The importance of understanding a business at a whole, starting a brick and mortar business, and hiring help with Jen and Rob Morris. ----- Welcome to episode 192 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jen and Rob Morris from Cupcakeology about starting and growing their bakery. How Rob and Jen Built a Successful Business  Have you ever dreamt of opening up your own bakery or restaurant? Jen and Rob did, too. They opened Cupcakeology in Philadelphia due to a love of desserts and management. Jen and Rob learned a ton about running their own business, and that’s what they’re here today to chat about. You’ll learn about how they overcame the difficulties of starting their own business, how they decided to hire help, and why they eventually started a blog. This is such a fun interview, and we know you’ll love learning about their journey. In this episode, Jen and Rob share: How they started baking When they realized they wanted to start a bakery Why it was important to understand both the food and the business The different businesses they started The hard lessons they needed to learn when they first started How they decided to hire help The importance of stories Why they started a blog Resources: Pinterest Strategy Recommendations from the Experts Cupcakeology Lovin’ from the Oven Follow Cupcakeology and Lovin’ from the Oven on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Wordnerdy! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Tips for Instagram success, building a product or website, and how to know when you should invest in your business with Ryan Walker. ----- Welcome to episode 191 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ryan Walker from Link in Profile and Tap Bio. Building a Better Bio  If you’ve spent any time on Instagram, chances are that you’ve seen the words “Link in Profile” and / or “Tap Bio” before. Link in Profile and Tap Bio are Instagram bio tools that help send your followers to your blog content. Ryan Walker, the founder of these two companies is here today to chat about these tools and how they can help you with your Instagram strategy. He shares his tips for Instagram success, his advice for building a product or website, how to know when you should invest in your business, and so much more. Enjoy! In this episode, Ryan shares: His background in software How to know when you should invest in your business How he decided to start and build Link in Profile How Link in Profile works Tips for Instagram success Why he started Tap Bio The differences between Link in Profile and Tap Bio His advice for building something Resources: Link in Profile Tap.Bio Against All Grain Real or Fake: 5 Instagram Rumors Explained Follow @tap.bio on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Margaret! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

How notifications work, how to create a customer journey strategy, and writing engaging notifications with Josh Wetzel from OneSignal. ----- Welcome to episode 190 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Josh Wetzel from OneSignal about using push notifications on your blog. Push Notifications for Bloggers Chances are that you’ve seen a prompt on a blog that says something like, “Do you want to opt-in to browser notifications?” Pinch of Yum might be one of them! Those are called push notifications, and OneSignal is a company that helps you create those push notifications to increase user engagement on your site. Josh Wetzel, OneSignal’s Chief Revenue Officer, is here today to talk about the benefits of using push notifications on your blog and the results that you may see after enabling them for your website. In this episode, Josh shares: How he started with OneSignal How notifications work How voice notifications work How to create a customer journey strategy The different types of messages you can send with OneSignal How you can monetize notifications How you can write engaging notifications How intelligent delivery works Resources: Diversifying Traffic: How Different Sources Perform Over Time OneSignal In 2018, push alerts featured less yelling and more thinking Follow OneSignal and Josh on Twitter If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Crackersandcabernet! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Why you should build your processes, how to create a more valuable business, and prioritizing your tasks with Blake Bailey. ----- Welcome to episode 189 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Blake Bailey from Process Street about the importance of documenting your processes. Make Less Work Whether you know it or not, there are a lot of processes that go into creating blog content. Photographing a recipe, publishing a post, sharing that post on social media, reaching out to sponsors, adding ads to your site. Blake from Process Street is here to talk about why you might to document these processes and how to get started documenting these processes. He’ll help you save time and work smarter by automating some of your most common to-dos and prioritizing your tasks. In this episode, Blake shares: What an SOP is How you can start creating processes Why you might want to start building processes How you can automate your processes How you can make less work for yourself and your team How to create a more valuable business with processes How you can build your processes and prioritize your tasks How to use Content Lock Resources: Process Street Zapier The Checklist Manifesto Ahrefs MarketMuse Checklists for Bloggers If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Sylvia! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Retina images, how to start optimizing your site, and the different levels of image optimization with Simon Duduica. ----- Welcome to episode 188 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Simon Duduica about optimizing images on your website.  Optimizing Your Website’s Images We know that optimization is important when it comes to building a website, so today’s interview focuses on optimizing images. Optimizing images on food blogs is especially important. Food blogs are typically heavy-handed with their use of images, and for good reason: people eat with their eyes. That said, it’s just as important that your images look good as it is to optimize them for site performance and speed. That’s where ShortPixel comes in. They help you optimize your images in a way that doesn’t compromise quality or that “drool-worthiness” we all want to see in our images. ShortPixel’s Head of Technology, Simon, is here to chat through what optimizing your images means and how you can make sure the images on your site are optimized. In this episode, Simon shares: How they started ShortPixel Why image optimization is important for website owners How images load How you can tell if your images are optimized The difference between optimization levels What retina images are and how you can optimize them How you can start optimizing your website Resources: Register for the Growing Your Food Blog Q&A with Bjork and Lindsay! ShortPixel WP Engine Cloudflare GTmetrix Google PageSpeed Insights If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Brenda from Become Betty! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

What self-publishing is, how much you can expect to spend, and enlisting the help of others with Chelsea Cole. ----- Welcome to episode 187 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven about the process of self-publishing a cookbook.  How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook It’s time for part 2 of our two-part publishing series! This week, we’re chatting with Chelsea Cole, sous vide master, all about the steps she took to self-publish her very own cookbook. Self-publishing is certainly different from traditional publishing, so this episode focuses on the nuances that make self-publishing so accessible and exciting for bloggers. You’ll learn how she found her topic, how much you should expect to spend if you’re self-publishing a book, and more. Enjoy! In this episode, Chelsea shares: Where her blog name comes from What sous vide is How she decided to focus on sous vide Why she started thinking about writing a cookbook How payments work when you write a cookbook How she managed her cookbook team and timeline How much you should plan on spending if you self-publish a cookbook How she promoted her book What she would do differently next time Resources: Delivering Happiness A Duck’s Oven Shoe Dog MacBreak Weekly Sous Vide 5-year trend on Google Trends Well Fed Diane Morgan Asana Amazon’s Royalty Calculator 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Everyday Sous Vide: It’s All French to Me BONUS! Check out Chelsea’s blog post all about her self-publishing process If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Bob! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Fine-tuning your book idea, book proposals, and understanding your reader with Lindsey Smith. ----- Welcome to episode 186 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Lindsey Smith, aka. The Food Mood Girl, about the traditional publishing process. How to Become a Published Author You have an awesome book idea, but you have no idea what to do with it. If this sounds like you, then this episode is for you! Lindsey Smith is a publishing pro; she has gone through the self-publishing process in addition to working with a traditional publishing house. This episode, however, is focused on the latter–getting an agent, going through a publisher, and writing a book proposal. She also talks about how she started her own press and developed a conference for aspiring authors. The publishing process may seem a bit daunting, but you’ll learn a ton of helpful tips in this interview like how to set your pitch apart, how your pitches will change based on the type of book you’re writing, and how you can fine-tune your book idea and proposal. Enjoy! In this episode, Lindsey shares: How she started publishing her content What a press is The differences between an agent and a publisher How a nonfiction pitch differs from a fiction pitch How to set your pitch apart from others How she fine-tuned her book idea What you can do once you have a book idea Important parts of a book proposal Why it’s important to understand that you’re ahead of your reader How having a brand can help with the traditional publishing process Resources: Test your mobile site speed with Think with Google One Idea Press Pitch Publish Promote Food Mood Girl Lindsey’s books Macmillan Follow Lindsey on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, YumYoga! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Flash photography, the road to recovery, and building a business with Joanie Simon. ----- Welcome to episode 185 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Joanie Simon about using flash photography and recovering from addiction. Darkness and Light We typically talk about the benefits of shooting food photos with natural light - namely, it’s an easy way to make sure your photos look natural. But if you take a quick peek over at Joanie’s Instagram profile (@thebiteshot), you’ll see that she’s getting beautiful, natural-looking photos using flash. That’s right! Joanie has figured out a way to make flash photography the foundation of her successful YouTube channel, brand partnerships, and more. But that’s not the only reason you’ll love this episode. Joanie’s journey to food blogging and photography wasn’t an easy one, and you’ll hear about her road to recovery and her story of how she got to where she is today. In this episode, Joanie shares: How she got into blogging Why a chicken is so important to her story How relationships grew her photography business Why she shoots with flash How flash is different from artificial light The gear she uses for flash photography Resources: Joanie’s story “7 Habits of Highly Effective People The Bite Shot on YouTube Joanie’s courses Joanie’s flash photography gear Follow Joanie on Instagram If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Betsy from The Dinner Sisters! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Defining growth, figuring out your definition of success, and learning from those who are paying attention with Paul Jarvis. ----- Welcome to episode 184 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Jarvis about his new book, “Company of One,” and building better businesses.  Build Better, Not Bigger, Businesses Paul is back on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast to chat about his new book, how to build better businesses, how to define growth, and so much more. Paul understands business in a pretty unique way. His ideologies of starting small, defining growth, and continual learning will help you evaluate your blog or business and challenge you to find your own definition of success. Plus, his new book, “Company of One,” will be out next week, so be sure to pre-order if you’re interested! In this episode, Paul shares: How you can preorder his book Why you should figure out your definition of success How he keeps simplicity in his work How you can get your Company of One business up and running What defining growth means Why you don’t need a massive audience What it means to learn from the people who are paying attention How to protect yourself from the ulcer of the soul Resources: Preorder Paul’s book! 181: The Year of the Pivot with Melissa Coleman If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Thanks to our Reviewer of the Week, Carolyn from Umami Girl! If you’d like to be featured, leave a review for us on iTunes and include your name and blog name in the review. We’d like to thank our sponsors, WP Tasty! Check out wptasty.com to learn more about their handcrafted WordPress plugins specifically made for food bloggers.

Intentional effort, going by stopping, and finding the good with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 183 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to a Bjork solo episode where he talks about how to keep going when you’re not sure you can continue.  How to Keep Going Happy 2019! For today’s podcast episode, we’re rewinding back to a solo Bjork episode called, “How to Keep Going.” This episode was originally published in August 2017, but the strategies, advice, and techniques Bjork shares will help you stay motivated in the new year. It’s tough to keep going, keep doing, and keep creating, especially when you’re trying to balance it with the other aspects of your life. The tips Bjork shares in this episode will help you get up each and every day to do the work. In this episode, Bjork shares: Why someone else’s path might not be the one for you How to find your own path Why time is a key ingredient How The Path differs from The Resistance How temporarily stopping can help you keep going Why deadlines are important and how they have impacted Pinch of Yum and Food Blogger Pro Why gratitude moves you forward Resources: Open for Business Podcast Startup Podcast Smart Passive Income Podcast FE International Website Brokerage Quiet Light Brokerage Episode 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light Brokerage Pinch of Yum - Afton posts If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.