Eat Blog Talk | Megan Porta

Despite 2020 hitting many businesses hard, Chelsea saw the demand for buying established online businesses rise, including food blogging sites. Last year she brokered the sale of more than 50 businesses, generating nearly $500K in sales and she doesn’t see the demand for online and remote work slowing down in 2021. - If you’ve reached a point of emotional disconnect with your blog, research the option of selling! - Pros and cons of buying and selling a site. - How to determine a price for your blog.

This conversation comes from a Clubhouse room recorded on 5/21/21. Inspired by an episode from The Ed Mylett Show, food bloggers discuss the concept of separating from “the pack” in order to make big business gains without a ton of effort. - Consider doing “extra” during busy seasons to get ahead. - Squeeze tiny bits of productive work time into your days/weeks. - Go the extra mile when reaching out to brands or other bloggers (ideas included!). - Set yourself up for success in small ways to go FAR!

Did you know that over 6K thoughts pop into our minds every day? And that 80% of those are negative? Loren sheds light on the idea of changing our thoughts in order to find success in our businesses. This is such an important message for food bloggers! There are 4 steps to change our self talk: - Recognize what needs to change. - Replace the thought. - Repeat as much as possible. - Reinforce. And most importantly, don’t resist the negative thoughts that come. Embrace them and move forward!

As a food blogger with a busy life, Whitney has honed in on some tricks that provide a healthy work-life balance. One of those tricks involves using artificial lighting for video and photo production as a way to be in control of this part of the process. Listen in for valuable tips about balance and time management! - Blogging expands to fill the container you give it, so be sure you give it a container. - Pricing strategies and how to use video/photo skills to monetize outside your blog.

After traffic to her travel blogs plummeted during the pandemic, Kalyn started a food blog. Seeing quick success, she started 2 more sites and now runs 4 sites across different niches. If this sounds appealing, be sure to listen in! - Running multiple sites provides you with financial security and less worry over seasonal traffic fluctuations. It also keeps you focused on the right platforms that move each blog moving in a forward direction. - Pick a topic that aligns with your passions and dig in!

If you feel like you are spending too much time bouncing from one platform to the next in an attempt to manage your blog metrics, Justin has the tool you need! Otherboard is a content management system for Wordpress users that allows you to track various blog metrics and glean insights from them. - Otherboard focuses on connecting platforms and providing brilliant insights. - Track all WP content, Google analytics, Slickstream data as well as insights from social platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest.

Sally is the co-owner of the full service culinary agency, The Lisa Ekus Group. From concept to contract, she has brokered more than 150 book deals with top publishers. In this episode she talks about things to consider when publishing a cookbook. - Do you want to hire an agent? Sally talks through the benefits of doing so. - Do you need a book proposal? You will learn why this is a good idea. - How do you land on a topic? Listen and learn! - Cookbooks take time and energy so make space for it.

Dayana is a digital PR strategist who helps bloggers become the authority in their market by combining publicity with SEO. In the episode she provides fresh tips and strategies for upping your SEO game. - “Digital PR” is when other websites tell Google what to rank you for. - Doing guest blogging, being a guest on podcasts and offering your content to digital magazines are ways to expand your portfolio. - Create “pillar pages” for your top content and build content around those. - Quality content is key!

Marni believes that life, cooking and blogging should be kept simple. She has found a way to plan her family meals that streamlines her personal life as well as her blogging business. She uses menu planning and editorial planning in tandem, saving a ton of time and energy. - Try planning by the month! Themes work well, such as Taco Tuesdays. - Review your editorial calendar when planning your family meals and food for gatherings. - There’s no day like today to start simplifying your life.

Cynthia is an online marketing expert dedicated to helping culinary pros achieve more freedom, flexibility and fulfillment through teaching online classes. When her marketing agency came to a halt at the start of the pandemic, she developed Cooking Class Business School. Teaching online classes is a great opportunity for food bloggers looking to add revenue streams to their businesses. - Online classes aren’t going anywhere! - This is a great way to engage your audience in a new way. - You might just fall in love with this new avenue to bring in money!

Tiffany has one of the longest-standing, most successful food blogs in the world. She is a 7-figure blogger who has weathered many challenges and changes and she shows up in this episode ready to share her wisdom! - Adaptability is EVERYTHING. Show up ready and willing to adapt and bounce back and you’ve got the battle half won. - Find out how to buy back your time so you can spend your time the way you want. - During tough stretches, take a step back, observe and research. Then revisit other interests.

Kathy teaches people how to reach their audience and create community through live video. Doing live video consistently will pay off and will help you build a strong connection with your people. - Show up imperfectly and throw “rules” out the window! Your audience will love you even more. - Try going live 7 days in a row and watch the magic unfold. - Embrace those times when everything goes wrong. Consider those to be teaching moments! - Have a “show and tell” pile ready so you never run out of words.

There are valuable lessons to learn from journeys filled with struggle, loss and disappointment. In this episode, Danielle shares how her overnight traffic (and revenue) loss helped turn her into a more focused and determined entrepreneur. - Don’t resist the stream! Even when it is challenging, going with the flow is the best way to go. - If you experience a dip in traffic/revenue, find a different project to focus on! - This is not always an easy job, but you do need to just keep moving forward.

Jay is a business consultant who deeply understands the impact taking action has both on an individual and a business. In this episode, Jay talks about moving past limiting beliefs to take control of our businesses in an impactful way. - Build a mental map to uncover potential limiting beliefs. - Use visualization to minimize trauma and magnify dreams. - Habits & morning routines can have a PROFOUND impact on a business. - If you're in it for the long haul, remember that the magic lies in taking ACTION.

The stories Elena tells on her blog run deep to relate to most anyone reading. The concepts of love, food, tradition, culture, and simplicity meld together to create a delicious food experience. In the episode, she explains why bloggers shouldn’t entirely ditch the stories. - People want facts and helpful information, but they also want YOU. - Keep the heart in the things you share with the world. - Show behind the scenes glimpses into your world to make yourself more relatable.

Brett is an SEO expert with almost two decades of hands-on experience. He has managed over 1,000 SEO campaigns and has ranked tens of thousands of keywords within Google’s top ten search results. Brett gives food bloggers many gems to help improve SEO! - Create engaging content that your audience loves, preferably over 1,400 words. - Consider doing EXIF data optimization. - Create the “Netflix effect” within your content so users want to keep clicking around. - How to get more backlinks to your site!

Cassidy is a blogger who has recently dug into creating traction on YouTube through video creation. In this episode she explains why curating videos for YT is important and how to approach it. - Creating videos specifically for YouTube is a lot more work than Tasty-style, so make a commitment. - Start with the equipment you have now, even if it consists of an iPhone and natural lighting. - Consider YouTube SEO! Search for keywords on the platform that are underestimated, just like you would with Google.

Join us in episode 200 as Megan interviews John Lee Dumas of the award-winning podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire. JLD imparts wisdom about how food bloggers and other entrepreneurs can achieve success. - Become the best solution to a real problem. - Niche down, then niche some more. Then a little more. This is where the magic happens. - Remember that the pain of being broke and unsuccessful hurts more than the pain involved in achieving success.

Aysegul “Ice” shares her own story with feeling intimidated by other food bloggers and the transformation that occurred once she reached out to a blogger she admired. Reaching out to other bloggers might seem scary, but it will unlock the power of community. - Reach out to bloggers, even if it is scary! - It is VITAL to lean on and learn from others in our space. - Consider starting a mastermind group! Ice talks through logistics to help get you started. - Prepare to watch your business take off!

Christine is founder of the popular food blog Cook the Story. She has since launched a second blog that grew quickly due to her existing knowledge about blogging. She makes a great case for why launching a second blog is something for you to consider. - Before you dive into blog #2, make sure you have the bandwidth. - Get help! Don't attempt this alone. - Create a spreadsheet with all existing blog content. - You already know how to CRUSH IT blogging, so why not do it again?!