The Food Blogger Pro Podcast Bjork Ostrom

Building three blogs in different niches, growing a team and building a community, and diversifying traffic sources with Julie Evink from Julie's Eats & Treats.
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Welcome to episode 462 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Julie Evink from Julie’s Eats & Treats.
Monetizing Three Blogs, Outsourcing Tasks, and Self-Publishing a Cookbook Julie started her first blog, Julie’s Eats & Treats, back in 2010. Since that time she has taken her site full-time, started two other blogs, grown a team, and is self-publishing a cookbook!
In this interview, Julie shares more about growing her blog and how that experience changed her approach to her other two sites. She also chats about outsourcing tasks, how she hires team members, and what she thinks is working really well in her businesses currently.
Her cookbook is being released on May 21, so we also get to hear about the process of self-publishing a cookbook. It’s always fun to hear about the journey of someone who has been blogging for as long as Julie has (14+ years!) and we know you’ll enjoy this interview as much as we did.
In this episode, you’ll learn: More about the origin story of Julie’s three blogs. What she learned from her first blog (Julie’s Eats & Treats) in 2010 and later applied to her second blog (Gimme Some Grilling) in 2018. How monetization differs between her niches. How she has built her team over the years (and why she likes having part-time employees). What her day-to-day workflow looks like. Her advice for making food blogging as a career less lonely. What she thinks is working well in her businesses these days (hint: passive income!). How she has diversified her traffic sources (and why that matters to her). The importance of growing an email list. The process of self-publishing a cookbook (including the workflow and initial investment). Resources:
Julie’s Eats & Treats Gimme Some Grilling Kids Activity Guide Asana Julie’s Eats & Treats Cookbook: Easy, Family-Friendly Recipes from a Midwestern Mom Shopify Tastes Better from Scratch Inherit Co Follow Julie on Facebook and Instagram. Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Memberful. 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.

Developing a photography portfolio, growing a career in photography, and the importance of telling a story through your photographs with Alanna O'Neil.
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Welcome to episode 461 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Alanna O’Neil.
Building a Career as a Photographer and Storytelling Through Visuals Alanna O’Neil has been a photographer for almost as long as she can remember. Despite starting her career in fashion, she took a risk and moved to Hawaii to start a career as a photographer, and hasn’t looked back.
In this interview, Alanna shares more about building a career as a freelance photographer, developing your skills as a photographer, building a portfolio, and the importance of storytelling through visuals.
She has an incredibly calming and inspiring energy, and this interview will give you a lot to think about as an entrepreneur, creative, and photographer. Don’t miss it!
In this episode, you’ll learn: How Alanna first got into photography (spoiler: it involves a horse barn and a dark room in her childhood home)! How she makes time and space to make big life decisions (like moving to Hawaii and changing careers). How she started her career in food photography. How she built her photography portfolio and why working for free is underrated. More about the program she is developing for new photographers. Her actionable tips within business, mindset, and photography for someone trying to build a photography business. Her recommendations for improving your photography. Why you should think about telling a story with your food photos. How she minimizes comparing herself to other creators. Resources:
Alanna O’Neil Pinch of Yum Humans of New York Two Huge Chocolate Chip Cookies The Gap and the Gain Follow Alanna on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Memberful.
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.

Getting removed from Mediavine, leaning into social media as a traffic driver, and rebuilding to 85,000 monthly sessions with Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful.
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Welcome to episode 460 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful.
How Yasmin Henley Recommitted to Her Blog and Grew to 85,000 Monthly Sessions Yasmin started By the Forkful (her second blog) in 2019 and quickly qualified for Mediavine. But, as often happens, life got in the way when she had her daughter and went back to work full-time. After taking a step back and being removed from Mediavine, Yasmin has worked hard to bring her site back to life.
In the last year she has built the traffic on her site back up to 85,000 monthly sessions and is once again part of an ad network! In this interview she shares more about her process for growing site traffic, the role of social media in driving traffic to her site, and how she balances her full-time job, family, and blog.
We loved this interview with Yasmin — she’s an open book and her honesty is so refreshing and helpful for anyone building a business!
In this episode, you’ll learn: How she initially qualified for Mediavine after starting her blog in 2019. Why she neglected her site for 1–2 years (hint: sometimes life gets in the way) and was removed from Mediavine. How a viral TikTok video inspired her to reinvest in her blog. How she built the traffic back up on her site (to 85,000 sessions last month!). How she has grown her social media followings at the same time. How she balances her blog with her full-time job and family. Her current strategy on Facebook (which is a major traffic driver for her). Why updating older content is one of the most valuable things she does for her business. What advice she would give to her past self when she was removed from her ad network. Resources:
By the Forkful Mediavine Y Combinator Follow Yasmin on Instagram and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive.
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.

Balancing a business and home-schooling 8 children, building a team, and diversifying your business to different platforms with Lisa Bass.
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Welcome to episode 459 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone.
How Lisa Bass from Farmhouse on Boone Diversified Her Business and Found Work-Life Balance Lisa Bass first started her site, Farmhouse on Boone, in 2016. Since then, she has diversified her brand to include a podcast, YouTube channel, courses, and more (all while raising 8 children)!
In this podcast interview, Bjork and Lisa talk about balancing her business with her family life, and how she has built a team to support her business over the years. Lisa also chats about how each arm of her business ranks in terms of income, and why she continues to prioritize YouTube.
Lisa has been one of our most-requested podcast guests and we’re so happy to have her join us! Hope you enjoy the episode.
In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Lisa’s journey from starting her site in 2016 (and growing her site to have multiple millions of monthly pageviews). What she attributes her success to. How she balances her business and home-schooling her 8 (!!!) children. How she has built her team over the years and what the workflow within her business looks like. How her different platforms (blog, social media, podcast, YouTube) fit into her income. Why she continues to prioritize creating content for YouTube. What her strategy around creating YouTube content is (and how she’s improved it over the years). What she would do if she was just starting Farmhouse on Boone today. What tools she uses to run her business. Resources:
Farmhouse on Boone Simple Farmhouse Life Raptive MrBeast Mark Rober True Native Media Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor) Trello Slack Final Cut Pro Epidemic Sound Teachable EasyWebinar ConvertKit Follow Lisa on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Memberful. 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.

Balancing a full-time job in the SEO industry with running a food blog, managing burnout, and applying SEO best practices to your site with Marley Braunlich from Baked Abundance.
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Welcome to episode 458 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Marley Braunlich from Baked Abundance.
SEO Tips from a Food Blogger Who Works Full-time at an SEO Agency Marley Braunlich started working full-time at an SEO agency shortly after launching her food blog, Baked Abundance. In this interview, she shares more about balancing a full-time job and a side hustle (especially when they’re both in the same industry!) and how she manages burnout.
Marley also explains what tips and tricks she has learned from her full-time job and how she has worked to optimize her site for search engines and build domain authority.
If you want to increase your site traffic (who isn’t?!) without losing the aspects of food blogging that bring you joy, you won’t want to miss this interview!
In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Marley’s full-time job at an SEO agency and how it has impacted her food blog. The tools that Marley learned about through her job and now uses for her site. How she balances a full-time job and blog in the same industry. How she manages burnout and adjusts her content strategy with a full-time job and a side hustle. What she has learned from coaching calls with other food bloggers. The patterns she has noticed amongst blogs that have seen the greatest success at her SEO agency. How she has worked to build her domain authority and increased backlinks. Resources:
Baked Abundance Semrush Detailed SEO Extension Detailed Q3: Analysing The SEO Playbook of Digital Goliaths In-Depth, Every Quarter Mediavine Feast Eat More Cake by Candice Broken Oven Baking 100 Days of Real Food Connectively Featuring HARO Follow Marley on Instagram Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by Clariti and Raptive. 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.

Acquiring an existing food blog, navigating traffic drops, and reimagining a site to make it your own with Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious.
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Welcome to episode 457 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Parker Thornburg from Foodness Gracious.
How to Acquire and Grow a Food Blog Starting a food blog or business is hard work. It can take months (years!) of determination, practice, and consistency before you start to see results. So what if you just… skipped ahead?!
That’s exactly what Parker Thornburg and his business partner did when they acquired the existing food blog, Foodness Gracious. But just because the site was up and running (with thousands of recipes!) doesn’t mean the transition has been an easy or seamless one.
In this interview, Parker shares more about the process of acquiring a site, what the transition has been like, how they’ve navigated hiring and traffic drops, and have started to come out the other side. Whether or not you’re thinking about acquiring a site (or selling your own), there are lots of great lessons to be learned for anyone!
In this episode, you’ll learn: More about Parker’s professional background (including time at Yahoo and a start-up). Why Parker decided to acquire an existing food blog. About the process of acquiring a site and using a brokerage site. What factors to consider when acquiring a site (including calculating potential profits). How they hired their team and what the early days of the site looked like after acquisition (including lots of lessons learned). How Parker and his business partner have navigated traffic drops since acquiring their site. The importance of consistency and habits when trying something new. How he balances his full-time job, family life, and growing Foodness Gracious. What he wants the legacy of this site to be. Resources:
Foodness Gracious Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game QuietLight Empire Flippers 032: Buying & Selling Websites with Mark Daoust from Quiet Light 159: Different Ways to Create an Income Online with Mark Daoust Mediavine beehiiv Maray Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones Snackdive Follow Foodness Gracious on Instagram and Facebook Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group -----
This episode is sponsored by CultivateWP and Memberful. 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.