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Food Blogging News Roundtable: AI Buttons, Instagram Links, and Google Rewriting Your Titles

Welcome to episode 568 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is sitting down to chat with Emily Walker from the Food Blogger Pro team!

In this roundtable episode, Bjork and Emily break down the biggest stories impacting food creators so you can stay informed and make smart decisions for your business.

From a new HubSpot marketing report that has some encouraging news for creators who lead with their personality, to a quiet Google experiment that could have big implications for every recipe title you’ve ever carefully crafted — there’s a lot to cover! Bjork and Emily also dig into the AI button debate (should you install one on your site?), what Instagram’s new caption link test means for food bloggers, and how Pinch of Yum approaches testing site changes before rolling them out broadly.

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How to Write a Cookbook Proposal and Land a Book Deal with Sally Ekus

Welcome to episode 567 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally Ekus.

Have you ever wondered what it actually takes to get a cookbook deal — and whether your platform is big enough to make it happen? Sally Ekus, a literary agent specializing in the cookbook space, is here to pull back the curtain on the entire process.

In this episode, Sally shares exactly what she looks for when evaluating potential cookbook authors, how to build a proposal that stands out, and what a realistic book deal might look like depending on the size of your audience. Whether you’re dreaming of a cookbook or just starting to explore the idea, this episode will give you a clear and honest roadmap for what the path forward actually looks like.

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What Food Bloggers Need to Know About AI Search and the Fight for Fair Traffic with Adam Gallagher from Inspired Taste

Welcome to episode 566 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adam Gallagher from Inspired Taste.

Adam and Joanne Gallagher have been running Inspired Taste since 2009 — long enough to have lived through every major shift in how Google works, from early SEO best practices to AI Overviews. But what’s happening right now feels different, and Adam isn’t staying quiet about it.

In this episode, Adam and Bjork dig into the current state of search from the perspective of a creator who has spent 15+ years playing by Google’s rules — only to watch those rules change in ways that feel fundamentally unfair to creators.

This is also a conversation about what comes next — equal parts anxiety and optimism — and what creators can actually do right now to advocate for a more fair and sustainable version of AI-powered search.

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How to Keep Creating Without Burning Out with Ashlea Carver from All the Healthy Things

Welcome to episode 565 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ashlea Carver from All the Healthy Things.

Ashlea Carver has been creating food content for ten years, and in that time she’s built a well-rounded and financially diversified businesses. But longevity in this industry isn’t just about strategy — it’s about learning how to navigate the harder parts of being a creator online.

In this episode, Ashlea and Bjork dig into the mindset shifts that have kept her going — how she handles comparison and how she’s made a deliberate choice to lead with joy in her business decisions to avoid burnout.

They also get into the practical side of her business — why her blog is still her most valuable platform and biggest revenue driver, why she’s prioritizing email, and how she thinks about Instagram in an era where personality-forward content is so important. It’s an honest conversation about building a business that lasts — one that doesn’t burn you out, doesn’t make you dependent on any single platform, and actually feels good to run.

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Reinventing a Food Blog After an 80% Traffic Drop with Carrie Forrest from Clean Eating Kitchen

Welcome to episode 564 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Carrie Forrest from Clean Eating Kitchen.

Carrie Forrest has been blogging since 2009 and has experienced the full range of highs and lows that come with building an online business. When Bjork first interviewed her in 2018, she was already growing Clean Eating Kitchen with simple, healthy recipes and a strong foundation in SEO and keyword research.

Between 2022 and 2024, that strategy paid off in a big way — Carrie grew her site from a few hundred thousand monthly pageviews to nearly one million. But with the rollout of AI Overviews, many of the keyword-driven and how-to posts she relied on were hit hard, leading to an 80% traffic drop almost overnight.

In this episode, Carrie shares how she’s navigating this rebuild season — from leaning into her email list and YouTube to focusing on what AI can’t replicate: human connection, empathy, and transformation. It’s an honest conversation about the shifting landscape for online creators and what reinvention can look like after years of success.

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The Road to 1 Million Pageviews with Rachel Kirk from Laughing Spatula

Welcome to episode 562 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rachel Kirk from Laughing Spatula.

Rachel’s mom, Kathi, started Laughing Spatula 20 years ago, and it has now grown into a full-time business for both women. In this interview, Bjork and Rachel talk through the changing search landscape, the challenges of the last few years as food creators, and what is keeping them going.

Rachel is working towards a goal of 1 million monthly pageviews (they’re currently around 300,000 – 500,000 pageviews a month) and Bjork provides his advice on what changes he would recommend to move the needle. If you’re looking to increase your pageviews or revenue this year (hello, who isn’t?) and want to join Rachel in her challenge, don’t miss this episode!

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How Food Dolls Turned Facebook Into Their Top Traffic Source

Welcome to episode 561 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alia and Radwa Elkaffas from Food Dolls.

Alia and Radwa, the sisters behind Food Dolls, join us on the podcast to discuss how they built a thriving food business with a Facebook-first strategy.

With over 5 million followers on Facebook, Food Dolls has become a case study in adapting to platforms, navigating algorithm changes, and continuously evolving content formats. In this episode, Alia and Radwa share how they got started, how they divide responsibilities today, and how they think about analytics, monetization, recipe development, and platform-specific strategies in 2026.

Whether you’re just beginning on Facebook or looking to rethink your traffic mix, this episode is filled with actionable insights and tips to get you started on the right foot.

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Strategically Launching a Food Blog with Jessica Wine

Welcome to episode 560 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jessica Wine.

In this episode, we’re chatting with Jessica Wine about what it really takes to launch a food blog from the ground up. Drawing from her background in the tech start-up world, Jessica shares all of the details about her launch process and why she intentionally built in a learning and development phase before ever hitting publish.

From branding and backend tech to time management and AI, this conversation is packed with practical insights for anyone preparing to start — or restart — a food blog the right way.

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Food Blogging News Roundtable: Debunking SEO Myths, AI Frankenstein Recipes, and Paid Newsletters

Welcome to episode 559 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is sitting down to chat with Emily Walker from the Food Blogger Pro team!

Welcome back to another Food Blogging News Roundtable! In this episode, we’re diving into the biggest stories impacting food creators right now.

Bjork and Emily discuss everything from the “SEO is dead” panic to AI-generated Frankenstein recipes, smarter email automations, paid newsletters, and what’s actually working on Pinterest in 2026.

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