The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Setting up a welcome sequence, how to segment your email subscribers, and gaining new subscribers with Allea Grummert. ----- Welcome to episode 288 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Allea Grummert about marketing your blog to your email list. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Russ and Natalie Monson about building online businesses. To go back and listen to that episode, click here. Email for Bloggers How would you describe your email marketing strategy? Solid? Not quite? Not even close? Regardless of how much time and effort you've spent building and maintaining your email list, this interview with Allea Grummert from Duett will help you grow, refine, and nurture the email subscribers you have for your blog. She talks about welcome sequences, segmentation, opt-ins, and more –– enjoy! In this episode, you'll learn: How Allea helps creators with their email marketing Why your email list is so valuable What a welcome sequence is How to segment your email list How to maintain your sequences What RSS emails are How to get followers and subscribers Resources: Duett 229: Email Marketing – Strategies for Bloggers with Allea Grummert 279: Financial Independence – How to Be Efficient with Your Money with Anna Rider Mint Live Q&A - Welcome Sequences and Nurturing Your Email List – for members only! ConvertKit Work with Allea Hotjar Snag some exclusive resources from Allea! Find Allea 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

How outside funding affects a business, running a business with your significant other, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance with Russ and Natalie Monson. ----- Welcome to episode 287 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Russ and Natalie Monson about building online businesses. Entrepreneurial Balance As entrepreneurs, business owners, and bloggers, we know that it's sometimes tough to find balance between life and work. That's what we're focusing on in this interview with Russ and Natalie Monson from Super Healthy Kids and Prepear. Throughout their time as entrepreneurs, they've grown a food blog, built an app, received funding for their business, and more. In this episode, you'll learn how they do it all while maintaining a healthy balance with their other responsibilities. In this episode, you'll learn: How Russ and Natalie started working together How they started working on Super Healthy Kids full-time How they came up with the idea for Prepear How they found balance and a healthy relationship with their work How taking outside funding affects a business What it was like to get sued by Apple How Prepear works Resources: Super Healthy Kids Prepear Big Magic "I Was a Starter Wife": Inside America's Messiest Divorce Gumroad Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company Marco Polo Apple goes after meal-prep company Prepear over its 'similar' logo Learn more about Prepear for food bloggers Email Russ -- russ@prepear.com Learn more about WP Tasty's sale! 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

Screening applicants, knowing you're ready to hire, and the best questions to ask in an interview with Emily Perron. ----- Welcome to episode 286 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emily Perron about hiring freelance help. Build Your Team One of the inevitable truths of running and growing your own business is that you'll need to hire some help at some point. But how do you make sure that your job listing is as eye-catching and descriptive as it can be? How do you ask the right questions in an interview? How do you make sure you're hiring the right person for the job? That's what Emily is here to talk about today! In this episode, we dive deep into the world of hiring freelancers, from figuring out when it's time to hire to all of the boxes you should check throughout the hiring process. In this episode, you'll learn: The toughest parts of the hiring process The kinds of job listings that aren't appealing to freelancers Why a hiring process is necessary What to include in an attractive job listing How to screen applicants How to ask the important questions in an interview Examples of candidate red flags The differences between freelancers and employees How to know when you're ready to hire First roles that people hire for How to properly pay freelancers When to consider hiring How to work with Emily Resources: What to include in the contract when hiring a freelancer The first thing to do when thinking about hiring support What you don't know about how long it takes to hire freelancers Google Forms Typeform Airtable Upwork Justworks Tara Teaspoon Gusto Fiverr Check out Emily's site, get in touch, and follow her 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

How to pay attention to when you feel tension, focusing on your craft, and serving your audience as a blogger with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 285 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're rewinding back to an episode we shared earlier this year about what to do when you feel like you've done everything. What To Do When You Feel Like You've Done Everything I'm sure there has been a time in all of our blogging journeys where we feel like we're doing everything we can, yet the traffic, income, subscriber, and/or follower numbers just aren't moving. So what do you do then? What do you do when you feel like you've done everything you can? That's what this episode is all about. Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement when you're feeling stuck. In this episode, you'll learn: The importance of limiting comparison How to be flexible and understand what you're trying to achieve What it means to focus on your craft Why posting frequency isn't super important Why it might make sense to "niche down" How to serve your audience Resources: Lindsay's personal Instagram account 003: Sally McKenney from Sally's Baking Addiction on Creating Success 018: How to Build an Online Business Without Blogging with Jadah Sellner from Simple Green Smoothies 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 understand small business taxes, what S-Corp elections are, and how to review your blogging expenses every quarter with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 284 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're rewinding back to an episode that will help you optimize your income and make more money from blogging. Making More Money Without Doing More Work Welcome to our first FBP Rewind episode in this two-part series! Today, we're rewinding back to a solo episode with Bjork where he talks about the ways you can maximize your blogging income. Between implementing smarter ways you can track your income to understanding different tax laws, this episode will help you implement some helpful money-making strategies in the new year. This episode is a great reminder that small tweaks in your day-to-day can help your business get to the next level. In this episode, you'll learn: How business programs work How to track your mileage What purchases you can expense for your blog Why you should consider hiring a CPA When you should do an S-Corp election How you can hire help Why it's helpful to review your expenses every quarter How home office deductions work How to be proactive and ask for a raise Resources: Apple Business Automatic Bill Shark Download our free ebook, 16 Ways You Can Monetize Your Site 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 value of offering help, utilizing processes to make decisions, and reserving some unstructured time for yourself with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 283 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about five different ways that you can try to make 2021 better than this year. Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020. To go back and listen to that episode, click here. Looking Forward We're all probably hoping that 2021 is a lot better than 2020 has been, and in today's episode, Bjork is covering five different ways that you can try and make that happen. From partnering with others to leaning into processes to help guide decisions, we're hoping that you can tuck some of these ideas into your back pocket and pull them out as you strive towards personal and business growth in the new year. In this episode, you'll learn: How to focus on stability How to partner with others Why you should offer help when you can Why processes help guide decisions What it looks like to create unstructured time How to know you're on the right path Resources: Clariti Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox 15Five 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 use a framework to accomplish a goal, asking for help, evaluating your needs, and thinking about your legacy with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 282 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020. Helpful, Impactful Takeaways from This Year This year has been a bit of a doozy, hasn't it? Even with it being an eventful year, we still have some positive takeaways that we're planning on bringing into 2021 (and beyond). And that's what this episode is all about! In this solo-episode, Bjork shares nine of the most helpful and impactful takeaways from the year, ranging from personal development to business growth to mental health and beyond. We'd love to hear your most impactful takeaways from this year in the comments section on the show notes for this episode: foodbloggerpro.com/282 In this episode, you'll learn: Why it's important to ask for help The impact that a framework can have on your goals How to evaluate your needs The difference between a personal brand and a brand that's personal Why you should understand your financial books How to ponder your legacy Resources: EOS Pinch of Yum WP Tasty Nutrifox Clariti Loom Dropbox 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 build a high-quality food photography business, finding clients, and organizing shoot days with Christina Peters. ----- Welcome to episode 281 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Christina Peters from Food Photography Blog about how she has built a career out of photographing food. The Business of Food Photography When you're building your food photography career, you can face a lot of questions. Questions like: What should my rate be? How do I find clients? What should a shoot look like? How do I deliver top-notch service? That's what Christina is here to talk all about today! She has coordinated and prepped over 1000 food photography jobs over her career, and she's here on the podcast to talk all about her strategies and tips that will help you build and grow your own food photography business. In this episode, you'll learn: How Christina got started with photography Why business is sometimes more difficult than photography Qualities of incredible food photography businesses How to build trust as a food photographer How to find clients as a food photographer How to deliver excellent service What terms like "stand-in," "hero," and "usage fee" mean on a photo shoot How to set a day rate Tips for filling a photography portfolio Resources: Food Photography Blog Capture One Pro Download Christina's 4 Figure Day Rate Plan Food Photography Club Christina's personal site Christina's free Facebook group Sign up for an annual Food Blogger Pro membership and save over $70! 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 SideChef works with partners, creating clear step-by-step recipes, and how to use SideChef with Sandie Markle. ----- Welcome to episode 280 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sandie Markle from SideChef about how their platform helps foodies and creators. Getting Started with SideChef Today on the podcast, you'll hear about SideChef, which is a platform that's aimed at making the cooking experience easier. With a custom app, tailored cooking experiences, and dynamic recipe guidance, SideChef wants to make the whole cooking journey easier for its users. Sandie Markle, SideChef's Director of Content Partnerships, will share how SideChef helps their users with meal planning, grocery delivery, and smart kitchen connectivity, as well as how bloggers, content creators, and influencers can get involved with their Micro-Influencer Program. It's a really cool platform, and we're excited to help you learn more about it in today's episode! In this episode, you'll learn: What SideChef is How content creators can add their recipes to SideChef How to increase engagement with virtual assistants How to create clear step-by-step recipes How SideChef works with partners How to create money from SideChef Resources: SideChef Pinch of Yum Bjork's pancake recipe Ipsy Learn more about SideChef's Content Partner Program Email Sandie – sandie@sidechef.com Join our email list and download our guide about 16 different ways you can monetize your site at foodbloggerpro.com 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

Trimming unnecessary spending, how to start tracking your spending and budgeting, and working towards financial freedom with Anna Rider. ----- Welcome to episode 279 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anna Rider from Garlic Delight about financial independence and retiring early. Financial Independence This is a different kind of episode for us, but it's about a topic that affects us all as creators, bloggers, and side hustlers: business and personal finances. How do you manage your spending? Do you understand the value of the business and personal purchases you're making? Can you calculate the expected value of a blog post? Not only are you looking to maximize the return on the money you spend on your business, but you're also probably working to save money for long-term goals. Understanding your finances is a crucial step as you're working towards financial independence and retirement. If you've ever wanted to learn more about budgeting, tracking your spending, and understanding the impact of the money you spend, this episode with Anna is for you! In this episode, you'll learn: How Anna became interested in personal finance What FIRE means and how it works for food bloggers How to trim unnecessary spending How to start tracking your spending and budgeting for purchases How to understand the environmental impact of your lifestyle How to evaluate whether your purchases are getting you closer to your goals How to calculate the expected value of a blog post Why blogging is a long-term game Where you can go to learn more about financial freedom Resources: 265: Adapting and Adjusting – Having a Gratitude Mindset with Beth Moncel Mr. Money Mustache The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement An Interactive Guide to Early Retirement and Financial Independence Your Money or Your Life FinCon Garlic Delight Atomic Habits Vicki Robin Frugalwoods How I Figured Out What I Want To Do With My Life (And How You Can Too!) A Simple Way to Think About Expected Value (EV) When Making a Decision Increase Blog Traffic with Exponential Growth F.U. Money If You Can FI Seekers Email Anna – anna@garlicdelight.com 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