100: How FBP Listeners Have Used the Podcast to Grow Their Blogs and Businesses

Alexa @ FBP
by Alexa @ FBP on May 30, 2017 in , , ,

Welcome to episode 100 of the Food Blogger Pro podcast! This week, we’re celebrating our 100th episode with a special community episode!

Last week on the podcast, Bjork talked with Danielle Liss from Hashtag Legal about how you can create solid sponsored content. To go back and listen to that episode, click here.

How FBP Listeners Have Used the Podcast to Grow their Blogs and Businesses

There have been 99 Food Blogger Pro Podcast episodes before this one, and we’ve heard from a lot of amazing people. From full-time bloggers to SEO experts to social media pros, this podcast has seen no shortage of inspirational interviewees!

We’re really excited about this episode because we’re hearing from you. We asked our listeners what their favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode was, and we’re so excited about the response. It’s so exciting to hear which episodes came to you at a specific point in your blogging career and how the podcast helped you overcome obstacles, become more confident, and grow your business.

We hope that this episode will help you find an episode you might have missed or remind you of an episode that you’d like to go back and listen to again. Thanks so much for a great 100 episodes!

These are our listeners’ favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episodes:

Listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast below or check it out on iTunes or Google Play Music:

Resources:

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].

Be sure to review us on iTunes!

If you’d like to jump to the comments section, click here.

Transcript:

Bjork Ostrom: Kind of a weak trumpet there, but we’re celebrating today. It’s Episode number 100. We are so, so honored that you are here with us today for Episode number 100 of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast. I was looking back at some of the information for the Food Blogger Pro Podcast and some of the stats and things like that, and it was really fun to see. We’ve been doing this for two years now. We started way back, it seems like way back, but we started way back in 2015. We said, “We think that there’s an opportunity to speak to people that are in this niche, the niche of food and recipe sites.” A lot of you, I know, aren’t necessarily in the niche, but that’s the idea that we started out with. We’re going to speak to people in this niche, food blogging and recipe blogs, and we’re going to have conversations around how to grow and build and succeed and find joy in the work that we do all around this niche. Here we are, episode number 100.

We wanted to celebrate today by talking to you or at least letting you talk to us. We’re doing what we call a community episode where we reach out to the people that listen to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast and we allow you to talk to us instead of me talking to you or me with a guest talking to you. We said, “Let’s reach out to the audience and have you on the podcast.” People today are going to be talking about one of their favorite podcast episodes and some of the things that they learned from that and potentially what that resulted in when they applied it to their blog. Really excited to share this podcast episode with you today, and to hear from you and to allow you to speak to the people that also listen along with you.

One of the things I wanted to say and one of the reasons that we do this podcast is because of this community site that we have, Food Blogger Pro. As you know, we don’t do any sponsorships or anything like that. Even though, within the next couple of months, we’re going to be passing the 500,000 download mark, the half a million mark and on our way to one million, we are intentional about not doing any sponsorships. One of the reasons we can do that is because we have the site, the community site, Food Blogger Pro, that is our built-in sponsor for this. Very soon, down the line here, we are going to be opening enrollment within the month. If you have any interest in becoming a part of this community, we’re going to talk more about that a little bit later on, but what I’ll say right now is that just make sure that you jump on that waiting list so you get a notification for when we open enrollment.

You can do that simply by going to FoodBloggerPro.com. There will be a big button there. You can click on the Enrollment option and sign up for the waiting list. We’re not going to have signups quite yet, depending on when you’re listening to this, but that will allow you to get on the waiting list. We’ll notify you when we open enrollment. I know that if you’re in the recipe niche, if you’re in the food niche or even if you’re not, but you’re interested in building and growing your blog, this is going to be a great community for you to join. Like I said, we’re going to talk more about that a little bit down the line. Not today, though because today is your chance to talk. We have the community episode that is coming up right now.

I want to say thank you to everybody that called in and we didn’t get to include everybody’s message within this, but I want you to know that we listened to every one and we really appreciate you. Just due to time and the limitations that we have, we can’t go on forever. We picked a few that we wanted to showcase and highlight and we’re going to share those with you today. Here it is, episode number 100, the community episode. Let’s jump in.

Kelly: Hi. I’m Kelly Anthony with TheAnthonyKitchen.com, and I absolutely adore the Food Blogger Pro Podcast. It’s all the answers I had been pretty desperate for all in one neat little package. There are so many episodes that have helped me along my blogging journey, but I would say the episode that I found the most valuable, and the one that I’ve listened to a couple times over now is Episode 38. In this episode, Bjork talks about 7 strategies to build blog traffic. Some of my favorite subjects were creating content for different social media platforms and how they all speak their own language. It was something I had never really thought about before but something I now implement within my Anthony Kitchen marketing strategy.

Another great tip was using Google Analytics to determine your future content and what your audience is looking for out of you. This actually shifted my entire focus for my blog. For almost a whole year of blogging, I was tailoring toward an audience who wanted to entertain. I often featured fancy and intricate hors d’oeuvres and entrée recipes. After a little digging into Analytics, I found that the people who were making their way to my site were moms like me whose main focus wasn’t throwing a dinner party but actually just wanting to get a quality meal on the table for their family. Thus changed my whole mission statement from refined comfort food from one kitchen to another to helping home cooks get quality food on the table. Without Food Blogger Pro, I’d still be blogging blindly, and I’m pretty grateful to have found them. Thanks so much, and blessings to all.

Diane: Hi. This is Diane Sanfilippo, and my blog is BalancedBites.com. My favorite episode was number 35 about how to 10X your Facebook following in one year with Stephanie from Spaceships and Laser Beams. I love that episode because it just reminded me to keep adapting with each social media platform as it changes. As the reach changes, we need to consistently review what we’re doing and not get stuck in the mindset that it should remain the same and we just get frustrated about our reach, so thanks for that episode.

Don: Hi. My name is Don, and my blog is TinyKitchenBigFood.com. What is my favorite episode of Food Blogger Pro? All of them! My blog is currently a passion project, which I hope to turn into a business one day, so I really appreciate the advice from Bjork every week on a wide variety of topics. His conversational style makes me feel like we are just chatting over a cup of coffee. From each episode, I search out one item to apply to TinyKitchenBigFood.com. Some of my learnings are visible on my blog and some are behind the scenes, like this one from Episode 97 about the egg carton method, which led me to set up a spreadsheet to look at my blog income from all the different possible revenue streams. Thanks, Bjork!

Ale: Hi. My name is Alejandra. My blog is bilingual. It’s Piloncillo&Vainilla.com for the Spanish-speaking audience and BrownSugarandVanilla.com for the English-speaking audience. My favorite episode is the first one. I love how you made this community part of your new project. I also feel it’s like the living proof of your theory that you get better in what you do each day just by showing up, so congrats on your 100th episode. They’re all amazing.

Daniela: Hello. My name is Daniela Cho, and I have a blog called TheSpicedKitchen.com. I really loved Episode 13 when you interviewed Molly Yeh. Specifically, I liked the part where she talks about going to London and meeting this food photographer that she really admires and asking him what the secret is to making it. Then he answers that there is no secret, but you just have to work hard and keep doing it. I have found that that line has stuck with me, that there are no secrets. Whenever I think the next big app or the next thing that’s going to change the food blogging game for me, I just have to remember that ultimately the bottom line is just that it takes a lot of work and consistency.

Lisa: Hi. My name is Lisa Day and I am behind ADayintheKitchen.com. My favorite podcast from Food Blogger Pro would have to be the one that talked about traffic to the website and Google Analytics. The thing that I took away from that podcast was Bjork talking about the long tail and the Google Analytic graph in terms of hits to the website. He said the long tail might last a year, year and a half, maybe two years, but basically the growth would be quite slow until it reaches the numbers that we’re hoping to see. What that made me think about is focusing on why I started my blog to begin with.

I have a passion for cooking and food and sharing recipes in hopes in inspiring people to spend a day in their kitchen, hopefully cooking one of my dishes. To do that, I have to keep posting and writing and cooking and keep conveying that passion. Eventually, people will follow. As Bjork pointed out, sometimes there’s a one-hit wonder recipe that will suddenly increase viewership to the website. Until then, I have to keep cooking and posting. As long as I just keep focusing on the passion of doing all of that and not obsessing over the numbers in the graph, then I’ll eventually get there, so thanks so much. That podcast was really valuable and it’s something that I think about quite often as I’m working on my blog.

Elaine: Hello. This is Elaine from The Seasoned Vegetable. I’ve been listening to the Food Blogger Pro Podcast for about eight months, and over the course of that time, have really appreciated how Bjork has talked about the one percent infinity idea, specifically in Episode 83 focusing on the idea that we can improve a little bit every single day very intentionally and grow as individuals, as bloggers, as business owners. It really resonates with me as a learner and I really appreciate all the information that Bjork has shared with podcasts and books and connecting to different parts of the business world. It’s been really helpful, really informative. Thank you to Bjork and to Lindsay for all they’ve done with Food Blogger Pro and Pinch of Yum. It’s been really informative and helpful on this journey.

Dianne: Hi. My name is Dianne Jacob, and the name of my job is Will Write for Food. My favorite podcast is 94, How to Keep Going with Bjork. What I really like is that this is a hard subject for bloggers because we can easily become overwhelmed by all the things we have to learn about. Writing, photography, social media, tech stuff, branding, clients. Sometimes we feel like we’re just treading water and it’s easy to get discouraged. What I like is that Bjork has a curious mind, and he’s an insatiable researcher on how to get to the root of creativity and work and push through. I’ve read some of the books that he recommends, and I always learn something. He offers not only good advice, but examples from books and podcasts that he’s read and listened to. He does the research for me and provides inspiration. What I like is that he reminds me of intentional effort, having realistic expectations about my career and how to enjoy the path I’m on rather than resist it.

One of my favorite books is the War of Art, which he recommended to me and I have recommended it to many people about resistance. I can’t say I’m there yet. I’m still resisting, but I like to be reminded, and I like to be reminded of how to keep going by being thankful and grateful, particularly, and he does that in this podcast. These are the kind of existential questions that Bjork grapples with, which are really quite deep. I like that he’s willing to take them on. These podcasts will stand the test of time, and it’s why I’m such a big supporter of Food Blogger Pro. Thanks, Bjork. Bye.

Nicolas: Hi, Bjork and Lindsay. Just wanted to quickly thank you for all the hard work and valuable information you guys give out in these podcasts and helping us to achieve our goals. My name is Nicolas. The name of my blog is Blogtastic Food. That is www.BlogtasticFood.com. My favorite podcast was How to Master Pinterest. Pinterest is my favorite social media platform, and it just gave me so much insight, that episode. The importance of keywords, avoiding hashtags. I had no idea about that, and changing my profile to a business account so I can look at my analytics. I created a bunch of my own group boards after listening to that podcast. I was really just able to up my game in Pinterest, so if I had to say, that would be my favorite podcast. Thanks again, and keep up the good work you guys are doing.

Betty: Hello. I’m Betty from DashofWisdom.com, and I think this is such a great idea that we get to tell you, Bjork, what our favorite podcasts are. I have two, not just one. I hope that’s okay. I am a newer food blogger, just hit the Publish button back in January on Dash of Wisdom, so for me, hearing Lindsay on Episode 1 was really important to hear her journey in food blogging. Another one that is a much more recent one that I really loved, I’ve listened to it twice. There’s just so much good information, was number 89. Until this one, I really hadn’t understood why I did need a recipe plug-in. I know you sent out the little email recently about the recipe plug-in, but I must not have read it very well, but maybe I just hear things better, but hearing it made me realize, “I definitely need it because I definitely want to boost my SEO.” There was just a lot of other tidbits on the 89 one. Maybe I can talk to you about that more sometime. Those are two of my favorites. All right, you guys. Hugs to you. Fabulous work.

Tera: Hi. My name is Tera. I write for the blog Roots and Radishes, and my favorite food blogger pro podcast was the Episode number 58 on, it’s Five Tips for Overcoming the Resistance. I was so excited when Bjork published that episode because I had already read the book The War of Art, which is where the term capital r Resistance comes from. That author characterizes instances of resistance or what the resistance is in a creative pursuit. I remember checking it out from the library right after I heard Bjork talk about it. It really hit home for me and helped me identify some of my internal struggles with creative pursuits, so if you haven’t read that yet, highly, highly recommend it, but this was my favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode just because the tips for overcoming the resistance were really great takeaways. It was a concise list that I could just think about when I was experiencing instances of resistance in my life.

The situations that Bjork talked about and described were so, so relevant, I thought, especially to a lot of the struggles that I encounter. I think it really helped me and continues to help me deal with being overwhelmed with blogging, which is totally a thing. You have this huge project and this vision and goal, and you can only take little baby steps to get there. Sometimes, when you’re thinking about the end goal and you’re not moving fast enough or whatever, it is easy to get overwhelmed and almost go into a state of paralysis where you distract yourself and you’re no longer making even small progress. I really love that episode for that reason. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I highly recommend it. If you haven’t read the War of Art by Steven Pressfield, I highly recommend that as well. That’s my favorite Food Blogger Pro episode.

Julie: Hi, Bjork. This is Julie Menghini with Hostess at Heart. I received your email regarding Episode 100 of Food Blogger Pro. I think my very favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast is number 24 with Gimme Some Oven. It came right at the right time, when I was beating myself to death trying to do everything right. She put so many things into perspective, so I’ve listened to that one a couple times and applied a lot of the things that she stated on there. I like a lot of the different podcasts. It’s put me in touch with a lot of different guests that you’ve had on there. It’s allowed me to look at some of the applications that I now use on my blog. Of course, Food Blogger Pro was instrumental in teaching me Blogging 101 from the very beginning. Thank you for the opportunity to perhaps be on Podcast number 100. Take care!

Leslie: My name is Leslie Haasch, and I’m the pun-loving blonde behind the food blog Stress Baking. One of my favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcasts is 12 Ways to Overcoming Online Jealousy. As someone who’s really striving for success with my blog, it’s so easy to compare yourself with others. There are times when I get really down on myself because I don’t have the following that the sites I admire do. I don’t have published cookbooks or huge traffic numbers. I have to remind myself that everyone’s different, everybody’s progress is going to look different. While it might take one person six months to achieve their success, it may take me four years and that’s okay. Lindsay’s example about Tasty publishing their Chicken Wild Rice Soup video before she got a chance to do it herself really hit home with me because I’ve felt the exact same thing. I’ve been afraid that if I publish something that might be too similar to somebody else’s content that I can’t possibly succeed.

Like Lindsay said, “If they’re successful, I can’t be. They’re going to get all the likes. I’m never going to get that many likes.” It really is a scarcity mindset, and knowing that helps me get out of my own way and tell myself, “You know what? I’m going to post it anyway.” My followers might like it and that’s what matters. If it does super well and even better than the other person’s content, great. If it doesn’t, that’s fine. It might not be ideal. It might be frustrating, and it might take me a whole lot more work than someone else who really lucked out. Maybe they got a break with a crazy, viral post that really launched their career, but the goal is to make something that I’m proud of and not just a cookie cutter copy of someone else. The whole point behind my blog is to relieve stress and anxiety through baking, not create more of it, so thank you, Lindsay and Bjork, for helping me get some perspective.

Sophia: Hi. My name is Sophia, and my blog is Veggies Don’t Bite. My favorite Food Blogger Pro episode was 94, How to Keep Going. I just really loved the realness about it. Giving the idea that taking a step back is not a bad thing. It actually can end up being super positive for both real life and your blog. Thanks for keeping it real.

Angela: Hi. I’m Angela Gast of Mighty Mrs. I’m a full-time food blogger. Previously, a graphic designer, I currently earn more than I used to as a seasoned art director for an ad agency. My favorite Food Blogger Pro episode would have to be the Egg Carton Method. I really like how Bjork breaks down the different streams of incomes into what he calls eggs, and the idea of filling your basket to create your income with these small eggs just seems so much more doable than taking that big lump sum of what you want to try to earn monthly and making that happen. By breaking that down into smaller eggs, it just seemed much more doable and also allowed me personally to be able to personalize my eggs with things that I was good at.

It made me realize something I was already doing was having these diverse sources of income, but by Bjork putting a name to it and creating this visual of an egg carton, it made me realize that anyone can create a full-time income, and their eggs might just look a little bit different depending on what skills they bring to the table. That would have to be my favorite episode of Food Blogger Pro. Thanks, Bjork.

Karen G.: Hi, guys. I’m Karen Gifford. I blog over at The Food Charlatan. I just recently listened to the podcast you guys did with Meggan Hill from Culinary Hill. She talked about how finding a niche transformed her blog and her business. It was really helpful for me because I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my own branding and where I want my blog to go, and how I can narrow my focus to better serve my audience. It was just a really good way, a really good message for me to hear. I actually was able to reach out to Meggan afterward. It was a good connection for me. She helped me with a few things, so that was a great episode. Thanks for doing that one.

Karen P.: Hi. My name is Karen Peterson, and my blog is 365DaysofCrockpot.com. My favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode is Episode 40. It was about how to monetize a podcast from day one. I decided to start my own podcast a year ago with my friend Heidi. It’s called the 365 Days Podcast. As we were starting this big project, we were lost as to how to get started and where to go, and thinking through all the things that we needed to do and to know. When I found this episode and listened to it, it helped answer so many of my questions. I was able to go to the show notes several times and just find out the information that I needed to know. That was my favorite episode. Thanks, Bjork.

Johlene: Hi. I’m Johlene Orton. I’m from the blog JohleneOrton.com. Previously, my blog was called FlavoursandFrosting.com. My favorite episode, there are so many that I really, really love, but I think my favorite one was when Lindsay spoke in Episode 39 about jealousy. Initially, when I started my blog, I thought that I could be friends with everyone and that everyone just gets along in the online community, but I soon realized that it wasn’t that way and that there was a lot of jealousy going around. What I’ve learned to do is to stick to my gut, do what is right when I leave comments or when I interact with other bloggers or YouTubers, to be honest in my opinion and only comment or say something when I really feel it. Yeah, just to trust my gut instinct and to do what’s right and just to be kind to everyone and just enjoy this because in all parts of life, there’s jealousy and problems. Yeah, it’s just not the way that I want to live mine, so that episode struck a chord with me. I really enjoyed it and I could relate to it completely. Like I said, there are so many episodes that I enjoy, and I love tuning in every week to hear what you guys have to say. I’ve learned so much, and thank you very much for a wonderful podcast. Ciao.

Randa: Hey, Bjork. It’s Randa from the Bewitching Kitchen, and I just want to say thanks. I’ve learned so much from the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, from learning the difference between self-publishing or going with a publishing company when it comes to cookbooks, to SEO practices, but the podcast episodes that really stick out in my memory are the ones about Pinterest. I believe they were the ones with Kate Ahl and Susan. Susan Jackson? Susan Wenner Jackson? I still remember where I was driving when I listened to those, so that’s great. They brought the knowledge hammer down. So much knowledge that I ended up hiring Kate as a Pinterest manager. That’s brought a little bit more balance to my busy life, so thank you so much for that.

Katherine: Hi. My name is Katherine DeCosta, and my husband Eddie and I started our blog, Wanderspice, a few short months ago. The podcast that stands out most to us is number 28 with Casey Markee on search engine optimization. While we were fairly familiar with SEO, the podcast really opened our eyes to how critical it is for food bloggers and really laid out all the different components that you have to master in order to be able to drive traffic from the search engines and not solely rely on social media. We were also fortunate to listen to the podcast prior to launching our site, so after taking copious notes, I think we had a pretty good blueprint of what we needed to do at the very beginning in order to be successful long-term. Two months in, we’re already noticing a lot of our recipes are starting to rank. Two specifically are already on page two, so we are very happy.

Kimberly: Hi there. My name is Kimberly, and I’m the blogger behind The Little Plantation. Despite my accent, I actually live in London and I’ve been blogging for about three years. I discovered your podcast maybe about two months ago, and have been really listening to as many episodes as I can, downloading again. I can’t really say that there’s one particular one. There have been a number of ones that have really hit home. One of them has been the interview that you did with Nom Nom Paleo. I left my job about a year ago to blog full-time, and I feel like, is this an irresponsible thing to do? I’ve got a family. I’ve got a child, and to hear somebody like her say that she had the same anxieties, that really was quite reassuring. I’m not crazy by doing this. I’m not going totally mad. It’s all right.

You also had one. Gosh, I forgot her name, but it was about making $40,000 in the first year of blogging. She said something that also really struck a chord, which was that you have to spend money to make money. I’ve been quite, I was reluctant to do that. I bought a camera and everything, but I feel like that’s a normal expense. After she said that, it was the last push I needed to redesign my blog and turn it from just a blog into a money making place. It’s been fantastic every since. All the courses that I offer have sold out already for the whole year and things like that that I really know that I put my money in the right place.

Also, I’m in the process of putting together a book proposal. There was a podcast about how to sell out your books before it even goes live, so to speak. That one was fantastic, too, so I’ve put a real plan together of how I’m going to market and how I’m going to ensure that people pre-order. I have a much better understanding of what that means and just a much clearer plan of how to make my book a success. Gosh, there’s been so many. Your SEO ones, I’ve focused much more on that since the rebrand. Just it’s been a super helpful podcast. I’m really grateful and many thanks. Bye-bye.

Abby: Hi, Bjork. My name is Abby Glassenberg, and I’m the co-founder of Craft Industry Alliance, which is a membership site sort of like Food Blogger Pro, but for people who are crafters, like knitters and crocheters and people who sew and quilt and do scrapbooking and things like that. I really enjoyed Episode 32 of the Food Blogger Pro Podcast, which was the one with Mark from Quiet Light Brokerage. Before I listened to that episode, I really didn’t know that you could sell a website. Maybe I’d heard about it a little bit, but I didn’t realize that if you’ve been building something for a little bit and you’ve got a good following and maybe some social media follows as well, you probably do actually have a valuable property. Maybe you can’t sell it for tens of millions of dollars, but you should look into finding a buyer for it if you are ready to move on to something else.

I found that to be incredibly valuable and confidence-building when I’m building my own craft blog as well as building Craft Industry Alliance. Thank you so much to Mark and to you, Bjork, for all of the wonderful episodes. I’ve listened to every single one, and it’s been incredibly helpful to me. Even though I’m not a food blogger, I think so much of what you talk about applies to all bloggers, especially to craft bloggers as well, so thank you so much. Bye!

Kelsey: Hi, Bjork. My name is Kelsey, and I run the Paleo-based blog, Little Bits of Real Food. I have absolutely loved the Food Blogger Pro Podcast from the beginning, and there are two episodes that changed the game for me. After Episode 8 about ad optimization, I applied for AdThrive and got in, which helped grow my income. Then, Episode 19 on mastering Pinterest led to me finally getting a scheduler for Pinterest and bringing tons more traffic to my blog. Both of those changes were huge for me and by August, I had replaced my full-time income. I quit my job just before the end of the year last year and full-time blogging is a total dream come true, just like I hoped it would be. Thank you so much, and congrats on 100 episodes!

Cheryl: Hey, Bjork. It’s Cheryl Malik from 40 Aprons. I write Whole 30 and Paleo recipes and that actually is why Meggan Hill’s episode on the podcast, I think it’s Episode number 93, is my very favorite. Meggan talked about a few really important things that really resonated with me, but the biggest takeaway I had was the idea that a niche is critical to your blog. Yeah, we hear that a lot as food bloggers, but there was something else Meggan talked about. This is the part I really didn’t expect, that your niche could be freeing. See, I had gone back and forth on whether or not I should really take the plunge and commit to a new niche, which was exclusively publishing Whole 30 and Paleo recipes. I was always thinking, “What about all the other recipes that I could think of?” I’d be limiting myself by setting a context for my blog or by only speaking to a relatively small portion of all the internet recipe themes and Pinterest users who are out there.

When I listened to Meggan’s episode, I had already formally burrowed down into my niche, but I still had this anxiety that my niche was reducing the potential traffic I could drive to my site. Traditional Midwestern recipes, and that’s Meggan’s niche, of course, was something I would never, ever think to search for. I’m from the South, so that’s the kind of thing on my radar. It seriously never occurred to me that Midwestern recipes could be an entire blog’s niche. That’s when it clicked for me that if Meggan could niche somewhere I wouldn’t even think of and do so incredibly well, that there was everything to gain by just owning my niche. I’ve been thinking of a niche as limiting, but what it really is is freeing. I could just stop thinking about coming up with the best recipe on Pinterest ever and just own my space, own Paleo recipes for food lovers and learn everything there is to know about Paleo baking and cooking and just do that and not all the things.

It turns out that that’s what I’ve been missing from my blog in the past, a lack of direction I was giving myself, having no boundaries or real voice to my recipes. Bjork, since I claimed my niche and really ran with it, my page views have increased 180% over just a few months. Whoa. My blog can be found at 40Aprons.com. If you’re into Paleo or Whole 30 stuff at all, I really think you’ll dig it. Look at me, all owning a niche and stuff.

Michele: Hi, Bjork and Food Blogger Pro community. My name is Michelle Rink, and I am a chef and registered dietician/nutritionist, and I run the blog ChampagneandPaperPlanes.com. My favorite episode was number 73 with Jessica Merchant from How Sweet It Is. The most important part that I took away from that episode was how Jessica was able to blend both food and lifestyle. That was something that I had wanted to incorporate into my website for some time now, but I hadn’t really seen it done and I wasn’t quite sure how it would look or what it would be like. After listening to that episode, I almost felt like I was given permission and given the green light to say, “It’s okay” and it works, incorporating lifestyle into your blog. I really liked the comment that you made about how it connects your readers more to you and the blog and your personality.

I just really appreciated that, and there was also one quote. I don’t know which episode it was from, but it was a quote from you, Bjork. It had a really big impact on me. You had mentioned just very casually to someone that you were interviewing, if you could talk about all the things that was going on that was ‘wrong’ behind the scenes with Pinch of Yum, you would be talking for hours. It’s so funny to hear that as a listener and a viewer because Pinch of Yum is beautiful, and everything looks perfect and you get so much traffic. To hear that really made me realize, you don’t have to tinker around with your blog behind the scenes. There are going to be things that are wrong, but it’s okay. Just creating content should be your primary focus and then going back and fixing those things slowly, but you don’t have to fix them all. Just keep focusing on good content. I just really appreciated that. Thank you so much!

Isabel: Hey, there. My name is Isabel, and you can find me at IsabelEats.com, where I share Mexican-inspired recipes for home cooks. One of my favorite podcast episodes was the interview with Brita Britnell, where she talked about how she started working for herself, but in a totally unexpected way. Instead of her blog being the vehicle that allowed her to leave her full-time job, she found that her love of creating food videos was a skill that was in demand, and she totally capitalized on it. While my ultimate goal is still to make Isabel Eats my full-time gig, Brita really inspired me to think outside of the box and not be afraid to explore other options that could help me reach my goal. Instead of solely relying on sponsored posts and ads on my site for revenue, I’ve been dabbling in freelance photography work, and have found it to be so rewarding.

While it hasn’t directly influenced my blog audience or helped me increase page views, it has helped me gain some confidence as an entrepreneur. I’ve realized that what I have to offer is valuable, and that there are people and businesses and companies out there that need my services. It’s also just given me more opportunities to practice my photography in higher-stress situations, which has really helped me grow and learn. Because the photos aren’t just for me and for the blog, there’s definitely more pressure to take the best photos that I can possibly take and that’s translated into really putting the best content on my blog that I can. I just want to say thank you to Brita for being so inspiring and thank you, Bjork, for delivering so much amazing podcast content every single week.

Rhian: Hi. My name is Rhian Williams, and you can find my blog at RhiansRecipes.com. The Food Blogger Pro Podcast has been a huge inspiration for me, but the episode that particularly stood out to me was a number 84 in which Bjork discusses the idea of 1% infinity, which means just improving a tiny bit each day forever. I found this episode so inspiring and also reassuring, especially as a relatively new blogger, because when I started my blog, there were already so many famous blogs out there. If you’re just looking at those established blogs with perfect photos and tons of engagement, you can forget that those bloggers weren’t always like that. It does seem that it was like that for them from the very beginning, and this can be so discouraging and make you lose hope as you feel so lost and overwhelmed, not knowing how to go from where you are now to being more like them.

The idea of 1% infinity is amazing, because it really helps you transform your whole mindset. It takes off all the stress and pressure and allows you to focus on the things that really matter, like consistent hard work and a positive attitude and helps you feel really good about the progress you are making. Chances are, even if you feel like you’re not going anywhere, you’ll still be in a better place than you were a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, or even just the day before.

Shannon: Hello! I’m Shannon, and you can find me over at my blog, HomegrownProvisions.com. As a Food Blogger Pro Podcast listener, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one of my favorite podcast episodes, but if I had to select just one, I would have to say that Bjork’s recent podcast on how to keep going resonated with me the most. This is because skills and knowledge can be taught and learned, but perspective and perseverance provides the deeper connection to intentional effort and overcoming barriers. I also really appreciated Bjork’s insight that to keep going, sometimes you need to stop. I found this to hold true in my own life as I’ve experienced several losses and a very difficult journey to motherhood, which has meant, basically a lot of starts and stops on my blog throughout the way. Hearing Bjork speak to this affirmed that sometimes, it’s important to stop in the short-term so that you can keep going in the decade. This truly provided valuable validation to my own journey. Overall, this episode reminded me that finding the good and connecting to your work and being thankful is truly the key to happiness and perseverance.

Justin: Hi, Bjork. This is Justin from the Paleo food blog, Real Simple Good. I wanted to share with you one of the top episodes from Food Blogger Pro that I took a lot away from, which was Episode 58, Overcoming the Resistance. I think it’s something that we all battle on a day-to-day basis, especially for a creative endeavor. There are so many distractions nowadays. My number one takeaway from that was that I really need to be conscious of what I’m working on each day, and making sure that I don’t go into the day with a blank slate and get distracted by whatever comes up that day. Now, I make a list every day of the three things that I want to accomplish, and I make sure I check off that list every single day. It’s really helped me focus on the most important things, really working on the stuff that will help grow the blog and the business and not some of the distractions and putting out fires and things like that. Thank you for all you do. You are very helpful and very inspirational. Thank you.

Kristie: Hi. My name is Kristie, and my blog is Beneficial-Bento.com. My very favorite Food Blogger Pro Podcast was Episode 94, How to Keep Going. That episode came out on a day where I was having the hardest day. I’ve been going through an entire website redesign, and it is such hard work. I was seriously wondering if all that work was even worth doing. I noticed that the new podcast came out. I decided to take a break and take a walk and just listen to it on my headphones. It was so awesome. It was just like Bjork was right there with me, just giving me a little pep talk. It was just what I needed. By the time it ended, I felt completely better, and I had a better perspective on things and had some great motivation to just dive back into my work and just keep going, which I did.

I think that this episode is good for any of us who work alone at home because we so rarely get any feedback or even encouragement from other people. We all need to feel that. I just want to thank Bjork for that episode. It really helped me a lot. It came at just the perfect time when I needed it the most, so thanks, Bjork.

Suzy: Hey, it’s Suzy Karadsheh with the Mediterranean Dish. Congratulations on reaching 100 episodes. That’s so exciting, you guys. I have listened to Food Blogger Pro for a long, long, long time. It’s so hard to pick a favorite episode. I want to say Episode 94, more recently, where Bjork talks about techniques and ways to keep going. How to keep going in this business, how to keep waking up in the morning, keep creating, keep producing even on days that you’re discouraged or maybe you are losing focus. I really appreciated all the techniques and tips that you shared, some simple things that we all need to be reminded of in this business, especially if you’re working solo, so thank you so much, Bjork, for all the encouraging things you shared on that episode, and I wish you guys many, many more episodes. I am so excited for you. Someday, we will talk in person. All right, bye.

Bjork Ostrom: That’s a wrap. One more big thank you to everyone for calling in and sharing your thoughts, your insight, your favorite podcast episode, and a huge thank you to the people that we’ve interviewed that have helped to get us to this episode number 100. We couldn’t have done it without two very important groups of people, the people that we interviewed, and you, the people that listen, because if we continued to publish podcast episodes and nobody listened, then obviously we wouldn’t be doing this, but the podcast continues to grow. The month of May is going to be our best month ever, and we just see consistent growth with the podcast. It’s so exciting for us to see that consistent growth. It wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for you, so thank you for continuing to download the podcast, to listen, to subscribe. It means so much to us, and it allows us to continue to do this.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast episode, we are soon going to be opening Food Blogger Pro for enrollment, so if you want to make sure that you don’t miss that, go to FoodBloggerPro.com. That’s a wrap for episode number 100. Thanks so much for checking it out. Make it a great week, and we will talk to you again soon. Thanks, guys.

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