The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

How the Jumprope app works, why how-to videos are great for recipe creators, and the importance of stories with Jake Poses. ----- Welcome to episode 255 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jake Poses from Jumprope about this new video-sharing app. How-To Videos  Creating recipe videos can seem like a big undertaking. Between the set-up, the lighting, the gear, and the editing, it can seem like a lot for people just getting started with video. Jumprope is a new app that’s designed to make the process of producing video for your audience easier. Not only can you edit and share how-to videos within the Jumprope app, you can then export your videos from there in the sizes and formats you need for YouTube, Instagram, and blog posts. Create once and share everywhere. It’s a really slick app, and we think you’ll get a lot out of this conversation with Jake. Between his understanding what of it takes to build a business to his insights into what it means to drill for and find “

Using Google Analytics to form content decisions, why email list signups are important for food bloggers, and the impact more traffic has on ad revenue. ----- Welcome to episode 254 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about the results that come from getting more traffic to your blog. Leveraging Traffic  As bloggers, we all want more traffic, right? It’s one of the main goals we hear from bloggers who are looking to level-up their blog and their business, and it’s an important step if you want to build your blog into a profitable business. But the benefits of more traffic far outweigh a higher number of pageviews; more traffic can impact your revenue, your email list, your content decisions, and more. In today’s episode, Bjork will talk about five opportunities that you may see as you build your site traffic. Enjoy! In this episode, you’ll learn: How ads can be impacted by more traffic How to create affiliate income from more traffic Why email list signups are important for

How to grow an audience on social media, why connection is important, and how to post unique content to TikTok with Yumna Jawad. ----- Welcome to episode 253 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yumna Jawad from Feel Good Foodie about how she grew her social following. Growth Hacking  In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Yumna from Feel Good Foodie. You may recognize the name because you may be one of her 2.2 million followers on Instagram or one of her 200,000 followers on TikTok. As you can probably imagine, we’re talking all about growing your social media audience with Yumna today. She, more or less, has figured out the secret sauce to growing an audience on Instagram and on TikTok, and she’s sharing her strategies and tips for “growth hacking” during this episode. It’s a really fun episode, and Yumna is just such a knowledgeable, hard-working blogger. We know you’ll have a ton of takeaways from this episode! In this episode, you’ll learn: How she learned more about

How website traffic and ad revenue are affected by the coronavirus, how to ask your audience what it needs, and how you can evolve your content calendar based on what's performing on Pinterest. ----- 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. What You Should Know About Traffic, Sponsored Content, and Pinterest in 2020  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 spe

How creators can navigate the pandemic, how you can evolve your content, and knowing who you're serving as a blogger with Laurie Buckle. ----- 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. Empathy  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 adv

The costs associated with switchtasking, the difference between time management and focus management, and how to restore your missing minute with Dave Crenshaw. ----- 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. Focus Management 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 experiencing switchtasking even more often 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. In this episode, you’ll learn: What switchtasking is The costs that are unavoidable due to switchtasking Wh

What to consider when launching a redesign, how to get involved with Clariti, and step-by-step videos with the Tasty Recipes plugin. ----- 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. Team Check-In  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 on 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

How Pinch of Yum is approaching sponsored content, planning new content, and letting go of certain tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. ----- 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. Running at an Incline  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. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Lindsay is approaching

Remembering to care for the essentials, how to approach content creation during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the importance of avoiding disastertunity. ----- 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. Covering the Basics  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. In thi

Hiring a contractor vs. an employee, how employee benefits work, and how you can start building your team with Moses Balian. ----- 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. Hiring  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. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Justworks works and what a PEO is The difference between a contractor and an employee If you can start s

The importance of limiting comparison, how to be flexible, focusing on your craft, and why posting frequency isn't very important with Bjork Ostrom. ----- 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. 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 everyt

How SaaS businesses solve problems, tips for diversifying your portfolio, and the importance of delegating with Kevin McArdle. ----- 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. Diversification  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. In this episode, you’ll learn: How he approaches investments What “software as a service” is How SaaS businesses solve problems Tips for diversifying your portfolio What the “no

Why keyword research is so important, what EAT means, and updating content with Ewen Finser. ----- 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. Best-in-Class Content  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! In this episode, you’ll learn: How he got into building and growing websites Why he thinks keyword res

What fresh content is and why it's important for Pinterest, how to use Pinterest Trends, and how often you should be pinning with Kate Ahl. ----- Welcome to episode 242 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Kate Ahl talks about using Pinterest in 2020. Social Trends: Pinterest in 2020  Today marks Part 2 of our two-part series on social media in 2020. Last week we focused on Facebook and Instagram, and this week is all about Pinterest. Pinterest can be a huge traffic-driver for food bloggers. In fact, it’s consistently in one of the top three spots of traffic drivers for food bloggers. That said, Pinterest is constantly in pursuit of making the platform better for its users, so it changes quite a bit. That’s why we’re excited to focus on the best practices for Pinterest in 2020 in today’s episode. Kate Ahl is here to give you her recommendations for finding what’s trending on Pinterest, pinning fresh content, writing awesome Pin descriptions, using promoted Pins, and more

Facebook groups as part of a social strategy, building engagement on Instagram, and how to streamline writing your Instagram captions with Abby Bayatpour. ----- Welcome to episode 241 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Alexa interviews Social Media Manager, Abby Bayatpour, about how food bloggers can be promoting their content on Facebook and Instagram this year. Social Trends: Facebook and Instagram in 2020  Today’s new episode marks the start of a two-part series here on the podcast, and in this series, we’re focusing on social media in 2020 – i.e. what you, as a blogger, should be focusing on when it comes to promoting your content and your brand on social media this year. We’re going to focus on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest during this series, and in today’s episode, our incredibly talented Social Media Manager, Abby, will be speaking about Facebook and Instagram trends for food bloggers. If you’ve ever stared at a social media platform and thought, “What do I post today?”, w

How home office deductions work, why you should consider hiring a CPA, and how to track your mileage with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 240 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks through the ways you can create income without doing more work. Income  Making more money without doing more work…that’s the dream, right? Well, now it’s a reality! Bjork is here today to chat through some of the ways you can work smarter and make more money without doing more work. It’s a really helpful reminder that we don’t necessarily need to be hustling all the time to get our businesses to a new level; some small tweaks in your day-to-day can help get you there as well. In this episode, you’ll learn: How business programs work How to track your mileage What purchases you can expense for your blog Why you should consider hiring a CPA When you should do an S-Corp election How you can hire help Why it’s helpful to review your expenses every quarter How home office deductions work How to be

How to be light on your feet, the most impactful work for Pinch of Yum, and the sacrifices of building a business with Lindsay Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 239 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lindsay Ostrom about navigating the different seasons in her blogging journey. Ten Years  Pinch of Yum is turning 10 this year, and as I’m sure you can imagine, it has changed quite a bit in that time. In today’s episode of the podcast, you’ll hear about the different seasons of Pinch of Yum and how Lindsay navigated them while building her blog into a business. And she covers it all – from running her blog as a side hustle to transitioning to it being her full-time gig to hiring team members to current day. Regardless of what season of your blogging journey you’re currently in, you’ll find a lot of advice in this episode that can help you navigate the good, the tough, and everything in-between. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Lindsay views the “seasons” of Pinch of Yum

Ad-supported video players, why user experience is important, and understanding ad impressions with Bjork Ostrom. ----- Welcome to episode 238 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about how you can optimize and increase the earnings you receive from the ads on your site. Understanding Ads  Ads can be an effective way to earn money from blogging, but how do you know you’re making the most out of your ad placements? That’s what Bjork is here to talk about today! He’s sharing seven tips to help you increase the earnings you’re receiving from the ads you’re running on your site without having to increase your pageviews. From understanding viewability and impressions to encouraging your readers to stick around on your site, this episode of the podcast will help you make sense of the wonderful world of ad revenue! In this episode, you’ll learn: What viewability is What impressions are Why it’s important to keep user experience in mind when it comes to placing ads on your site How

How Pinch of Yum is repurposing recipe videos, how to manage a remote team, and what to expect with the Food Blogger Pro redesign. ----- Welcome to episode 237 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, the team talks about the “one thing” they’re excited to accomplish in 2020. The One Thing  This is a different kind of podcast episode, but we think you’re really going to like it. Heading into a new year can feel a bit overwhelming, but it sometimes helps to narrow-down your focus and think through that “one thing” you’re excited to accomplish this year. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in this interview! Alexa, Bjork, and Emily each share the one thing they’re excited to tackle in 2020, and we hope that it encourages you to figure out your “one thing” as well. In this episode, you’ll learn: How Bjork manages a remote team Why we created a parent company Where the name “Tiny Bit” comes from How Pinch of Yum is repurposing video this year How Emily is creating step-by-step videos for Pinch

How your site design can impact site speed, optimizing your category pages, and how to build your own thing with Bill Erickson. ----- Welcome to episode 236 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Bill Erickson about the impact your design can have on your blog. Themes  Bill is a WordPress developer, and he’s here today to chat about the impact your site’s design can have on performance and user experience. Bill works with food blogs quite a bit (Pinch of Yum included), so you’ll really appreciate the advice he gives from a food blogging perspective. From figuring out what fonts to use to understanding how themes and design can impact site speed, this episode is packed with easy-to-understand tips and advice about design. It’s a really cool interview, kind of different from our norm, but we hope you enjoy it and learn something if you’re pursuing a site redesign this year. In this episode, you’ll learn: How design differs from development The differences between frontend a