The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Bjork Ostrom
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The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Welcome to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast, hosted by Bjork Ostrom from Pinch of Yum! Our goal is to help you create a beautiful, functional, and profitable blog. 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! Learn more at foodbloggerpro.com/podcast

  1. Diversifying Income Series: Monetizing Your Email List with Matt Molen

    12H AGO

    Diversifying Income Series: Monetizing Your Email List with Matt Molen

    Growing and nurturing your email list, understanding your subscribers' needs, and creating lead magnets with Matt Molen from Email Crush.  ----- Welcome to episode 516 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Matt Molen, the CEO of Email Crush.  Diversifying Income Series: Monetizing Your Email List with Matt Molen In this episode, Matt shares email marketing principles and why it’s one of the most powerful tools bloggers often overlook. He breaks down how to grow your list, why your subscribers are more valuable than you think, and how email can become a key revenue stream if you do it right! Matt also offers practical tips on creating convert lead magnets, writing emails people want to read, and building trust through simple, effective sequences. Whether you’re starting from scratch or ready to level up, this interview is packed with email strategies you can start using today! Three episode takeaways: Email marketing that actually pays off: For food bloggers, email is more than a newsletter — it’s a key revenue stream. From sharing your story to promoting products or partnerships, it’s one of the most effective ways to grow your income and your brand. How to build (and nurture) your list with intention: Your current traffic is your best resource for growing your list. With the right lead magnets—think quick-start guides, mini recipe series, or kitchen cheat sheets—you can attract the right audience and keep them coming back for more. Consistency and value drive results: Whether it’s a weekly roundup or seasonal content, consistent, valuable emails lead to higher engagement. Understand what your readers need, simplify your messaging, and make every email worth opening. Resources: Email Crush MarketBeat EmailCrush’s Email Profitability Calculator Matt’s course, Email on Autopilot Email Matt! Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Clariti. 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.

    46 min
  2. Mastering Brand Partnerships with Candice Ward

    APR 22

    Mastering Brand Partnerships with Candice Ward

    Build relationships that last with brands, simplify brand outreach, and develop confidence in your offerings with Candice Ward from Eat More Cake ----- Welcome to episode 515 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! For part three of our Diversifying Income Series, Bjork interviews Candice Ward from Eat More Cake. Diversifying Income Series: Working with Brands In today’s crowded content landscape, with the rise of AI, increased competition, and more user-generated content, Candice shares how she built a stable business by diversifying her income and getting strategic with brand partnerships. This episode breaks down Candice’s three-pillar approach to building relationships with brands: crafting a strong offer, getting more eyeballs on that offer, and—most importantly—learning how to sell your offer. She shares practical tips for using analytics to evolve your offerings, developing an email sequence that gets responses, and how to pitch brands with purpose. This episode will make you excited to rethink your brand partnership strategy — don’t miss it! Three episode takeaways: Why you should be using the offer/market/sales framework for brand pitching — Candice explains the 3 main pillars of brand partnerships and how to optimize each phase of your outreach. Simple ways to use weekly workflows to make real connections with brands — Candice has incorporated brand outreach via email sequences, LinkedIn, and social media into her workflow and explains her process for communicating with brands and how to develop an email sequence so that you can easily begin the process yourself! How to build confidence in pitching — Very few content creators are confident pitching to brands right out of the gate. Candice explains her tips for becoming more confident (hint: repetition helps!) and how reframing pitching as building relationships with brands to help them solve a problem can help creators overcome their mental hurdles to communicating with brands. Resources: Eat More Cake by Candice 310: The Confident Pitch – How to Naturally Build Relationships with Brands with Candice Ward Raptive Mediavine Pinch of Yum MALK Organic LinkedIn Superhuman Mixmax Confident Pitch Program Brand Magnet: How to Stand Out and Land Brand Deals as a Food Creator in 2025 Follow Candice on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti. 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.

    1 hr
  3. Diversifying Income Series: Cooking Classes with Jess Smith from Inquiring Chef

    APR 15

    Diversifying Income Series: Cooking Classes with Jess Smith from Inquiring Chef

    Making decisions about diversifying your business and launching and running a cooking camp for kids with Jess Smith from Inquiring Chef. ----- Welcome to episode 514 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! For part two of our Diversifying Income Series, Bjork interviews Jess Smith from Inquiring Chef. Diversifying Income Series: Cooking Classes Jess Smith launched her blog, Inquiring Chefs, in 2010 and has slowly but steadily transformed it into a thriving multi-six-figure business. In recent years, she’s expanded her income streams by publishing her debut cookbook, Start with a Vegetable, and launching Inquiring Chef Academy, which offers popular in-person cooking summer camps for kids in Kansas City. In this episode, Bjork and Jess dive into the origins of Inquiring Chef Academy, exploring why and how Jess decided to add an in-person experience to her brand. Jess’s summer camps are a massive hit (with the 2025 sessions selling out in just a few hours), and they’ve reignited her passion for food blogging. Even if in-person cooking classes aren’t your thing, this episode will provide fresh insights on diversifying your income and your creative outlets — you won’t want to miss it! Three episode takeaways: How to make decisions about diversifying your business — Jess’s current income distribution looks like this: 71% from ad revenue, 13% from cooking camps, 10% from her cookbook, and 6% from brand partnerships. However, when she first considered launching her cooking camps, it wasn’t driven by money but by creativity. In this discussion, Bjork and Jess talk about the importance of finding balance in your business to prevent burnout and ensure long-term success, and how to make decisions that reflect those values. The logistics of running your own cooking classes — Jess dives into the tools she uses to manage her cooking camps, including the software for registration, how she developed the curriculum, how she promotes the camps, how she built a team to support the operations, and why she isn’t interested in scaling her camps (yet). This episode has all the details you need if you’re considering launching something similar! How to launch cooking classes — Jess announced her summer camps in January 2024 and has sold out two consecutive summers of camps. She reveals how she pushed past her hesitations and shares the behind-the-scenes process of getting her cooking camps off the ground (spoiler: it was the toughest business challenge she’s faced yet)! Resources: Inquiring Chef Cook Smarts Snackdive Pembee Stripe The Faux Martha Canva Start with a Vegetable Inquiring Chef Academy Follow Jess on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Clariti. 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.

    57 min
  4. Diversifying Income Series: Membership Sites with Adam Sobel

    APR 8

    Diversifying Income Series: Membership Sites with Adam Sobel

    Generating recurring revenue through membership sites, the power of community, and how to scale your business with multiple income streams. ----- Welcome to episode 513 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Adam Sobel. Diversifying Income Series: Membership Sites with Adam Sobel In this week’s episode, Adam Sobel of Cinnamon Snail shares his journey from owning a restaurant to launching successful online cooking classes after the pandemic. He reveals how building a loyal community was key to his growth, along with using content marketing, lead magnets, and split testing to attract and convert customers. Adam also dives into how paid ads and staying adaptable in the digital world have been essential to his success. It doesn’t stop there! Adam will also talk about scaling his business with multiple income streams, including membership programs and free offers, while automating key processes to generate steady revenue. Tune in for actionable insights on growing your business in today’s digital age! Three episode takeaways: From Restaurant to Online Success: After the pandemic hit, Adam made a big shift from owning a restaurant to teaching cooking classes online. He quickly realized that building a strong community and customer loyalty was key to his growth. Smart Digital Strategies: Content marketing, lead magnets, and split testing became game-changers for Adam. He also dives into how paid ads and constantly adapting to the digital world have been crucial for attracting and converting customers. Scaling with Multiple Income Streams: By offering membership programs and leveraging free offers, Adam’s been able to create a steady stream of revenue. Automation has also helped simplify his business, making it easier to generate income while focusing on what matters most. Resources: Cinnamon Snail Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Kit SamCart ClickFunnels ThriveCart The Ad Lab Method course by Josh Coffy The Ecommerce Alley podcast Facebook’s Advantage+ shopping campaigns Gillian Perkins’s podcast: Work Less, Earn More Russell Brunson’s podcast, The Russell Brunson Show Mighty Networks Circle Follow Adam on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsor! This episode is sponsored by Member Kitchens and Cookie Finance. 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.

    57 min
  5. How to Balance Creativity and Consistency in Blogging

    APR 1

    How to Balance Creativity and Consistency in Blogging

    Balancing creativity and consistency, maximizing productivity, and navigating food trends with RIz Asad from Chocolates and Chai.  ----- Welcome to episode 512 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Rizwan Asad from Chocolates and Chai.  How to Balance Creativity and Consistency in Blogging This week, we’re chatting with Riz from Chocolates and Chai, who shares some amazing insights on balancing creativity with monetization. It can feel like a compromise when you’re trying to make money from your blog, but Riz breaks down how ad revenue, affiliate marketing, and licensing can actually work together with your content without sacrificing quality! Riz also drops some valuable tips on staying efficient and consistent in your content creation. You’ll also hear him talk about how jumping on popular topics, like viral TikTok recipes, can really up your visibility and engagement. Lastly, we dive into the importance of finding your niche — understanding who your audience is and carving out a space that’s uniquely yours is the key to long-term success while staying true to your creative passion. You won’t want to miss this episode! Three episode takeaways: Balancing Creativity and Consistency: Finding the sweet spot between staying true to your creative vision and consistently putting out content is essential for long-term success. Building trust with your audience while keeping things fresh and true to your style is key here! Maximizing Productivity: If you’re juggling a full-time job or managing the pressures of blogging, Riz has been there and says that batching tasks and minimizing distractions can significantly boost your efficiency. Staying organized will help you keep the content flowing without burning out! Navigating Trends and Monetization: Keeping an eye on trends, like those on TikTok, can help boost your content’s visibility. And while monetizing a blog can feel tricky or like you’re compromising your creativity, finding a balance that allows you to make money while staying true to what you love doing is possible. Resources: Riz’s food blog, Chocolates and Chai How to Read a Recipe Post from Chocolates and Chai EOS — Entrepreneurial Operating System Dubai Chocolate Bar from Chocolates and Chai Fluffy Chocolate Pancakes from Chocolates and Chai Google Year in Search 2023 Instagram Reel Google Year in Search 2023 YouTube Short Episode 505 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: Maximizing Affiliate Revenue with Deep Linking Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport Send Riz an email! Follow Riz on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Cookie Finance. 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.

    54 min
  6. The Cost of Content and Why Carla Lalli Music left YouTube

    MAR 25

    The Cost of Content and Why Carla Lalli Music left YouTube

    Finding success as a personal brand, balancing creative work with financial sustainability, and leaving YouTube for Substack with Carla Lalli Music. ----- Welcome to episode 511 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Carla Lalli Music. The Cost of Content and Why Carla Lalli Music left YouTube Carla Lalli Music has been a fixture of food media for the last 15 years, including six years as the Food Director of Bon Appetit. You might also know Carla from her incredibly popular YouTube series, Carla’s Cooking Show, her two cookbooks (with a third one in the works!), or her Substack newsletter, Food Processing. In this interview, Carla dives into her recent viral Substack post about her decision to leave YouTube, including her transparent breakdown of the costs of creating content on YouTube (spoiler alert: she was losing money). Carla also explains more about why she doesn’t create recipes for SEO and how she uses connection with her audience as her north star when making business decisions. Three episode takeaways: How to find success as a personal brand — Carla has created a business rooted in her personal brand and exceptional and reliable recipes rather than focusing on SEO. She prioritizes authentic connection with her audience, entertainment value, and community over crafting content purely for algorithmic success, a strategy that she is hopeful will help her recipes and content stand out in the age of AI. The challenges of balancing creative work with financial sustainability — Despite the joy she (initially) found when making YouTube videos for her channel and a team she loved collaborating with, the financial reality of her video production costs ($3500 per video) and the declining and limited revenue from Google ads led Carla to reevaluate her place on the platform. In addition, the tight production schedule required to produce four high-quality recipe videos a month left Carla with little bandwidth to create content for Substack or her upcoming cookbook. How to recognize when something is no longer serving you or your business — After producing 177 full-length episodes for Carla’s Cooking Show, Carla’s decision to step away from YouTube was ultimately a choice based on finances, psychological toll, limited bandwidth, and diminishing returns. Carla and Bjork discuss the sustainability of content creation on platforms like YouTube and how creators have to analyze what is moving the needle in their business and, ultimately, what kind of creator they want to be. Resources: Carla Lalli Music Food Processing Bon Appetit Omega The True Costs of Being on YouTube That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes for Every Day of the Week: A Cookbook Follow Carla on Instagram and YouTube Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Clariti. 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.

    1 hr
  7. Publishing a Fan Cookbook for A Court of Thorns and Roses with Chelsea Cole

    MAR 18

    Publishing a Fan Cookbook for A Court of Thorns and Roses with Chelsea Cole

    Reinventing your brand, transitioning from self-publishing to traditional publishing, and developing a cookbook for a fan base with Chelsea Cole from A Duck's Oven. ----- Welcome to episode 510 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we are welcoming back Chelsea Cole from A Duck’s Oven. Publishing a Fan Cookbook for A Court of Thorns and Roses This is Chelsea’s third (!!!) appearance on the podcast and we’re thrilled to have her back. In her previous two interviews, she has shared her wisdom on self-publishing and creating content within her sous-vide niche. But today she is back on the podcast with a bit of a 180 — to discuss her first traditionally published cookbook in a totally different niche — a fan cookbook for the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. In this interview, Bjork and Chelsea discuss cookbook publishing and how it can be a part of your overall business strategy. Chelsea also shares how she chose the subject matter for her new cookbook and what it was like to write and develop a cookbook for a (very devoted) fan base, all while giving birth to and raising her first child! Chelsea also explains more about the royalty structure for cookbooks, how cookbooks can be a source of passive income for food creators, and how she is thinking about her current reinvention as a food creator. Three episode takeaways: How to negotiate your cookbook contract — Chelsea is no stranger to publishing cookbooks, but this was her first go-around in the traditional publishing space. She worked with a great agent and has lots of insights into how to negotiate your payments as an author (including negotiating the photography, the advance, the royalty structure, etc.). How to approach testing new ideas with your audience — Before the launch of A Feast of Thorns and Roses, Chelsea shared recipes in a specific, small niche (sous vide). In this interview, she shares how she approached this new venture with her audience, how it has reignited her love for recipe development, and how to use your audience when exploring new types of content. The pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing — Chelsea has literally written a course on self-publishing and knows the process backward and forward. She shares the advantages and disadvantages of each (speed, control, marketing, etc.) and provides insider knowledge to both sides of the publishing world for those looking to make a similar decision. Resources: A Duck’s Oven A Feast of Thorns and Roses: The Unofficial Cookbook of a Court of Thorns and Roses 187: How to Self-Publish Your Own Cookbook with Chelsea Cole 364: Self-Publishing a Cookbook as an Online Food Creator with Chelsea Cole Everyday Sous Vide: It’s All French to Me Sous Vide Meal Prep The Cookbook Lab The Unofficial Sims Cookbook: From Baked Alaska to Silly Gummy Bear Pancakes, 85+ Recipes to Satisfy the Hunger Need A Court of Thorns and Roses The Ekus Group 391: Behind the Scenes of the Cookbook Publishing Process with Sally Ekus Insight Editions Simon & Schuster The Personal MBA Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles Snackdive Follow Chelsea on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by KeySearch and Clariti. 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.

    52 min
  8. Creating Reader-First Content and Growing to 800,000 Monthly Page Views with Elena Davis

    MAR 11

    Creating Reader-First Content and Growing to 800,000 Monthly Page Views with Elena Davis

    Prioritizing providing authentic value to your readers, updating old content, and choosing the right marketing channels for your content with Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena. ----- Welcome to episode 509 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Elena Davis from Cucina by Elena. Creating Reader-First Content and Growing to 800,000 Monthly Page Views with Elena Davis We are so excited to welcome back Elena Davis to the podcast this week. When we first chatted with Elena in 2022, she had just hit 100,000 page views and qualified for Mediavine. Three years later, Elena’s site, Cucina by Elena, gets over 800,000 monthly page views! But her journey to get there has not been without it’s challenges. In this interview, Elena catches us up on the last few years of her business — including a major traffic decline in 2023 (and how she recovered from it) and how her mindset around her business, and the value she provides to her community, has changed. Three episode takeaways: The importance of updating content — After hitting a traffic plateau in September 2023, Elena realized that some of her older content wasn’t serving her audience (or Google!) anymore. Instead of leaving it stagnant, she began steadily auditing her old blog posts. Elena speaks to the importance of continually evaluating the value of your content and knowing when to take action to improve your site. Her approach was key to her traffic growth and helped her bounce back better than before. How to choose the right marketing channels for your food blog — When it comes to marketing, knowing which channels work for your brand is everything. Elena relies on email marketing, Pinterest, and Instagram (especially Reels) to drive traffic, engage her audience, and build brand loyalty. Prioritizing providing value to your readers — Elena has a really wonderful perspective on creating content that serves your readers above all else. She shares more about how she guides readers through her blog, how she helps them achieve their goals, and how that mindset has changed her business. Resources: Cucina by Elena 372: How Elena Davis Went From 20k to 100k+ Monthly Pageviews and Got Accepted Into Mediavine TopHatRank Clariti Traditional Panettone Recipe Kit Manychat Grocer’s List Pinch of Yum Simply Recipes Follow Elena on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group Thank you to our sponsors! This episode is sponsored by Member Kitchens. 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.

    1 hr
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    About

    Welcome to The Food Blogger Pro Podcast, hosted by Bjork Ostrom from Pinch of Yum! Our goal is to help you create a beautiful, functional, and profitable blog. 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! Learn more at foodbloggerpro.com/podcast

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