Screening applicants, knowing you're ready to hire, and the best questions to ask in an interview with Emily Perron.
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Welcome to episode 286 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Emily Perron about hiring freelance help.
One of the inevitable truths of running and growing your own business is that you’ll need to hire some help at some point.
But how do you make sure that your job listing is as eye-catching and descriptive as it can be? How do you ask the right questions in an interview? How do you make sure you’re hiring the right person for the job?
That’s what Emily is here to talk about today! In this episode, we dive deep into the world of hiring freelancers, from figuring out when it’s time to hire to all of the boxes you should check throughout the hiring process.
Resources:
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
How to pay attention to when you feel tension, focusing on your craft, and serving your audience as a blogger with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 285 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to an episode we shared earlier this year about what to do when you feel like you’ve done everything.
I’m sure there has been a time in all of our blogging journeys where we feel like we’re doing everything we can, yet the traffic, income, subscriber, and/or follower numbers just aren’t moving.
So what do you do then? What do you do when you feel like you’ve done everything you can?
That’s what this episode is all about. Bjork will offer some high-level advice and specific strategies that you can implement when you’re feeling stuck.
Resources:
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
How to understand small business taxes, what S-Corp elections are, and how to review your blogging expenses every quarter with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 284 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to an episode that will help you optimize your income and make more money from blogging.
Welcome to our first FBP Rewind episode in this two-part series! Today, we’re rewinding back to a solo episode with Bjork where he talks about the ways you can maximize your blogging income.
Between implementing smarter ways you can track your income to understanding different tax laws, this episode will help you implement some helpful money-making strategies in the new year. This episode is a great reminder that small tweaks in your day-to-day can help your business get to the next level.
Resources:
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
The value of offering help, utilizing processes to make decisions, and reserving some unstructured time for yourself with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 283 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about five different ways that you can try to make 2021 better than this year.
Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020. To go back and listen to that episode, click here.
We’re all probably hoping that 2021 is a lot better than 2020 has been, and in today’s episode, Bjork is covering five different ways that you can try and make that happen.
From partnering with others to leaning into processes to help guide decisions, we’re hoping that you can tuck some of these ideas into your back pocket and pull them out as you strive towards personal and business growth in the new year.
Resources:
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
How to use a framework to accomplish a goal, asking for help, evaluating your needs, and thinking about your legacy with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 282 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about some of the positive takeaways he has from 2020.
This year has been a bit of a doozy, hasn’t it? Even with it being an eventful year, we still have some positive takeaways that we’re planning on bringing into 2021 (and beyond).
And that’s what this episode is all about! In this solo-episode, Bjork shares nine of the most helpful and impactful takeaways from the year, ranging from personal development to business growth to mental health and beyond.
We’d love to hear your most impactful takeaways from this year in the comments section on the show notes for this episode: foodbloggerpro.com/282
Resources:
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
How to build a high-quality food photography business, finding clients, and organizing shoot days with Christina Peters.
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Welcome to episode 281 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Christina Peters from Food Photography Blog about how she has built a career out of photographing food.
When you’re building your food photography career, you can face a lot of questions. Questions like:
That’s what Christina is here to talk all about today! She has coordinated and prepped over 1000 food photography jobs over her career, and she’s here on the podcast to talk all about her strategies and tips that will help you build and grow your own food photography business.
Resources:
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
How SideChef works with partners, creating clear step-by-step recipes, and how to use SideChef with Sandie Markle.
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Welcome to episode 280 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sandie Markle from SideChef about how their platform helps foodies and creators.
Today on the podcast, you’ll hear about SideChef, which is a platform that’s aimed at making the cooking experience easier. With a custom app, tailored cooking experiences, and dynamic recipe guidance, SideChef wants to make the whole cooking journey easier for its users.
Sandie Markle, SideChef’s Director of Content Partnerships, will share how SideChef helps their users with meal planning, grocery delivery, and smart kitchen connectivity, as well as how bloggers, content creators, and influencers can get involved with their Micro-Influencer Program.
It’s a really cool platform, and we’re excited to help you learn more about it in today’s episode!
Resources:
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
Trimming unnecessary spending, how to start tracking your spending and budgeting, and working towards financial freedom with Anna Rider.
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Welcome to episode 279 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anna Rider from Garlic Delight about financial independence and retiring early.
This is a different kind of episode for us, but it’s about a topic that affects us all as creators, bloggers, and side hustlers: business and personal finances.
How do you manage your spending? Do you understand the value of the business and personal purchases you’re making? Can you calculate the expected value of a blog post?
Not only are you looking to maximize the return on the money you spend on your business, but you’re also probably working to save money for long-term goals. Understanding your finances is a crucial step as you’re working towards financial independence and retirement.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about budgeting, tracking your spending, and understanding the impact of the money you spend, this episode with Anna is for you!
Resources:
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
Deleting content on a blog, noindexing posts, and optimizing blog category pages with Carrie Forrest.
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Welcome to episode 278 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Carrie Forrest about some of the SEO enhancement she has made to her blog this year.
Do you know which of your posts are performing the best? Do you know which ones aren’t getting any search traffic?
That’s what Carrie is back on the podcast to talk about today!
Carrie has been blogging for over 10 years, and in that time, she has published a lot of content. But not all content performs equally.
As the result of an SEO audit after she experienced a large dip in traffic, Carrie decided to refresh and delete nearly 2/3 of the content on her site. Through that process of learning about the health of her site as a whole, Carrie now better understands how her content performs and how her content supports the mission of her blog.
Resources:
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
Finding balance in entrepreneurship, engaging with your significant other about your business, and dealing with burnout with Sherry Walling.
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Welcome to episode 277 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sherry Walling from Zen Founder about how entrepreneurs can care for their mental wellbeing.
The focus of today’s episode is mental health for entrepreneurs – why it’s so important, practices that support positive mental health, and how to make lasting behavioral changes.
Bjork interviews Zen Founder co-founder Sherry Walling in this episode, and she draws on her background as a clinical psychologist who has experience supporting high achieving people with high-intensity jobs to help entrepreneurs support their mental health and emotions.
Your mental health is important, it matters, and it’s okay and necessary to take the time to care for yourself.
This episode will give you some ideas and strategies to care for your mental health through your entrepreneurial journey.
Resources:
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
Transitioning to full-time blogging, running a blog as a business, and making every day enjoyable with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 276 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week, we’re playing an episode from the Irie Lemon Podcast with Liz Della Croce and Vincent Mcintosh.
Today’s episode is a bit different from normal, and that’s because we’re featuring an episode of the Irie Lemon Podcast.
Liz and Vincent interviewed Bjork a few weeks ago about his unique journey from non-profit educator to food and tech CEO. You’ll hear stories of how Bjork and Lindsay formed their businesses, how Bjork stays inspired, and how he delegates and hires.
We hope you enjoy this featured podcast episode!
Resources:
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
Ad revenue in Q4, common traits of top ad revenue-earning sites, and balancing ad revenue and user experience with AdThrive.
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Welcome to episode 275 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Paul Bannister and Becca Clark from AdThrive about how ad revenue works and how food bloggers can increase the income they get from ads.
Let’s talk about ads. They’re a simple way to make some money from your site (essentially, the more traffic you have, the more ad revenue you can potentially make), and there are many different strategies to help you optimize your ad revenue out there.
But ad placement and revenue is an art and a science. Paul and Becca from AdThrive are here on the podcast to talk about how ads work and how food bloggers can optimize the ads they run on their sites.
It’s an interesting conversation in how ads operate behind-the-scenes, as well as how incredible content is essentially the ultimate driver of ad revenue.
Resources:
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
Maximizing your Q4 revenue, how to keep the Q4 momentum, and republishing content with Bjork Ostrom and Jenna Arend.
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Welcome to episode 274 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re re-sharing a Q&A we held for our Food Blogger Pro members where Bjork and Pinch of Yum’s General Manager, Jenna, answer questions about preparing for Q4.
Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal about the ways that bloggers can protect their content. To go back and listen to that episode, click here.
Q4 is made up of the last three months of the year (October, November, and December), and it’s a big deal for food bloggers.
Why? Because people are hungry for recipes! They want recipes for Halloween, Thanksgiving, the holidays. And when we’re not experiencing a pandemic, they want crowd-pleasing recipes and recipes they can make for their holiday parties and get-togethers.
Not only that, but advertising spend goes up during these three months. Sponsors are looking for bloggers and content creators who can create seasonal content, and display ad revenue goes up because traffic is up.
To help you prepare for Q4, today we’re sharing the Q&A we hosted with our Food Blogger Pro members last week! We have these live Q&As every single month for our Food Blogger Pro members. Sometimes we focus on a specific topic (like this one), and other times it’s an excuse to pick Bjork’s brain on any blogging topic under the sun. It’s so fun to connect, answer our members’ toughest questions, and have an hour to intentionally work on getting a tiny bit better.
We hope you enjoy this replay of our Q&A from October 2020!
Resources:
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
How to create and maintain Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, disclaimers, and more to protect your content with Danielle Liss.
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Welcome to episode 273 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal about the ways that bloggers can protect their content.
Last week on the podcast, Bjork chatted with Les Alfred from Balanced Black Girl about building a brand that allows you to share your message. To go back and listen to that episode, click here.
You spend a lot of time creating content; how can you make sure that your content is actually protected?
That’s where things can get kind of…confusing. What can be copyrighted? What are DMCA takedown notices? Do you need a disclaimer? How often should you update your Terms of Service and Privacy Policy?
Danielle is here on the podcast to discuss it all!
You work hard to produce the content for your blog and brand – in today’s episode, you’ll learn how to make sure your work, your business, and your content are all protected.
Resources:
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
Tips for dealing with Imposter Syndrome, managing a podcast, and starting a new brand with Les Alfred.
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Welcome to episode 272 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Les Alfred from Balanced Black Girl about building a brand that allows you to share your message.
Have you ever worked on a project and just felt that something about it was…off? It’s as though it just doesn’t fit with your vision, your wants, or your passions?
That’s exactly where Les found herself two years ago when she was a food and fitness blogger at The Balanced Berry. She took a step back, leaned into the discomfort she was feeling, and ultimately started a new brand, podcast, and website all under the Balanced Black Girl name.
It’s under this brand that Les is able to relay the message she feels called to share to her audience and have meaningful conversations with others who help her spread her mission.
In this conversation, Les shares advice for bloggers who feel like they need a break, how she deals with Impostor Syndrome, and how to manage feeling lost and get back on track.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
How consumers use subscriptions, how to stay competitive as a subscription-based business, and how to get paid for your work with Melissa Lanz.
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Welcome to episode 271 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Melissa Lanz from The Fresh 20 about running subscription businesses in 2020.
Do you have a subscription-based business? If not, this episode may convince you to add one to your monetization strategy!
Melissa runs the subscription-based business, The Fresh 20, and she’s back here on the podcast this week to talk about how you can help your readers with a useful subscription service. She’ll help you understand the best way to find and serve “your people,” identify your audience’s problems, and offer solutions with the content you produce.
Subscription businesses can be a great way to create a sustainable income as an entrepreneur AND serve your audience along the way. You’ll learn how in this episode!
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
How to remind yourself of personal and business tasks, protect your stuff from theft, and keep a tidy computer with Bjork Ostrom.
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Welcome to episode 270 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork talks about his must-have apps for a productive business and personal life.
Apps are great to help you become more productive, track your progress, and optimize your day. But which are our absolute favorites? The ones we rely on day after day, week after week to help us get it all done?
That’s what Bjork is focusing on in this episode. You’ll hear about the apps and tools he uses to fly through email, stay on top of business and personal tasks, record quick videos, and stay hydrated with a color-changing water bottle.
Yes, seriously.
We’re excited to share some of our favorite apps with you today! And if you have any must-have apps, leave them in the comments at foodbloggerpro.com/270 –– we’d love to hear your suggestions!
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
How to manage a team as a blogger, republish content, and identify high-quality content with Sally McKenney.
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Welcome to episode 269 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sally McKenney about how she creates the very best recipe content for her readers.
We’re so excited to welcome Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction back to the podcast after five years. Fun fact: she was the first true interviewee on The Food Blogger Pro Podcast!
This episode is loaded with valuable information for any blogger at any part of the blogging journey. Sally talks about what it’s like to run a blog and balance being a parent, how she delegates tasks, the work she’ll always do for her blog, and the kind of work that has been most beneficial to her blog’s growth.
Then she’ll talk about the importance of creating awesome content for your readers. What does it look like? How do you update your older content to be even better? She answers all of these questions (and more!) in this interview.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Is the blogging niche too saturated, how to find a good host for your website, and the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
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Welcome to episode 268 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re resharing an episode in which we offer advice to new food bloggers.
We’re going back to basics today and resharing an episode from 2019 about starting a blog. If you have an idea for a blog, business, series, post, or product, we hope this episode will help give you a bit of a push to actually start.
First, you’ll hear from Bjork. He covers three of the most common blogging misconceptions we hear from new bloggers and how you can switch your thought processes around them.
Next up: Andrew, our Site Speed Expert here at Food Blogger Pro. In his section, he’s talking all about hosting. For instance, did you know he recommends changing hosts every few years?!
Last, our old WP Tasty Lead, Raquel. She’s talking all about WordPress and why it’s the CMS we recommend for food bloggers.
We think you’ll have a lot of great takeaways from this episode, regardless of whether your blog is brand new or if you’ve been blogging for years. Enjoy!
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Creating a freelance photography business, shooting in manual mode, understanding a DSLR, and tips for improving your food photography skills with Ashley McLaughlin.
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Welcome to episode 267 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to our episode about freelance food photography with Ashley McLaughlin.
We’re revisiting one of our past episodes about food photography this week! We interviewed Ashley McLaughlin back in 2017 about her freelance food photography business, and we’re resharing that episode with you today.
Architecture and food…it doesn’t sound like there would be many similarities between the two, right? But there are, and Ashley’s background in architecture helped her understand experience, perspective, and design in a culinary setting.
After staring her blog, Edible Perspective, as a way to stay creative, Ashley’s love of food transformed into a love of photography. After a long learning process, she went from a complete novice with a DSLR to understanding exposure meters, shooting in manual mode, and writing a food photography series on her blog. Now she’s a full-time freelance food photographer who has photographed multiple cookbooks for bloggers.
It’s a good reminder that your blog isn’t the only money-maker in this industry; freelance food photography or writing can be a great way to build an income by doing what you love.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Learn how to write with focus, read with purpose, and build your community in this special FBP Rewind episode with Gabriela Pereira from DIY MFA.
Welcome to episode 266 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we’re rewinding back to one of our most popular episodes about writing with Gabriela Pereira from DIY MFA.
Writing –– do you love it or hate it?
It seems to be one of those topics that really divide people; either you love the creative process of putting words onto paper or…you don’t.
Today’s FBP Rewind episode will help you get those creative juices flowing and fine-tune your writing processes.
A bit about our interviewee: Gabriela got her MFA in 2010, and after she graduated, she realized that a lot of people don’t actually need a formal education process in order to write. If you give yourself permission to own your creativity and writing, and if you learn a few key skills along the way, you can be a writer.
She started her business, DIY MFA, to teach others how they can do exactly that.
Gabriela has been able to practice, evaluate, and fine-tune her craft and teach others how to do the same. Gabriela’s strategies about finding the right writing system, tracking productivity, staying inspired, and understanding strengths and weaknesses all play into finding one’s voice and writing style.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Delegating work, how to solve your readers' problems, and dedicating time to learn with Beth Moncel.
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Welcome to episode 265 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Beth Moncel about adapting and growing her blog over the past five years.
We’re so excited to welcome Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes back to the podcast today! She was our 11th guest on the podcast, so we’re excited to catch-up with her in this episode.
While we do talk about the things that successfully help her run her blog in this episode, we also talk about where she has struggled these past few years. Between hiring, listening to her readers, and adapting to drops in traffic, Beth has learned and grown, and we hope that this episode will teach you how you can adjust to changes in your own blogging journey.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
Creating reader-first content, how to effectively work with brands, and creating a seven-figure income with Chelsea Lords.
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Welcome to episode 264 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chelsea Lords about growing her website traffic and building her seven-figure blogging business.
It’s time to welcome Chelsea Lords from Chelsea’s Messy Apron back to the podcast!
Her original episode on the FBP Podcast is one of our all-time most-downloaded episodes, and we’re so excited we had the chance to welcome her back to the show and catch up on how her blog has grown and evolved since we last talked to her.
You’ll hear how her social media and traffic strategies have shifted, how and why she strives to create the most helpful content she can for her readers, and how she managed to grow Chelsea’s Messy Apron into a seven-figure revenue business.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
How to advocate for your brand, the importance of content, and growing an Instagram following to 1.7 million with Tieghan Gerard.
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Welcome to episode 263 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Tieghan Gerard about running her brand, growing her blog, and working with her family.
Today we’re welcoming Tieghan Gerard back to the podcast after four whole years!
Tieghan has been pretty busy these past few years; she learned how to delegate work to her team, grow her personal brand, and set boundaries when they’re needed. She also realized that awesome, high-quality content needs to be at the core of everything she does because it helps her build a following and branch out to do other exciting projects that helps her grow her business.
We loved catching up with Tieghan in this episode, and we know you’ll love getting a peek behind-the-scenes of how she runs Half Baked Harvest!
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.
How to understand your blog data, why blogging was more profitable than freelancing, and how to write a cookbook with Mary Cressler and Sean Martin.
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Welcome to episode 262 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Mary Cressler and Sean Martin from Vindulge about the journey to how they run their food blog today.
Mary Cressler and Sean Martin have done it all: they freelanced, they worked with ad companies, they worked with influencer marketing companies, they catered, they wrote a cookbook –– all in the pursuit of finding what it is that they like to do.
This conversation with the Vindulge team will inspire you to think about your own journey and dig deep to figure out the way you want to run your blog. There’s not a “right” way or a “wrong” way to run your blog; this episode will give you some ideas to help make your blogging journey the best it can be for you.
Resources:
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.