The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

How Pinch of Yum is approaching sponsored content, planning new content, and letting go of certain tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. ----- Welcome to episode 248 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about how Pinch of Yum is coping with this season. Running at an Incline What has your blog looked like these past few weeks? Are you posting more? Did you have to rearrange your entire editorial calendar? Are you sitting on recipes that you already have shot? Are you getting more done than usual? What have you had to let go? These are the types of questions Bjork asks Lindsay, bosswoman behind the food blog, Pinch of Yum, in today's episode. It's an incredibly honest and raw discussion on how Pinch of Yum is approaching the act of creating content during this uniquely challenging time, and Lindsay talks about how she's planning on delivering value to her readers and finding her role in this season. In this episode, you'll learn: How Lindsay is approaching content on Pinch of Yum What Pinch of Yum is doing with pre-created recipes What's happening with sponsored posts during this time How Lindsay is proactively looking forward What Lindsay has had to let go of during this season Resources: Serious Eats Is Remote. Here's How We're Handling It. Just a Check In, Plus… Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Deep Dish Cookie Bowls for Two CoSchedule If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Remembering to care for the essentials, how to approach content creation during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the importance of avoiding disastertunity. ----- Welcome to episode 247 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how we're approaching the COVID–19 outbreak personally and with our businesses. Covering the Basics Oof. These past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Not only is it confusing, stressful, and scary personally, it can add a whole level of uncertainty when you're running a business. There isn't a right or a wrong way to approach content during this time, but in this episode, Bjork talks about the ways we're approaching business during the COVID–19 outbreak. One thing we really want you to remember during this strange time is that the content you're creating is helpful, it is making a difference, and it is bringing people value. You can serve your audience during tough times – and this episode should give you some ideas on how to do that. In this episode, you'll learn: Why it's important to think first about the essentials What content can look like during tough times How to avoid disastertunity Resources: Pinch of Yum's COVID–19 Coffee Date post 086: How to Make a Successful Career Change with Jon Acuff If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Hiring a contractor vs. an employee, how employee benefits work, and how you can start building your team with Moses Balian. ----- Welcome to episode 246 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Moses Balian about contractors, employees, and building a team. Hiring As you're growing your business, there may come a time when you're ready to hire some help. But should you hire them as a contractor or as an employee? That's what Moses is here to talk about today! He'll talk you through those initial decisions, using a PEO (that's a Professional Employer Organization), producing important tax and employee documents, and how employee benefits work. It's a really interesting conversation, and if you're at the point where you could use another set of hands to work on your business, we think this episode will help you navigate your next steps. In this episode, you'll learn: How Justworks works and what a PEO is The difference between a contractor and an employee If you can start someone as a contractor and move them to an employee How you can start building a team How 1099s work If and when you should create an employee handbook How employee benefits work If you should have insurance when you're building a team Resources: Justworks Understanding Employee vs. Contractor Designation If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

The importance of limiting comparison, how to be flexible, focusing on your craft, and why posting frequency isn't very important with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 245 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork reads an email we recently received and offers advice on how to overcome the feelings of feeling stuck. Feeling Stuck Today's podcast episode is actually one of our new favorites because it actually came together in less than a week. We received an email from a fellow blogger last week, and in the email, she describes why she's feeling a bit stuck. She's optimizing her posts, she's creating pictures for Pinterest, she's focusing on email marketing, but her traffic isn't where she wants it to be. She feels like there's something that's she's missing – a key that will unlock her blog's potential. And that sounds familiar, right? "I'm doing all of these things…why am I not seeing results?" So this episode is all about that – what to do when you feel like you've done everything. You'll hear this blogger's anonymous email in its entirety in this episode, and I'm sure the sentiments that are shared in the email will sound really familiar to you. Then Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement if you're feeling stuck in a similar way. It's definitely a different kind of episode, but we hope you enjoy it! 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: 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.

How SaaS businesses solve problems, tips for diversifying your portfolio, and the importance of delegating with Kevin McArdle. ----- Welcome to episode 244 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle about running businesses, solving challenges, and building your portfolio. Diversification This week's episode is a good one because it's all about diversifying your portfolio, and not in the ways we typically talk about in terms of food blogging. Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle from SureSwift Capital about investing in businesses, building solutions to your audience's needs, and the lessons Kevin when starting his business. I had so many takeaways from this episode, and we hope you learn of some ways that you can grow (both personally and financially) through diversification in this episode. In this episode, you'll learn: How he approaches investments What "software as a service" is How SaaS businesses solve problems Tips for diversifying your portfolio What the "no code" movement is all about How to work with website brokers How to pitch an idea The lessons Kevin had to learn when he started The importance of delegating The tools Kevin uses to run his business Resources: The tech.mn Podcast TECHdotMN SureSwift Capital 111: How to Build a Company of One with Paul Jarvis Makerpad MicroAcquire Slack Zoom Follow Kevin on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Why keyword research is so important, what EAT means, and updating content with Ewen Finser. ----- Welcome to episode 243 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser about creating awesome content that search engines and your readers will love. Best-in-Class Content We hear from a lot of bloggers who are interested in increasing their traffic. And while there's a ton of information out there about this very topic, today's podcast episode focuses on a refreshing way to understand search engines and SEO: you want to give the best possible answer to your readers and to search engines. Simple as that. And that's exactly what Ewen is here to discuss today. From organizing content in a logical way that maximizes SEO benefits to understanding the nitty gritty of keyword research, you'll learn a lot about website structure and optimizing content in this interview. Enjoy! In this episode, you'll learn: How he got into building and growing websites Why he thinks keyword research is so important Why it's important to understand your readers' journeys Why he doesn't do link building What EAT stands for His process for keyword research What interlinking is and why it's important Resources: Amazon Affiliate Program Owl Mountain Ahrefs SECockpit Connect with Ewen on Linkedin or email If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

What fresh content is and why it's important for Pinterest, how to use Pinterest Trends, and how often you should be pinning with Kate Ahl. ----- Welcome to episode 242 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kate Ahl talks about using Pinterest in 2020. Social Trends: Pinterest in 2020 Today marks Part 2 of our two-part series on social media in 2020. Last week we focused on Facebook and Instagram, and this week is all about Pinterest. Pinterest can be a huge traffic-driver for food bloggers. In fact, it's consistently in one of the top three spots of traffic drivers for food bloggers. That said, Pinterest is constantly in pursuit of making the platform better for its users, so it changes quite a bit. That's why we're excited to focus on the best practices for Pinterest in 2020 in today's episode. Kate Ahl is here to give you her recommendations for finding what's trending on Pinterest, pinning fresh content, writing awesome Pin descriptions, using promoted Pins, and more. In this episode, you'll learn: What Pinterest is focusing on in 2020 How going public changed how Pinterest works What type of Promoted Pins work best How to use Pinterest Trends How often you should be pinning Traits of successful pinners What fresh content is and why it's important for Pinterest in 2020 What you should include in your Pin descriptions Whether or not you should be using Rich Pins Resources: Simple Pin Media WP Tasty Pinterest Trends Google Trends Tasty Pins Follow Simple Pin Media on Pinterest 166: Answering Your Questions about Pinterest with Kate Ahl 157: More Clicks, Subscribers, and Sales with Pinterest with Kate Ahl 026: How Pinterest Analytics can Boost your Blog with Kate Ahl from Simple Pin Media If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Facebook groups as part of a social strategy, building engagement on Instagram, and how to streamline writing your Instagram captions with Abby Bayatpour. ----- Welcome to episode 241 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Social Media Manager, Abby Bayatpour, about how food bloggers can be promoting their content on Facebook and Instagram this year. Social Trends: Facebook and Instagram in 2020 Today's new episode marks the start of a two-part series here on the podcast, and in this series, we're focusing on social media in 2020 – i.e. what you, as a blogger, should be focusing on when it comes to promoting your content and your brand on social media this year. We're going to focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest during this series, and in today's episode, our incredibly talented Social Media Manager, Abby, will be speaking about Facebook and Instagram trends for food bloggers. If you've ever stared at a social media platform and thought, "What do I post today?", we think this series will help you form your social strategy for the new year. In this episode, you'll learn: What kinds of posts perform best on Facebook How Facebook groups might fit into your social strategy How videos are performing on Facebook in 2020 How to build consistent engagement on Instagram How often you should post on Instagram How to streamline your Instagram caption writing What kinds of photos perform best on Instagram Resources: 237: The One Thing – What We're Excited to Focus On in 2020 232: Repurposing Video – Maximizing the Impact of Recipe Videos with Brita Britnell 210: Pinch of Yum's Instagram Playbook with Lindsay Ostrom Using Hashtags on Instagram to Grow Your Food Blog's Followers and Reach How to Promote Your Food Blog on Instagram Facebook course - for members only Instagram for Food Bloggers course - for members only Social Media Strategy course - for members only Social Media Analytics course - for members only Social Strategy Live Q&A - for members only Follow Abby on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

How home office deductions work, why you should consider hiring a CPA, and how to track your mileage with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 240 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks through the ways you can create income without doing more work. Income Making more money without doing more work…that's the dream, right? Well, now it's a reality! Bjork is here today to chat through some of the ways you can work smarter and make more money without doing more work. It's a really helpful reminder that we don't necessarily need to be hustling all the time to get our businesses to a new level; some small tweaks in your day-to-day can help get you there as well. 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 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

How to be light on your feet, the most impactful work for Pinch of Yum, and the sacrifices of building a business with Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 239 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about navigating the different seasons in her blogging journey. Ten Years Pinch of Yum is turning 10 this year, and as I'm sure you can imagine, it has changed quite a bit in that time. In today's episode of the podcast, you'll hear about the different seasons of Pinch of Yum and how Lindsay navigated them while building her blog into a business. And she covers it all – from running her blog as a side hustle to transitioning to it being her full-time gig to hiring team members to current day. Regardless of what season of your blogging journey you're currently in, you'll find a lot of advice in this episode that can help you navigate the good, the tough, and everything in-between. In this episode, you'll learn: How Lindsay views the "seasons" of Pinch of Yum When Pinch of Yum became a "side hustle" What a "trickster" is Why sacrifices are a part of the side hustle How Lindsay prioritized work when she started working for herself The work that was most impactful when Lindsay was building Pinch of Yum What the current "season" of Pinch of Yum looks like What it means to be light on your feet Resources: 153: Playing the Game of Business with Kevin Waldron Big Magic Tasty Food Photography The Nora Roberts quote Follow Pinch of Yum and Lindsay on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.