Eat Blog Talk

In episode 341, Allea Grummert teaches us how to segment our email list so that we can send tailored content to our subscribers and get higher conversion rates and earn more revenue. Allea is the founder of Duett where she works as an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter. She helps online business owners make a killer first impression through automated welcome and nurture sequences that engage readers, build brand loyalty and optimize conversions for sales and site traffic. In this episode, find out which strategies to use to segment your email subscriber list and why this will help you sell your product or service more easily by identifying the different interests of your subscribers. She highlights clever ways of approaching our mailing list for maximum benefit to our online businesses. - With the right email subscriber strategy we can achieve our business goals. - Serve your readers better, send them more relevant content using segmentation. - Increase the chances of them engaging with your content. - Divide your readers into different categories by using a welcome email sequence to get to know them better. - Reduce inbox noise and streamline the emails you send by using tags. - Use opt-ins and opt-outs. - Personalized content performs higher than generalized content. Guest Details Connect with Allea Grummert Website | Instagram

In episode 340, Megan chats to Courtney Paige about how to turn your blog and the community you build into a full-time job. She explores different sources of revenue and shares her strategy for social media growth and negotiating brand sponsorships. Courtney is a freelance food photographer and founder of A Page of Positivity, a healthy delicious food blog. She used to work full-time as an interior designer while dedicating the rest of her time to blogging. She started on Instagram sharing beautiful pictures of food as part of a recovery process from an eating disorder. In 2020, she discovered food blogging as a way to create a space to call her own. Now she is able to make most of her income from Instagram in a positive way, leveraging her online audience as she collaborates with brands. In this episode, find out how she transitioned into blogging and built a large, engaged community on Instagram, enabling her to become a full-time food creator. - Be transparent about your pricing. - Explore different sources of revenue. - The sooner you start doing video (or another trend), the less regret you'll have later. - Do different things consistently to help evolve your brand. - Outsource from the get-go. - Is what I am doing right now making me money? If yes, continue. If not, move on. - It's okay to change your mind about which platforms can help you grow. Connect with Courtney Paige Website | Instagram

In episode 339, Dalya Rubin, creator of It's Raining Flour, teaches us how we can attract potential clients from the blogging community, helping other bloggers grow. This can in turn provide us with a rewarding additional source of income from the start of our blogging journey. Dalya runs a gluten-free blog and works as a recipe developer, food photographer and trained chef in New York City. She creates food content for brands and bloggers while exploring everything the Big Apple has to offer for foodie creators. Dalya is especially passionate about recipe development for other food bloggers and in this episode she shares how she markets her passion to generate additional revenue for her business. Find out how to market yourself, attract clients and what to focus on first to stop yourself from feeling discouraged. - What are you really confident in or do you have a niche speciality? - Make sure you know who you are reaching out to. - Narrow down the search (i.e. look up recipes that you're interested in and approach the top bloggers ranking for it). - Have a contract and communicate regularly. - Be transparent when you do recipe development. Credit your sources. - When one door closes, another opens. Don't lose motivation. Connect with Dalya Rubin Website | Instagram

In episode 338, Megan chats to Kathleen Pope about starting a food blog late in life, a mindset for a new, exciting and successful career and how to keep motivated. Kathleen especially encourages us not to give up until we start reaping the fruit from our hard work. Kathleen transitioned into food blogging after running her own product marketing and development business for non-profit organizations. Since 2017, she shifted her focus to her passions of cooking and hospitality and runs the blog, The Fresh Cooky, which now has over 500 recipes. She encourages families to get together, make healthier food choices and invite others to the table. In this episode, she explains the advantage of becoming a food blogger later in life, including having less inhibitions to try something new and more resilience to keep going. - Find a career that allows you to schedule your life the way you want. - The older we are ,the less inhibited we are to try and fail until we succeed. - If you say you can't, it really means you won't. - Don't do it all by yourself, find a community and make connections. - Narrow down your expertise. - Use key words to your advantage using your expertise. - Use SEO tools to do content analysis (i.e. like RankIQ). - See what is doing well on your blog and how can you use the information to tweak future content? Connect with Kathleen Pope Website | Instagram

In episode 337, Megan talks to Sue Ringsdorf about starting a food blog as a second chapter in life and seeing blogging from a different perspective. It is not only about making money but also the legacy you leave behind. Sue started Sue Bee Homemaker on her 50th birthday after wondering for several months what her next phase in life would be. With a soon-to-be empty nest, she wanted to find a new passion to invest her time in and was encouraged by several friends' to start a blog. Sue's cooking is inspired by her mother and now she helps make other people feel comfortable in the kitchen, learning new recipes to nourish and treat their families without breaking the bank. In this episode, she unpacks common feelings that hold us back from starting something new, regardless of our age (e.g. imposter syndrome) and why despite those obstacles you can succeed. - We are often held back by comparing ourselves to others. - Can you succeed doing your blog your way? - Define your primary goal for your blog. - Recognise what your shortcomings are and get help in those areas. - Life-long learning through free information on the internet. - Direct interaction with your audience can have a big impact. - Approach your business and those involved with kindness. Connect with Sue Ringsdorf Website | Instagram

In episode 336, Megan chats with Johanna Voss, about the benefits of hiring a talent manager, especially how and why this can land you groundbreaking deals for your business. Johanna is a talent manager for social media influencers who want clarity for their brands, their businesses and plan strategically for the future. She has closed up to $3.5 million in brand deals and speaking engagements on behalf of her clients. In this episode, she delves into the process of when and why you would need a talent manager for brand deal negotiations. Find out how you can make more money by getting the best partnerships and save time by having a talent manager take care of communication and project management involved in partnerships. - First decide: Why do you want a talent manager? - Talent managers only get paid through commission so if they land a deal for you. - The brand agrees to work with the talent because of their portfolio of work; the manager negotiates the best deals. - It is not a manager's responsibility to build your business. - Managers focus on what you do well and find the right partnerships for your brand. - They have strategic discussions with brands to make sure it is beneficial for you, their client. Connect with Johanna Voss Website | Instagram

In episode 335, Michelle Boulé teaches us how to bring universal laws into our businesses and apply them to our processes so that we can boost our confidence in the decisions we want to make and reach our goals more easily. Michelle is a transformational life and business coach who helps compassionate business owners and creative entrepreneurs all over the world clarify their goals and make their visions a reality with confidence. She has a multi six-figure coaching business that offers different coaching programmes, speaking engagements, in-person retreats and teaching. Drawing from 20 years of practice in somatic therapy, energy medicine, mindset psychology, spirituality and her award-winning career in dance, she explains how to identify our innate wisdom and authentic self. In this episode, find out why this will help you clarify next steps in your business and optimize your processes to fulfill your vision. - You have an innate wisdom guiding you towards your most ideal life. - Learn to be present with your body and listen to your innate wisdom. - Analyze your self-consciousness - What are you thinking? - If you recognise the patterns, you can change them to experience more energy, freedom and joy. - This energy can transfer to your business and boost your confidence. - Law of polarity: if there is a problem, there is a solution. - Law of perpetual transmutation: think in terms of solutions, not problems. - Law of sacrifice: if you want to go to a higher level, you need to release (i.e. sacrifice) something of a lower nature. - Law of vibration: Consciously decide what kind of vibration do you want to hold? Connect with Michelle Boulé Website | Instagram

In episode 334, Megan chats to Katie Jasiewicz, author and owner of Katie's Cucina, about mistakes made by veteran bloggers and how to avoid them in order to let your business flourish with the times. Katie has been blogging for 12 years. For the first couple of years she shared her recipes with family and friends as a way to fill up her time. She never imagined that she would be able to make this her full-time job. In 2014, she quit her marketing job to become a full-time blogger. It became an increasingly flourishing business the more she learned about the industry. In this episode, she shares what she has learned and compiles a list of recommendations for us based on her experience. - Don't underestimate the importance of SEO. - An SEO audit can point out technical mistakes and help you write optimal blog posts. - Expect slow and steady growth. - Regularly update your About and Home page with relevant information (i.e. seasonal recipes and credentials). - Maximize video content and related social platforms (i.e. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok). - What are useful tools that lessen the workload? - Good areas to hire out and optimize your time. - Consider using interns if you enjoy teaching. - Email is your direct channel of communication with your audience. - Create easy to follow checklists and processes for people who help you with your business. Connect with Katie Jasiewicz Website | Instagram

In episode 333, Sarah Barnes teaches us how to grow our Instagram and TikTok to more than 70K in an organic and enjoyable way. She explains how she has done this for her own brand, Taming Twins, in 90 days by focusing on what her audience really needed and not trying to win the algorithm. As a food blogger and a twin mom, Sarah is driven by the question, "What's for dinner?". She is inspired to help other busy parents with the answer by providing quick, affordable recipes. Her blog has 8 million views a year and she has been featured in publications such as The Times, The BBC and The Daily Mail. Her success on Instagram and TikTok came after the traffic she got on Pinterest slowed down. She decided to reinvest her time in something that would make a difference in her business again. In this episode, she explains the strategy she used to succeed on these platforms in a short amount of time and without having to 'play the algorithm', which made it an enjoyable, meaningful experience for her and her followers. - Shift what you can do to win the algorithm to how you can truly help your audience. - Engage your audience directly to find out what they're struggling with. - Create accessible reels that provide a solution. - Consider the pace of the video - what keeps people's attention? - Think of short videos as something between inspiration and entertainment. - Follow up on the expectations of your followers and ask yourself if it aligns with business growth. Connect with Sarah Barnes Website | Instagram

Peter Taunton founded one of the largest wellness brands in the world with over 6,000 franchises or licenses across 3 brands in 28 countries- LIFT Brands. He's also the 2010 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Peter is currently a Forbes Master Class instructor at the Forbes School of Business. Peter's business accomplishments have been well-recognized by the business community. He and his companies have been featured in many business and industry publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur 500, Inc 5000, Top Global and Franchise 500. Peter also wrote a #1 best selling book sold on Amazon called "Impossible Hill"... which shares 30 years of real life stories laying out the mindset that helped Peter build his business empire. Peter is ever-committed to coaching and inspiring people in both their business and personal lives as they navigate through life striving to light the fire with-in and make their impossible dreams… possible! Go into being an entrepreneur with your eyes open - it costs more than you thought and takes more time than you thought. Going into business is one thing, winning in business is another. You need discipline, accountability and perspective to be an entrepreneur. Always be willing to learn from your mistakes. Have a strategic plan for your business. Create a lofty goal and then benchmarks along the way.