The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

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!

Welcome to episode 34 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! Today, Bjork is talking with Richard Westley Wong and Sara Bartus - a food photography and styling team based out of Minneapolis, MN. If you've ever dreamed of leaving it all behind and starting a brand new career in food photography or food styling, then this episode is for you! Both Sara and Richard started their professional careers in totally different fields - but they both landed in the creative space of food photography. Now, they work together as a team, shooting both editorial content and banner shots for large companies. So, how did they get to where they are today? Listen in to find out! In this inspiring episode, Richard and Sara reveal: - How they left their corporate jobs and started new careers in food photography and styling- The equipment Sara just couldn't do without- Why they're getting into video- How they feel abut used camera equipment- What their respective jobs actually do to get the perfect shot- Whether the food in their shots are "fake" or actually edible- Their advice for newer photographers

Welcome to episode 33 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork goes solo as he talks about the Pinch of Yum redesign. If you frequent the Pinch of Yum website at all, you may have noticed some big (and small!) changes lately. While the general feel of the website is the same, things are certainly different. The change is the result of a complete theme switch on Pinch of Yum, and today Bjork takes this podcast hour to talk about it. He starts off with some background info and metaphors of The Matrix (whaaaaat?), and then gets into some new things you'll be seeing around POY. Sit down, grab a coffee and a pen, and get ready to hear some great stuff! In this solo journey, Bjork talks about: What Bjork & Lindsay are hoping to do with the POY redesign (hint: you might be able to buy this!) Why the internet is actually a real-life version of the matrix How links form the backbone of the internet Why "committing to the long term" isn't just a buzzphrase What design has looked like for Pinch of Yum over the years How Pinch of Yum is focusing on email marketing in 2016 Why they implemented continuous scroll on POY How retina images can impact your site How the Shop and Recipe pages were built 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 32 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Mark Doust about buying and selling established websites. Most of you probably aren't thinking of selling your website right now. But even if you aren't, knowing what makes a website "sellable" can really help you in the future if that day ever does come. Mark Daoust has made his living by helping people buy and sell websites since 2007, and he's become a go-to expert in the field. Lucky for us, he decided to come on the podcast today and tell us everything he knows - well, as much as he can in an hour! In this really educational interview, Mark shares: The difference between selling profitable vs. non-profitable websites Why having a "personal" approach to your website can limit sellability How you can transition from a "personal" website to a more general one when it comes time to sell The 4 factors that contribute to a sellable business How diversifying income and traffic sources can lower your website's risk The simplest & most important part of owning your business The most important factors that contribute to your business value Listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast below or check it out on iTunes: [[podcast episode embedded here]] Resources: Quiet Light Brokerage QuickBooks Online Google Analytics BareMetrics Cyfe.com The Princess Bride (purchase on Amazon!) 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 31 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork talks with Erin Clarke from Well Plated about rebranding her food blog. Back when Erin started her blog, it wasn't called Well Plated. Instead, it was called The Law Student's Wife - and that's because 1) she was a law student's wife, and 2) it wasn't necessarily about food. But after blogging under that name for a while, she decided that she loved posting recipes. And unfortunately, the name of her blog just didn't fit any more. So, she made the really tough decision to rebrand her blog, and she did it! But it wasn't all rainbows and unicorns, though. There wasn't much info about the process of rebranding out there, so she had to go at it all on her own. In this episode, Erin shares what she learned along the way, and her #1 resource for learning what it takes to rebrand your blog. In this amazing interview, Erin shares: Why she started a blog and what it was all about When she was able to go full-time with her blog What made her decide to rebrand her blog What went in to choosing her new blog name How she figures out what her readers want to see The best thing she did for her blog (aside from rebranding) Her advice for new bloggers Resources: Well Plated Whois.net Namechk.com Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh Rebranding Your Blog eBook Well Plated on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube 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 30 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, Bjork interviews a member of the Food Blogger Pro community, Nick Evans from Macheesmo! Many of you listening to this podcast right now know Nick Evans from the Food Blogger Pro community forums. Nick is always a voice of inspiration, motivation, and encouragement to other members on the forum. What you might not know is that Nick has been doing this blogging thing for quite a long time - 8 years to be exact! And in this interview, he shares some really great realistic tips for maintaining a blog over the long term. In this great interview, Nick shares: What it was like to be on the Food Fighters cooking show What he thinks the "next big thing" is for food blogging How he got started with making videos for Macheesmo How he manages to keep on top of everything he does His secret to blogging for the long term (over 8 years!) How he turned his hobby blog into a business His experience using Blab to connect with his audience How he decides which posts to update with new images, keywords, or graphics Resources: Macheesmo Adobe Creative Cloud What you should include in your Media Kit Chatroulette Parody of Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball 028: How to Boost Your Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse Macheesmo on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Blab 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 29 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This is a special edition of the FBP podcast featuring... you guessed it! Bjork and Lindsay Ostrom. It's always so interesting to hear about the stories people have with their blogs - when they started, how they got going, what keeps them inspired. However, it's pretty rare to get a full breakdown of all the phases that the blog and the blogger(s) went through from day 1. Usually the stories talk about the beginning, and then the present. But today, Bjork and Lindsay sit down together (literally) and talk about the 4 distinct stages Pinch of Yum went through up until today. It's just so interesting. And if you listen alllll they way through to the end, they also have some cutesy married-couple moments that I distinctly decided not to edit out. It's adorbs. In this peek back in time, Bjork & Lindsay share: What the first year of blogging was all about for Lindsay What she would have done differently when they started Pinch of Yum Her advice for those who are still in the "first stage" of blogging Bjork's favorite Ira Glass quote (again) What it was like when Lindsay started "playing the game" with blog numbers Why Lindsay finds surveys so valuable Whether a custom website design or good content is more important When they entered the "high stakes" game with Pinch of Yum What it was like to work full time and grow Pinch of Yum at the same time Why Pinch of Yum is still a very personal site instead just a collection of recipes And more! Resources: 10 Mistakes that Bloggers Make & How to Fix Them eBook Episode 028: How to Boost Your Blog’s SEO with Casey Markee from Media Wyse Google Analytics Google Analytics course on Food Blogger Pro Hotjar Hotjar course on Food Blogger Pro SurveyMonkey Wayback Machine 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!