with Joost de Valk from Yoast SEO.

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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:

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!

090: How a Legislative Assistant Created Her Own Path to Working for Herself with Brita Britnell Mar 21, 2017

Making money outside of your blog, quitting your job, and finding a service in demand with Brita Britnell.

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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:

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!

089: How to Build a Plane with Alexa, Jasmine & Raquel from Food Blogger Pro Mar 14, 2017

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.

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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.

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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:

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!

088: How We Run Pinch of Yum with Alana Woolley & Jenna Arend Mar 07, 2017

How Pinch of Yum employs full-time workers, communicating on a remote team, finding what works with video, and tips for working remotely.

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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:

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!

087: How to Take Permission and Grow Your Business with Andy Traub Feb 28, 2017

What it means to take permission, the ugly truth about online marketing, and how to genuinely connect with influencers with Andy Traub.

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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:

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!

086: How to Make a Successful Career Change with Jon Acuff Feb 21, 2017

Reinvent your Mondays, transition to a new career, and start Do Overs in all areas of life with Jon Acuff.

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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!

085: 9 million visitors & 450 contributors: the Story of Her View From Home with Leslie Means Feb 14, 2017

Working with contributors, monetizing from day 1, and finding your support person with Leslie Means from Her View From Home

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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:

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!

084: New Year's Motivation: 1% Infinity Feb 07, 2017

Gratitude, constant growth, and keeping overwhelm at bay.

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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:

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!

083: The 1% Infinity Improvement Plan with Marly McMillen from the Chopped Podcast Jan 31, 2017

How Lindsay organizes her day, how to apply 1% infinity to your daily life, and where Bjork got his name.

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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:

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!

082: How a 4th Grade Teacher Built a $20k/mo Blog with Andrew from Mixergy Jan 24, 2017

Why they pushed forward after initial non-success, how she rose above negative comments, and why being vulnerable draws people in.

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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:

081: The Mistake that Bloggers Make that Hinders Success from Martin Luenendonk Jan 17, 2017

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.

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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/

080: Biz Planning for the Long Haul with Bjork from Kirsten Oliphant Jan 10, 2017

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

079: How Finding a Unique Niche Led to YouTube Success with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food Dec 27, 2016

Achieving career dreams, moving to YouTube, finding a niche, and working with multichannel networks with Lauren Toyota from Hot for Food.

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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:

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!

078: How to Build a Sales Funnel with Chris Davis from Automation Bridge Dec 20, 2016

What marketing automation is, why funnels will help you sell, and what email and automation platforms you should be using for your business.

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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:

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!

077: How To Stay Inspired by Using New Tech with Joel Comm Dec 13, 2016

Which social platforms serve what purpose, why live video is so important, the next big thing, and sticking with your business.

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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!

076: Using Analytics to Build Your Blog with Jeff Sauer from Jeffalytics Dec 06, 2016

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.

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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!

075: How To Effectively Share Your Content on Social with Garrett Moon from CoSchedule Nov 29, 2016

How many times to share each piece of content, planning ahead, and their long road to overnight success.

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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:

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!

074: How to Use Your DSLR Camera to Make Awesome Videos with Caleb Pike from DSLR Video Shooter Nov 22, 2016

What kinds of file backups you should have, why DSLRs make good video cameras, and what camera settings to use.

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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:

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!

073: How to Publish Consistent and Quality Content with Jessica Merchant from How Sweet It Is Nov 15, 2016

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!

072: FBP Member Spotlight: Sam Turnbull from It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Nov 08, 2016

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.

071: Finding your Raving Fans through Facebook Live with Amanda Rettke from I Am Baker Nov 01, 2016

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!

070: The Story Behind Two Successful (But Very Different) Online Businesses with Steve Chou from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com Oct 25, 2016

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!

069: Building a Brand on National TV with Jocelyn Delk Adams from Grandbaby Cakes Oct 18, 2016

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!

068: How to Earn Income Off Your Side Hustle with Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation Oct 11, 2016

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:

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!

067: Scaling a Business by Building a Team with Amy Roskelley from Super Healthy Kids Oct 04, 2016

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!

066: Tools, Tricks, & Techniques for Making Killer Recipe Videos with Alana and Lindsay from Pinch of Yum Sep 27, 2016

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!

065: Michelle Tam from Nom Nom Paleo on Building a Brand, Launching an App and Publishing a Cookbook Sep 20, 2016

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!

064: Finding work you love with Dan Miller from 48 Days Sep 13, 2016

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:

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!

063: Personal Finance for Business Owners with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents Sep 06, 2016

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:

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!

062: How To Launch a Membership Site with Mike Morrison from The Membership Guys Aug 30, 2016

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:

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!

061: Our First Ever Community Podcast: Advice and Insight from the FBP Community Aug 23, 2016

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
Kitchen of Debjani
Dishes Delish
Carrie on Living
Lakeside Table
Culinary Hill
Eat Within Your Means
Jessica Gavin

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!

060: 8 Food Blog SEO Tips Aug 16, 2016

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!

059: 9 Ways to Avoid Blogger Burnout with Bjork & Lindsay Ostrom Aug 09, 2016

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!

058: 5 Tips for Overcoming the Resistance Aug 02, 2016

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!

057: Viral List Building with Josh Ledgard from Kickoff Labs Jul 26, 2016

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:

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!

056: Working in Your Area of Brilliance with Meghan Telpner Jul 19, 2016

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!

055: Generating Income through Self-Publishing a Cookbook with Jason Logsdon Jul 12, 2016

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:

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!

054: How Bloggers Become Entrepreneurs with Jeni Elliott from The Blog Maven Jul 05, 2016

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:

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!

053: Pat Flynn's Tips for Building Online Businesses That Fly Jun 28, 2016

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:

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!

052: How to Sell 4,000 Cookbooks Before You Even Publish with Megan Gilmore from Detoxinista Jun 21, 2016

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!

051: Building a Brand for your Business with Aaron Scott from Your Brand Week Jun 14, 2016

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!

050: The Secret to Engaging Video with Tim Schmoyer from VideoCreators.com Jun 07, 2016

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:

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!

049: The Power of Accountability with Allison Schaaf from PrepDish May 31, 2016

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:

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!

048: Finding success on the verge of quitting with Dustin & Lacey Baier from A Sweet Pea Chef May 26, 2016

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!

047: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results with Jay Papasan May 17, 2016

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:

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!

046: How Kate Kordsmeier Doubled Her Income with Freelancing May 10, 2016

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!

045: How to use Facebook ads to reach the right people with Tony Rulli from IntentionalSpark.com May 03, 2016

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 bereallynoisy. 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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestionsforinterviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Be sure to review usoniTunes!

044: Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing with Justine Grey Apr 26, 2016

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!

043: How Tieghan Gerard used Photography, Recipe Development, and Hustle to Build Half Baked Harvest Apr 19, 2016

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 review us on iTunes!

042: Building a Successful Bilingual Blog with Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini Apr 12, 2016

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:

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!

041: Ninja Email Marketing for Bloggers with Barry Moore from The Active Marketer Apr 05, 2016

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:

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!

040: How to Monetize a Podcast from Day 1 with Allison & Suzy from the Food Heals Podcast Mar 29, 2016

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

039: 12 Ways to Overcome Online Jealousy with Lindsay Ostrom from Pinch of Yum Mar 22, 2016

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:

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!

038: 7 Strategies to Build Traffic Mar 15, 2016

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!

037: Food Styling Through the Years with Delores Custer Mar 08, 2016

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!

036: What Bloggers Need to Know about Copyrights, Trademarks & Contracts with Becky from My Utensil Crock Mar 01, 2016

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!

035: How to 10x Your Facebook Following in One Year with Stephanie from Spaceships & Laser Beams Feb 23, 2016

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:

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!

034: How to Start a Career in Professional Food Photography and Styling with Pheasant & Hare Feb 16, 2016

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

033: Notes on the Pinch of Yum Redesign Feb 09, 2016

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!

032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Feb 02, 2016

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!

031: Rebranding Your Blog with Erin Clarke from Well Plated Jan 26, 2016

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!

030: Blogging for the Long Term with Nick Evans from Macheesmo Jan 19, 2016

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:

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!

029: The Phases of Pinch of Yum with Bjork & Lindsay Ostrom Jan 12, 2016

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:

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!

028: How to Boost Your Blog's SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse Jan 05, 2016

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:

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!

027: Committing to a Niche and Building a Brand with Ali Maffucci from Inspiralized Dec 29, 2015

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:

026: How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media Dec 22, 2015

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 review us on iTunes!

025: How to Connect with Influencers with John Cocoran from Smart Business Revolution Dec 15, 2015

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:

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!

024: How to Find Balance in Blogging with Ali Ebright from Gimme Some Oven Dec 08, 2015

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!

023: Building a Team for your Online Business with Melissa Lanz from The Fresh 20 Dec 01, 2015

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:

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!

022: Sponsored Content from a Brand's Perspective with Zach Tackett from DeLallo Nov 24, 2015

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

021: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free with Amy Lynn Andrews Nov 17, 2015

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:

020: How to Secure Your Food Blog with Andrew Wilder from Blog Tutor Nov 10, 2015

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 Android
Duo Security
Deals & Discounts page on FBP

Remember, we are closing the doors on FBP memberships on November 19! Sign up now to get access!

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!

019: How to Master Pinterest for your Food Blog with Susan Wenner Jackson from Ahalogy Nov 03, 2015

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:

018: How to Build an Online Business Without Blogging with Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies Oct 27, 2015

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

017: How to Connect with Brands & Find Sponsored Content with Francesca Banducci from Sway Group Oct 20, 2015

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.

016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic Oct 13, 2015

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

015: How to Find Your Voice and be Heard in a Noisy World with Dianne Jacob Oct 06, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

014: Celebrity Chefs and Award Winning Video with Jamie and Saukok Tiampo from See Food Media Sep 29, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

013: An interview with Molly Yeh, the author behind Saveur’s 2015 Blog of the Year Sep 22, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

012: Solopreneur Food Blogging with Kelly Senyei from Just a Taste Sep 15, 2015

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:

011: Making The Leap To Full-Time Blogging with Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes Sep 08, 2015

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:

010: Working with Brands on YouTube with Beth Le Manach from Entertaining with Beth Sep 01, 2015

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:

009: Mastering Your Blog Business with Jaden and Scott Hair from Steamy Kitchen Aug 25, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

008: Simplifying Ad Optimization with Andy Marzka from AdThrive Aug 18, 2015

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:

007: The Art of Photography with Ashley and Gabe from Not Without Salt Aug 11, 2015

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.

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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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

006: Building a YouTube Cooking Channel from 0 to 260,000 subscribers with Hilah & Chris from Hilah Cooking Aug 04, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

005: The Business of Food Blogging with Jason Leake from 100 Days of Real Food Jul 28, 2015

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.

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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:

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!

004: How Understanding Your Visitors Can Help You Build Traffic and Create an Income with Dr. David Darmanin from Hotjar Jul 21, 2015

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:

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!

003: Sally McKenney from Sally’s Baking Addiction on creating success, ignoring the competition, and writing cookbooks Jul 14, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

002: Bjork Ostrom from Food Blogger Pro on building a membership site from scratch, morning routines, and books that every entrepreneur should be reading Jun 29, 2015

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:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

001: 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 Jun 26, 2015

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:

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]]

000: Our Beliefs, Our Hopes, and Our Dreams Jun 25, 2015

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.

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