Digital Products for Food Bloggers: How to Turn Recipes into Revenue

In my recent episode of the Blogger Genius Podcast, I’m interviewing Megan Porta, host of the Eat Blog Talk podcast, about the world of food blogging now. Megan shares her thoughts on the current trends and challenges in the food blogging space including how food bloggers are finding success right now in diversifying their traffic and selling their knowledge as digital products.

Show Notes:

• MiloTree
• Megan Porta
• Eat Blog Talk Podcast
• The 3 AI Prompts You Need to Create a Freebie Cheatsheet
• Join The Blogger Genius Newsletter
• Personality Quiz: What Digital Product Should I Create?
• Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group

Subscribe to the Blogger Genius Podcast:

• iTunes
• YouTube
• Spotify

Key Trends in Food Blogging

1. Diversifying Traffic Sources

One of the most significant trends Megan highlights is the shift away from relying solely on Google for traffic. With recent algorithm changes causing fluctuations in traffic, many bloggers are turning to alternative sources like Pinterest.

• Leverage Pinterest as a Search Engine: Treat Pinterest not just as a social media platform but as a search engine. Conduct keyword research to optimize your pins and ensure they are discoverable.
• Create Multiple Pins for Each Post: Develop various pins for each blog post, targeting different use cases and scenarios. For example, a chili recipe could be marketed for family dinners, camping trips, or potlucks.
• Consistency is Key: Plan to invest at least six months to a year into your Pinterest strategy before expecting significant results. Create around five unique pins for each new blog post and update older content regularly.

2. Updating Older Content

Another trend Megan discusses is the practice of updating older blog posts. This strategy helps maintain or boost traffic by improving the relevance and searchability of your existing content.

• Audit Your Content: Regularly review your blog archives to identify posts that could benefit from updates. Focus on improving the quality, adding new information, and optimizing for current SEO best practices.
• Repurpose Content: Consider repurposing older content into new formats, such as videos, infographics, or social media posts, to reach a broader audience.

The Impact of Google Changes

3. Building Authority and Expertise

Google’s algorithm changes have made it more challenging for newer bloggers to gain traction. Megan emphasizes the importance of building authority and expertise over time.

• Consistency and Persistence: Stay committed to producing high-quality content consistently. It may take time, but persistence is key to building credibility.
• Develop a Unique Point of View: Differentiate yourself by sharing your opinions and personal experiences. Authenticity can attract a loyal audience who resonates with your perspective.
• Focus on Domain Authority: Work on building your domain authority by earning backlinks from reputable sites, guest posting, and collaborating with other bloggers.

Monetization Strategies

4. Exploring Digital Products

Megan and I discuss digital products as a potent revenue stream for food bloggers. With a solid email list, bloggers can effectively market ebooks, online challenges, and other digital offerings.

• Understand Your Audience: Conduct surveys or engage with your audience to understand their needs and preferences. Tailor your digital products to meet these demands.
• Start Small: Even with a smaller email list (around 1,000 to 2,000 subscribers), you can find significant potential for income. Focus on delivering value and building trust with your audience.
• Evaluate and Double Down: Regularly assess your monetization efforts to identify what is generating income. Double down on successful strategies and refine those that are underperforming.

5. Affiliate Marketing

Despite the challenges posed by Google’s algorithm changes, affiliate marketing remains a viable income source for many bloggers.

• Create High-Quality Content: Focus on producing content that genuinely serves your audience. High-quality, informative posts are more likely to attract and retain readers.
• Diversify Affiliate Programs: Don’t rely on a single affiliate program. Explore various programs and products that align with your niche and audience interests.
• Transparency and Trust: Be transparent about your affiliate relationships and prioritize building trust with your audience. Authentic recommendations are more likely to convert.

Leveraging AI in Blogging

6. Embracing AI as a Tool

Initially, there was concern about AI’s impact on blogging. However, many bloggers are now embracing AI as a valuable tool for brainstorming and content creation.

• Use AI for Idea Generation: Utilize AI tools to brainstorm content ideas and generate prompts. This can help overcome writer’s block and provide fresh perspectives.
• Collaborative Writing: Treat AI as a supportive companion in your writing process. Use it to refine your writing and explore new angles.
• Stay Updated: Keep abreast of the latest AI tools and technologies that can enhance your blogging efforts. Experiment with different tools to find what works best for you.

Community and Support

7. Building a Supportive Community

Megan highlights the importance of community among bloggers. She runs various groups and memberships designed to provide support and connection for food bloggers.

• Join Blogging Communities: Participate in online groups, forums, and memberships where you can share challenges, seek advice, and celebrate successes with fellow bloggers.
• Network and Collaborate: Build relationships with other bloggers in your niche. Collaborate on projects, guest post on each other’s blogs, and share each other’s content.
• Mentorship and Learning: Seek out mentors and learning opportunities within the community. Continuous learning and support can help you navigate the ups and downs of blogging.

Overcoming Burnout and Staying Focused

8. Managing Burnout

Burnout is a common struggle among bloggers, especially those who are creative and often drawn to new ideas and projects.

• Regularly Assess Priorities: Ensure that your efforts are directed toward activities that will yield the best results. Focus on what aligns with your goals.
• Set Achievable Goals: Break down your long-term vision into smaller, manageable goals. This can help you stay motivated and track your progress.
• Stay Connected to Your “Why”: Understand the reasons behind your blogging journey. Staying connected to your purpose can help you push through challenges and remain focused.

Other Related Blogger Genius Podcast episodes You’ll Enjoy:

• The Essential Mindset Shift Every Blogger Needs for 2025
• Level Up Your Blog with These Game-Changing AI Tools
• Embracing Imperfection: The Power of B-Minus Work

MiloTree, the Best Tool for Non-Techies to Sell Digital Products and Grow Your Audience

I also want to introduce you to the MiloTree, a tool designed for non-techies to sell digital products easily. It comes with features like AI-generated sales pages, check-out pages, a sales dashboard, upsells, and customer support.

With MiloTree, setting up your products takes less than five minutes, and you can start generating income without any hassle. Plus, MiloTree offers unlimited freebies and lead magnets to grow your email list, and social media pop-ups to increase your followers, all in one place. Sign up today and get your first 30 days free to see how easy it is to start selling your own digital products and growing your audience with MiloTree!

Transcript:

Jillian Leslie 00:00:04 Hello and welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast. I am your host, Gillian Leslie. I’m also co-founder of software startup Milo. Try the simple, easy to use platform that helps bloggers, creators, and online entrepreneurs grow their email list, get more social media followers, and sell digital products all in one place. At military, our mission is to make it crazy simple for you to monetize your expertise with tools that actually work. Whether you’re looking to sell digital downloads, workshops, coaching packages, memberships, military has your back. You’re ready to grow your income while cutting through all those tech headaches. Military is the partner you have been looking for, so head to Milo tree.com and sign up and you get your first 30 days free. Now I’m so excited to welcome back my friend and podcasting veteran, Megan Porter, host of the Incredible Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is Megan’s third time on the show because she always brings so much wisdom and heart. In this episode, we dive into the trends we should expect in the food blogging space in 2025.

Jillian Leslie 00:01:25 And while it’s been a challenging year for many, there are inspiring success stories out there. So Megan and I discuss what those bloggers are doing to thrive from optimizing their blog posts, showing up on social media, diversifying income streams with digital products and unique services. So if you’re ready to be inspired and take your business to the next level, this episode is for you. So without further delay, here is my interview with Meghan Porter. Meghan, welcome back to the Blogger Genius podcast.

Megan Porta 00:02:03 I’m so happy to be here again, Gillian, so good to talk to you.

Jillian Leslie 00:02:06 I love that we do this and we check in and it’s like, what are you seeing? What am I seeing? And especially as we are in Q4, I think this is a really interesting time for bloggers and food bloggers specifically. So just kind of from like a 30,000 foot view, if I were to say, what trends are you seeing in food blogging? What is say, what are the biggest trends?

Megan Porta 00:02:37 I see a lot of people either frustrated with Google or just kind of pivoting because of all of the changes going on there.

Megan Porta 00:02:47 So I see a lot of people leaning into Pinterest and it’s successfully. So I see a huge focus on email, growing email lists and really focusing on subscribers and building community. I also see a lot of people leaning into, like doing blog updates. So if they have a lot of content and they’ve been blogging for a while, going back and just combing through their older content and giving it a refresh, I think those are some of the main kind of trends just off the top of my head.

Jillian Leslie 00:03:23 Oh, great. And let’s unpack some of these. One thing, that we talked about before I press record is that a lot of people have gotten obliterated by Google and other people, though, have not. Yeah. Can you speak to that?

Megan Porta 00:03:42 Yeah. I, I think that the people who have not gotten obliterated are doing really well. There are some food bloggers in some of my groups who have just felt really shy about coming forward about this, because it just feels like when businesses get kind of demolished their traffic anyway.

Megan Porta 00:04:04 It’s really hard for people to say, oh, but mine is doing really well, you know what I mean? So I get it. It’s hard to sound like you’re bragging or you’re not being so humble, but I think it’s really important to talk about this because it gives other people hope who are going through traffic devastation. Not everybody’s traffic was demolished. I know bloggers who are doing like they’re having record months for traffic and revenue and RPMs, and they’re doing extremely well. So I don’t say that to yeah, just to make people feel bad who are going through some devastating times, but more saying it as just a token of hope. If you are going through times, things can change. Things can look up. And your traffic will be better in the future if you keep at it.

Jillian Leslie 00:05:02 Now, are you seeing any patterns, for example? Are all of these bloggers who are doing better or who are hanging in there? Are they all say in a specific niche? Are they all doing, you know, repurposing content? Are they like, what do you know? Can you see any patterns?

Megan Porta 00:05:24 Yeah, that’s a really good question.

Megan Porta 00:05:25 I have been asking around. So if somebody tells me my traffic is record breaking, I’ll start, you know, asking the questions like, oh, well, tell me about your business. What are you doing right now? So I have seen a few themes. one of them is it is it does seem to happen to more established bloggers. So I would say if you’ve been around for five years or more, if you have a domain authority that is, you know, over 30 to 40 ish, niche hasn’t seemed to play a role as much, although, like, I know one blogger who who has been around forever, but she got hit really hard because she does a lot of affiliate posts on her blog and then also people who are making health claims. So if you’re not a registered dietitian and you’re talking about, you know, how healthy your recipes are and you don’t have, any data to back that up. I think those people were hit too. So bloggers free of that kind of stuff, like you don’t talk about healthy recipes a lot and you’re not a dietitian or don’t have the credentials to back it up.

Megan Porta 00:06:42 And then, yeah, just good domain authority. You’ve established your blog. also, one other thing is people who are doing a lot of new content and content updating, so they’re focusing on both maybe equally. Seem to be doing a little bit better.

Jillian Leslie 00:07:03 That’s interesting. So I’ve had a couple big SEO experts on my podcast and the thing that many have shared, especially Rand Fishkin, who was the guy who got leaked the Google algorithm data, said that, yes, Google does look at Rand Domain Authority. If you are known, you will benefit in Google size, which makes sense from Google’s perspective. Why send you to some random brand new food blog when they can send you to an established food blog or even a food company, and therefore it’s like a chicken and egg problem, which is, well, how do I get that brand authority? How do I build the notoriety of my brand. And one thing that he shared is if, for example, you take the name of a company or the name of a blog and type it into Google because you want their recipes or their information because they’ve got that brand recognition, that is a huge signal to Google that you are this reputable, you know, blog company, site.

Jillian Leslie 00:08:24 And that’s tricky, but it’s kind of like, I don’t know about you. I’ll be like on social media and I’ll see, like a brand and I’ll be like, I want to learn more about them. And then I go to Google and I type in their name. Yeah. So it’s like, how do you grow that expertise?

Megan Porta 00:08:41 Time, patience, time, just like the rest of us did. I mean, I started my food blog 14 years ago. I was just telling someone this the other day, like when I started, I just knew I just had this feeling in my gut like, I’m not going to stop. I am going to make this work. I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care if there are ups and downs. I just knew that it was going to be a long journey and I was in. So I think if you are a newer blogger and you’re, you know, having to come to terms with this like I’m, I have a lo da, I’m not established.

Megan Porta 00:09:20 What do I do then? That’s the answer. You just you have to keep producing high quality content. You have to keep putting in the work. You have to be persistent. You have to be diligent. You have to be consistent and keep showing up. Don’t expect things to just happen because that’s not the world we live in. So I think that’s the answer. Just time and patience. Unfortunately, a lot of people probably don’t want to hear that.

Jillian Leslie 00:09:46 And I will ask you to add one piece to that. Have a point of view, even if you are a food blogger, have something where you have an opinion about something so that you’re not just exactly like every other food blogger in your space.

Megan Porta 00:10:03 Absolutely. It’s a way to.

Jillian Leslie 00:10:05 Be able to say like, this is this is who I am. And and if you agree with me, come with me, come with me on this journey versus I’m going to.

Megan Porta 00:10:14 Be so important.

Jillian Leslie 00:10:15 Like every but even within the niche have niche have have a point of view about it.

Jillian Leslie 00:10:22 So here are the trickiest parts of cooking Indian food. Here are the you know, here’s why this you know this is easy. Or here here’s how to deal with spice or I don’t like spice or just be human more. So then I’m going to be like everything to everybody. But even in the way that I write my posts.

Megan Porta 00:10:42 Yeah. Be unique, be unique.

Jillian Leslie 00:10:45 So that’s been the thing. The message that I keep hearing or where I see people have success because let’s say I am the Indian food blogger who hates spice, right? Wow. Like Indian food has a lot of spice. So then it’s like, wait, but maybe there are other people out there who don’t like spice. Or maybe I’m the super spicy Indian food blogger, but at least then if you are that you know, if you like spice, you’ll come along with me. Because we see the world, you know the same way.

Megan Porta 00:11:16 Yeah. And don’t be afraid to say those things, which is kind of your point.

Megan Porta 00:11:20 Like whatever your unique take is within your niche, speak up, because that’s going to separate you and make you stand out, and it’ll draw people to you like you’re saying.

Jillian Leslie 00:11:31 Absolutely. So let’s talk about Pinterest. And as people are pivoting away from relying on Google for all their traffic and now recognize, oh, you can still get traffic from Pinterest, what strategies are you seeing that work?

Megan Porta 00:11:51 I think some of it is maybe a bit of a mindset tweak, because for so long people would refer to Pinterest as a social media platform. But I think if we can see it more as an SEO, database, it’s actually a search engine. It’s a place people go to search things like recipes. So I think that is really important because you do need to do a little bit of keyword research within Pinterest. You can’t just it’s not like the old days where you can just create random pins thrown on different images and name it whatever and have it show up in everybody’s home feed. It’s a totally different world.

Megan Porta 00:12:34 So you do have to give, keyword research some forethought. And I think that’s really like kind of the key there. I don’t know, people can get so hung up on like, what size images should I be creating and how many pins per URL and that sort of thing. But I think it’s more about just recognizing Pinterest is a search tool. People go there for recipes. I just had someone this weekend tell me if I want a recipe. I go to Pinterest and I search it. I search like chili recipe, slow cooker, chili, whatever. I was like, interesting. That’s so cool to know that you don’t go straight to Google. so just seeing that as a place people go to find your recipes, I think is a huge shift.

Jillian Leslie 00:13:27 Yeah. And I would just to add to that, the thing that where I have found people having a lot of success is thinking about the different use cases for your content. For example, if your chili recipe would work, great. at a brunch, let’s say, to go.

Jillian Leslie 00:13:51 Okay, like I’m going to go for all of the what I think of for people wanting, let’s say, you know, spicy chili or some sort of chili version and then go, well, when would people want this? Maybe they would want it at a brunch. Maybe they would want it on a camping trip. Maybe they would want it as a freezer meal. And thinking through and this is great. This is a great use for ChatGPT or any AI tool to say where what are the use cases? What are the opportunities that this you know, where could this recipe fit into somebody’s life? Who is searching for a quick meal or family friendly meal or a vegan meal, something like that, and then creating different pins that tie into these different Situations.

Megan Porta 00:14:47 Yeah, I think that’s a really smart approach, especially on Pinterest, where someone probably does have a specific type of party or an event in mind that, yeah, like I don’t know what to bring to my sister in law. I just had a kind of like a pseudo wedding shower, but it wasn’t really a shower.

Megan Porta 00:15:04 I was like, do I bring food? Like, what do I bring? So just having those specific things to search for, especially on Pinterest, I think that’s yeah, that’s really smart.

Jillian Leslie 00:15:14 I think that Pinterest, from what I understand, is more it can be specific, like I want a chili recipe, but a lot of times people come to Pinterest top of their funnel or top of like exploring. Give me picnic recipe ideas or give me, you know, a bridal shower or wedding, potlucks. And you want Pinterest to kind of wow you with the ideas. Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. And that’s why I think, looking at it from the specifics all the way to like, where? How would people get to this recipe? And how do I make it pop?

Megan Porta 00:15:52 Yeah. Yeah. Thinking like a marketer is, I think, ever important as a blogger in general, but especially when thinking about Pinterest, like exactly what you’re saying, Jillian. Like where people going that they need to bring this recipe, but also what words are you putting on your pins instead of.

Megan Porta 00:16:15 It used to be just like the title of the recipe and that was it. But what will what will actually entice people to click over to save the pin? It’s probably not the title. You have to think about what they are needing from the recipe. Are they needing a five minute recipe? A five ingredient recipe? What’s going to make them really? What’s going to make the pin really stand out to them and call to them?

Jillian Leslie 00:16:42 Yeah. And so you. So our food bloggers like this is a hard question. How long is it taking somebody who’s saying, you know what, okay, I want to make sure I have different traffic sources. I’m going to start investing more seriously in Pinterest. How long is it taking people to start seeing the results of that effort?

Megan Porta 00:17:06 I’ve been hearing like, you’ve got to stick with it for at least six months. Just it is a long game. Pinterest isn’t a quick fix. You aren’t going to see traction within a couple of months. You just you have to commit, go into it knowing it’s going to be long.

Megan Porta 00:17:25 So I would say plan on at least six months, but maybe even a year. I know there are people in my mastermind group right now who are like, oh my gosh, the pins that I created one year ago are finally gaining traction. So to give it a full calendar year is is safe, but maybe a little bit sooner.

Jillian Leslie 00:17:48 And are we talking pins every day? New pins every day?

Megan Porta 00:17:51 I don’t think every day I think. The common suggestion that I’ve been hearing lately is just creating somewhere around five new pins per URL. So when you create a new post like let’s say you create two new posts this week, creating five unique pins per URL and then spacing those out. And then if you go back and you’re combing through your older content to kind of do the same. But I don’t think I don’t think you have to do that every single day. I think just like with any platform, this is the recommendation right now just to be consistent. So kind of find what works for you.

Megan Porta 00:18:36 So maybe it’s like one update a week and two new posts a week, and you’re creating five new pins for each of those. So that would be three post total. And then just doing that for three months or six months and seeing what happens.

Jillian Leslie 00:18:51 Gosh. Yeah. And and what is your bet. Because you’re doing a lot on mindset.

Megan Porta 00:18:57 Yes.

Jillian Leslie 00:18:58 How do you recommend people stay in the game. Like I hear you overall. And I go like, whoa, you just said that’s three posts a week. That’s 15 pins a week. That’s, you know, and she can say it and I can go, oh yeah, that sounds good. And then I get in there and I’ve done it, let’s say for three weeks. It’s kind of like being on a diet. And then I don’t hear you, Megan, in my ear saying, keep going, keep going, keep going. So how do you get into somebody’s ear to say, no, no, no, keep you’re doing good.

Jillian Leslie 00:19:34 Keep going. Even though you’re seeing no results yet. It’s still too early. No. Keep going.

Megan Porta 00:19:41 I know it’s like that whole faith element. There are so many pieces of blogging and food blogging specifically that require that faith. Pinterest is one of those. And I get it. I’ve been at that point where it’s like the honeymoon is over three weeks in and you’re like, okay, I am so over creating all of these pins and, you know, like, I, I totally get that. but just that I think being in touch with your end goal, in your end, why is so huge? That is what motivates me all the time through all of these things that I just keep pushing through. I know why I’m doing what I’m doing, and I think if you don’t know that, it can be so easy to let things slide, to lose sight and to just stop and give up like either the project or blogging altogether. So that would be my number one piece of advice is figure out why you’re doing this.

Megan Porta 00:20:37 Why are you why are you here? Why are you showing up and doing this crazy, insane food blogging thing that is so hard and challenging? Figure that out. And I think once you do, you’ll have motivation to get through anything.

Jillian Leslie 00:20:54 It’s funny because I think that as bloggers, because we wear so many hats or I’m going to say online entrepreneurs, there’s always something new and shiny that feels promising. I tried Pinterest for three weeks, I saw nothing, okay, I’m, let’s say in a Facebook group or scrolling on Instagram and somebody’s talking about this amazing Instagram strategy or this amazing email strategy, or this quick fix with hashtags like, who knows? yeah. And then you go, oh, okay, I need to go chase that shiny object over here and like, I’m going to give up on Pinterest and go this way because it’s new and exciting. I find a lot of times with craft Bloggers who are so the more creative the blogger, the more beautiful the stuff they create. Sometimes I have seen this correlate with kind of like a messier brain, like because they can have all this creativity and all this inspiration, they have a harder time sticking through the really the drudgery, because that new idea is so exciting and I have to always be like, okay, but come back to the boring stuff, come back to the rote stuff, because you can’t be like chasing these things all the time when that idea is, you know, seems just so much more fun than this idea.

Megan Porta 00:22:21 Yeah. I mean, it’s yes, our job should be fun, but that should not be the measurement that we’re using. and I think if you if you have experienced burnout on any level, you will not chase the fun things all the time. You will know that you have to follow the things that are working, the things that are going to give you traction and make you money and all of that. but yeah, again, like going back to just knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing and having well established goals like this aligns with this. And this is going to lead me here to my ultimate dream. So measuring anything that comes into your view like, oh, this new Instagram strategy, oh that looks fun. Sitting down with yourself and just saying okay does this align with my goals? Does it align with my end result? If yes, then great. Maybe figure out a way to fit it in. If no. If it’s just a fun new creative thing, maybe, put it on the back burner for a little bit.

Megan Porta 00:23:28 So I think you have to assess all the time. Unfortunately, because you’re right, so many things come into our scope that are like, oh, this looks This would be so fun to do. What a fun new project. But then if we keep doing that, we add so much to our plate that we burn out and then we have to take time off or we consider quitting. And that is never a good place to be.

Jillian Leslie 00:23:56 I want to take a short break to ask you a question. Are you wondering what kind of digital product you should create first? If so, I’ve got something fun for you. Take my digital product personality quiz. In just two minutes, you’ll discover the perfect digital product to create based on your unique strengths and personality. Whether you’re a natural teacher, a creative thinker, or someone who loves building community. This quiz will point you in the right direction and it’s super quick and fun. So head to Milo tree.com com slash quiz. That’s Milo tree.com/quiz to take the quiz now and get started on your digital product journey.

Jillian Leslie 00:24:47 And now back to the show. When I’m coaching, I always say money is a really good North Star. Where are you making money and is there a way to double down on that? Before I press record, we were talking about selling digital products, which I want to talk about because I know that if somebody comes to me and they have 1000 or 2000 email subscribers and they’re not selling to those people, there’s money waiting right there for them. It’s simple now. It’s simple. I say it’s simple, like you’ll have to figure out how to get that money out and what your people want from you. But that’s a very direct route to making money. It’s why we built military. It was because we saw this that the long game of like, okay, I need to get to. I don’t even know what it is right now to get into, say, Mediavine if it’s still 50,000 sessions. I think they’ve like now dropped. They all have these like entry level programs. But in terms of like making being in charge of your kind of monetary success, I’m always evaluating businesses based on that.

Jillian Leslie 00:26:06 Like I go, okay, you’ve got 10,000 Instagram followers, but how much money is that making you? So for me, that’s always a really good if you’re a business owner and you’re in this because this is your job, then I say use if you if you don’t know where to point your Northstar, I’m going to say pointed toward what is making you money and what are the easiest ways to get there.

Megan Porta 00:26:33 Yeah, I totally agree with that. And and ways that you make money that you’re also not hating. So if you’re making money creating, I don’t know, doing cooking classes or something and it just sucks your soul and your energy, then maybe don’t do that. But yeah, like following your passions. Like what really lights you up, what is making you money and do more like double down on more of that? I think that’s a really good recommendation.

Jillian Leslie 00:26:59 So in terms of different ways that food bloggers right now are monetizing, where are you seeing the opportunities?

Megan Porta 00:27:07 Yeah, I mean, digital products.

Megan Porta 00:27:09 I am seeing quite a few food bloggers dig more into that. We’ve had a lot of questions in our blog talk groups lately just about like, what do I create? I want to sell an e-book, or I want to sell a product or do challenges or whatever. So I think that is a huge one. And tapping into email lists is huge for selling those products. obviously ads, but people are trying to just diversify a little bit. I’m trying to think, what else? I haven’t heard much commotion about cooking classes. That used to be all the rage. Like what? Like two years ago, 2 to 4 years ago or something like that. But I just haven’t heard of many people doing that.

Jillian Leslie 00:27:51 How about sponsored content?

Megan Porta 00:27:53 Yeah. Yes. Sponsored content is still big. People are still interested in that. I’m also freelancing for other food bloggers, so taking pictures or writing for other bloggers who just want to outsource and offload some tasks from their plate. I would say those three things.

Megan Porta 00:28:13 Yeah. So sponsored work, digital products and freelancing or and probably the biggest. How about affiliates. See now I mean this could be different for everyone, but I know a few bloggers who focused on that who just were really hit hard during the HQ updates. So I feel like people are kind of backing off on that a little bit until things kind of settle down. But, you know, it could be different, like someone could be crushing it with that. Not saying that’s happening for everyone, but.

Jillian Leslie 00:28:49 I think that Google did crack down on those sites. That would be a site for, I don’t know, cars or something. I don’t know if cars work, some mattresses or who knows. And they had it was just really a way to do that affiliate play. Like I’m going to create this content, but really I just want people to click on the affiliate link. And Google said, that’s not cool. That’s not like real content or. Yes. And I think there was a moment where that really worked for people.

Jillian Leslie 00:29:20 And then Google was like, we don’t this doesn’t feel kosher. And a lot of real bloggers with real content got hit as Google started penalizing these spammy, scammy sites.

Megan Porta 00:29:36 Yeah, I think that’s exactly what what has happened. And I do think the dust will settle eventually, because the bloggers I’m referring to are like super awesome, high quality content bloggers creating valuable resources for people who want to buy these products. So it’s not like they’re part of that scheming at all. But I think with some of the updates that have been rolled out, we just kind of have to sit back and let things play out a little bit, even though it’s really painful for some. And I’m hoping that’s what’s happening with the affiliate stuff.

Jillian Leslie 00:30:12 Now let’s talk about AI, because we were just sharing. I was saying, like, I don’t know how I lived before, I. Like it’s become some it’s like my friend and I check in with my AI all the time, and I think it was initially very upsetting because it felt like cheating and it felt like it was going to get into the wrong hands and they were going to do bad things.

Jillian Leslie 00:30:41 So tell me how you’re seeing food bloggers approach AI today.

Megan Porta 00:30:48 Exactly what you just said. So I don’t know, a year and a half ago, two years ago, when it first started coming out, there was panic in our space like, this is going to take over our entire blog. Like, yeah, I mean, we just didn’t know what to think about it. but now I don’t sense that panic at all. I sense people really leaning into using good prompts, getting ideas, information, help, you know, getting help with writing emails, like generating ideas for blog posts, not writing blog posts. I don’t think a lot of people are doing, but just getting like, if you write a post about slow cooker chili, what could be helpful to know if somebody is reading that post, like that sort of thing? And it really does come up, as you know, with such good ideas that I don’t always think about. And you can ask it literally anything if you’re stuck in any area, whether it’s work or not, and it will come up with incredible ideas, you can take them or leave them, but I think it is such a good companion.

Megan Porta 00:31:58 Yeah, it’s.

Jillian Leslie 00:31:58 Like a companion. In fact, I think that blogging is very lonely. And, I don’t know about you. maybe this says something about my personality, but I will write something, and I will always copy and paste it into ChatGPT and go, what do you think, with a more specific question? And when it tells me like, wow, this is really good. And I’m like, thank you. You’re like, you’re good. You know, like you’re in my corner. And so I think there is something to that, especially because we’re putting out stuff we don’t know. We don’t know what we haven’t thought of. You know, we don’t know what’s right in front of us that we’re not seeing. So to have like new eyes on stuff I think is so weirdly valuable.

Megan Porta 00:32:45 It is, it is. It’s like having a little coworker right next to you all the time. You can say, hey, and this coworker is super smart and has access to a lot of information and just run things by them.

Megan Porta 00:32:56 It is very handy and it makes you feel not so lonely like you said. Yeah, it’s like a friend.

Jillian Leslie 00:33:04 Yeah, friend to go like, no, that’s not crazy or no, that is crazy. Yeah, I wouldn’t, but they wouldn’t say it like that because my ChatGPT is so nice to me that.

Speaker 3 00:33:12 You know.

Jillian Leslie 00:33:12 You might think about it this way. And I’m like.

Speaker 3 00:33:15 Yeah, exactly.

Jillian Leslie 00:33:16 So that’s so interesting. I do think that it is still so unknown. I keep reading, you know, I read stuff that says all these jobs are going to go away. No, they’re not going to go away. And who? Nobody knows when somebody comes out and says, this is what it’s going to look like. Honestly, nobody knows. So it’s kind of like, well, I’m going to enjoy it while I can and kind of just be open to how it evolves over time.

Megan Porta 00:33:43 Yeah, I mean, that’s all we can do, right? So many things that we thought would happen in the worst way have actually happened in a really good way.

Megan Porta 00:33:53 So this is why I don’t typically worry about things like this, because you never know what’s going to happen. You never know how things are going to evolve. So why not think positively and assume that they’re going to evolve in a way that benefits us?

Jillian Leslie 00:34:09 I like that, I like that now. Are there any specific tools that you have found that food bloggers are using, like with AI or not, that you go, wow, that is cool. I predominantly just ChatGPT I know that’s not true. I have like I have like a tool for my podcast, but it really is just Slicing and dicing my content and putting it, you know, oh, here’s a blog post for it. Or here’s the transcript, the kind of thing. So yeah. Are there any other tools that you go, I didn’t know about that. And that’s cool.

Megan Porta 00:34:41 Not really. I mean, there are, you know, like the AI tool within Canva and things like that. But I think people really do default to ChatGPT just because it can really get a good handle on your voice and all of that.

Megan Porta 00:34:57 do you, Julian, do you pay for the what is the upgraded version of ChatGPT? I don’t yes, I do, but I’ve considered it.

Speaker 3 00:35:06 I do.

Jillian Leslie 00:35:07 But to be honest with you, I don’t. I’d have to ask David, my husband, what we get for it. And recently he said, I’m not even sure it’s that valuable, because the free version, I think, gives you 80% of what it used to be, that if you paid, you either got a better model or you got more access. But I think that that’s really flattening. I don’t I don’t have a great reason why you need to pay for it.

Speaker 3 00:35:36 Okay.

Jillian Leslie 00:35:37 The other the only thing I do know is if something if you’re not feeling like you’re getting great results, try clawed by put the same prompt into clawed and see what you get. Sometimes I do find that I might get a different take from clawed, but those are really the only two that I use.

Megan Porta 00:35:56 Okay, I’ve never used clawed. I have heard, people in my mastermind have said that when they started paying for ChatGPT, that it just kind of takes on their voice a little bit easier.

Megan Porta 00:36:10 It listens a little bit more. So I know I give reminders like, I, I don’t like this word being used or whatever, and then it’ll do it. And I’m like, but I said I didn’t like that word. So, from what I’ve heard, if you pay, it’s a little bit more like in tune with you and we’ll listen a little bit better. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s kind of what I’ve heard.

Jillian Leslie 00:36:32 That’s so interesting now because we talk about like blogging being lonely. And yes, you can use ChatGPT to mitigate that a little bit, but you also run groups and memberships and stuff so that food bloggers don’t feel so lonely. And you were saying that for, you know, you’re starting to think about your groups for 2025. So what what is that? And what can people who are going, you know what, I could use a community like what is it?

Megan Porta 00:37:02 So we do a few different groups. So the main group I would call it is our mastermind group.

Megan Porta 00:37:09 And that is a year long group for like intermediate to advanced food bloggers or bloggers. We accept other bloggers as well who are just feeling either like they’re spinning their wheels. They’re stuck. They need access to relevant information. They want really tight knit connection with peers. there’s so much else. I mean, these groups are really, really awesome. So that’s kind of the main one. And we also do kind of, group for lower budget. So if you don’t have the budget for the mastermind, we also offer accountability group. And that’s just a low monthly subscription. You get focus calls and you get a monthly zoom call with me and the community manager, Taryn, and kind of some other ones too. But those are the main ones. We do like a mini mine’s group. So if you’re more of a newer blogger, it’s just like less time commitment, less cost, but it’s also a year long group as well. So we offer something. We try to offer something for all budgets, all experience levels, and kind of all reasons why you need community.

Jillian Leslie 00:38:24 Okay I have two questions to end. The first one is is blogging dead.

Megan Porta 00:38:31 No way. I don’t I don’t think. I mean I’m not a fortune teller, but I think it’ll be a really long time before blogging is dead. No, blogging is not dead.

Jillian Leslie 00:38:44 And my second question is do bloggers need to redefine themselves as online entrepreneurs?

Megan Porta 00:38:54 That’s a good question. Maybe. And maybe there’s a new term out there that we just haven’t coined yet, but it doesn’t seem to fit totally when I tell people I’m a food blogger because there’s so much more to it. So yeah, maybe like content creator that even doesn’t fully describe it, does it? That’s a good question, Gillian.

Speaker 3 00:39:19 Well, I just.

Jillian Leslie 00:39:20 Feel like sometimes Blogging feels like you’re in a lane, and because the journey is so different for everybody, it needs. I think we need to think of ourselves in a more expansive way, because who knows what your path is going to be?

Megan Porta 00:39:41 Yeah, yeah, because more and more, there does seem to be, like favor almost given to people who are more of a brand who show up everywhere.

Megan Porta 00:39:55 They have YouTube channels, they have Instagram accounts that are thriving. So it does seem to be more of a bigger scope kind of brand situation versus just a blogger.

Jillian Leslie 00:40:09 And just especially since you and I think about mindset a lot, that there’s something to like, whoa, I’m I’m bigger than this. Like, this is my focus, but the sky’s the limit.

Megan Porta 00:40:24 It really is. Things evolve all the time, but we always evolve and adapt with it, right? Like the people who are committed, we will keep going with the flow and changing as needed. So I don’t worry about it. I certainly don’t think it’s worth worrying. Like, oh no, is blogging going to die? And then what happens to me? No. Think more like how can I evolve with this landscape? And just I think a lot of it falls on intuition too. And just leaning into what you really feel is best for your brand and your business. Yeah. And not thinking too much about it.

Jillian Leslie 00:41:07 All right, Megan, if.

Speaker 3 00:41:08 People.

Jillian Leslie 00:41:09 Want to reach out to you, see what you’re doing, learn about your podcast. Where should they go.

Speaker 3 00:41:16 Eat.

Megan Porta 00:41:17 Blog, talk. Com everything will be there. You can access all podcast episodes. We have almost 600 now. and then if you are interested in one of the groups I talked about links to, all of those are on the home page as well.

Jillian Leslie 00:41:30 Well, I have to say, I, I love that we are friends and I love that we do these intermittent check ins. So I look forward to our next one. And I just want to say thank you so much for coming back on the show.

Megan Porta 00:41:42 Thank you. This was so much fun.

Jillian Leslie 00:41:45 I hope you guys like this episode. For me, my biggest takeaway from my conversation with Megan is her perspective on embracing positivity. Since we can’t predict how things are going to evolve, why not choose to believe that things are only going to get better? And I absolutely loved her emphatic response when I asked if blogging was dead.

Jillian Leslie 00:42:05 A resounding no. What a powerful and uplifting message to carry forward. Before I wrap up, don’t forget to take my digital product personality quiz at Milo Dot com slash quiz. It’s fun quick, and it will help you figure out the perfect digital product to create based on your own personal strengths. And even if you don’t think you’re ready to grow your audience and start selling digital products, trust me, you are ready. So sign up for Milo Tree and get your first 30 days free! And with military, you can actively build your audience and create a sustainable income stream. So this is your time to take your business seriously and make it happen. And I’m here to help you. So if you think a friend would enjoy this episode, please share it. Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast episodes drop every Tuesday night at midnight. Thanks for listening and I will see you here again next week.