The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

SEO Tips from a Food Blogger Who Works Full-time at an SEO Agency

Marley Braunlich started working full-time at an SEO agency shortly after launching her food blog, Baked Abundance. In this interview, she shares more about balancing a full-time job and a side hustle (especially when they’re both in the same industry!) and how she manages burnout.

Marley also explains what tips and tricks she has learned from her full-time job and how she has worked to optimize her site for search engines and build domain authority.

If you want to increase your site traffic (who isn’t?!) without losing the aspects of food blogging that bring you joy, you won’t want to miss this interview!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

More about Marley’s full-time job at an SEO agency and how it has impacted her food blog.
The tools that Marley learned about through her job and now uses for her site.
How she balances a full-time job and blog in the same industry.
How she manages burnout and adjusts her content strategy with a full-time job and a side hustle.
What she has learned from coaching calls with other food bloggers.
The patterns she has noticed amongst blogs that have seen the greatest success at her SEO agency.
How she has worked to build her domain authority and increased backlinks.

Resources:

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This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.

Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Download this Episode

457: How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog with Parker Thornburg 0

Apr 16, 2024

Acquiring an existing food blog, navigating traffic drops, and reimagining a site to make it your own with Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious.

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Welcome to episode 457 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious.

How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog

Starting a food blog or business is hard work. It can take months (years!) of determination, practice, and consistency before you start to see results. So what if you just… skipped ahead?!

That’s exactly what Parker Thornburg and his business partner did when they acquired the existing food blog, Foodness Gracious. But just because the site was up and running (with thousands of recipes!) doesn’t mean the transition has been an easy or seamless one.

In this interview, Parker shares more about the process of acquiring a site, what the transition has been like, how they’ve navigated hiring and traffic drops, and have started to come out the other side. Whether or not you’re thinking about acquiring a site (or selling your own), there are lots of great lessons to be learned for anyone!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

More about Parker’s professional background (including time at Yahoo and a start-up).
Why Parker decided to acquire an existing food blog.
About the process of acquiring a site and using a brokerage site.
What factors to consider when acquiring a site (including calculating potential profits).
How they hired their team and what the early days of the site looked like after acquisition (including lots of lessons learned).
How Parker and his business partner have navigated traffic drops since acquiring their site.
The importance of consistency and habits when trying something new.
How he balances his full-time job, family life, and growing Foodness Gracious.
What he wants the legacy of this site to be.

Resources:

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This episode is sponsored by CultivateWP and Memberful. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.

Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Download this Episode

456: Monetizing, Diversifying, and Leaning Into Pinterest and Email with Chelsea Clarke 0

Apr 9, 2024

Navigating the creator landscape, improving the value of your site, and the importance of diversifying with Chelsea Clarke.

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Welcome to episode 456 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Clarke from Her Paper Route.

Monetizing, Diversifying, and Leaning Into Pinterest and Email

We are thrilled to welcome back Chelsea Clarke to the podcast this week. Chelsea is an expert at all things monetizing, buying, selling, and optimizing sites and she shares lots of that expertise in this interview.

Bjork and Chelsea chat about the current state of the industry for online creators, and how the slew of recent Google algorithm updates have impacted the industry. Chelsea also shares how she has reacted to these changes with her sites (hint: it includes Pinterest, video, and email marketing).

Chelsea also explains more about how buying and selling websites works, and how you can make your own site more valuable for yourself (and for potential investors)!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Chelsea’s view on the current “state of the industry” for creators.
A recap of all of the recent Google algorithm updates.
Her recommendations for diversifying traffic sources (remember Pinterest?).
Why to prioritize building a community around your brand.
Why Pinterest is such a valuable traffic source (and how to get started with Pinterest SEO).
What the future of search might look like.
How she has strategically grown her email list and approaches the marketing funnel on her site.
How to make your site more valuable (both for yourself and/or if you ever planning on selling your site).
How she approaches buying and selling sites.

Resources:

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This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.

Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Download this Episode

455: Creating Your Own Products and Adding a Revenue Stream with Barbara Hobart 0

Apr 2, 2024

Developing your own product line, diversifying income streams, and increasing brand awareness with Barbara Hobart.

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Welcome to episode 455 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Barbara Hobart.

Creating Your Own Products and Adding a Revenue Stream

Barbara Hobart is a television writer and producer who also happens to work with food bloggers and other entrepreneurs to identify, create, and manufacture custom products.

In this interview, Bjork and Barbara chat about why food creators might consider selling their own products to generate new revenue streams and increase brand awareness. They walk through all of Barbara’s recommendations for how to develop, manufacture, and distribute a product, and what kinds of products tend to perform well for food creators.

We always love to chat about diversifying income streams on the podcast, and this is a great episode to get you thinking about how you might do that! Don’t miss it.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

More about her background as a television writer and producer in Hollywood and how she (accidentally!) got started creating products.
The importance of diversifying income as a creator.
How someone should know if they’re ready to build a physical product and/or a brand that sells products as a digital creator.
Her recommendations for how to easily create, manufacture, and ship a product.
Products that food creators might consider selling (and how to get started).
The difference between white-labeling something and creating a custom product.
What to know about food safety, insurance, and the importance of due diligence when selling your own food products.
Why selling your own products can help you control your bottom line.

Resources:

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This episode is sponsored by Clariti and CultivateWP. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.

Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Download this Episode