Today’s interview is with Bjork Ostrom, the founder of Food Blogger Pro. Bjork and his wife Lindsay started Pinch of Yum. When they started out, they really didn’t know a lot about blogging, and people kept telling them that food blogs were hard to monetize. They went for it anyway and learned as they went along.

But by applying a few common sense principles, such as continuous small improvements, Bjork and Lindsay have gone from unknowns in the food blogger world to building a virtual empire. In this interview Bjork shares how he went from not really knowing anything about blogging to becoming a multifaceted online entrepreneur.

Episode Highlights:

• Lindsay started posting recipes on social media in 2010. Bjork was also interested in online business.
• After reading and listening to Gary Vaynerchuk, he was interested in publishing online and creating a business around it. Bjork worked behind the scenes to create income from a recipe blog.
• They started on Tumblr and kept working and building and after seven years they were successful food bloggers.
• It’s been their goal to enjoy what they are doing and the process of working on their site and creating great content.
• Their workshop has been a big goal. The first thing they did was break it down into micro goals.
• User control analytics and putting gut and feel before actual numbers.
• Finding things other than numbers to focus on such as enjoyment for success.
• Using analytics and metrics to figure how to prove things.
• The idea of acquiring a business and continually making small improvements.
• The importance of making a list of things you are excited about and that are high impact.
• If you are not good at some important things find someone to do those for you.
• The nuance of grit and doing things you don’t want to do, but not falling in love with grit and being miserable.
• Getting a little better everyday over the long run.

Resources:

• Pinch of Yum
• Food Blogger Pro
• @BjorkOstrum on Twitter
• Bjork Ostrom Facebook
• Crush It!
• You Should Test That