Eat Blog Talk | Megan Porta

Sally is the co-owner of the full service culinary agency, The Lisa Ekus Group. From concept to contract, she has brokered more than 150 book deals with top publishers. In this episode she talks about things to consider when publishing a cookbook. - Do you want to hire an agent? Sally talks through the benefits of doing so. - Do you need a book proposal? You will learn why this is a good idea. - How do you land on a topic? Listen and learn! - Cookbooks take time and energy so make space for it.

Dayana is a digital PR strategist who helps bloggers become the authority in their market by combining publicity with SEO. In the episode she provides fresh tips and strategies for upping your SEO game. - “Digital PR” is when other websites tell Google what to rank you for. - Doing guest blogging, being a guest on podcasts and offering your content to digital magazines are ways to expand your portfolio. - Create “pillar pages” for your top content and build content around those. - Quality content is key!

Marni believes that life, cooking and blogging should be kept simple. She has found a way to plan her family meals that streamlines her personal life as well as her blogging business. She uses menu planning and editorial planning in tandem, saving a ton of time and energy. - Try planning by the month! Themes work well, such as Taco Tuesdays. - Review your editorial calendar when planning your family meals and food for gatherings. - There’s no day like today to start simplifying your life.

Cynthia is an online marketing expert dedicated to helping culinary pros achieve more freedom, flexibility and fulfillment through teaching online classes. When her marketing agency came to a halt at the start of the pandemic, she developed Cooking Class Business School. Teaching online classes is a great opportunity for food bloggers looking to add revenue streams to their businesses. - Online classes aren’t going anywhere! - This is a great way to engage your audience in a new way. - You might just fall in love with this new avenue to bring in money!

Tiffany has one of the longest-standing, most successful food blogs in the world. She is a 7-figure blogger who has weathered many challenges and changes and she shows up in this episode ready to share her wisdom! - Adaptability is EVERYTHING. Show up ready and willing to adapt and bounce back and you’ve got the battle half won. - Find out how to buy back your time so you can spend your time the way you want. - During tough stretches, take a step back, observe and research. Then revisit other interests.

Kathy teaches people how to reach their audience and create community through live video. Doing live video consistently will pay off and will help you build a strong connection with your people. - Show up imperfectly and throw “rules” out the window! Your audience will love you even more. - Try going live 7 days in a row and watch the magic unfold. - Embrace those times when everything goes wrong. Consider those to be teaching moments! - Have a “show and tell” pile ready so you never run out of words.

There are valuable lessons to learn from journeys filled with struggle, loss and disappointment. In this episode, Danielle shares how her overnight traffic (and revenue) loss helped turn her into a more focused and determined entrepreneur. - Don’t resist the stream! Even when it is challenging, going with the flow is the best way to go. - If you experience a dip in traffic/revenue, find a different project to focus on! - This is not always an easy job, but you do need to just keep moving forward.

Jay is a business consultant who deeply understands the impact taking action has both on an individual and a business. In this episode, Jay talks about moving past limiting beliefs to take control of our businesses in an impactful way. - Build a mental map to uncover potential limiting beliefs. - Use visualization to minimize trauma and magnify dreams. - Habits & morning routines can have a PROFOUND impact on a business. - If you're in it for the long haul, remember that the magic lies in taking ACTION.

The stories Elena tells on her blog run deep to relate to most anyone reading. The concepts of love, food, tradition, culture, and simplicity meld together to create a delicious food experience. In the episode, she explains why bloggers shouldn’t entirely ditch the stories. - People want facts and helpful information, but they also want YOU. - Keep the heart in the things you share with the world. - Show behind the scenes glimpses into your world to make yourself more relatable.

Brett is an SEO expert with almost two decades of hands-on experience. He has managed over 1,000 SEO campaigns and has ranked tens of thousands of keywords within Google’s top ten search results. Brett gives food bloggers many gems to help improve SEO! - Create engaging content that your audience loves, preferably over 1,400 words. - Consider doing EXIF data optimization. - Create the “Netflix effect” within your content so users want to keep clicking around. - How to get more backlinks to your site!

Cassidy is a blogger who has recently dug into creating traction on YouTube through video creation. In this episode she explains why curating videos for YT is important and how to approach it. - Creating videos specifically for YouTube is a lot more work than Tasty-style, so make a commitment. - Start with the equipment you have now, even if it consists of an iPhone and natural lighting. - Consider YouTube SEO! Search for keywords on the platform that are underestimated, just like you would with Google.

Join us in episode 200 as Megan interviews John Lee Dumas of the award-winning podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire. JLD imparts wisdom about how food bloggers and other entrepreneurs can achieve success. - Become the best solution to a real problem. - Niche down, then niche some more. Then a little more. This is where the magic happens. - Remember that the pain of being broke and unsuccessful hurts more than the pain involved in achieving success.

Aysegul “Ice” shares her own story with feeling intimidated by other food bloggers and the transformation that occurred once she reached out to a blogger she admired. Reaching out to other bloggers might seem scary, but it will unlock the power of community. - Reach out to bloggers, even if it is scary! - It is VITAL to lean on and learn from others in our space. - Consider starting a mastermind group! Ice talks through logistics to help get you started. - Prepare to watch your business take off!

Christine is founder of the popular food blog Cook the Story. She has since launched a second blog that grew quickly due to her existing knowledge about blogging. She makes a great case for why launching a second blog is something for you to consider. - Before you dive into blog #2, make sure you have the bandwidth. - Get help! Don't attempt this alone. - Create a spreadsheet with all existing blog content. - You already know how to CRUSH IT blogging, so why not do it again?!

In 2 years, Maria has grown her Instagram following to over 180K through the power of visually striking, consistent content. Inside this episode, she shares her secrets about how other bloggers can find traction on the platform, as well. - Figure out what people want from you and lean into it. - The algorithm is not a villain. - Reels are a unique way to connect with your audience, so use them! - Take risks, try new things and ultimately always keep a close eye on what your audience is telling you.

When a project is finished, it’s not actually finished. Megan dives into examples where the “end” is not actually the end and what were to happen if it WERE the end (disaster!). Evaluate projects and how to take your content from “published” onto the next chapter, which usually involves selling, promoting, refining or all of the above. - Spend 15 minutes every day on the “next chapter” for projects that align with your goals. - Dig into the discomfort. - Most importantly, be disciplined and consistent!

Meagan is a Pinterest strategist, niche marketing expert and OG pinner, so she understands bloggers’ challenges with and questions about Pinterest. - The scoop about all of those red numbers you’ve been seeing lately in your Pinterest analytics. - Stop resisting changes inside the platform and instead embrace them. - Importance of incorporating story pins into your strategy. - Why you should diversify your streams of traffic now more than ever.

Samantha is a 6-figure blogger at RecipeThis. She focuses on cooking with kitchen gadgets and the quality of the recipes is top priority. Samantha makes a case for not focusing on the photos and instead being the approachable “girl next door” to users. - You definitely need quality SOMEWHERE, but it doesn’t have to be in the photos. - Experiment with approachable ingredient photos on Pinterest, such as process shots or raw/just-cut ingredient shots. - Be honest and real, and always focus on the user.

Amira is dedicated to teaching you how to flow through your goals to build a life of ease, instead of always hustling. She talks about THE MOST IMPORTANT parts of being an entrepreneur: maintaining wellness while achieving goals in your business. - Follow Amira’s SMARTEY method to ensure success! - Behavior, thoughts and feelings are linked, so choose one to change. The rest will follow. - Establish healthy habits and everything else will fall into place in your business with greater ease.

A lack of confidence could be the thing holding you back from finding the successes you are chasing in your business. In this episode Megan dives into 7 tips that will give you a boost in confidence so you can speed up your success and growth. - Awareness is always the first step! - Commit to scary things. - Log your achievements. - Find your tribe. - Be decisive. See you inside the episode for the rest of the tips!