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.

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!

• Why Elena decided to launch her blog
• Why she focused on building connections within the blogging community
• How she strategically optimized her site
• How she grew her traffic and got accepted into Mediavine
• Why she decided to rename her blog
• How she earns money as a content creator
• What her in-person cooking classes look like
• How she sells physical products on her blog

Resources:

• Cucina by Elena
• MacBreak Weekly Podcast
• Tasty Recipes
• Elena’s Italian Stories
• Salt & Lavender
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Mediavine
• AdThrive
• The Feast Plugin
• NerdPress
• Cooking with Keywords
• TopHatRank
• Harmons Grocery
• Culinary Creator Business School
• Duett
• The Happiness Lab Podcast
• Shop Elena’s products
• Follow Elena on 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• The quick story behind Pinch of Yum
• What Bjork and Lindsay learned growing Pinch of Yum while also working full-time jobs
• Why they decided to expand their team
• Why they decided to launch Food Blogger Pro, WP Tasty, Nutrifox, Clariti, and TinyBit
• The difference between being a maker and a manager
• What they’ve found surprising about being entrepreneurs
• Their best advice for fellow entrepreneurs

Resources:

• Simple Pin Podcast
• Simple Pin Media
• Pinch of Yum
• TinyBit
• Kolbe A Index Test
• 361: Earning $2,500 in One Day and Traveling Full-Time as a Food Blogger with Eric Samuelson
• Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• How Caitlin started sharing food content online
• Why she decided to launch her food blog
• How she became a full-time content creator
• What her different revenue streams look like
• How she got more comfortable being on camera
• How you can earn money sharing videos on YouTube
• How she repurposes content across different social media platforms
• What her YouTube content strategy looks like
• What equipment she uses to film her videos
• What tasks she outsources for her business

Resources:

• From My Bowl
• Caitlin’s YouTube channel
• AdThrive
• 365: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron
• YouTube Partner Program Overview & Eligibility
• Canon 5D Mark III
• Canon 70D
• The Bite Shot
• Follow Caitlin on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
• Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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.

• 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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.

• 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• How Emily works with food bloggers
• Why job listings should be as specific as possible
• The difference between freelancers and employees
• How to find your Zone of Genius
• How to decide what to outsource first
• How food bloggers should approach writing job listings
• How to know how much to pay freelancers
• Where to post your job listings
• How to know when you’re ready to hire
• How to avoid feelings of burnout

Resources:

• Emily’s Website
• Work with Emily
• Download the Zone of Genius workbook
• 286: Build Your Team – How to Write an Eye-Catching Job Listing and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron
• The Big Leap
• Open: An Autobiography
• The Hero’s Journey
• How To Use Your Zone Of Genius To Hire The Best Freelancers
• 3 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing A Job Posting
• 3 Things to Write About in Your Journal to Live Your Best Life
• Upwork
• The War of Art
• Follow Emily 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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!

• What Chelsea learned self-publishing her first cookbook
• What sous vide is
• How she earns money as a freelancer
• How she keeps track of her income and expenses
• Why she decided to lean into a niche
• How her cookbooks have created so many opportunities for her
• How she stayed organized when writing her cookbooks
• What tools she recommends using to self-publish a cookbook
• Why she decided to launch her Sous Vide School
• How she prints her cookbooks and fulfills orders
• How much she earns per cookbook sale
• How she teaches others how to self-publish cookbooks

Resources:

• A Duck’s Oven
• The Cookbook Lab
• How to Determine Your Cookbook Topic
• Chelsea’s Income Streams as a Food Blogger
• 187: How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook with Chelsea Cole
• Pinch of Yum Traffic and Income Reports
• QuickBooks Self-Employed
• 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom
• Asana
• Google Drive
• Airtable
• InDesign
• Canva
• Sous Vide School
• Kindle Direct Publishing
• IngramSpark
• Follow Chelsea 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 [email protected].

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

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.

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.

• 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 [email protected].

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