How to find your unique photography style, create content for your audience, and grow a successful business with Kimberly Espinel. ----- 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: Eat, Capture, Share Podcast Ikigai Kimberly’s favorite planner Gabriel Cabrera Luisa Brimble Aran Goyoaga Kimberly’s site Kimberly’s online courses Kimberly’s book — Creative Food Photography Instagram Food Photography challenge Follow Kimberly on Instagram 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

How to make business branding decisions, what it means to be authentically vulnerable, and diversifying income with Charli Prangley. ----- 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: ConvertKit Charli’s YouTube channel Design Life Podcast Inside Marketing Design Podcast The Future Belongs to Creators Podcast Charli’s site Charli’s Twitch channel Pinch of Yum Pallet Doubling My Side Hustle Earnings - 2020/21 Income Report Figma Webflow Folk 309: Create with Intention – $130,000 in the First Week by Creating Premium Offerings for Your Audience with Shawn Blanc 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Black and White Studios Dianne Jacob 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

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. ----- 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: Pinch of Yum Sway Questions on the Pinch of Yum Intake Form

Blogging as a creative outlet, balancing a blog with a full-time job, and creating intentional content with Katie Olsen from Katiebird Bakes. ----- 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: Katiebird Bakes The Oatmeal - What it’s like to make things for the web Jimmy Fallon explains the meaning of his life Mediavine Follow Katie on Instagram and Facebook 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

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

Charging for content, creating an online course, and going from indie blogger to multi-business owner with Shawn Blanc. ----- 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: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook John Gruber Shawn’s site Substack Patreon Ghost Barrett Brooks Think Again Delight is in the Details Shawn’s other projects Things 165: Getting Things Done with David Allen 305: Non-Traditional Success – Optimizing for Happiness with Jason Glaspey Soul Savvy The Focus Course 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

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

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

What Core Web Vitals are, how they impact Google search rankings, and when they'll impact the Google search algorithm with Andrew Wilder. ----- 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: NerdPress Ember Mug Core Web Vitals Core Web Vitals and Page Experience FAQ Web Vitals Extension PageSpeed Insights Google Search Console Find Andrew on Food Blogger Pro 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

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