Why your story is important to your brand, how to figure out your brand position, and how to find information about your audience with Laurie Buckle. ----- Welcome to episode 132 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Laurie Buckle from CookIt Media about the importance of the story behind your brand. Perfecting Your Story and Your Brand Laurie has an acute understanding of the power of story. Your brand’s story is the reason why your brand exists, and it helps facilitate a connection with your readers that creates loyalty throughout your blogging career. Over at CookIt Media, Laurie helps bloggers solidify their stories and brands. She believes that story is the best communication tool that you can use, and she’s here to speak about how you can discover and perfect your own brand’s story. In this episode, Laurie shares: Why stories are so important How she got started with CookIt Media What your brand position is How to find information about your audience How to determine your target audience Resources: Tasty Pins 118: How Discovering Your Brand Can Help You Grow with Gaby Dalkin Meredith 093: How Finding a Niche Transformed a Business with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill CookIt Media Work with CookIt Media Enter the CookIt Consulting Intro Giveaway! Leave a comment on this episode’s blog post or leave a review of our podcast on iTunes, screenshot your review, and send it to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. The deadline is January 31, 2018. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Clarifying your why, finding gratitude in all things, and knowing it's possible with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 131 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about setting goals for the new year. Three Ways to Set Smarter Goals in the New Year Have you ever set a goal for the new year and not followed through? We’ve all been there. Bjork is here to help you with three mental frameworks that will help you make smarter goals and keep you motivated in the new year. Between understanding why you’re setting a specific goal to why it’s important to practice gratitude, this episode will help you strategically and intentionally create goals to help you and your business grow. In this episode, Bjork shares: What SMART goals are Why it’s important to understand why you’re setting a specific goal Why gratitude is so important Resources: Hygge If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.  

Creating an avatar, securing brand sponsorships, and why you should follow-up with brands after a campaign with Jenny Melrose. ----- Welcome to episode 130 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Jenny Melrose about making the transition to being an entrepreneur, connecting with brands online, and using a website that helps you price your sponsored content. Creating a Full-Time Income from Sponsored Content Sponsored content is a popular way for bloggers to monetize their businesses. You partner with a brand, create posts promoting their products, and then you’re paid based on a rate you negotiate. If it seems like a lot of work, it is. But on top of that work, how do you make sure that you’re producing content that’s of value to the brands you’re working with? That’s where Jenny’s expertise comes in. She has cracked the code on creating awesome sponsored content that is both on-brand and useful to the companies you’re working with. Her tips on creating an avatar, staying true to your voice, and pitching the right people can all help you earn an income from sponsored content work. In this episode, Jenny shares: Why she started The Melrose Family How she created an avatar Why it’s important to pay attention to your reader demographics How to find the right contact for the brands you want to work with When to pitch a brand How she secures brand sponsorships The difference between PR agencies and working with a brand directly Why you should follow-up with brands after a campaign What tool she uses to keep track of her campaigns What tool you can use as a guideline for your sponsored content rates Resources: The Melrose Family Google Docs Social Bluebook Jenny Melrose Influencer Entrepreneur with Jenny Melrose If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

How to blog while writing a cookbook, the importance of user experience, and how to approach your brand and business with David Lebovitz. ----- Welcome to episode 129 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with David Lebovitz about how to develop the ability to stick with it, a lesson that helped him build his brand, and his a-typical approach to blogging analytics. Forging Your Own Path 1999 was a big year for David; he left his job as a pastry chef to write his first cookbook, Room for Dessert and started a recipe blog. Little did he know that he was becoming one of the pioneers of the food blogging industry! From there, David moved to Paris, wrote a few more cookbooks, and learned how to do what he loves while providing value to his readers. You’ll learn about his philosophy on email etiquette, his favorite social media platform, and why his blog is so important to his cookbook-writing process. In this episode, David shares: Why recipe development is an ongoing process How to pronounce “L’appart” and why he chose it as a book title What it was like to be one of the first food bloggers How he approaches his brand and business The important word he learned when he moved to Paris Why he doesn’t look at his Google Analytics What his favorite social media platform is Why it’s important to think about user experience Resources: L’Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home 101 Cookbooks Simply Recipes The Amateur Gourmet Movable Type 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic David’s blog If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Important Google tools, switching to https, and how to perform effective keyword research with Katy Widrick. ----- Welcome to episode 128 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Katy Widrick from Make Media Over about marketing strategies, search engine optimization, and Google tools that can help you refine your blog. Maximizing Your Blog’s Potential Katy got her start in television news, but she realized that her love was actually behind-the-scenes. Content creation, writing an email newsletter, consulting, and helping others start their blogs - that’s where Katy thrives. She started her business, Make Media Over, a managed services and consulting business, to help start-ups and developed brands with online and influencer marketing. She helps her clients understand and use marketing funnels, SEO tools, and social media platforms to grow their following and increase engagement. Learn some of her tips and tricks in this interview! In this episode, Katy shares: Why switching to https is important What “mixed content” means How she started her business Why you should be using Google Search Console How you can help nudge people to click through to your post How to use Pinterest for SEO Resources: Katy Widrick Make Media Over Designing Your Life Google Search Console Google Analytics Google Keyword Planner Moz Ahrefs Mailchimp ConvertKit ActiveCampaign Infusionsoft Mad Mimi Make Media Over services If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

What publishers look for when they're signing an author and how you get paid as an author with Maria Ribas. ----- Welcome to episode 127 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Maria Ribas from Cooks & Books about what you could be doing today to set you up for a future book deal. How to Land a Book Deal Maria is a literary agent, which means that she represents the interest of authors in the book publishing process. She has a lot of experience working with cookbook authors, and she started a blog, Cooks & Books, to teach others what she’s learned. This episode is perfect for the bloggers who are interested in publishing a cookbook. Maria and Bjork cover the whole book publishing process in detail, from understanding who your true fans are to figuring out how to pitch to a publisher. In this episode, Maria shares: What a literary agent does How to analyze your book idea What to consider when pitching your idea How long a typical cookbook publishing process will last The difference between an advance and royalties Resources: Cooks & Books Peas & Thank You If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Be sure to review us on iTunes!

How to grow a sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business with Sean McCabe. ----- Welcome to episode 126 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Sean McCabe about how to grow a sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business. Fueling Your Passion with Your Day Job Turning your passion into your day job. That’s the dream, right? Not so fast. Sometimes it’s better to have a day job outside of your passions, and Sean is here to tell you why. In addition to this lesson, Sean also explains why investing in your audience is one of the most important decisions you can make when building your business. Learn how to grow your sustainable, profitable, and audience-driven business in this interview. In this episode, Sean shares: How to build an audience-driven business How to balance a passion and full-time job How he found his focus and then expanded into other areas Why it’s important to document the process How he defines success How to make sure you’re heard The common characteristics of your community members Why you should curate what you share Resources: Sean’s About page Follow Sean on Instagram Overlap The Overlap Book Documentary 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.

The common characteristics of chefs, how to diversify your online income, and what it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial chef. ----- Welcome to episode 125 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Shawn Wenner and Chris Hill from Entrepreneurial Chef about the common characteristics of chefs, how to diversify your online income, and what it takes to make it as an entrepreneurial chef. Monetizing as an Entrepreneurial Chef Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s often really really tough. Especially when food is involved. That’s why Shawn and Chris started Entrepreneurial Chef: to provide tools and resources for food entrepreneurs so that they can grow successful brands and businesses. They’ve built a brand around their own skills to help others in the food space monetize, serve customers, and pursue their dreams. In this episode, Shawn and Chris share: How they got their start in food How they met and started working together The common traits of chefs How powerful trust is in a partnership Creative ways to monetize How to become a restaurateur Resources: Entrepreneurial Chef Making the Cut Podcast Process Street Making the Cut Dear Chefs 120: How to Shape Your Own Career Destiny with Dorie Clark 097: How to Create a Full-Time Income from Blogging Using The Egg Carton Method with Bjork Ostrom Tim Ma Entrepreneurial Chef Issue 11 If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

How they left their full-time jobs, how they got their start blogging, and why a desire to learn is so important. ----- Welcome to episode 124.5 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with Katy Keck from Palate Passion Purpose and Ben Myhre from Ramshackle Pantry. How Two Food Blogger Pro Members are Pursuing Their Passions and Following Their Dreams We’re so excited about this bonus episode! Today we’re featuring two of our members: Katy Keck and Ben Myhre. They’re living the food blogging dream: blogging full-time, connecting with readers, and creating content every week. Hear them talk about leaving their full-time jobs, growing their blogs, and more, covering the ups and downs of blog and business ownership. Plus, they share how they’ve used the fundamentals learned on Food Blogger Pro on their own blogs. In this episode, Katy and Ben share: How Katy got her start in food How Katy has grown her brand What Katy’s favorite parts of Food Blogger Pro are How Ben got his start blogging and cooking Why a passion to learn has been so important to Ben’s growth How Ben decided it was the right time to leave his full-time job What Ben’s biggest learning curve was Resources: [Join Food Blogger Pro](https://www.foodbloggerpro.com/signup/] today! Palate Passion Purpose Ramshackle Pantry on Instagram Pinch of Yum Workshops Pinch of Yum Traffic and Income Reports Gary Vaynerchuk Tasty Recipes The pet post on FBP Kate Winslet the St. Bernard! If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Why you should start gratitude journaling, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe with UJ Ramdas. ----- Welcome to episode 124 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks with UJ Ramdas from Intelligent Change about why you should start gratitude journaling, the benefits of meditation, and how to cultivate awe. How to Level Up Your Life If you’re interested in the self-improvement space, you’ve probably read about the power of having a morning routine. That’s exactly why UJ helped start Intelligent Change and the Five Minute Journal. The Five Minute Journal is designed to help you make positive changes in just five minutes in the morning and five minutes at night. UJ believes that the Five Minute Journal is a simple way to focus on the good, become more mindful, and live with intention. Learn how you can apply the principles in your own life today. In this episode, UJ shares: Why he started Intelligent Change What gratitude journaling is How to use the Five Minute Journal What his morning routine looks like The benefits of meditation How to cultivate awe Why we sometimes don’t reach our goals How to go through a process of self-discovery Resources: Join Food Blogger Pro today! Intelligent Change Five Minute Journal Productivity Planner Headspace Cal Newport Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 16Personalities DISC Personality Test StrengthsFinder Kolbe My Commitment If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.