The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

We interview successful food bloggers and industry experts in an effort to surface strategies that can help you more efficiently grow and monetize your site. You'll learn about recipe SEO, food photography, plugins, monetization, traffic, and more. New episodes every Tuesday!

252: Expert Check-In – What You Should Know About Traffic, Sponsored Content, and Pinterest in 2020

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Apr 28, 2020 in ,
An image of a desk with a computer and a phone and the title of the 252nd episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Expert Check-In.'

Welcome to episode 252 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Andrew Wilder, Danielle Liss, and Kate Ahl about traffic, sponsored content, and Pinterest strategies.

Today, Bjork is interviewing three of our Food Blogger Pro Experts. If you’re not a Food Blogger Pro member, or maybe you are a member and you’re not really sure what our experts do, they volunteer their time on the forum and during Live Q&As to help our members out with their trickiest questions. Our experts specialize in certain topics like SEO, affiliate marketing, social media, email marketing, and more, and that’s what they teach our members about on Food Blogger Pro.

So in today’s episode, you’ll hear from Andrew Wilder, who specializes in WordPress tech and traffic, Danielle Liss, who’s a lawyer and focuses on sponsored content and all-things legal, and then Kate Ahl, who is our Pinterest Expert. All three are here on the podcast talking about what you need to know about traffic, sponsored content, and Pinterest in 2020.

It’s safe to say that 2020 has gotten off to a unique start, so these areas of traffic, working with sponsors, and social media need to be approached in a different way. Traffic is up, sponsors are adjusting their strategies, and Pinterest has reported higher users than ever before.

Today’s episode will equip you with some of the strategies and confidence you need to navigate this year as a business owner and blogger.

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251: Empathy – The Power of Understanding and Serving Your Audience with Laurie Buckle

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Apr 21, 2020 in
An image of graffiti hearts and the title of the 251st episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Empathy.'

Welcome to episode 251 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Laurie Buckle from CookIt Media about knowing and serving your audience.

Let’s talk about understanding your audience.

As content creators, we publish tons of recipes, blog posts, resources…but are they actually serving our audience? Who is our audience, anyway?

They’re interesting questions, right? It’s easy to go through the motions of developing, shooting, and publishing a recipe without really thinking about who we’re writing to or why they need this content.

Luckily, Laurie from CookIt Media, an influencer marketing agency, is here today to talk through these questions and help you deeply and personally understand the audience you’re serving.

It’s especially important to understand where your content fits into what your audience needs these days, but the advice Laurie gives during this interview will make a lasting impression on you and your blog.

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250: Focus Management – Conditioning Yourself to Do More Meaningful Work with Dave Crenshaw

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Apr 14, 2020 in
An image of a camera shutter and the title of the 250th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Focus Management.'

Welcome to episode 250 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Dave Crenshaw about productivity, avoiding “switchtasking,” and managing your focus.

Do you actually notice how many times your focus drifts from the task you’re supposed to be working on each day? Or how often you multitask?

Maybe you’re noticing yourself switchtasking even more often now during these difficult, strange times we’re currently experiencing.

If this sounds like you, this episode will surely help you out. Dave shares some actionable strategies that can help you combat your wavering focus and reliance on staying connected in this episode, and you’ll even learn how you can download his newest book, “The Result,” for free.

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249: Team Check-In – Redesigning a Membership Site, Fulfilling a Need in the Market, and Step-by-Step Recipe Videos

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Apr 7, 2020 in ,
An image of the Food Blogger Pro team and the title of the 249th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Team Check-In.'

Welcome to episode 249 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, the team talks about some of the new and exciting projects they’re working on.

Today’s episode is a little different from some of our more recent episodes. In fact, it’s kind of like a piece of content that we publish at the beginning of each month for our Food Blogger Pro members called a “Happening Now” video.

In these videos, the team talks through some of the specific things they’re working at the moment. We’ll talk about a new tool we’re using, a new process we’re implementing, new projects we’re working on, or just a new insight we’re excited to share.

These videos are just a good reminder for us to check-in with the community and chat about what’s working and what’s not during that specific time, and it’s a great way for our members to be totally in-the-loop with what we’re up to.

So today, we’re giving you a sneak peek of what a Happening Now video may sound like. We talk about the Food Blogger Pro redesign, a new tool we’re building, and an update to one of the plugins we built, so we hope you enjoy this little sneak peek behind-the-scenes!

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248: Running at an Incline – How Pinch of Yum is Approaching Content in a Difficult Season

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Mar 31, 2020 in
An image of a runner running up some stairs and the title of the 248th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Running at an Incline.'

Welcome to episode 248 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about how Pinch of Yum is coping with this season.

What has your blog looked like these past few weeks? Are you posting more? Did you have to rearrange your entire editorial calendar? Are you sitting on recipes that you already have shot? Are you getting more done than usual? What have you had to let go?

These are the types of questions Bjork asks Lindsay, bosswoman behind the food blog, Pinch of Yum, in today’s episode.

It’s an incredibly honest and raw discussion on how Pinch of Yum is approaching the act of creating content during this uniquely challenging time, and Lindsay talks about how she’s planning on delivering value to her readers and finding her role in this season.

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247: Covering the Basics – Running a Business During a Pandemic

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Mar 24, 2020 in
An image of a desk and the title of the 247th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Covering the Basics.'

Welcome to episode 247 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how we’re approaching the COVID–19 outbreak personally and with our businesses.

Oof. These past few weeks have been interesting to say the least.

Not only is it confusing, stressful, and scary personally, it can add a whole level of uncertainty when you’re running a business.

There isn’t a right or a wrong way to approach content during this time, but in this episode, Bjork talks about the ways we’re approaching business during the COVID–19 outbreak.

One thing we really want you to remember during this strange time is that the content you’re creating is helpful, it is making a difference, and it is bringing people value. You can serve your audience during tough times – and this episode should give you some ideas on how to do that.

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246: Hiring – Building a Better Team with Moses Balian

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Mar 17, 2020 in
An image of a notebook and the title of the 246th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Hiring.'

Welcome to episode 246 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Moses Balian about contractors, employees, and building a team.

As you’re growing your business, there may come a time when you’re ready to hire some help.

But should you hire them as a contractor or as an employee? That’s what Moses is here to talk about today!

He’ll talk you through those initial decisions, using a PEO (that’s a Professional Employer Organization), producing important tax and employee documents, and how employee benefits work.

It’s a really interesting conversation, and if you’re at the point where you could use another set of hands to work on your business, we think this episode will help you navigate your next steps.

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245: Feeling Stuck – What To Do When You Feel Like You’ve Done Everything with Bjork Ostrom

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Mar 10, 2020 in ,
An image of a spiral and the title of the 245th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Feeling Stuck.'

Welcome to episode 245 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork reads an email we recently received and offers advice on how to overcome the feelings of feeling stuck.

Today’s podcast episode is actually one of our new favorites because it actually came together in less than a week.

We received an email from a fellow blogger last week, and in the email, she describes why she’s feeling a bit stuck. She’s optimizing her posts, she’s creating pictures for Pinterest, she’s focusing on email marketing, but her traffic isn’t where she wants it to be. She feels like there’s something that’s she’s missing – a key that will unlock her blog’s potential.

And that sounds familiar, right? “I’m doing all of these things…why am I not seeing results?”

So this episode is all about that – what to do when you feel like you’ve done everything.

You’ll hear this blogger’s anonymous email in its entirety in this episode, and I’m sure the sentiments that are shared in the email will sound really familiar to you. Then Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement if you’re feeling stuck in a similar way.

It’s definitely a different kind of episode, but we hope you enjoy it!

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244: Diversification – Solving Business Challenges & Acquiring Profitable Businesses with Kevin McArdle

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Mar 3, 2020 in ,
An image of an iPad and the title of the 244th episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Diversification.'

Welcome to episode 244 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle about running businesses, solving challenges, and building your portfolio.

This week’s episode is a good one because it’s all about diversifying your portfolio, and not in the ways we typically talk about in terms of food blogging.

Bjork interviews Kevin McArdle from SureSwift Capital about investing in businesses, building solutions to your audience’s needs, and the lessons Kevin when starting his business.

I had so many takeaways from this episode, and we hope you learn of some ways that you can grow (both personally and financially) through diversification in this episode.

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243: Best-in-Class Content – Keyword Research, Creating Value, and Authority with Ewen Finser

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on Feb 25, 2020 in ,
An image of trophies and the title of the 243rd episode on the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, 'Best-in-Class Content.'

Welcome to episode 243 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Ewen Finser about creating awesome content that search engines and your readers will love.

We hear from a lot of bloggers who are interested in increasing their traffic. And while there’s a ton of information out there about this very topic, today’s podcast episode focuses on a refreshing way to understand search engines and SEO: you want to give the best possible answer to your readers and to search engines. Simple as that.

And that’s exactly what Ewen is here to discuss today.

From organizing content in a logical way that maximizes SEO benefits to understanding the nitty gritty of keyword research, you’ll learn a lot about website structure and optimizing content in this interview. Enjoy!

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