Eat Blog Talk | Megan Porta

In episode 331, Megan chats to Jen Wooster, founder of Peal with Zeal, about how to set up your business so that you can take extended periods of time off worry-free and how to future-proof your business. Previously a COO, managing organisations of 2000 people or more, Jen retired at a young age and started her gluten-free food blog, Peal with Zeal. At first a hobby, she has built it into a full-time business sharing her easy, gluten-free recipes. In this episode, she explains how she is able to take 2 to 6 months off a year by using pre-planning, batching and other productivity techniques. Tune in to find out more about how to maximise the flexibility you have as a content creator so that you too can live the life you want. - Work out how much content you need to release. - Plan how you can produce it effectively in the months you’re working. - Think through everything you need for social media, email etc. - Can you innovate your productivity techniques? - Maintain traffic by combining seasonal and evergreen

In episode 330, Jessica Holmes teaches us how to use words to connect with our readers more deeply. This encourages them to consume our content eagerly, which leads to them staying longer on our food blogs. Jessica has worked as UX copywriter and digital strategist for more than 10 years while also creating her own food blog: Sweetest Menu. When her blog took off, she turned her side-hustle into her full-time job, growing a large following of bakers across the world. With expertise in using words as efficiently and effectively as possible, she explains how this can help you increase pages views and pages per session by making it an enjoyable experience for your readers. In this episode, find out how to avoid common writing mistakes and tips to help you stand out from other food bloggers. -Word choice can determine how long people stay on websites. -Great writing can help bloggers connect with their readers. -Create a writing brand style and stick to it. -Break out of using common words, find inspiration in ot

In episode 329, Megan chats with Sally Ekus, lead agent and co-owner of the Ekus group, about different routes in cookbook publishing and her new course that covers the topic in detail. As an author representative, Sally delves into different publishing routes, including self-publishing, the role of the agent, obstacles authors currently face and tips to overcome them. The Ekus Group is a full-service culinary agency that represents a large group of diverse authors in cuisine, skin colour, topics, and techniques. An agent who is passionate about cooking, Sally helps food writers, bloggers and chef with the development of their book idea and the comprehensiveness of the proposal. Her other responsibilities include matching the book with the best editor and negotiating the contract with the publisher. She therefore has in-depth knowledge of industry trends. Tune into this episode to find out everything you need to know about book proposals, publishing routes and whether a cookbook is a profitable option for foo

In episode 328, Megan chats to Lani Jackson about how to create a flexible business strategy that allows female entrepreneurs to get out of survival mode and create a clear action plan to grow their business, have a steady income while enjoying the freedom to work when and where they want. Lani is a clarity and strategy business coach and hosts the podcast, Brilliant Mompreneurs. Her passion is to help mom entrepreneurs double their income without doubling their workload and help them release mom guilt. Find out how you can create a clear plan of action that will allow you to prioritize your family while still hitting great income goals. - Have a flexible business strategy. - Be purposeful with the time you spent on your blog. - You don’t have to overwork yourself to be successful (25 hour weeks are possible!) - Entrepreneurs get frustrated when they are not clear on what they want. - Assess how much energy and concentration tasks require. Plan your week accordingly. - Mindset can be the difference between gr

In episode 327, Megan chats to Addison LaBonte about pursuing a passion project while still maintaining another job. They discuss how to handle various responsibilities, time management hacks and keeping motivated while your food blog grows. Addison is the recipe developer and content creator at Organically Addison. She specialises in gluten-free recipes that are easy to make, delicious and family-friendly. Conscious of different dietary requirements, she also includes diary-free, nut-free and vegan recipes to her site to make sure there is something for everyone. With such a passion for food blogging, she explains how she grew her blog, increasing her page views significantly, while maintaining a full-time job in finance. In this episode, you’ll learn how to endure and work towards making your passion project your career. - Decide on how much time you want to dedicate to your blog. - Keyword research can be a turning point in your blogging career (e.g. Keysearch and Google). - Great photography can make a di

In episode 326, Monica Davis, creator of The Hidden Veggies, teaches us how to use our niche to rapidly grow our email list, keep them engaged and make them feel valued. This will improve our email subscriber open rate and link click-through rate by making them excited about new recipes on our site. With over 22 years experience being vegan, Monica specializes in vegan comfort food and basics sharing her recipes for vegan cheese, butter and popular dishes on her blog, The Hidden Veggies. Applying in-depth knowledge of her niche, she has used an exciting method to gain new subscribers to her email list and keep them engaged with her content. In this episode she shares tips on how to apply the same method to your own business. - To grow your email subscribers, decide what kind of people visit your site.  - Encourage visitors to your blog to subscribe to your mailing list by offering a resource that solves a problem they have. - Offer opt-ins that are specific to the main pillars of your content. - If your free

In episode 325, Megan chats to Cari Garcia about why TikTok is the best platform for growing your online following right now. The video platform can more than double your social media reach within a year, which will generate more page views for your blog. Cari is a healthcare worker turned content creator who currently makes a living through food blogging, sharing latin-inspired recipes on Fat Girl Hedonist. With currently more than 156k followers on TikTok, she explains why it is an effective and fun way to promote your blog and funnel viewers to your page. Find out more about how to start, what content to post and what filming equipment to use as well as other useful tips to grow in 2022. -Maximise your potential, stick to your niche. -Audio is just as important as visuals. -Does your music choice affect the number of views you get? -Simpler videos will help you go viral quicker on TikTok. -Post more frequently than is normal for Instagram. -Behind the scenes shots and food hacks work well. -Reach a new, yo

In episode 324, Megan chats to Chandice Probst, founder of This Vivacious Life, about knowing when to hire out in blogging and how this can rapidly increase your blog growth. Chandice is the co-author of Gluten-Free on a Budget and with a degree in health science she is passionate about raising awareness for coeliac disease across the nation. She delves into a few crucial questions for bloggers when it comes to outsourcing. For example, why will it increase your business growth and when is the best time to invest in your blog? Learn more about this topic, including the best tools you can use to lessen your workload and how to go about finding the right person for the job. -Hire out from the get-go. -You could hire out any tasks that will free up your time, including household tasks. -More than double your growth by investing in SEO and blogging tools like RankIQ. -Investing includes training or mastermind groups. -You can’t be an expert in every category. -Podcasting opens up a new avenue to gain new knowledg

In episode 323, Megan chats to Anika Gandhi, founder of Anika’s DIY Life, about how to use videos and reels to generate engagement on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.  Anika specializes in woodwork and DIY, helping beginners make pro-level projects. She has a strong presence online across multiple platforms and shares her experience in reaching even more people through short-form video. Find out what types of reels perform the best, what is the ideal length and how to use video to drive traffic to your blog posts. -Save time and repurpose your videos on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. -Using Facebook reels is a viable way to reach more people. -Instagram favors reels and these types of posts get more engagement. -Short and sweet is most effective. -Spend more time on the first few seconds as this draws viewers in. -This is one of the best ways to gain followers and drive traffic to your website. -Be consistent. Connect with Anika Gandhi Website | Instagram

In episode 322, Aubree Malick, host of the Freelancer to CEO podcast, teaches us how to monetize the blogging skills we’ve mastered by turning them into invaluable services we can offer other bloggers and businesses. Aubree helps people in conventional careers become freelancers, growing their own online businesses. She shares the tactics bloggers can use to identify their strengths and outsource this to other bloggers who might find the same tasks tedious or who’ve got too much on their plate. In this episode, she unpacks the most important steps to start a successful freelance career. -Find your ideal clients in online communities and in your local network. -Niche down with the type of service you offer or the type of client you serve. -Research other freelancers’ pricing to find a good balance between NOT undervaluing or overpricing yourself. -Ask yourself: What price point is going to make me feel resentful? What is going to make me feel good? -Best way to build relationships with your audience is through

In episode 321, Megan chats with Molly Madigan Pisula, founder of Vanilla Bean Cuisine, about how food blogging gives you the opportunity to live a mobile life. Have a successful career anywhere in the world, while being in control of your time, so that you can spend more of it with the people you love. Molly and her husband moved to France where she went from being a personal chef to food blogger, specializing in healthy recipes using seasonal ingredients. With in-depth knowledge of overcoming the obstacles of moving to a new country, she discusses lifestyle differences between France and America, why enjoying food allows us to slow down and how you can choose the lifestyle you want, anywhere in the world. Find out more about her experience in this episode. -Live in a foreign country like France to enhance your senses and food knowledge. -Experience a different lifestyle that gives you more opportunities to be creative and appreciate life to the full. -Have the freedom to spend time with friends and family w

In episode 320, Megan chats with Izzah Cheema, founder of Tea for Turmeric, the largest Pakistani food blog, about why creating more content for your blog does not necessarily lead to growth. Izzah specializes in Pakistani recipes and with less than a 100 recipes on her site, she has over 350 thousand page views a month or about 2 million views a year. In this episode, she explains why posting lots of recipes regularly is not necessarily a wise growth strategy and why curating content specifically for your audience, helping them solve their problems, will get you much further. - Are you producing content that you will NOT be ranked for? - Build unshakable EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust). - Treat each blog post with extra care to improve EAT. - Provide a solution to a specific problem in your market to rank more easily. - Do the work nobody else wants to do (which food solutions or information have not been written about yet?) - Roundups is a smart way to market what you already have instead of writi

In episode 319, Megan chats with Eloïse Jennes of Cooking with Elo, about 10 things she wishes she knew when she started her food blog in college. These are essential tips that will help you grow your blog quicker from the start by applying the right skills and avoiding common pitfalls. Inspired to explore cooking after being diagnosed with food intolerances, Elo started a secret food blog in high-school to cope with a complete diet change. This first attempt motivated her to set up a new food blog to share her gluten-free and vegan recipes with friends and family while in college. In this episode, she shares 10 tips she wishes someone had told her as her food blogging career took off in college. Tune in to find out answers to these questions: -When is the best time to start a food blog?  -What kind of photography equipment do you need? -How do you make sure you stay consistent with your blog? -How do you apply batching to increase your efficiency? -How important is learning new skills in food blogging? -What

In episode 318, Megan chats with Laura Sirkovsky about becoming a food blogger after hitting 30 and how to earn recognition and be noticed in your niche. After being diagnosed with coeliac disease, Laura started her food blog to recreate gluten-free versions of the recipes she grew up with in Canada. After leaving her teaching job, she decided to grow her food blog to have an additional income. She did not expect it to become her full-time job. In this episode, she shares her journey, discussing why you can become a successful food blogger despite your age or niche. Food blogging is a viable career choice for people over 30. Choose the right social media platforms to connect with your audience and help grow your blog. Gluten-free diets are here to stay as more and more people find out they are coeliac or gluten-intolerant. Gluten-free recipe blogs are a great avenue for food bloggers to explore. Deal with the mental health challenges of trying to grow your blog and stay on top of life by connecting with the

In episode 317, Megan chats with Kim Cauti and Chelsea Vetre about why being an influencer is a good thing and how you can make a change for the better in your niche while at the same time earn extra money by working with brands that you love.  Kim and Chelsea offer unique coaching courses for bloggers, photographers and nano-influencers in the food space, educating them about how to successfully land sponsorship deals even if their social media accounts are under 10k. In this episode, they discuss the empowering nature of being an influencer.  -What does it mean to be an influencer? -Why do some people think of it negatively? -What should you do to avoid negative perceptions of sponsorship deals? -What are the common mistakes new influencers make? -How to build and keep the trust of both your followers and the brands you work with. Connect with Kim Cauti and Chelsea Vetre Website | Instagram

In episode 316, Megan chats with Carolyn about how ghost-writing can lighten food bloggers’ loads, helping them gain more time to focus on other aspects of their business. Ghost-writing – writing posts for other bloggers as if they were writing it themselves – provides Carolyn with an additional source of income while she is growing her own gluten-free recipe site, Caramel and Cashews.  Whether you are passionate about writing and looking for a new source of income or want to hire a ghost-writer to free-up your time, find out everything you need to know in this episode. -What is ghost-writing? -How can it benefit you as a food blogger? -What is the easiest way to find reliable ghost-writers? -What should you look for in pricing OR how should you price your services (if you're a ghost-writer). -Once you found a ghost-writer, how does the process work? -Why choose ghost-writing as an additional source of income and how can you find your first client? Connect with Carolyn Truett Website | Instagram

In episode 315, Megan chats with Ann and Madeleine about their new app Spillt, a social media app that helps food bloggers gain exposure and increase their traffic and revenue by allowing them to save, share and review recipes online while gaining new followers. We cover information about the app’s exciting features, including: - How it helps you increase site viewing time. - Click through rates in search results. - Add an additional revenue stream through ads. The social nature of the app incentivizes users to leave reviews and ratings. It syncs automatically with your site through a WordPress plugin, so you don’t have to create any new content to grow on the app. Find out more about how it works in this episode! Connect with Ann and Madeleine Baum of Spillt. Website | Instagram

After being laid off in March 2020 due to the coronavirus, Ashley Schuering started her blog Confessions of a Grocery Addict at the behest of her friends. While she has been steadily growing her blog traffic, Ashley has created a thriving ghostwriting business for other food bloggers that has allowed her to become a full-time freelancer. By focusing specifically on her "zone of genius" — writing with an emphasis on SEO — she has created a monetization strategy that has become full-time work that pays her better than she has ever been paid before! Inside episode 314, Ashley encourages food bloggers to lean into their zones of genius in order to take the pressure off getting accepted into an ad network. There is so much inspiration in this episode. Join us inside! - Clear out the clutter (both literally and figuratively) in order to let new opportunities enter your life and business. - Be a voracious learner in order to accelerate your growth. - Establish days and times for working, resting, as well as professi

Carl is an engineer who spent many years in corporate technology consulting roles which gave him a unique perspective on the application of technology, processes, and getting a return on your investments. It means he has spent literally decades helping customers make sense of technology products. Twenty years ago he started building recipe websites as a ‘side hustle.’ At one point he had over 50 sites online, each generating rnice revenue.Then the Google Panda update tanked every single one of the sites, which was the right thing for it to do because they were very low quality, massively over-optimized sites that had been churned out en masse. They deserved to get buried deep, deep in the search results! Today only a couple remain online and he uses them for SEO testing purposes. Fast forward to 2019 and Carl has started offering SEO services and the food blogging niche was an obvious fit. While he works with bloggers in many different niches, food bloggers are his bread and butter. Inside episode 313, Carl d

Partners Corinne Schmitt and Christina Hitchcock are both six-figure influencers with multiple websites. Over the years, they’ve become organizational ninjas and workflow fanatics with a knack for providing actionable strategies to help influencers work smarter and scale faster. These two women have been in this space for over 10 years and learned a lot along the way (often the hard way!). They share their insights on working smarter on The Smart Influencer, a podcast and a private mentoring group where they help other influencers work smart and grow stronger. Inside Eat Blog Talk episode 312, Corrine and Christina talk about the gap in the conversation with influencers about being prepared in the case of an unfortunate event. So many influencers don’t have a plan in place if something should happen to them and they can no longer run their business. Thinking about this topic is stressful enough but trying to figure it all out and make a plan on your own can be overwhelming. - Importance of contingency plannin