Welcome to episode 64 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Dan Miller from 48 Days about finding work that you love through understanding yourself. Most of us have been there before: working a job that just isn’t right for us. Maybe it doesn’t pay enough, or the passion isn’t there, or it doesn’t work with your lifestyle. Whatever the reason, being in this position is just lame. At some point, you might have realized that you want to do something else - you saw a friend or a coworker or an internet role model find success, and you want to do what they did. You would love job! The problem is that it can be really difficult to know if you actually will love that job. Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love, has seen this scenario play out many times. Through his books, speaking, and personal coaching, he’s mentored thousands of people to help them find the work they’ll love, and today he talks with Bjork about this common conundrum. In this episode, Dan shares: How to know if you are doing meaningful work How you can find your passion How to know when your hobby should stay just a hobby What business you shouldn’t go into in the food industry How to know if you’ll enjoy a certain type of work   Resources: StrengthsFinder DISC Profiles on 48 Days Entrepreneur on Fire 48 Days to the Work You Love 48 Days 48 Days Podcast 48Days.net Community 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!  

Welcome to episode 63 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jeff Rose from Good Financial Cents about making sound decisions about your finances for your business and your personal life. If you’re serious about this blogging stuff, you’ve may have already created a business for your blog - or at minimum, you’ve thought about it. However, registering as a business isn’t the only decision you need to make. Running a business means dealing with your money properly to secure for both your business and your personal financial future. Jeff Rose is both a certified financial planner and a blogger, and he does both in support of his business. He’s made his living by helping others manage theirs, and his wealth of information will help you plan for a secure financial future. In this episode, Jeff talks about: How to financially transition into working for yourself How to organize your time for business success The first thing you need to do to prepare for working for yourself What your savings are actually good for Where you should be investing your money as a small business owner What types of insurance you should have   Resources: Good Financial Cents The Strategic Coach YouNeedABudget.com Mint.com YNAB Subscriptions Scottrade TD Ameritrade Betterment Vanguard Life Insurance by Jeff Marriage More 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!

Welcome to episode 62 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Mike Morrison about launching and running a successful membership site. While most food bloggers set their monetization sights on generating income through ads or sponsored content, there might be another good avenue to look toward. Mike Morrison cofounded The Membership Guys, a website and podcast dedicated to helping people learn how to run successful membership sites. He has found that, when done properly, having a membership site can be a lucrative and reliable business. When membership sites are the last thing on the minds of most bloggers, it may very well be a fantastic way for you and your website to stand out in the crowd. In this episode, Mike talks about: What a membership site exactly is What the important metrics are for a membership site Whether you should launch without a following How large your audience needs to be to be successful Where to find your audience How to validate your idea What WordPress plugins your should use to build your site What makes people successful in the membership arena   Resources: The Membership Guys Member Site Academy talkmemberships.com Will It Fly by Pat Flynn Membership plugin info 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!  

Welcome to episode 61 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! We have a special episode today - our first ever community podcast! In this episode, we hear from members of the Food Blogger Pro community talk about what’s working for them right now. The only bummer about the FBP Podcast is that we just can’t interview everyone. There are so many bloggers out there who we would love to hear from, though! So, the idea for a community podcast episode was born. Listeners from all over the globe called in to share their tips, tricks, and techniques that are working for them to grow their blog. Ranging from tips to help manage social media to techniques for staying on top of things, this episode has a little bit of everything. Enjoy! In this episode, FBP listeners share tips on: Finding your own voice Being useful Creating a business directory Increasing engagement by being engaged Running group giveaways Being part of an accountability group Building an editorial calendar Using your blog to find clients and so much more! Resources: Back to Her Roots Let’s Taco Bout It Food Truck Empire Modern Honey Food Fashion & Fun Wok & Skillet Teaspoon of Spice Homemade Italian Cooking CoSchedule (members get a deal on the FBP D&D page!) Adobe Lightroom Wanderlust & Wellness Workweek Foodie Veggie Primer Fooduzzi How to follow pages on Facebook Almond to Zest Paleo Scaleo Life is Better with Tea Food Fit Fabulous Breaking Down Nutrition Froment Free Dish by Dish Bet on Dinner Over app Kitchen of Debjani Dishes Delish Carrie on Living Lakeside Table Culinary Hill Eat Within Your Means Jessica Gavin 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!

Welcome to episode 60 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork finishes off the solo trio with some fantastic advice on SEO for food bloggers.   SEO can seem mysterious and scary for bloggers. There’s so much information on it out there, but it can be confusing and difficult to read. Moz, an popular and well-regarded SEO site, published once upon a time a blog post called the Beginner’s Guide to SEO. Bjork read through this whole post (it’s so long it has chapters!) and pulled out a bunch of things he learned from the post. In today’s podcast, Bjork talks about these things and relates them specifically to food blogging. He talks about what the purpose of SEO is and how people use it, as well as how you can improve the SEO of your website. In this episode, Bjork discusses: What it is that SEO is meant to influence Why people use search engines - and why it matters to you What keywords you should be trying to rank for Whether or not your site design matters for SEO How search engines can track whether or not your website is engaging your visitors What the (not provided) keyword in Google Analytics means   Resources: Moz.com The Beginner’s Guide to SEO January 2015 Income Report on POY 10 Food Blog SEO tips from Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO [original post] How to combat the (not provided) results (here’s another good one) 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!  

Welcome to episode 59 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay talk about 9 ways to avoid blogger burnout.   It’s August and summer is in full swing. As happy as that generally makes us, summer can often be a difficult time for bloggers - it even has its own moniker, the summer slump. During the summer slump, traffic goes down, ad income falls, and worst of all, bloggers can get totally burned out. Bjork and Lindsay are no strangers to burnout. They’ve both experienced it many times with their businesses. However, they’ve also been intentional about learning how to deal with burnout when it happens and what steps they can take in the future to keep it at bay. In this episode, Bjork and Lindsay share 9 tips (plus 1 bonus tip!) that you can use to avoid blogger burnout. In this episode, Bjork & Lindsay talk about: The importance of taking time fully off Why you should pass up good opportunities Getting an office for your work How to separate yourself from negative comments Why it’s okay to not produce 10/10 content all the time How unplugging helps you feel refreshed Finding other people to talk to about your business How to redefine your definition of success BONUS: How to be a trickster, not a marauder Resources: foodbloggerpro.com/call Lindsay’s “At the Cabin” post from 2015 CoSchedule (Food Blogger Pro members get a deal on CoSchedule on the Deals page!) Asana Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert 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!

Welcome to episode 58 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork goes solo and talks about overcoming “the resistance.” One of the hardest things about doing a creative endeavor is simply doing it. Not getting distracted. Not doing other less important things. Not putting it off endlessly because the idea of actually doing it is scary. This is called the Resistance. The Resistance is what keeps us from moving forward, from trying new things, and from making progress. And we all have it somewhere inside, and it usually shows up much more often then you would like to imagine. But once you are aware of the resistance and what it looks like, you’ll see it everywhere. In this episode, Bjork gives 5 tips that help you overcome the Resistance when it rears it’s ugly head. In this episode, Bjork talks about: What the resistance is and how is presents itself How “building your castle” can help you find motivation to create content How rewarding yourself for the Work can help you move forward Why taking the very first small steps can help you start a seemingly huge project Why fixing small things can hinder progress Why being too committed can keep you from being outstanding Resources: 5 ways to make money for your blog Essentialism by Greg McKeown 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!  

Welcome to episode 57 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews Kickoff Labs founder Josh Ledgard about finding the right idea and growing your audience. Josh Ledgard started his entrepreneurial journey while still working at Microsoft - he would start projects, bring them in, and then gain support for the project from his superiors. He then slowly and methodically planned to start his own business, saving up money for a year and dreaming up big ideas. The business he and his cofounder eventually started was not one of their original ideas. Instead, they “happened upon” a product that people really wanted to use, and they ran with it. Learn more about Josh, his awesome story, and their amazing marketing product, Kickoff Labs, in this enlightening interview. In this episode, Josh shares: How he was an “internal entrepreneur” at Microsoft before he started his own business How he transitioned from a corporate employee to self-employed When he hires work out instead of doing it himself How Kickoff Labs started What Kickoff Labs does to help you launch a product How Kickoff Labs has helped launch PlateView How you can build a following for your blog A critique of the PlateView landing page Resources: Kickoff Labs 4 hour workweek PlateView Nutrifox 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!

Welcome to episode 56 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Megan Telpner about creating a business, staying small, and finding the work you should be doing. Meghan Telpner is the CEO of the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, an online school where students learn to create healthy lives through cooking. The school has certified over 700 people to practice as culinary nutritionists and Meghan is a sought-after speaker about entrepreneurship. She didn’t start there, though. Meghan’s career online began back in the early 2000s, and she’s fine-tuned (and rough-tuned) her business to grow it into what it is today. Meghan has found that just “doing the work” isn’t good enough, and that to really excel you need to be working in your area of brilliance. In this episode, Meghan shares: How she got started in the nutrition space Why she folded her blog into her personal business Why she deleted a large part of her content to get more traffic in the long run Why she keeps such a small team despite the revenue to expand How she keeps from getting bored with her business The advice she would give herself a few years ago Resources: The Marilyn Denis Show Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (the trickster book Bjork mentions) MeganTelpner.com culinarynutrition.com Meghan on Twitter Academy of Culinary Nutrition on Twitter and Instagram Nutrifox 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!

Welcome to episode 55 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jason Logsdon from Amazing Food Made Easy about self-publishing a cookbook. For many bloggers, getting a cookbook deal sounds like a dream come true. That’s when they know they’ve “made it.” As it turns out, though, getting a cookbook deal with a major publisher isn’t all puppies and roses. When it comes down to it, publishing a cookbook is more about brand awareness than it is about income, and much of the legwork done for creating and marketing the book is still up to the author. Jason Logsdon published his first cookbook when his blog was still rather small - and he quickly discovered how self-publishing can actually be a simple, rewarding process that allows you to generate income even with a relatively small audience. In this episode, Jason shares: Why he chose such a specific niche to blog in The 4 simple steps to self-publishing When it’s better to self publish vs. traditional publish What an average blogger can expect to make from a traditionally published cookbook How much money a self-published book can bring in How much traffic he had when he published his first book Who does the editing when you self-publish Why it’s a good idea to publish a print book What tools he uses to layout his books Resources: CreateSpace Under Pressure by Thomas Keller Goats in Trees Calendar Amazon Whispernet 052: How to Sell 4,000 Cookbooks Before You Even Publish with Megan Gilmore from Detoxinista Amazing Food Made Easy Selfpublishacookbook.com Self Publishing Made Easy by Jason Logsdon 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!