The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

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!

Welcome to episode 54 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with Jeni Elliot from The Blog Maven. Jeni Elliott knows that just doing the work isn’t going to turn your business dreams into a reality. Instead, she’s a proponent of doing the right kind of work, using both tactics and strategies to achieve your overarching goals, and maintaining a work-life balance. She got her start not in the blogging world, but in the business world, where she helped small business owners meet their goals. As an avid blog reader, though, she found that she could apply her strategies to blog businesses and see profound impact. So, she made The Blog Maven her career’s work, and along the way has learned what it takes to turn a blogger into an entrepreneur. In this episode, Jeni shares: How you can have a business and still have a life Why a good website isn’t the only thing you need Whether or not “making money” is an acceptable blogging goal What the difference is between a blogging tactic and a blogging strategy What tactics entrepreneurs can use to build their business If food bloggers should think of themselves as a source of recipes How you can find a niche that your audience is interested in Why finding solutions is different from providing recipes Resources: ConvertKit The Blog Maven 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 53 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! In this episode, Bjork talks with someone most of us are probably familiar with, Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income. Do I even need to introduce Pat? I mean, he’s kind of an online business celebrity. In the world of passive income, Pat has come to embody what it means to run a passive income business. If you haven’t heard of passive income before, definitey check out Pat’s website where he talks a lot about it. This episode doesn’t go too deep into the intricacies of what passive income is. Instead, Pat talks about what he’s done to determine whether a passive income business idea will really take off - whether or not it will fly. He talks about his two passive income business and how they continue to bring in money today after creating them years ago. He talks about how he can manage with so many things on his plate while still adhering to The One Thing that Jay Papasan talked about in this episode. In all, it’s a really incredible episode, so let’s just jump right in! In this episode, Pat shares: What he would do if he had to start over again How reading a dating book helped him learn how to meet people Why getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to him How you can do many things while only focusing on one at a time How he makes passive income with two niche websites Why people don’t find success How he gets real feedback from his audience What you can do to see if your business idea is viable Resources: The Game by Niel Strauss Videofruit Internet Business Mastery IBM 68 | Cubicle Escape Story with Cornelius Fitchner Green Exam Academy Smart Passive Income Evernote The One Thing 047: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results with Jay Papasan Secutiry Guard Training HQ FoodTruckr.com Will it Fly by Pat Flynn foodbloggerpro.com/survey 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!