Welcome to episode 44 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Justine Grey about how low-traffic bloggers can make an income through affiliate marketing. Last week, Bjork interviewed Tieghan Gerard from the popular blog Half Baked Harvest about her inspiring photography, inventive recipes, and the drive that keeps her moving forward. To go listen to that episode, click here. Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing Many bloggers wonder how they can make an income from their blog when they don’t have a lot of traffic. As we all know, ads pay per impression (or click), and sometimes it takes a lot of impressions to get the dollars to add up. However, bloggers with lower traffic numbers still can make money with their blogs. How? With affiliate marketing! By sharing the products they love with their readers, smaller bloggers are able to earn commissions on those products and start earning an income sooner. Justine Grey is an affiliate marketing guru, and she is here today to tell us all about the world of affiliate marketing. In this episode, Justine shares: How she ended up making affiliate marketing her career What affiliate marketing is and how it can be used to monetize your blog What an affiliate cookie is and how long it’s valid Why being an affiliate isn’t about selling products How you can be a better, more successful affiliate How to get a better rate for your affiliate sales What you should pay affiliates for your own products Whether or not you should use a large network like ShareASale for your affiliate network Why you shouldn’t automatically add all affiliates that apply   Resources: Digital Product Deilvery (DPD) Gumroad Gumroad course on FBP Best affiliate programs for food bloggers JustineGrey.com Justine on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram 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 43 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork is bringing on an oft-requested guest, Tieghan Gerard from Half Baked Harvest! We occasionally ask in the podcast for guest requests - bloggers or other inspiring individuals that our listeners would like to hear from. One person who came up quite a few times was fellow FBP member, Tieghan Gerard. When I think of bloggers who inspire me for photography, Tieghan is definitely near the top of the list. I’ve often thought about what makes her photography so special, and in this podcast episode I finally learned what it is: mood. When Tieghan heads into a photo shoot, the first thing she thinks about is the mood that she wants to set in the photo. How will this dish make the viewer feel? And how can I protray that with a photograph? Tieghan talks about her photography process and how she sets a mood as well as a lot of other awesome info in this great podcast episode. In this episode, Tieghan shares: When she started her blog - and why What kept her going through the difficult first year What a “normal” day looks like for her How she is approaching recipe development & photography for her upcoming cookbook What she thinks about when heading into a photography shoot Where she finds inspiration for her creative recipes How many times she will make a recipe before posting it What she thinks is the most important social media platform   Resources: How to shoot tethered to Lightroom Canon 5D Mark III Canon 5DS Canon 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2, and 24–70mm f/4 Viraltag Half Baked Harvest Half Baked Harvest on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and on Snapchat as hbharvest 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 42 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork interviews Clotilde Dusouiler from the popular food blog Chocolate & Zucchini about running a bilingual blog. Many of our Food Blogger Pro members reign from places all over the world where English might not be the primary language. This presents a bit of a difficult decision for these bloggers - what language should they use to blog? Clotilde from Chocolate & Zucchini decided to not even make that decision a while back. Instead, she chose to blog in both languages, and today you’ll find both an English and a French version on her long-standing website. In this episode, she talks about why she blogs in both languages and what that looks like from a process standpoint, as well as how she manages to stay relevant after being in the blogging game for over a decade. In this episode, Clotilde shares: What she does as a food trend consultant Why she decided to write her blog in multiple languages How she prepares posts for both English and French How running a multiple language blog affects her SEO What tools she uses to help users select a language How sponsored posts and ad networks differ on her blog Why Clotilde is willing to try new things with social media Why she is so excited about live video How she prepares for a live video session   Resources: 12 Amazing Instagram Accounts for Paris Lovers Snapchat & Facebook Live for Food Bloggers: 5 Reasons to Get Started Weight / Volume Conversion Chart Episode 016: How Elise Bauer Built Simply Recipes and Recovered from a 70% Drop in Traffic Chocolate & Zucchini Chocolate & Zucchini on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Facebook 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 41 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, talks with Barry Moore, an expert in email marketing. Have you ever received an email and thought, “Wow! That was just what I needed to hear right now. How did they know?” To put it simply, whoever sent that email to you at the exact time you needed to hear it is practicing something called Ninja Email Marketing, and it’s definitely something you want to get familiar with real quick. In this episode, Barry Moore from TheActiveMarketer.com talks about some ninja techniques for email marketing and how they can change the way you see your website visitors and customers - and how they see you. In this episode, Barry talks about: What it means to be an “active marketer” Why it’s a good idea to be sending emails out regularly What the different types of emails are How advanced email marketing services track your subscribers How you can use tags to send emails to the right people Where new bloggers should start with email marketing How you can use lead magnets to get more subscribers Resources: The Active Marketer ActiveCampaign SendGrid Mandrill How to install a Facebook pixel on your website Zapier ActiveCampaign Course on Udemy The Active Marketer Podcast 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 40 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork interviews a couple podcasters about… podcasting!   Most of the time when we talk about food media, we immediately think of food blogging. We are Food Blogger Pro, after all! However, there definitely are other mediums out there that are just as effective at reaching your potential audience, and one of these is podcasting. Allison & Suzy started their Food Heals podcast less than a year ago and are already helping people, reaching their ideal audience, and finding huge success in the podcasting arena. They’re also making money at it. In fact, Allison & Suzy started to monetize their podcast from day one. Listen in on this episode to learn how they’ve created such great success and made podcasting a part of their business. In this episode, Allison and Suzy talk about: Their top tips for getting healthier today How they made their passion into a podcast What tools and software they use How many episodes you should have ready to go before you launch When they do their recordings during the week What you need to know about licensing music for a podcast How to determine rates for sponsorships What steps they took to start monetizing right away   Resources: Audacity GarageBand Audiotechnica Pro Tools Software Hile PR 40 Screenflow Call Recorder Music Bed Fiverr Audio Blocks APM Music AudioJungle Amazon Echo Libsyn Midroll Food Heals Nation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Foodhealsnation.com

Welcome to episode 39 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Lindsay (yes, that Lindsay) about online jealousy.   There’s a big green monster in the room and no one really wants to talk about it. That monster is Jealousy, and it’s something every one of us experiences from time to time. Jealousy can be difficult to overcome, and it can even ruin you day if not controlled. Lindsay recently experienced this when she saw someone had made a video similar to one she was in the process of making. Once she realized what was going on, she took a step back and decided to think about some techniques she could use to overcome this jealousy. She took those thoughts and put them into words in a blog post on Pinch of Yum. Because this is such an important topic, Bjork asked if Lindsay could come on the podcast to talk a little more in-depth about the 12 different techniques you can use to overcome online (or offline) jealousy. In this episode, Lindsay talks about: Why unfollowing people isn’t being harsh How Bjork wishes he was like Taylor Swift How to truly find inspiration - as opposed to trying to copycat How much time you should be dedicating to creating content vs. consuming content How to use abundance mindset to combat feeling inadequate Why having non-blogger friends can be like a drink of fresh water How to turn a jealous feeling into a team feeling How gratitude can help   Resources: POY Post on Jealousy Facebook News Feed Eradicator for Chrome Daring Greatly by Brené Brown 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 38 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks about 7 strategies to build traffic for your for blog. When it comes to making a business out of your blog, there is one thing that can have a really big impact: traffic. We get asked all the time about things that you can do to help grow your traffic. There are the easy, well-known tips, like putting each post on social media and submitting your recipes to FoodGawker. But there are also some things you can do that aren’t as simple or intuitive that can make a really big difference, and that’s what Bjork is talking about today. In this episode, Bjork talks about: How offering your content to influencers can increase sharing Why you should become an influencer yourself How to use Google Analytics to guide your content How linkable content can build your internet clout How to create content for specific platforms How to learn more about different platforms without becoming an expert on them Why you need to create a lot of content to find success See the show notes at foodbloggerpro.com/38. 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 37 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork is talking with renowned food stylist Delores Custer about how food styling has changed through the years,   Delores Custer has been in the food styling game for a long time - she even worked with Julia Child in her day! So, she’s seen a lot come and go in the world of food styling, and she’s here to tell us all about it. In this episode, Delores talks about: How she made the jump from elementary education to food styling How to write a good recipe How food styling has changed over the years What she thinks made Julia Child really special How artificial light can sometimes be better than natural light Some tips for styling specific foods, like a cheeseburger Her essential tools for styling Her advice for getting started in the field of food styling. See the show notes and enter to win the book at foodbloggerpro.com/37.  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 36 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking with Becky Brown, a lawyer by day and food blogger by night, about copyrights, trademarks, and other legal stuff that surrounds blogging.   Becky Brown is an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, and she has been for a rather long time. She started her food blog as a way to document what she did in her free time - namely, cooking! However, as she got more and more involved with her blog she realized that there were legal implications for some of the things she did online. She also realized that there wasn't a good resource for bloggers that explained these legalities and and helped people navigate through them. So, she and Liz Vaysman got together and put together an ebook specifically for bloggers that describes everything you need to know about the legalese of blogging in plain, easy-to-understand English. The ebook is called Think Like a Lawyer, Blog Like a Pro and helps bloggers avoid legal pitfalls that can otherwise catch you totally off guard. As a special bonus, Becky is offering her book, Think Like a Lawyer Blog Like a Pro at a special discount for Food Blogger Pro members! To get the discount, head on over to our Deals page. If you're not an FBP member, you can still get the ebook on Becky's website here! In this great episode, Becky talks about: How her "linear interest in her hobby" led her to start a food blog What types of intellectual property bloggers have right to How she partnered with another legal expert to write the ebook How to write your Copyright notice for your blog The difference between a copyright and a trademark Whether or not recipes are copyright How Buzzfeed and HuffPost get away with sharing so much of other peoples' content Whether or not you should legally protect your content Get the show notes at foodbloggerpro.com/36 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 35 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking about Facebook with Stephanie Keeping from Spaceships and Laser Beams (i.e. the coolest blog name ever). I know that title seems really outrageous and like a big, fat lie. But Stephanie actually did that in 2015. At the beginning of the year, she had a Facebook following of ~50,000 people, and by December she was up to 500k - a 10x increase. This exponential gain in followers didn't just happen. Instead, Stephanie made the conscious decision to focus on Facebook and use it to leverage her blog. Her dedication to this one goal has massively grown her blog traffic, her income, and her ability to do what she loves full time. In this inspiring episode, Stephanie shares: What her blog Spaceships & Laserbeams is all about Why she decided to focus on Facebook even after failing at it for a while Where she learned about tactics to grow her Facebook audience How she uses the "Watch Page" feature to keep tabs on similar pages Why she focuses on shares more than comments or likes How she changed her mindset to crack the code for organic Facebook reach Why she doesn't share all her blog content on Facebook What tool she uses to schedule her posts Where she gets the content that she shares How her Facebook growth has impacted her income   Resources: Spaceships and Laser Beams Spaceships and Laser Beams on Facebook Holly Homer, Kids Activities Blog PubExchange 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!