Episode 476: Make 2024 Your Best Year Ever – Why Mindset is Important and How to Plan with Megan Porta

EBT476 – Megan Porta

Intro 00:00

Food bloggers, hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog growth and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal or professional. I’m Megan Porta, and I’ve been a food blogger for over 13 years, I understand how isolating food blogging can be at times. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you know that you are heard and supported. Well, hello there. Welcome to episode number 476. This episode is sponsored by RankIQ. 

Megan Porta  00:43

This is kind of a unique week here on Eat Blog Talk, because you will be listening or getting in your feed 4 published new episodes, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. The reason for that is a couple of things. We’re starting some new episodes in 2024, which I will talk about in just a bit. And this episode here came to be because my amazing podcast producer saw in Airtable in the base that we share that I had accidentally skipped a number when I went from 2023 to 2024. So I decided this was the perfect time to use that number to create an episode to just talk about 2024. And some things with this coming year. So you’re getting an extra bonus episode here. And then also in 2024, I had this nudge about two months ago that I needed to create a new type of episode here on the podcast that was separate from interviews. And that really placed a focus on mindset and self-care. As you guys all know, there is a lot of fear and anxiety, and some things coming up in our space in 2024 that we are all kind of uncertain about. And this has created this kind of collective just vibe that I feel we need to address before it gets out of control. And one of the ways I really want to do that is to talk about one of my favorite subjects, which is how important it is to focus on mindset and self-care in order to be a thriving, healthy entrepreneur. Those episodes will be published every Wednesday, and they will be solo episodes just me talking, there’ll be a little bit shorter, so there’ll be really bite sized. And I’m super excited about them. I’ve already recorded a handful, so they’re ready to go into your ears. And I hope you love those and get a lot out of those. So that explains all the new content you’re gonna get this week. After this week, you’ll get three episodes a week, so two interviews like normal, and then the one Wednesday mindset self-care episode. 

Megan Porta  02:57

So inside of here, in this episode, I am going to talk about what to expect from Eat Blog Talk in 2024. We have some new things, we have some things that aren’t changing. So I’ll get into all of that. We’re also going to talk about the importance of planning to start the year, and how to do that how it’s not as overwhelming as you might think. We’ll talk about how to focus on mindset and self-care outside of the episodes you’ll hear as well as things to focus on in the new year as far as like platforms, projects, information, etc. And the last thing I’ll talk about is resources and some of my favorite things I consume that might help you as well. Let’s start with Eat Blog Talk in 2024. So Eat Blog Talk is four and a half years old, I believe. We just hit 500,000 downloads a couple of weeks ago, so half a million downloads. We are going strong, we improve every year. And this year, I really just feel this urge to level up in a new way. I’m getting a website redesign in March by the amazing Madison from Grace and Vine studios. Super excited about that I just want to make the website and all of the information that Eat Blog Talk delivers more valuable, more robust, more awesome all around. So to go with that theme, we have a survey that we put together and I would be so grateful if you took just a couple of minutes of your time to fill out the survey. It has really specific questions about what you want in 2024. Not just from Eat Blog Talk but from any source, any resource in general to help your business get to the next level. It’s only a couple of minutes survey it will really help us to plan and create really good robust juicy content for you. Head to eatblogtalk.com/2024survey to do that. Thank you. And while I’m on that theme of asking favors, if you haven’t already, if you would go to your favorite podcast player, and rate and review Eat BlogTalk, this really does help it to show up in the searches, it helps add value to the show, it takes just a few minutes. And if you have already done this, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love reading all of the great comments and reviews on there. So thank you, thank you. 

Megan Porta  05:24

So new things in 2024. I mentioned the mindset and self-care episodes. If you have any input once you start hearing these, please let me know if you have topics you want to hear or thoughts about this new format. I’d love to hear from you. Another big thing that just happened today, the Eat Blog Talk forum that has been around for a long time, even before I started the podcast, is dead. RIP Eat Blog Talk forum. I tried to make that thing work for so many years, and came to the conclusion this year that I just was putting my efforts in the wrong places. And that, generally speaking, you guys don’t seem to want a discussion forum outside of Facebook. So I’m going to listen finally, and get rid of it. The replacement for that is the new accountability group that we’ve started. I think we’re in about one month into that now, that is going strong. It’s so good that people in there are loving the connections. We have a private Slack channel for those people so they can collaborate and get to know each other. We’re also hosting two focus calls a week for the members of the accountability group. And we’re doing one Zoom call a month with me and my community manager Taryn and the first one went really well. Like I said, the members are super happy. So if you want to join that, if you’re just feeling that need to get connected, and get the accountability and focus that you need going into the new year, head to eatblogtalk.com/focus. Also on that is a lower price point service. This kind of fills a gap between the mini-minds mastermind and the free forum. It’s $34 a month until you decide that we’re done. 

Megan Porta  07:19

Obviously, there is the premium signature service that we offer, which is the Mastermind group. 2024 is completely filled, we have all of our 14 members actually there are 15. But one of them is a pair if you would like to get on the waitlist for 2025. I know that seems like a million years from now. But you can definitely do that I’m going to offer a discount to the first handful of people from the waitlist who sign up next year. And I will start reaching out to those people in the summer, which is going to come sooner than we think. If you’re not ready for the investment of the mastermind, we started a mini-minds program in 2023 that was very successful. So we did another round we’re in the middle of round two of that and that is going swimmingly as well. We are going to start another round so that round three of the mini mines will start in April, if you want to be included on that get on the waitlist because there already people on the waitlist and I believe we are getting a full-ish to fill one group. So go to eatblog talk.com/miniminds to get in on that. And the investment for that is less than the mastermind, but you will still get a ton of value from those groups. Also, I plan to host a few in person retreats in 2024. The previous retreats, oh my gosh, they’ve been so valuable. So fun. Everyone has its unique flavor. But they’re all just magical, the way we collaborate when we get together in person, and just the fun we have, I have so many fond memories of all of them. So I’m really excited. I don’t think I’m going to host one in April like I normally do or may usually have one in April or May 2024 is a little bit unique. So I need to figure out exactly when they’re going to be hosted. So keep an eye on eatblogtalk.com/retreat to get up to date information on when and where those will be hosted.

Megan Porta  09:24

And finally, this is not technically an Eat Blog Talk situation. But it is something that I have created with a good blogging friend of mine, Melissa from Mama Gourmand, she has been a great friend for many years we met long ago at a conference. We decided here in 2023 that we needed to create something together that was geared toward advanced food bloggers there’s a really big gap in our space for this. So we decided to put Flavor Media Summit together 2024 will be its inaugural year. It’s a little bit scary, but it’s been so fun to put it together to get the speakers decided on. And we have a venue in Denver, Colorado, the dates for this are May 2nd and 3rd 2024. If you consider yourself a seasoned food blogger and you too just want to fill that gap and want more information, then this could be a great event for you. We do have some spots left, we are limiting it to 50. And I know we have around 15 spots available. So first come first serve you do you have to go through the application process. So head to flavormediasummit.net/apply to fill out an application. I think that’s all for Eat Blog Talk stuff. 

Megan Porta  10:48

So now on to planning, and how important I feel it is for all of us to make a plan as we go into a new year, have you made a plan? If you have awesome giving you a huge high five, if you have not, then I strongly urge you to do it. It’s really not as daunting as you think. I think people overthink this all the time, it seems like it’s not going to be a fruitful endeavor to sit down and plan. But a little can really really go a long way. And I would like to add that if there’s any year to plan, it is 2024. So please take the time to do this. Look at your calendar now and just find between two and four hours, it should not take you more than four hours and put it in your calendar, schedule it and just sit down and think through a handful of things which we’ll go over in just a bit, you will not regret this, I promise, put in the time investment now. And you will be so happy that you did that one year from now. 

Megan Porta  10:48

Here is what I do when I sit down to make a plan for my year, I create a couple of simple lists. So it’s not like I sit in front of my computer and have this elaborate thing in front of me that I have to figure out. It’s not like that. Just you and a Google Doc or a piece of paper a notebook even is all you need. So create two lists to start, your first list will be wins from the year. And what works from the year. This is historical data that you can go on. Write as long of a list as you possibly can, the more wins you can write down, the better, the more that’s gonna fill you up and give you confidence to go into this next year. And writing down what worked is also going to give you confidence and it’s going to give you some information to build upon. So start there write out as much as you can. The next list you’re going to write out is what your biggest challenges were from 2023. And what didn’t work. So those projects that you started that you thought would be great, and they may have failed. For me, the Eat Blog Talk forum is definitely something that I should have had on my list a couple of years ago. What things really felt hard for you, or challenging, write all of those out as well. Once you have both of those lists done, you are going to create two more lists. The first one in this year is going to be what’s your focuses slash goals slash investments for next year are going to be based on what you’re seeing from the data that you wrote down. Those projects that worked great, put those on your list and maybe do more of that, that thing that got you a lot of traffic, awesome. Keep doing that. What inspired you throughout the year that you can create a goal for and work toward. And the second list in this tier is things to avoid next year. So based on the things that didn’t work, and some of your challenges, some of those things that felt really difficult. Don’t do those. Or if there’s something that just doesn’t feel like it’s sitting well with your soul. Do you know what I mean? Take those off of your mental plate as well. And write those out. 

Megan Porta  13:57

If you have extra time after you’ve created all of those lists, there are some bonus lists that I always put together that I recommend you consider as well. And those are upgrades you can make in the coming year. So that can be absolutely anything. I will talk about upgrades in an upcoming mindset and self-care episode. But things like you need a new phone, maybe your phone is super outdated, or maybe you need to upgrade your wardrobe for zoom calls. You feel like you show up and you just aren’t confident with the way you show up and look. Or maybe you need to remove clutter from your office or your home or your car anywhere. Really, maybe your computer desktop is an absolute nightmare like mine usually is and you just need to set a schedule to consistently clean that off and put things in the trash and organize. Upgrades are so awesome and also really powerful. I make this list every year and then kind of touch back in with it every quarter. are so just to see if I’m checking things off. And it’s amazing how many things I’m able to cross off crossing upgrades off the list feels so good. And it also opens up space in your life to bring in the good things, the things that are going to help you move forward. 

Megan Porta  15:15

Another list you can write out is values that you want to align with throughout the year. This is something you can touch back in on as well just to see if you’re on track. So if a new project comes into your world, and you don’t know whether or not to say yes or no to it, check in with your values to see if it aligns with those first. If it doesn’t, then it’s an automatic No, some of my values in previous years have been kindness first always do things, even though they’re freaking scary, doing my best to make everyone feel included, things like that. And then the last thing you can put together is a word or a theme for the year. And I found that people who do this really do follow that theme. It’s really cool to watch that. Last year, my word for the year was bloom as in like watching a flower bloom, I had put in so much hard work in the years leading up to last year that I just had this feeling that this year would be that year to watch things actually grow in a really beautiful way. And it turned out to be totally true. I don’t have a word yet. I haven’t been inspired by one yet, for 2024. But I’m hoping that comes to me in the next week or so. And the last thing I would recommend you do this is my favorite thing it’s so cool to do this is to write a letter to future you. Once you have all of your lists written out, you kind of have a scope on what you want to happen in the coming year. So write a letter to yourself as if you are reading it one year from now. So for me it would be Dear future Megan, how awesome that your new mindset and self-care episodes are such a hit and that people receive them so well. And it really helped so many people. Remember how worried you were about killing off the Eat BlogTalk forum. Nobody complained, and great things have come from it. That is just evidence that good things come when you get rid of things that you don’t you know, you don’t need to be holding on to any more. Nice job at the mastermind this year. It rocked your members were amazing. They were so happy and fulfilled and got so much value out of it. And on and on. You can mention money goals, if you have them financial goals, just act as if it all happened, all of the things that you want to happen actually happened. And you were writing a letter to yourself to congratulate yourself for all of that and to give yourself praise. 

Megan Porta  17:52

Then save it in I don’t know a Google drive somewhere, put it somewhere where you won’t forget where it’s at. And set a reminder on your calendar one year from the time you write in, to go in and read it. I’ve done this for the past few years. And it’s been really cool to see that oh my gosh, like all of that stuff actually happens. And when you write it, you think there’s no way this is going to happen, right? This is a really cool process to go through. Use those lists that you put together to help guide your year and keep looking back on them to make sure you are on track. I really hope all of this encourages you to sit down and make a plan. Even if it’s just for two hours this week, do it you will not be disappointed goals and dreams mean absolutely nothing without a plan to achieve them. I love this quote from Ben Franklin. By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. 

Megan Porta  18:44

The next thing I would love to talk about is mindset and self-care. We’ve touched on this a little bit. If there’s ever a year to be proactive with this mindset and taking care of yourself. This is the year so I think I said that same thing with planning. Both are so true. You’ve got to plan this year. And you’ve got to be proactive and stay on top of your mindset. I predict that the people who do this are going to be way better off in every aspect one year from now. I was thinking the other day of this analogy. 2024 feels like that passive aggressive friend or family member that I feel like we all have who is kind of trouble but you never know exactly what kind of trouble because they’re not up front with what’s going on. I feel that same way with 2024. We have all of these looming potential issues hanging over our heads or maybe just like slightly in the future. But we don’t actually know if they’re going to cause us trouble. And that feels more difficult than if they were the person in our life who’s really upfront and vocal about the trouble that’s going on. I think we’d all rather know what’s going on then dealing with the passive aggressive situation. 

Megan Porta  20:02

But unfortunately, 2024 does feel a little bit more passive aggressive, or maybe the word is just uncertain. Unfortunately, I have a little bit of experience dealing with passive aggressive people. So in trying to figure out how to deal with this kind of passive aggressive feeling here that’s coming up on us, I tried to think about how I deal with this person who’s in my mind, who’s always been really passive aggressive with me, it’s taken a lot of time to learn how to maneuver this situation. But I’ve finally gotten to a place in my life where I can handle this. So I’m going to use those skills to also handle 2024. So when I’m talking about the passive aggressive person, the things I do on a good day, to handle that in a healthy way, I have boundaries, I put on my blinders. I have relentless positivity, I have tons of grace, and I surround myself with positive healthy people. So if we tackle 2024, in the same way, I’m going to do those same things, they’re going to look a little bit different because it’s a year and problems within the year as opposed to a person. But I’m still going to have boundaries. So I’m going to set limits with what I allow in, I am going to shut down the nonsense, which I’ve already started doing. And I don’t believe everything I hear, I’m also going to put on my blinders a little bit. So I know there’s no need for me to be in all the places I don’t have to be in the Facebook groups, or I don’t know, wherever food bloggers are showing up. 

Megan Porta  21:41

I’m only going to gather information from people and services that I really trust. And even from them, I’m going to take everything with a grain of salt and put a positive spin on it, I am going to approach every little bit of information that comes my way with curiosity versus fear. This is really hard to do, but can be done with practice, I believe. And I’m also going to include a bit of healthy distraction, I think this is a really good way to keep our sights off of the things that are fearful in our space. The relentless positivity, just surrounding myself with positive vibes, good information, good people, optimism is going to serve you this year. And that is going to be a theme of this episode, having grace for the sources that are invoking fear or kind of feeding the fear a little bit. I am not blaming anyone for being fearful, it’s totally understandable. I’m not in their shoes, I don’t know where they’re at, or what they’re going through what their anxiety levels, like what mental health issues might be going on what’s going on in their family, or personal life, I have no idea. So I cannot judge the fact that other people are going to feel fear, there are going to be people who have that perspective. But I don’t have to take that on myself. And people, it’s a really great time, I think in 2024 to join a positive high quality mastermind group. Again, if you don’t have the resources for something like this, the Eat Blog Talk. Accountability Group is a really great option for a low price point. And it will fill some of those needs you might have throughout the year to just be in the same place with positive people. By the way, all of the groups that we formed for BlogTalk are tinged I would say more than tinged are saturated with positivity and optimism. And we do a really good job of keeping that vibe and not letting in the fear or the negativity. I mean, it does happen because again, like fear is imminent in our space. It’s imminent in the world, right. So it’s hard to eliminate it totally. But we do keep this at the forefront. And we really prioritize doing as much as we can to keep our groups positive. And also along with the people just being proactive about who you allow into your circle is going to be really important as well. So that summarizes how to handle our passive aggressive friend called 2024. 

Megan Porta  24:13

And now I have some other thoughts just about mindset and self-care and keeping it a priority in this new year. One way you can prioritize self-care is to put it on your calendar before you plan anything else. Through your week. I started doing this about I don’t know a year, year and a half ago, and it was a total game changer prior to that I was just squeezing it in when it worked. That wasn’t good enough. I need to prioritize my downtime in order to be a thriving person, and then fill in my work chunks and everything else I need to do around that. Another way to prioritize mindset is to consistently celebrate your accomplishments. You need to take time out of your week, or month or quarter, preferably, the more the better. To really celebrate you, celebrate everything that you have done that you consider to be a win. Write it all out, write all of the things you’ve done on a personal note, all of your business accomplishments, if your traffic is up even by a one page view, write that down. That’s something to celebrate. If you’re bringing in $1 More this month than you were last month, that is something to celebrate. Nothing is too small, don’t discount anything, you have got to prioritize your wins and how much you accomplish. We so often get caught up in the things that we haven’t yet accomplished the things in the future that we want our goals, and our dreams, that we lose sight of all of the amazing things that we do. There’s a lot of power in this you guys, it’s such a simple act, and it can go so far. Also, just being proactive with your year have set a plan in place like we’ve talked about. But also plan monthly and weekly to even if it feels a little bit unnatural at first, plan as many things as you can, and things will feel so much easier. 

Megan Porta  26:08

For mindset, self-care, also, keep an eye on your habits. Work on those as much as you can exercise as much as you can prioritize your mental health, whatever that means for you, it’s going to be different for all of us. Meditation is huge for so many people. If you’re not meditating, just try five minutes a day. And see how far that takes you. You can try journaling. Try listening to positive affirmations. Try doing breath work. This is something we so underestimate, oh, we don’t sit and actually read throughout the day, I have to remind myself so often, just take a deep breath, I’m doing these short, shallow breaths that aren’t really giving my body the oxygen it needs. Doing this mindfully just a few times a day can really benefit us. increase your water intake, focus on gratitude at least once a day, preferably more. And with all of this. So habits exercise all the stuff I just mentioned, consider purchasing a course or joining a group that focuses on this stuff. It is going to be really important to this year, I think to make yourself focus on these good things that are going to benefit your mindset. Another mindset tip immerse yourself in a passion project. Speaking from experience here, we can get to spots in our businesses that might feel a little like drudgery. And that is not a good place to be, especially if there are a lot of other things going on around us. So find a project that actually invokes that inspiration and passion again, even if it has nothing to do with your blog. This could be things like starting a cookbook, or an ebook, diving into a new platform, a social platform or something that you really haven’t explored yet. Maybe finding a new way to do video or display your content on Instagram, you could start a podcast, this is such a good passion project. If you really like talking and communicating through audio, you could start a second blog that doesn’t have a lot of pressure, create a course, do anything that feels really inspiring and creative to, again, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with your actual blog work.

Megan Porta  28:20

I have a few little things in my back pocket for the year that I’m ready to pull out because I have a feeling I’m just going to need a little bit of extra mindset help as well. One of the things I’m going to do is I’m going to start developing and honing certain skills that I know I need to work on. One of those skills is public speaking and just speaking more fluently.

Megan Porta  28:44

I’ve gotten really good at speaking when I’m hosting a guest on my podcast. But when it comes to doing solo episodes or kind of speaking off the cuff, I am not as good as so I know I need to really refine that if I want to keep making this podcast improve and level up and do other opportunities that involve speaking such as in person speaking engagements, or being on other people’s podcasts, I just want to speak more fluently. So that’s a skill I’m going to work on and I think it will take my mind off of other things in a healthy way. I say err on the side of doing too much mindset work and too much self-care work. As we get into this year, you will not be disappointed in that. Also one last thought on the mindset. If you have the money to invest, consider getting a really good mindset or business coach, this can be a total game changer. Now let’s talk about some focuses for the year. Things that you might want to consider focusing on things you might want to drop as far as platforms and work tasks, projects, etc. When I say the word focus, I think of the thing that always comes to my mind when I’m incessantly worrying about things or focusing on things I know I should not be thinking about. And that is that we get more of what we focus on. So if I am incessantly worrying about, say, a traffic drop for my blog, I believe that that is just going to happen, I’m creating this momentum of negative energy that is not going to stop unless I stop focusing on that, this is really key for 2024. Keep this thought at the top of your mind, you will get more of what you focus on. So why not focus on the good things, the things that can go right, the positive things, the abundance, the money, all of that stuff that we want the freedom, etc. 

Megan Porta  30:52

Kind of in general, when thinking about the year ahead, something that comes to mind to keep really top of mind for all of us is our user. With everything we create, we really need to keep our user in mind. I know this has always been the case. But now more than ever, this is supremely important, I believe. So with our blog content, one thing I’ve been telling everyone I talked to in my mastermind groups and kind of all around is go to your About page and make sure it is updated. This is something really easy that we can do that signals to Google and to our user exactly who we are, what we deliver, what our credentials are, where our expertise lies, what is our best content, what we’re all about? What is our blog about? What are we about what are our beliefs and our values, I think it’s really important to do this now. I would encourage you to put it on your calendar in the next couple of weeks. It really does not take that much time. But it pays off. A little tip I have about this. I know nobody likes writing about themselves and saying, Oh, I’m so great at this. And I’ve accomplished this and that. It feels weird. It feels awkward. So something I did, I had a really good friend of mine write my about page for me. She knows me really well. She knows all of my accomplishments. She knows where I went to school, she knows that I wrote a cookbook. She mentioned all of these things naturally in the About page. Where if I would have written it, it would have felt awkward and weird. Consider doing that. Another thing to keep in mind with our blog content this year, is to fill in content gaps based on your niche. So if your niche is gluten-free baking, you want to be the place that people go for gluten free baking, if somebody falls on your gluten free sugar cookies post, you want to have other cookies to offer them, you want to have a great gluten free bread, you want information about what flour they should use for each, you want to be a one stop resource under that umbrella. Even if the keywords you’re going for are more high competition. I think that is okay, as long as you’re filling those content gaps. I’ve gotten this question a lot recently, because you all know how much I love RankIQ. And I’ve used it so much in the past few years. So people have asked me, Do I still keep doing those low competition keyword recipe posts, because of the you know, the looming AI situation and how search might change for us? I say 100% yes, I’ve written a lot of that low competition content for my blog in the past few years, based on what I find in RankIQ. And it’s all doing really well still. But here’s the key, you have to make sure that the stuff you’re writing, no matter if it’s high competition, or low competition is really relevant to your site and your niche. Thankfully, I have done that. So I’m looking at my Google Analytics right now, over the past, I don’t know, four months, I think a lot of my top content is stuff that I’ve pulled from RankIQ and written. And all of the stuff that is on here that’s doing really well is very relevant to my content. If you’re just writing random stuff, just to get a low competition keyword and get on the first page of Google is asparagus good for dogs, and you don’t have any asparagus recipes on your site that probably won’t serve you. So just really think through what gaps you have when you are creating your content this year. And beyond. Of course, also with blog content, consistency is key. This has always been key. But now more than ever set up a consistent content schedule that you can reasonably keep up with, and stick to it as best you can. And then if you’re like me and you have a ton of old content, set up a schedule where you update it regularly. I need to do this in 2024. It’s something that’s on my list. And I think it’ll continue to serve me really well. 

Megan Porta  34:56

To talk a little bit about things that you don’t need to focus on in 2024. Because I do think that most of us should have a list of things not to do, there’s way too much to do at all, I think we’d all agree on that. Remember that you don’t have to be everywhere. There are way too many platforms to keep track of it would be absolutely insane for one person or a small team, to do all of it. So give yourself permission just not to be everywhere. Pick those places that really matter and that are working for you. Give yourself permission to say no, to some things, even if they’re big things. I just talked to a blogger the other day, who said no to Instagram, which I feel like is kind of a big thing in most people’s eyes. But she confidently decided to say NO, and it has been serving hurt just fine web stories this year, I don’t know how they’re going to unfold as the year goes on. But I can say, at the time I’m recording this web stories are still working, they might not be working as well as they used to be, but they’re still working occasionally. So keep doing them. Thankfully, they don’t require a huge investment of time or energy, so they can be kicked out really quickly. And it seems like when you hit a seasonal topic that is trending in Google Trends, they can get picked up really quickly. So until they’re dead, they are not dead, they are still kicking on some level. 

Megan Porta  36:24

Another focus for 2024 is to diversify your traffic sources. If you are not diversifying through Pinterest, dig into Pinterest, there’s so much potential. You’re a food blogger, you have these amazing mouthwatering photos that people crave and people love and they go to Pinterest just to see those and to get the recipe. So keep creating those pins. I don’t have the perfect strategy for you, unfortunately. But experiment, go into your analytics, see what’s working, see the pins that have taken off? Why have they taken off? Oh, there’s a really close up shot of the hero image. Okay, great. Do more of that. Your video pins are working. Okay, awesome. Do more video pins. Really focus on Pinterest this year, I think this is going to serve you really well. Facebook. Also don’t discount Facebook, I personally am not going to focus on Facebook traffic, at least not going into the year. But I do know people who are making Facebook work whether it’s through a page and really giving that page a lot of love and providing a lot of their own links on the page and doing cross promotion with other bloggers. Or if it’s the strategy where you go into the big Facebook groups and provide value for just the standard user. And that value might show up as links to your blog, which can produce additional traffic. Something else that came up recently in one of our mastermind calls was that I think we were talking about how to increase RPMs. And somebody shared this idea that I thought was brilliant. So I wanted to mention it here. If you are in an ad network, go into your dashboard and figure out what those high RPM URLs are. And put those in your newsletter, send them out to your subscribers, and see if that gives your URL a big boost all around. And speaking of email subscribers, definitely focus on this as well and 2024 nurture those people, this goes back to keeping your users at the top of your mind. Your email, people are your users as well. So nurture them, build up your list as much as you can really get to know them, see what they want. send them emails, Hey, what are your struggles this week in the kitchen with dinner, get really specific and show up and serve them the content that they want. 

Megan Porta  38:37

Another focus for 2024 diversify your monetization. Think this is a big one that people are really wanting to know about. get really creative, what lights you up, I think it’s really important to know what is lighting you up before you get into this because you don’t want to start a monetization strategy that is going to get boring really quickly. There’s a member in my new mastermind here in 2024. I was just talking to her and she was talking about how she really wants to monetize, but she didn’t know how. And we got down to the fact that she loves photography. It’s such a passion of her she just feels filled up. So she is going to start offering freelancing to food bloggers in the realm of photography, I think offering freelancing what ever that looks like whether it’s photography or writing, or any other service that serves us serves food bloggers, that is going to be the best way to get money in your bank ASAP. There are so many other monetization options. There’s virtual cooking classes, some people have really gotten into those in the past year, memberships are going to be huge. I think the Meal Pro App membership is something worth checking out if you go to eatblogtalk.com/resources. There’s a link to get going with that. You can create cookbooks ebooks If you can do coaching, if there’s something in our world that you’re really skilled at the rest of us need you. So show up and coach the rest of us. And the last focus I will touch on for 2024 is just continue focusing on learning and growing. And it makes sure you choose those avenues that are positive and inspiring only.

Megan Porta  40:22

Okay, the last section, we’re going to talk about resources. This is one of my favorites. So I’m a huge consumer of resources. I am always listening to podcasts for both blogging info, business info, mindset. I am not a huge consumer of groups necessarily. So I’ll talk a little bit about that but I don’t have much there. So let’s just start with business or blogging related podcasts. Simple pin podcast is Pinterest Focused. Kate Ahl is amazing and she delivers really relevant information. Food Blogger Pro is the other big food blogger podcast, the Vine Podcast, Madison does such a good job of talking about kind of the nitty gritty details of your actual blog and what you should be doing there. The Blogging Millionaires is one of my favorites, he produces so much value in his podcast. He is the Creator founder of RankIQ. There is the Blogger Genius podcast, The Smart Influencer podcast, Influencer Entrepreneurs with Jenny Melrose and The Blogger Bytes podcast. now my favorite podcasts for mindset. The Cliff Ravenscraft Show love that one, it’s so inspiring. The Mindset Mentor with Rob Dial is really great. He produces really bite sized episodes that are easily consumable. The Mind Your Business podcast is one of my absolute favorites. The Brendon Show is great motivation with Brendon Burchard. If you’re up for more like spiritual mindset, inspiration, I love the Eckhart Tolle podcast, there’s Chill and Prosper if you want money mindset information. She’s so awesome. Win the Day with James Whittaker and Align and Expand. 

Megan Porta  42:08

Now for groups I know a Food Blogger Central is a big group for food bloggers, I think a lot of people get a lot of good stuff out of it. I’m personally not on there. I feel like it saved me a lot of angst over the years, but I do not judge if you are in there, I think it’s good if you go in there in bite sized increments and not over consume. The RankIQ mastermind, Facebook group is really good. There’s the MediaVine and Raptive Facebook groups. And as I mentioned earlier, the Eat Blog Talk accountability group can act as a really solid group and source of information for you than mini-minds as well. Or if none of these really light you up, start your own, start your own group. Some more resources for email lists, I’m on a few email lists that I really love. Not too many, because I’m one of those people who’s constantly trying to comb through my email and do unsubscribes and get rid of all that nonsense. So what I’m left with is stuff that I really value. So James Clear who’s the author of Atomic Habits has the best email newsletters on the planet. Definitely sign up for those. If you want more like spiritual inspiration, tut.com t u t. They’re really great. So it’s Mike Dooley. He sends you daily inspiration, and I read every one of those, they are very inspiring. 

Megan Porta  43:33

Also, along those lines, I am Mantra. Is it mantra or mantra? I Am mantra.com. You can sign up for those new newsletters as well. And they send daily mantras for you to say that really inspired. If you’re looking at for GA4 information. Oh, that’s a pain point for 2024, Painless Blog Analytics has a really good email list that you’re going to want to get on. She has good services and products as well. If you want information about email marketing, Liz Wilcox is amazing. And if you’re looking to diversify your backlink profile, get on the Haro list H A R O it’s stands for Help a Reporter Out and you will get emails I think once or twice a day that provides you with options where you can provide information that reporters and other media people need. So potentially you could get featured in an article and also potentially get backlinks. And I mentioned her podcast earlier. Denise DT she hosts the Chill and Prosper podcast. Her website is also great and her email list is amazing. Denisedt.com. Get on her list and consider joining her money bootcamp. It’s a little bit of a higher investment but I’m a part of her boot camp and it’s been really great to just help my money mindset. 

Megan Porta  45:01

And the last resource I’m going to talk through are books. Now I’m not going to talk about every book that I love, because this would be 1000 miles long, but I will tell you all the things I’ve listened to in the last quarter or so, and that I really loved. If you want to hear more about books and the books I love, especially the top five books that will change your life. Listen to an upcoming Eat Blog Talk, mindset and self-care episode, it’ll be number 487. And it will publish in just a few weeks. All right, I recently read the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to find this book. It is amazing. And it’s made just for you just for creative people who struggle with that kind of emotional mental war of creating and not knowing if we’re creating the right things, not knowing exactly how to create. And this feeling like maybe it’s never satiated. It’s really hard to put the book into words, but I really suggest you read it if you have not. Another book I read recently was Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend, I think all of us probably have boundary issues on some level, whether it’s with people we work with, or a family member, or someone in our house, or even just boundary issues with ourselves, honestly, or our kids. Boundaries are huge. And if you have good boundaries with all of the people in your life, including yourself, the more successful and happy you’re going to be. This book was incredible. It does have a Christian spin on it. So if Christianity isn’t your thing, just know that going into it. But I still recommend that everyone read it. And have you read The Alchemist. It’s not a nonfiction book. But oh my gosh, it’s so good. I have had it forever. And I just picked it up. It’s by Paulo Coelho. Whoa, it’s kind of an oldie. But it has such juicy meaning in it. I felt like I needed to read it immediately after I read it the first time just to kind of absorb everything through the story that it tells this fiction story. It tells you how to be happy in life, what what principles the world operates by how to tap into your intuition. And there’s so much more it’s so good. 

Megan Porta  47:13

Stop Overthinking by Nick Trenton. I picked this up because of the title because I’ve been in a season of just overthinking a lot of stuff. And it’s really negatively affected my mental well being. I knew I just needed this message. So it was good. I wouldn’t say it’s like a favorite book. But if you are an overthinker, it’s a quick read, and you might get some strategies from it, that will help you. And then the last two things I’m going to mention are things that I found on Audible that we’re free, so they’re included in the audible library if you have a membership. The first one is The Six Habits of Growth by Brendon Burchard. It’s really good. There are some solid takeaways that I implemented that I thought were really helpful. And Reinvent Your Life with Mel Robbins is the last one. She’s amazing. She inspires me so much. I didn’t have much expectation for some reason going into this little… It’s like she presents it as a podcast series kind of, but it’s an audible, but it blew my mind. I don’t know if it’s just the phase of life I’m in or what but something really hit home with that, I am going to listen to the entire thing again. So I highly recommend that one. 

Megan Porta  48:24

I’m not going to summarize my points because that will just add length to this already lengthy episode, I will reiterate this though, you will get more of what you focus on in 2024. So choose the right things. Choose wisely. And some themes that I’m going to pull out from the chat today. Just from the top of my head, keeping your user at the forefront of your mind with everything that you produce. proactively working on your mindset and self-care even before it becomes an issue. Hopefully it doesn’t become an issue. Positivity, positivity, positivity. And then gratitude, gratitude, gratitude. Use healthy distraction throughout the year, to keep your mind healthy and active. Find those things that you’re inspired by and that really lights you up with passion. And last I would say just get creative with diversifying, whether it’s traffic or revenue or both. That’s all I have. If you loved this episode, I was considering doing maybe a quarterly one that’s similar throughout the year so please give me feedback if you love it. Thank you for being here. I so appreciate you all. I hope you have a wonderful year please reach out and let me know if there’s anything I can do for you. Alright, food bloggers. I will see you next time. 

Outro  49:45

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you posted it to your social media feed and stories. I will see you next time.