The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Developing an email marketing strategy, serving your audience, and building brand loyalty with Allea Grummert from Duett. ----- Welcome to episode 398 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Allea Grummert from Duett all about surveying your audience and email marketing. Surveying Your Audience There are many different reasons that email marketing is a valuable tool for food creators. Having an email list can help with SEO, provide a reliable means of communicating your content, and build relationships with your readers. And that's what Allea Grummert is talking about with Bjork on the podcast today! Allea is an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter at Duett, and the Food Blogger Pro Email Marketing Expert! In this episode, you'll hear about developing a rock-solid email marketing strategy, surveying your readers, and building brand loyalty. In this episode, you'll learn: How to overcome the mental barriers of email marketing for your business. Why email marketing is so valuable for a food blog. How to use email to connect with and better understand your audience. How often you should email your subscribers. Why you might want to send a survey to your subscribers, what questions to ask, and how to use the survey data to serve your audience. How to tailor your emails (or blog posts) to better meet the needs of your readers. How to strategically develop your welcome sequence. About two email marketing case studies that illustrate the benefits of email marketing. How to work with Allea on your email marketing. Resources: Duett ConvertKit Pinch of Yum Foureyes Typeform Clariti ProBlogger FinCon The Permission Sandwich Formula: How to Write Emails That Actually Get You Sales She Loves Biscotti Recipe Teacher Allea's Your First Welcome Sequence resource for The Food Blogger Pro community Follow Allea on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- 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

Strategies for effective bookkeeping, navigating business expenses, and confidently managing tax season as a creator with Amy Northard from Amy Northard, CPA. ----- Welcome to episode 397 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Amy Northard from Amy Northard, CPA about accounting for food creators. Demystifying Finances and Taxes Taxes and bookkeeping can be a major source of anxiety for anyone, but especially anyone who is self-employed… like many food creators! It can be difficult to know where to get started with managing your business finances, or how you might be able to improve your accounting processes! Luckily, that's what Bjork is chatting with Amy Northard about in today's podcast episode! Amy is a CPA and Partner at Amy Northard, CPA ("The Accountants for Creatives") and is an expert at setting up bookkeeping systems and navigating taxes for business owners in the creative space. In this episode, you'll hear more about when and how to start bookkeeping for your business, the best ways to prepare for tax season, when you might want to outsource your accounting needs, and more. In this episode, you'll learn: How and why Amy found her niche and started her accounting firm for creatives The importance of separating personal and business transactions How to reconcile your business expenses Whether groceries can be considered a business expense (and why it matters) What the IRS audit process would look like for a food blogger Tips for storing and organizing your business receipts Amy's recommendations for bookkeeping software Deductions that creatives might overlook The differences between sole proprietor, LLC, and S Corp, and how to choose which is the right fit for you How to manage payroll for your business When you should start to do bookkeeping for your business When you might want to consider outsourcing your bookkeeping or taxes How to manage losses when you're starting your business How to be intentional about taxes as a more established food creator Strategies for effective bookkeeping to make tax season easier Resources: Amy Northard, CPA Dropbox Shoboxed Quickbooks Xero Wave Justworks Gusto Follow Amy on Instagram and Facebook 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

The transition from blogging to owning a shop, how community drives brand awareness, and the importance of building an audience with Rosie Alyea. ----- Welcome to episode 396 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rosie Alyea from Sweetapolita about serving your audience and transitioning from blogger to shop owner. The Business of Sprinkles This episode with Rosie is full of inspiration, and we're so excited to be talking to her this week about the way she transitioned from blogging to running a multi-million dollar product-based business! A common theme in this episode is the importance of serving your audience, and you'll learn how Rosie did that as a blogger and now as a sprinkle business owner. It's a super entertaining interview, and we hope the conversation opens you up to other ideas and ways that you can be supporting your audience where they need it most! In this episode, you'll learn: How Rosie got into baking How she realized she wanted to start her own company What her transition from blog to shop was like How community content drives brand awareness Why building an audience is so important What she was looking for by going on Dragons' Den How to work with the Sweetapolita team Resources: Cake Beauty Elisa Strauss' The Confetti Cakes Cookbook Sweetapolita The Sweetapolita Book Rosie on Dragons' Den Connect with Sweetapolita on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook ----- This episode is sponsored by Duett. Jump on a free discovery call to see how the Duett team can help you with your email marketing needs at duett.co/call. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Important questions to ask about your customers or audience, defining your H1, and why bloggers may want to sell products with Chad Cannon. ----- Welcome to episode 395 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chad Cannon to chat about strategically growing your business through understanding your audience and selling products. Scaling Your Business (and Your Revenue) This episode is all about the importance in having a deep understanding of what your business does and how it helps your audience in order to scale and grow. Chad Cannon is from ScaleFactor, a company focused on building and scaling businesses through their 7 Factors of Scale. You'll learn about three of the seven factors in this episode: Find Your Buyer, Align Your Brand, and Create Products. Our hope is that you'll be able to think through new ways to monetize as you're listening to this interview! In this episode, you'll learn: How he got his start helping businesses grow and scale What the "Law of Thirds" means Why founders may want to replace themselves What he took away from helping other businesses and applied to his own business Important questions to ask about your customers or audience How to define your H1 How to find a buyer or an audience Why product is important for food bloggers Why sponsors will appreciate your understanding of your brand and audience What the product creation process looks like How you can learn more from and work with Chad Resources: Platform University Full Focus Full Focus Planner Business Accelerator ScaleFactor Kolbe Assessments Food Blogger Pro's Coaching Calls ScaleFactor Podcast 1000 True Fans Duluth 7 Factors of Scale ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Being intentional with your social media use, navigating vulnerability in the online space, and launching a newsletter on Substack with Leslie Stephens from morning person newsletter. ----- Welcome to episode 394 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Leslie Stephens from the morning person newsletter about social media addiction and launching her Substack newsletter. Substack Newsletters and Social Media Use As content creators, many of us have a love/hate relationship with social media, and know just how addicting it can be. And that's what we're chatting about today with Leslie Stephens! Leslie is the writer behind morning person newsletter, and she joined Bjork on the podcast to talk about her decision to study social media addiction, and how her studies have influenced the choices she has made with her popular Substack newsletter. In this episoide, you'll learn about how to be more intentional with your social media use, how to navigate vulnerability in the online space, and why you might consider launching a newsletter on Substack. In this episode, you'll learn: How Leslie started her career as an editor at Food52 What she learned while working as an online creator for a major lifestyle brand in LA Why she decided to pursue a Masters with a focus on Social Media Addiction Why social media is so addictive and how to be more intentional when using it Why she started her morning person newsletter on Substack The pros/cons to the Substack platform How she found her newsletter niche and grew to thousands of paid subscribers in just one year How she navigates sharing her personal life and setting boundaries online Resources: morning person newsletter The Social Dilemma Follow Leslie on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

How passion and growth are connected, how to reinvest in a website, and growing a loyal audience with Maurizio Leo. ----- Welcome to episode 393 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Maurizio Leo from The Perfect Loaf about business growth through passion. How Passion and Sourdough Feed a 9 Million Pageview Food Blog From co-founding and running a popular phone app to starting a sourdough blog that now gets 9 million pageviews a year, Maurizio Leo is a busy guy. But everything he does is deeply rooted in passion, and you'll hear why forming businesses around that passion has been crucial for his business growth and consistency in this conversation today. If you're looking for ways to diversify your income, growth strategies, or simply some inspiration to help you work towards your goals, you'll get it all in this episode! In this episode, you'll learn: About his background in computer science How he transitioned to working in the food space How the passion and growth are connected What his schedule looks like as an owner of two successful businesses At what point Maurizio knew The Perfect Loaf could be a business How the pandemic impacted The Perfect Loaf's traffic How he reinvests in the site Why he decided to offer a membership What the process of writing a cookbook was like What Maurizio is anticipating in the next few years Resources: SkyView The Perfect Loaf Businesses Do NOT Exist to Make Money | Simon Sinek Pinch of Yum's Holiday Bucket List Ang's Creamy Tortellini Soup The Perfect Loaf Membership Memberful Discord The Perfect Loaf Cookbook Follow Maurizio on Instagram ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Dealing with hacked Instagram and Facebook accounts and tips for securing your own social media accounts with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 392 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork explains how the Pinch of Yum Instagram account got hacked and eventually recovered. Pinch of Yum's Hacked Instagram Account Last month, Bjork and Lindsay went through something we all fear as content creators: they completely lost access to the Pinch of Yum Instagram account after Lindsay's Facebook account got hacked. Talk about a scary situation! They were eventually able to get the accounts recovered, but they went through a few very stressful days trying to get everything sorted out. In this episode, Bjork shares the entire story of how this happened, how they were able to recover the accounts, and what measures they're taking to prevent this from happening in the future. Last but not least, Bjork also provides some tips for how you can secure your own social media accounts to hopefully avoid a situation like this. In this episode, you'll learn: How Lindsay's Facebook and Instagram accounts got hacked How two-factor authentication works How they were able to get the accounts recovered Tips for securing your own social media accounts How phishing works Resources: Pinch of Yum Meta Authy Google Authenticator 1Password Connect with Bjork via email Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership

Working with a literary agent, writing a cookbook proposal, and going through the cookbook publishing process from start to finish with Sally Ekus from The Ekus Group. ----- Welcome to episode 391 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally Ekus from The Ekus Group about what the cookbook publishing process looks like. Behind the Scenes of the Cookbook Publishing Process As food bloggers and food creators, many of us dream about writing our own cookbooks one day. But what does it take to get a cookbook deal, and what does the cookbook publishing process actually look like? That's what we're chatting about in this interview with Sally Ekus! She's a literary agent at The Ekus Group and has brokered over 300 book deals with top publishers across the country. In this episode, you'll learn what she does as a literary agent, what steps are involved in the cookbook publishing process, how to set yourself up for success to potentially write a cookbook in the future, and more. In this episode, you'll learn: How Sally became a literary agent What she does at The Ekus Group Why cookbook proposals are so important How to set yourself up for success to potentially write a cookbook Why the topic for a first cookbook is so important How advances and royalties work for cookbooks What the differences are between frontlist and backlist titles What cookbook marketing and publicity look like What steps are involved in the cookbook publishing process How long it typically takes to write a cookbook What she teaches in her How to Write a Cookbook course Why writing a cookbook can lead to many other opportunities Resources: The Ekus Group How to Write a Cookbook course — The Ekus Group How to Be a Cookbook Author Facebook Group Everything Cookbooks Podcast Publishers Marketplace Follow Sally on Instagram and Facebook Connect with Sally via email Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to 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

Overcoming feelings of burnout, becoming a full-time content creator, and creating multiple revenue streams with Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective. ----- Welcome to episode 390 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Karishma Pradhan from Home Cooking Collective about how she overcame burnout and built a successful career as a food creator. Overcoming Burnout and Building a Successful Career as a Food Creator Today, we're really excited to share this conversation with Karishma Pradhan! She runs the site Home Cooking Collective, and she has a really unique story to share about how she became a full-time food creator. In this episode, you'll hear what her career used to look like as a data analyst, why she transitioned to working for herself, how she overcame feelings of burnout, and how she earns an income now by sharing food content online. It's a really inspiring interview that emphasizes the importance of finding work that serves you and empowers your physical and mental health. We hope you enjoy it! In this episode, you'll learn: What Karishma learned working in data analytics How she transitioned to working for herself How she overcame feelings of burnout How she got into sharing food content online How she analyzes user behavior as a blogger and content creator Why she decided to start hosting cooking workshops How she got into doing freelance recipe development and food writing How she prioritizes her time and manages her work Resources: Home Cooking Collective 323: Understanding the Numbers – Optimizing Your Blog's Financials with Ansley Beutler The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma Wellfound Karishma's Workshops and Classes Simply Recipes The Bite Shot Follow Karishma on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter Submit a Coaching Call Application Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group ----- 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

Investing money into your business, deleting posts to encourage growth, and the importance of having accountability partners with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks. ----- Welcome to episode 389 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're rewinding back to our episode with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks where she talks about what specific strategies she implemented to grow her blog's traffic and increase her revenue. Going From 17k to 600k Monthly Pageviews For today's FBP Rewind episode, we're rewinding back to our September 2021 interview with Sarah Cook from Sustainable Cooks! Sarah's story is so inspiring, and in this episode, she shares everything she did to go from 17k to 600k monthly pageviews with her blog. She explains some of the unique ways she has invested in her blog, why she decided to delete hundreds of posts, why she loves having a blogging accountability partner, and more. It's a great interview, and we hope you can apply some of these tips and skills to grow your own traffic. Let's rewind! In this episode, you'll learn: How Sarah decided to go all in with her blog How she struggled to define her identity as a full-time blogger Where she started investing money into her business How she shifted her content strategy Why she deleted hundreds of posts on her blog How she categorized her content into specific buckets Why ad earnings are typically lower in Q1 How her blog's success has helped her support causes she cares about How she fits work into the margins of her day What tasks she decided to hire out Why she loves having a blogging accountability partner Resources: Sustainable Cooks 170: What's Working and What's Not with the FBP Community Media Wyse Find Casey Markee on FBP Purr Design The Simple Pin Podcast Find Kate Ahl on FBP Mediavine Keysearch AdThrive Hey Nutrition Lady Cook It Real Good Follow Sarah on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest 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