How Micro-Goals Built a Food Blogging Empire

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