423: How Liz and Lauren Allen Built a Food Blog with 11 Million Monthly Pageviews

Welcome to episode 423 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lauren and Liz Allen from Tastes Better from Scratch.

Twin sisters Liz and Lauren Allen started Tastes Better from Scratch in 2009 and have been working together on the blog ever since. They are incredibly strategic about every aspect of their business, from hiring and content creation to data privacy and goal setting.

In this interview, Bjork chats with Liz and Lauren about how they’ve expanded their business over the years and worked to maintain the huge growth they saw in 2020 that skyrocketed their pageviews from 5 to 11 million per month.

They are also open and honest about their plans for the future of Tastes Better from Scratch in a world with AI and changing data privacy laws. If you’re looking for new ways to think about growing your business while leaning into your strengths, you won’t want to miss this episode!

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421: Scaling Three Food Blogs and Tips for Hiring a Virtual Assistant with Cheryl Malik

Welcome to episode 421 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Cheryl Malik from 40Aprons.

Cheryl first started food blogging in 2009, and now runs three different food blogs, in addition to an agency that matches food bloggers with virtual assistants.

In this interview, Bjork and Cheryl chat about growing and diversifying her business over the years and how she manages her time efficiently while managing all of her different businesses.

She also shares recommendations for hiring team members, and how to effectively onboard new team members. It’s a really practical episode that will give you lots of advice for thinking strategically about growing your team and your business.

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419: Balancing Life, SEO, and Income Streams Over 14 Years of Food Blogging with Anne Mauney

Welcome to episode 419 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Anne Mauney from fANNEtastic Food.

Anne Mauney has been running her blog for over 14 years now and, as you might imagine, her life has changed considerably during that time. Since starting her blog, Anne has become a Registered Dietitian with a Masters in Public Health, has gotten married, and had two children.

In addition to all of those big life changes, she has witnessed the rise of social media and SEO, and seen the huge changes in the food blogging landscape. In this candid conversation, Bjork and Anne chat about navigating life and blog changes and balancing parenthood with running a business.

Anne shares more about her changing income streams over the years, and why outsourcing certain tasks that don’t bring her joy has allowed her to continue blogging after all these years. It’s a super valuable episode no matter where you are in your blogging journey!

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416: Preserving Family Recipes with a Food Blog with Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life

Welcome to episode 416 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sarah and Kaitlin Leung from The Woks of Life.

For Sarah and Kaitlin Leung, their food blog, The Woks of Life, is a family affair. They have run the blog with their parents, Judy and Bill, for over ten years, and now they all work together full-time!

Bjork chats with Sarah and Kaitlin about the early days of The Woks of Life, including why they started documenting their family’s Chinese recipes, and how they grew their site while working full-time.

Sarah and Kaitlin share more about the division of labor when running a food blog as a family, and what they’ve learned over the last ten years of blogging. They have a really unique perspective on food blogging, and it’s a can’t-miss episode.

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412: How to Support Your Mental Health as a Content Creator with Sherry Walling

Welcome to episode 412 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sherry Walling, a clinical psychologist and founder of ZenFounder.

Sherry is back on the podcast today to talk about something we should all be discussing more — the mental health of entrepreneurs.

If you have a career as a content creator, it can be difficult to separate your personal life from your professional life. It can also be lonely to run your own business. Not to mention the challenges of sharing parts of your life on social media!

All this to say that entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges when it comes to mental health, and this powerful episode with Sherry is one you won’t want to miss. She shares more about the habits you can incorporate into your life to better manage anxiety, stress, and grief, and prioritize your emotional and physical well-being.

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409: Legal Hot Topics: AI, Privacy Policies, and Sponsored Content with Danielle Liss

Welcome to episode 409 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danielle Liss from Businessese and LISS Legal.

The legal side of food blogging can be stressful, overwhelming, and complicated. Most food bloggers don’t get into the business because of their passion for contracts and privacy policies! But that’s why we have experts like Danielle to help us navigate these issues.

In this week’s podcast episode, Danielle is back on the podcast (this is her 9th episode!) to chat about legal hot topics in 2023. Danielle breaks down updates in privacy legislation, and the impact of AI on contracts and confidentiality, and explains more about whitelisting and dark ads.

Danielle is a master at explaining tricky topics in a straightforward (and entertaining!) way, and this episode is a must-listen for any business owner!

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404: Habits for Creators: A Gratitude Practice for Your Business

Welcome to episode 404 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is wrapping up his mini-series on habits with a discussion on the habit of gratitude.

In this solo mini-series, Bjork has covered four habits that he recommends creators incorporate into their routines. So far, Bjork has covered the importance of a monthly review, the habit of continual learning, and the habit of who.

In today’s episode, Bjork chats about the habit of gratitude in both your personal, and professional life. If you don’t already have a gratitude practice in your life, this episode is just what you need to get started — practical tips, resources, and more.

We hope you enjoy the last episode of our habits mini-series. We’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week!

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403: Habits for Creators: Building the Habit of Who

Welcome to episode 403 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have the third episode in our series on habits for creators, all about the habit of who.

Do you ever feel like you need to be an expert in everything you do, both in your personal and professional life? If so, you’re not alone, and today’s episode is for YOU.

In the third episode of Bjork’s mini-series on habits, he is chatting all about the importance of surrounding yourself with trusted experts who can help you with specific aspects of your life and business.

You’ll learn more about creating a personal board of directors, determining who your experts are, and why you need to be asking “who can help with this?”.

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402: Habits for Creators: How to Prioritize Continual Learning

Welcome to episode 402 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, we have the second episode in our series on habits for creators, which is all about the habit of continual learning.

Do you currently set aside time in your schedule for continual learning? Or do you feel like you’re just too busy to make time for it?

Either way, we hope that today’s episode will help you to rethink continual learning, and give you inspiration for incorporating it into your life as an entrepreneur.

Bjork chats about the importance of continual learning as a business owner, time blocks, and habit pairing — you won’t want to miss this episode!

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401: Habits for Creators: Why You Should Start a Monthly Review of Your Business

Welcome to episode 401 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork is kicking off the Habits Series on the podcast with a discussion about monthly reviews.

This solo episode with Bjork is the first in our Habits Series, in which Bjork will dive into simple, but effective habits that you can (and should!) incorporate into your business.

Bjork explains the concept of a monthly review of your business’s finances and analytics, and how it can benefit your business and help you think more strategically about growth.

It’s a really informative listen, and we hope you’ll take away some helpful tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your business moving forward!

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