Episode 671: From Hobby to 10 Million Page Views – The Instagram Strategy Behind My Food Blog’s Success With Amy Coyne

EBT671 – Amy Coyne

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’s growth, and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. 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. 

[00:00:37]   Megan Porta

I don’t know if I’ve ever quite heard a story like this one. Oh my goodness, what a great interview. I talked to Amy Coyne from Amy Bakes Bread and she shares about her incredible and super successful journey as an Instagram creator and also a food blogger.  

 Amy is in the sourdough baking space, so she started out sharing her insights and recipes on Instagram and that has moved over to her blog. Okay, in 2022, you guys, she had 100,000 page views that whole year. At the end of 2024 she had 10 million page views a year. This is so impressive.

[00:01:26]   

 And she talks about exactly how she got there. She does not hold back. She shares everything about her journey. The fact that she focused on community over algorithms. Every single time she showed up and asked her audience what do you want from me? What do you need from me? And then she followed through and delivered all of that.

[00:01:47]   

 She talks about the importance of social media in her journey and how she really leaned into that. And she also talks about what she did once she started focusing on the blog. So more SEO focus there. And then at the end of the conversation she tells us all the lessons she has learned and what she would do differently if she had to start over.

[00:02:11]   

 One of the things she talks about that has really helped her along the way is showing up consistently day in, day out, week after week, month after month, and how that is so important for all of us to to learn from. Her story is so inspiring. I think you are going to get so much value and inspiration from this episode. It is episode number 671. I hope you love it.

[00:02:37]  Sponsor 

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[00:03:23]   

 Amy Coyne is a sourdough teacher, a recipe developer, and a mom to four awesome kids. She has grown her website over the last two years from 100,000 page views in 2022 to almost 10 million page views in 2024. She shares tried and true sourdough recipes for her website and with her Instagram and social media communities. Hello Amy. So happy to have you here. How are you doing today?

[00:03:50]  Amy Coyne 

 I am great, Megan. It’s, it’s so great to be here.

[00:03:53]  Megan Porta 

 I am super excited to get into your story. You have an absolutely incredible story and I don’t even know all of it. So I’m showing up today to learn from you and to hear about it. But first, do you have a fun fact to share with us, Amy?

[00:04:08]  Amy Coyne 

 Okay, so I was thinking about this. I, my family and I, we lived in Japan for about a year and a half and actually my youngest, my fourth was born over there and so that was quite the experience and the adventure and we loved living abroad with our four little kids.

[00:04:25]  Megan Porta 

 Oh my God.

[00:04:26]  Amy Coyne 

 And having a baby over there was a whole other adventure, I bet. Yeah. 
[00:04:31]  Megan Porta 

 How long were you there?

[00:04:32]  Amy Coyne 

 About a year and a half.

[00:04:34]  Megan Porta 

 Okay.

[00:04:34]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah.

[00:04:35]  Megan Porta 

 Wow, that is cool. So comparing having a baby in the US to having a baby there, was it scarier there or was it.

[00:04:43]  Amy Coyne 

I think I was lucky because it was my fourth so I kind of knew what I was, you know, what I was doing. And it was just there were lots of differences. You stayed a lot longer in the clinic. It was a clinic, not a hospital. So there were things like that. But overall it was a good experience and we’re glad to have our, our little caboose.

[00:05:02]  Megan Porta 

 Yes, your caboose. I love it. That’s cute. How old are your kids?

[00:05:07]  Amy Coyne 

 So I’ve got 50, a 15 year old daughter and then twin boys that are 13 and then my youngest son is 8.

[00:05:15]  Megan Porta 

 What two twin boys were 13. Oh my gosh, that is.

[00:05:20]  Amy Coyne 

 And they, they actually do play a role in my, in my story.

[00:05:23]  Megan Porta 

 So I’ so excited to hear about that. Okay, awesome. Yeah, I have a 14 year old boy. He’s like the best kid. We have the best kids. But I still even saying that I can’t imagine having double that energy in our house.

[00:05:39]  Amy Coyne 

 So yeah, it is a lot. Yeah, I bet it’s a lot. But they’re all great kids, so.

[00:05:46]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, I love it. I love it when parents say that. Because so often, don’t you hear parents complain about their kids? And I’m like, what? Why do you complain about your children? These are the people that you name.

[00:05:58]  Amy Coyne 

 I know, I know. They’re. They all. I mean, we all have things we’re working on. Right? But they’re. They’re really good, good kids. Yeah.

[00:06:06]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. We’re all humans and growing, right?

[00:06:09]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes. Yes.

[00:06:10]  Megan Porta 

 Okay. Amy, you have this story that I think is going to perk up a lot of people’s ears. So you’ve grown your website over the last handful of years from a hundred thousand page views in 2022 to almost get ready for this number, 10 million page views at the end of 2024. What the heck?

[00:06:32]   

 I mean, this is, like, unfathomable growth.

[00:06:36]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, it really is. It’s been quite the ride, I guess. And I still am, you know, I still feel like I’m learning every day and figuring out kind of, you know, putting all the pieces together of how it happened. And it’s still happening, right?

[00:06:54]  Megan Porta 

 It’s still unfolding, which is. Okay, so we all are dying to hear your story, so can you just back up and start with. I know you have a sourdough blog. So when did you start this fascination with sourdough?

[00:07:06]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, so I started baking sourdough in about 2013. So that was back when my little boys and my twin boys were babies. Little, you know, and they were. Actually what had happened is I’d gone to Thanksgiving. I’d always loved to bake, always loved bread. It was kind of always been my thing. I’d gone to Thanksgiving and somebody had brought, like, a sourdough loaf.

[00:07:29]   

 And it was crunchy and crispy and so good on the inside. And I was thinking, I cannot buy this in my grocery store in Kentucky, where I live. Like, I need to learn how to make this. And from there, I kind of researched that sourdough was not a big thing at the time.

[00:07:46]   

 I mean, people were… not very many people knew about it. It was starting to become a little bit more. You maybe would see it more in Europe or places, but in the US it wasn’t as big. And so I taught myself how to make a sourdough starter from scratch. It took me probably six weeks, which it shouldn’t take you that long to do it now.

[00:08:05]   

 But I didn’t know what I was doing. And so it just was. And it was also the middle of winter when I did that, it took a long time, but I would lay on the floor of my twin boys bedroom, willing them to go to sleep, you know, like take a nap. And I would just be scrolling, searching sourdough, any information I could come across on the Internet because I was so fascinated by it.

[00:08:27]   

 And so I started baking with it. I started making like, really yummy loaves, things that I couldn’t get at my, you know, local store and things like that. And I just, I was a mom, I had, you know, these three little kids. And it gave me an outlet, gave me something to like, kind of focus on something that I really love doing.

[00:08:46]   

 And that’s kind of where the whole thing started. So I’ve just kind of started, you know, been baking with that starter for so many years. We took a. I took a little break when we moved to Japan because their flour is different. It was just a completely different, you know, situation there. But when we came back, I got back into it.

[00:09:03]  Megan Porta 

 Jumped right back in. Yeah, I love this. And you said the word outlet, which really resonates with me because I feel like so much of my blogging business started as an outlet to just be a human and to find something that I loved that didn’t have to do with changing diapers or, you know, like wiping noses or anything.

[00:09:25]   

 So I think that’s so huge for moms just to find something outside of their family. I mean, we love our families to pieces, but something that just fills us up. And it sounds like sourdough, was that for you?

[00:09:36]  Amy Coyne 

 It did, it really did. And the thing about, and I’ve noticed this, I think with a lot of people that are starting to get into it, is it forces you a little bit to like, slow down, you get your hands into the dough. It’s like tactile. It’s like one of those things where, you know, you can kind of put on pause everything going on in your brain, just like feel the dough and enjoy the process.

[00:09:58]   

 So. And then you get an incredible result at the end too. So it’s one of those, like, I think the whole process, it’s people really enjoying the process of it.

[00:10:06]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah.

[00:10:06]  Amy Coyne 

 And how it makes them feel.

[00:10:08]  Megan Porta 

 I think we can all relate to that wanting to slow down piece. So. Yeah, I get that. Okay, so you are into sourdough. You are becoming an expert. And then at what point did you decide to turn that into a blog?

[00:10:21]  Amy Coyne 

 So it’s interesting because it was 2020, but it was before the pandemic, so it was actually, February 2020. Right. It would have been if I knew a little more about what I was doing. But 2020, I told my husband, my little one was, I think he was, I don’t know, he was in preschool.

[00:10:44]   

 He was going to be, you know, that age. And I was thinking, what am I going to do when he gets into full time school? And I kept having this nagging thought, like, you need to start sharing some of your recipes. And at that time, I wasn’t specifically putting in my head, I need to be sharing sourdough.

[00:11:00]   

 It was more like I was baking lots of different things. So I was like, I need to do that. And I asked my husband, I’m like, it’s like, however much it costs a little bit to start this website and like, should I do it? I don’t know, like, back and forth. And he was very supportive, like, this is something you want to do, do it.

[00:11:20]   

 And so I started and at the time I thought, then when the pandemic hit and everything, I thought, you know, oh, this is a good outlet just for me to share during the pandemic because it gave me something to do that was like, you know, one of those creative outlets again. And I shared some sourdough recipes, but I didn’t share, like the wealth of knowledge that I had because I didn’t really know that that’s what people kind of wanted.

[00:11:47]   

 Like, I wasn’t included enough to realize that at the time. So, yeah, that was. And I still had all these kids. I mean, I wasn’t ready to make that jump into it actually being like a.

[00:11:58]  Megan Porta 

 A blog, a business website.

[00:12:00]  Amy Coyne 

 Business. Yeah.

[00:12:01]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. So it was just a hobby at first.

[00:12:03]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:12:04]  Megan Porta 

 But something inside of you probably was like, I need to get this going. Right.

[00:12:09]  Amy Coyne 

 Well, and so it was a couple of. So actually what ended up happening is at that same time that I wanted to start this website, my kids really wanted an entrepreneurial experience. And since I love to bake, we had a somebody posted on like a local Facebook group, hey, we’re looking for a bake sale and for a craft fair.

[00:12:31]   

 And my kids were like, we want to do it, we want to do it. And so they baked for 48 hours. You know, like, they picked all these different things. We did the bake sale. They made, you know what to them was like, wow, this was great. We sold out. And so then they’re like, we want to do something else.

[00:12:47]   

 They went door to door selling cinnamon rolls that Christmas, you know, it was that kind of a thing. And so they wanted to create A business. And so from that I took actually the next couple of years and really helped them to create their cookie business. So they have a cookie business in our.

[00:13:01]   

 In our local area. And that took a lot of my time because I would bake with the. I’d help them. They’d make a lot of the dough and then I’d help them bake it and we’d do deliveries. And we were doing at one point, I mean, we’ve did. We’ve done thousands and thousands of cookies.

[00:13:14]   

 Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Y. It was kind of that. And then it was in 20, somebody came to us and wanted us to teach a cookie class. And my kids were like, we don’t want to give away our cookie recipes. Like, we don’t want to teach a cookie class. And I said to the person, I said, well, they don’t want to do the cookie class, but I love to bake sourdough.

[00:13:34]   

 Would you be willing to do a sourdough baking class? And they said, oh, we’d love that. Let’s do it in January. And that was 2023. And as soon as I had that date on the calendar, I was like, okay, I have to really, like, get serious about this. I have to know, like, what I’m teaching, my background.

[00:13:53]   

 I was a first grade teacher, so I love to teach, so that’s kind of my background anyway. And so I really, at that point, I. I really went down into sourdough and said, I’ve got. I. I’d been wanting for years to put all this information on my website, but I just hadn’t because I was doing cookie business or, you know, doing kids and stuff.

[00:14:13]   

 And I said, okay, this year, 2023, I did a couple things. I said, I’m going to focus down on into sourdough and I’m going to really get that sourdough class and teach that class, and I’m going to post something sourdough related on Instagram every day. I can do that for 90 days. That’s what I told myself.

[00:14:30]   

 And I haven’t stopped posting since.

[00:14:33]  Megan Porta 

 Okay, wait, so since January of 2023, you’ve been posting daily on Instagram?

[00:14:39]  Amy Coyne 

 A reel. Every day? Yeah.

[00:14:41]  Megan Porta 

 Wow.

[00:14:42]  Amy Coyne 

 There have been a couple days here and there haven’t. But, you know, like, pretty much it’s become so routine for me that that’s. That’s what happened. And. And I didn’t stop because I saw so much growth in that 90 days that it was like, okay, I can keep doing this.

[00:14:56]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, okay, so talk about those 90 days. So you posted a real a day. Was it mostly teaching people how?

[00:15:03]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, at the beginning it was mainly sourdough content. So I was creating. I have, I have on my website a whole beginner’s guide to sourdough. So. So it’s all free. But at the time I was kind of making posts based on. These are some of the, you know, simple science things that you’d want to know about sourdough, like, so that you can make it work for you.

[00:15:23]   

 Because I think what happened in that time, from 2013 until 2023, you had lots of people jump in and they kind of. A lot of people didn’t. They’re telling what works for them. Right. And it may not have been like, exactly how it’s going to work for you or how it will work for somebody else, because everyone’s home is different or the temperatures are different or things are different.

[00:15:46]   

 And so I was able to, through all these years of baking sourdough, kind of figure out how this little bit of simple science works. And so to teach people that simple science, that’s what I was kind of putting on my blog. So that’s what I was sharing on Instagram during those 90 days.

[00:16:03]   

 And I was starting to share some recipes too. So it was kind of like. And I would lead people. Every time I’d post something, I’d had the idea like, okay, I want it to lead back to my website. Whatever I’m sharing, like, I do want it to. I want them to be able to go get more information.

[00:16:19]   

 The other thing that I did during that time is I started doing in my stories, like a Q and A, like a sourdough Q and A. And so I would just put up a Q and A box and I’d say, what questions do you have? How can I help you? And people would write in, you know, questions.

[00:16:34]   

 And so then I had all this information of, like, things that I could, could help to share people. And I would spend hours on my Instagram stories just answering people’s questions. And that took me a little. I mean, it took me time to get used to being able to be like, you know, on my phone, like, not feeling so self conscious about it because I don’t.

[00:16:56]   

 I’m not a huge person. I like to kind of run in the back behind the scenes. And like, that’s hard for me to be the forefront face. But I just was like, you know what? This is helping all the, you know, a lot of people. And so, and so I did it. So that was kind of those 90 days and I’ve continued to do those Q&As, but it’s gotten a little bit harder to do that with as you know, things have gotten bigger.

[00:17:18]  Megan Porta 

 But yeah. So how much did you grow on Instagram during those 90 days?

[00:17:22]  Amy Coyne 

 Oh my goodness. I think probably. I don’t. I’d have to go back and look. Exactly. But it was probably, you know, around 20,000 or so.

[00:17:31]  Megan Porta 

 Okay. So it was a pretty significant.

[00:17:32]  Amy Coyne 

 It was significant. And then by the next year, so by the beginning of 2024, I’d grown to a hundred thousand on Instagram.

[00:17:40]  Megan Porta 

 Oh my gosh.

[00:17:41]  Amy Coyne 

 And then by this 2025 January, I’m almost at 400. So it’s like, it’s been like quite the, quite the growth in that way. Yeah.

[00:17:53]  Megan Porta 

 So do you credit. Because your blog obviously is doing very, very well as well. Do you credit the growth to Instagram?

[00:18:02]  Amy Coyne 

 I really do. I really do. A lot of it started there because it gave me like a platform to be able to share my website. The other thing is at the time I was doing nothing right with the blog.

[00:18:18]  Megan Porta 

 Join the club. We’ve all been there.

[00:18:21]  Amy Coyne 

 And even at one point realized that I was like all of my posts had been non indexed and things. So I was getting almost no traffic from Google. So almost all of my traffic was coming from people either going and making a recipe and then telling somebody else about it and then they go search for it on my actual website or through Instagram.

[00:18:41]   

 Type things Facebook. I linked it. So I have some, you know, on Facebook. So that kind of worked too. I could share things there as well. But by October of 2023. So January was when I said, okay, I’m actually going to focus on this. And then that October was when I was able to sign up with Raptive the end of October.

[00:19:00]   

 And so that’s when I reached that first like hundred thousand page views in a month. Yeah.

[00:19:06]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. This is so inspiring. Okay. So obviously you have a niche that is very, very specific and a lot of people don’t have this. So I feel like this gives you a little bit of a leg up because there’s a learning curve to sourdough. Right?

[00:19:21]  Amy Coyne 

 It’s true. It is true. And I do feel like that has been a factor for sure in this, this, this entire process is that it is still fairly new and there are things on the Internet and there’s getting more and more, you know, every day, but there’s not as much right. As a cinnamon roll recipe or something.

[00:19:40]   

 Right. Like it’s more super specific.

[00:19:42]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is a hyper focused niche, but I think Covid really helped the sourdough industry, if you will, to take off.

[00:19:52]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, it is interesting because that’s what brought it to people, you know, the forefront. And then you kind of see it did have a dip. And what’s happening is people are realizing all of the, like, health benefits that go along with sourdough. And so that’s what’s kind of giving it like this new push, I feel like.

[00:20:09]   

 And people are realizing, oh, wow, this actually makes me feel better and it tastes really good and you know, there’s, it’s all of that kind of stuff. And so I think that’s what’s, what’s also giving it a bit of a push as well.

[00:20:21]  Megan Porta 

 Do you think having a background as a teacher has helped you to just kind of find that spin? Because I, I know that you have a lot of knowledge, but you probably also can be like, okay, this is what people need and how they need to hear it, that sort of thing.

[00:20:36]  Amy Coyne 

 I do, I do think that the teaching background has helped because I’m able to explain things pretty like for people to, you know, easy to understand. And also I’m not. It’s interesting because if you get into the sourdough world, there’s people who say like, like, why would you even follow any science? And there’s people who are very technical and like so into everything.

[00:20:57]   

 And I feel like I’m a happy medium of like, you know what, like learn some of those basic science things and then go ahead and make it fit into your life, you know, like, that doesn’t have to be so overwhelming. Like, let’s make this work for you. Because I honestly believe like that you’re, you know, if you look at it from a nutrition standpoint, anything you can do to make your own stuff is going to be better than like a lot of the things that you can buy at the store.

[00:21:22]   

 So, you know, it’s just, it’s levels of what people, you know, want to do. But I do, I do think that teaching background has helped for sure.

[00:21:29]  Megan Porta 

 Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I can understand where a home cook wouldn’t necessarily need to be like full scientist, but just to have a little bit of that information so you can use it to the best of your ability. I mean, why not? So I love that happy medium that you’re going in between.

[00:21:46]   

 And then I know you also create on your blog not just sourdough loaves of bread, but you do sourdough related other recipes too, right?

[00:21:56]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes. Yes. So sourdough is not just like that crusty, crispy, artisan bread that we all love, but it’s also, it can be used to leaven anything that calls for yeast. So you can put, you know, make great cinnamon rolls. I have an incredible recipe on my website for that. Or like a brioche or my burger buns or anything like that.

[00:22:19]   

 You can make a sourdough. You can also use sourdough in brownies or cookies or even as a thickener for soups or gravies or things like that.

[00:22:28]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, wow.

[00:22:29]  Amy Coyne 

 The benefit comes from the fermentation. So if you’re using that fermented discard to thicken your soup instead of a traditional roux, a lot of people that have trouble with flour or things like that, they could have that fermented mixture instead. Basically, a lot of times we’ll use the sourdough for moisture, texture, flavor, things like that.

[00:22:53]   

 And I feel like a misconception, too. A lot of people think sourdough means it has to taste sour. It doesn’t. It’s actually just the way that the bread is made. And so you can make sourdough to taste sour or not taste sour. So it’s just. Just depends on your preference.

[00:23:09]  Megan Porta 

 So basically, you’re the sourdough queen. You know absolutely everything about sourdough.

[00:23:14]  Amy Coyne 

 I am still learning, but if I don’t know it, I will. I will go and figure it out, because that’s how I feel about it.

[00:23:21]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, yeah.

[00:23:22]  Amy Coyne 

 And yeah, personally, I mean, if we get into it a little bit, one of my sons has type 1 diabetes. So for our family, it helps to just keep his blood sugars more stable.

[00:23:32]  Megan Porta 

 Ah.

[00:23:33]  Amy Coyne 

 And so that’s one of the reasons that I’ve probably gotten even so into it, is because it’s really, like, helpful for my family in those ways. And. And that’s purely anecdotal. You would have to, like, figure out with your doctor and your own things if you had something similar. But that’s just things that we have noticed, and I do pull people on Instagram or my audience, and many people notice similar things.

[00:23:54]  Megan Porta 

 So that’s really cool. So lots of reasons to dig into sourdough for your family.

[00:24:00]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:24:01]  Megan Porta 

 Okay. So you really attribute a lot of your growth to Instagram. You started there and then transferred things over to the blog. So talk about once you realized that you needed to start focusing more on the blog, where did you go from there?

[00:24:16]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, so I think that I. I was still this. And this is all kind of new because I, I still feel like I’m learning some of this SEO and all of that stuff. So my goal for 2025 is really to go back in now and like, look at, you know, some of these things that I didn’t even realize, like, oh, I could be optimizing for a search engine, you know, I didn’t.

[00:24:41]   

 That wasn’t anything that I kind of realized. And so that’s become, it’s become more of my goal to go back and do that. I’ve always wanted to have kind of something on my website for almost anything that you could make with instant yeast. I want you to be able to go there and find a sourdough version of it because so many people, you know, want that.

[00:25:01]   

 Or it’s, you know, I have on my website ways that you can convert it, but it’s just hard to like do those conversions and think about it. And if you already have like our tried and true type recipe sitting there, like, it’s a little bit easier to do that. So my thought process is now just going back through and making sure that I’ve got things more optimized, that I actually have pictures in there.

[00:25:23]   

 I’m hoping to add some more video, those kinds of things going forward.

[00:25:28]  Sponsor 

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[00:25:47] Megan Porta

So you really have focused on providing value that people want and that has been first and foremost for you?

[00:25:54]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes, I think so. I think building that community of people and I really do feel like it is a community because it’s just a lot of people who want to come, they’re like supportive of other people and the things that they’re baking. And it’s really a fun place to be. And everybody, I think everybody, it is a little bit different because you do start out and you’re kind of like, what am I doing?

[00:26:17]   

 And then you make something and you’re like, okay, that could be better. Let’s fix that and make it better. And so I think everyone’s gone through that process. So we all know that a beginner is going to be going through that. So there’s lots of people supporting that person that wants to start right.

[00:26:31]   

 And I feel like my kind of role has just been to like, support people wherever they are in the process.

[00:26:39]  Megan Porta 

 That’s so lovely. And then you talk about community. Are you forming a community on Facebook or are you talking about Instagram? Where are these people meeting?

[00:26:49]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, so I do have a Facebook group that is like. It’s called We Bake Sourdough. So you can go there, and there is kind of a community there. I have community a lot on Instagram. Like, I put up every Sunday, like, what are you baking this. This weekend? And people will all write, like, all the things that they’re baking.

[00:27:06]   

 And it’s fun to see that. Through my email, I get a lot of, you know, people writing back or responding, that type of community. I like to share a lot of what people are baking on my Instagram and my stories. So I feel like a lot of it’s just through those ways that we kind of build that.

[00:27:22]   

 I feel like the other thing is I really try to listen to what people are asking for. So, for example, everyone keeps saying, do you have a cookbook? Do you have a cookbook? Do you have a cookbook? And that was part of last. Last summer and fall is I actually worked together with a couple other sourdough bakers, and we put out a collaborative cookbook.

[00:27:41]   

 And that has been really well received. And then I do have a cookbook coming out with a publisher in the fall, this coming up fall, which will be a true, like, beginner’s guide to sourdough. But it also has, like. Like incredible recipes, you know, for every stage of sourdough. So if you’re. If you’re kind of intermediate or whatever, it would be perfect for you. Or it’s a great book to give to somebody that wants to learn how to start it, you know.

[00:28:04]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. Do you have a YouTube channel? Do you. Are you active there?

[00:28:08]  Amy Coyne 

 I am starting to become a little more active. I do have a YouTube channel. I posted years ago, like, that original. My original, like, sourdough recipe on there. And things have changed a little over the years, but it’s still a good resource. And I’m planning to be posting more on there throughout this year.

[00:28:24]   

 That’s definitely, like, one of my goals kind of going forward because a lot of my. I have so much video content, but a lot of it I’ve put into reels. And so I feel like I need to diversify that content a little bit.

[00:28:37]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, repurpose that for sure. You could probably grow quickly on YouTube. I feel like your content allows for so many different ways to share it. Like, the cookbook idea is great. Collaborating with the cookbook is great. Blog, Instagram, YouTube. The world really is your oyster because people learn differently, right? Some people love YouTube, some people like opening a book so you can kind of meet people where they’re at and provide all those different avenues.

[00:29:05]   

 So I have a question for you. So a lot of people listening will be like, okay, this is great, Amy, but you’re. You have a super, super focused niche, which is baking sourdough bread. But I’m a. I’ll just use my niche, comfort food niche, which it’s like, that is not solving a huge life problem for people.

[00:29:26]   

 So how do you recommend kind of using your strategy that you use to gain a lot of success for just kind of a more generic niche?

[00:29:37]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah, so I think a big part of it. I feel like a big part of it has been consistency for me, like, showing up every. Every day, really, in Instagram. And I do think I would. I would say, like, the. Just those Q and A stories were a huge part of how I learned what my audience needed or wanted from me.

[00:29:59]   

 So I think that, that, like, really trying to dial into, like, what your audience wants, the one that you already have or, you know, maybe really small right now, but to really dive into that a little bit more, I went to my first conference in January, the Tastemaker Conference, and listened to a talk. I don’t know, it was a presentation, and it was really. It was really inspiring. But one of the things they talked about was like, polling your. Your audience and finding out, like, what. What are the things that you could help them solve? Because there’s a reason that somebody is following you, and you may not know what that reason is, but figuring out, like, what that thing that is that you can solve, I think that can help you to that will help you to grow. And so one of the things that I did when I got back from that conference is I sent out an email, but also put on my social media and said, will you fill this out, this questionnaire or whatever? And then I got all those answers, and I was actually able to use ChatGPT to help me compile them all and say, like, who is this target person that I’m serving?

[00:31:06]   

 And, like, what is it that I can do for that person? And so I like that idea that I can, like, look at that. That, like, person in my mind and say, like, hey, what could I do to help this person? And I really feel like going into that mindset of, like, how do I help? That can change your growth.

[00:31:25]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, chat GBT is brilliant for that sort of thing. Something that our. Our minds have a really hard time wrapping around, especially when it comes to our own businesses. Right?

[00:31:36]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah.

[00:31:37]  Megan Porta 

 Having just a robot. Literally look at it and be like, oh, this is. You need to do this and here’s your person and here’s what you should.

[00:31:45]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes, yes, it’s been, it’s definitely helped. I’ve. As I’ve gotten into it a little bit more, I’m like, oh, this really could save me time in this area or this area. And it doesn’t, you know, take the place of all the things that I’m doing, but it can really help me to, to figure out a little bit better.

[00:32:04]  Megan Porta 

 Yep. Okay. I was curious about your email list. How often or I guess do you. You must have a massive list. And then do you think that you really build your community there as well?

[00:32:16]  Amy Coyne 

 So that’s also something I’m working on in 2025. I send out about two emails a week right now. I’m hoping to increase that a little bit, to provide more value in those things that I’ve kind of learned from my audience, my community, through that poll and everything like that.

[00:32:33]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, it is interesting how you’ve started and gone about your business. I feel like it’s a little bit backwards, but kind of cool.

[00:32:41]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:32:41]  Megan Porta 

 Right. Because a lot of people come in with all knowledge. Like, I need to start the blog and then I’m going to build my email list. And then, and then, and then. But you were just like, I have this knowledge I want to share and I want to help people grow in this area.

[00:32:55]   

 And then you’ve kind of worked from there.

[00:32:57]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes. And, and that’s what I would say is to. When you’re thinking about what you want to share, pick something that you’re passionate about that you could wake up and talk about the same thing the next day, because that’s what you’re going to be doing. You know, especially with sourdough, it is hyper specific.

[00:33:13]   

 I get the same questions over and over, but I don’t mind answering them. I enjoy answering them because I feel like it’s really helping somebody and I really like helping people catch that vision of what it could be and could do for them. And so I don’t know what, what your niche is or.

[00:33:30]   

 But if, you know, if it’s making comforting meals or things like that, maybe you’re, you’re thinking like, when do people want this? Or what is, you know, what’s the. What is? How could I help somebody with this? And so I see a lot of people doing meal plans or, you know, things like that.

[00:33:44]   

 And those are big helps, but it’s really focusing on what does my community like need or want from me? And picking something that you love, I think is a big thing too because.

[00:33:56]  Megan Porta 

 Like you said, you have to literally show up day in and day out and do it. So you might as well love it.

[00:34:01]  Amy Coyne 

 Right, right, right.

[00:34:04]  Megan Porta 

 So if you could go back to before you started your Instagram about Sourdough and your blog, what would you change? What have you learned? What would you do differently?

[00:34:15]  Amy Coyne 

 I think that, I mean I like how my story has unfolded because I feel like I really started with that passion project part of it. But I wish that I had have known more about like SEO, about how to set things up. I didn’t even use recipe cards like initially. I mean that’s how much I knew nothing.

[00:34:34]   

 And I thought I knew what I was doing, but I, I didn’t really. And so I had a lot of issues even with knowing what you know, I was just. I would use a better platform. I would have started out with like a better website. I was on WordPress.com and so that caused some issues later down the road.

[00:34:56]   

 So I mean things like that that were just a little bit tricky. I also, I maybe would have like asked like I have my sister helping me now to like doing some. She’s incredible. But she’s a high school English teacher so she’s been great with like writing and you know, things like that.

[00:35:12]   

 She’s been helping me with some things and I wish I would have utilized her a little bit earlier on. I mean so things like that I just, I didn’t know what I didn’t know but I think that, I think that those would be some of the things I would have changed. Probably learning more about what I was kind of getting myself into.

[00:35:30]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, podcasts like Eat Blog Talk help with that like as far as well.

[00:35:34]  Amy Coyne 

 And I will say that has been my this last year. I love your podcast but I’ve. I have switched from listening to audiobooks all the time where I now I have a business type podcast on all the time and I think that just like. Or a blog related podcast or something. I think that getting my head in that space has helped me to take even myself as a business more seriously.

[00:35:56]   

 Like what I’m actually doing.

[00:35:58]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not even listening to blog specific podcasts. Right. But just that business minded information coming into your head makes such a huge difference. I totally can relate to that.

[00:36:10]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:36:11]  Megan Porta 

 And then just learning about the basics too. Like we have stuff on the podcast that’s like WordPress A to Z. Here’s what you need to know, don’t do WordPress.com and just. But it’s like, like, I should have.

[00:36:24]  Amy Coyne 

 Listened to that one.

[00:36:24]  Megan Porta 

 No, I know. Like you said, it’s like, you. You don’t know what you don’t know. So if you don’t know to listen to a certain podcast, then you’re not gonna do it so well.

[00:36:34]  Amy Coyne 

 And I just think, and honestly, I feel, and I don’t know, maybe this is something that is becoming a little more prevalent, is people who are getting, you know, having a bigger social media following and then deciding they want to create a blog from it. Right. And so you’re coming into it. And I did have the blog, but I wasn’t doing anything right with it, so.

[00:36:53]   

 But I think that you have this little bit of a difference because I am coming in with all of these people. Right. But I don’t know what to actually do to, like, with that website. So your podcast and things like that are helpful when I’m like, oh, I need to go fix this or do this.

[00:37:10]   

 And so I feel like it is kind of backwards, where I’m trying to figure out along the way a little more than if I had. Have come in more like knowing what I was doing.

[00:37:20]  Megan Porta 

 And just so you know, I love backward stories. They’re always so inspiring and intriguing because it’s like the reverse engineering. We’ve. We’ve all kind of. Most of us have followed this sort of template, and to learn that someone else made it work really well, doing it a different way is like, oh, maybe I need to unlearn everything I know and just start fresh.

[00:37:44]   

 So thank you for sharing all of this.

[00:37:46]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:37:47]  Megan Porta 

 Is there anything else you would impart to people listening who maybe have stagnant growth? They’re not connecting with their people. Maybe the consistency is an issue for them.

[00:37:58]  Amy Coyne 

 I think that, you know, every day still, I think even doing this podcast, this is the first podcast I’ve ever done. You’re. I think that, you know, I feel like this, you know, voice in my head that’s like, should I do this? Like, is this the right thing to do? And also, I’m a little fearful.

[00:38:18]   

 Like, do I want to put myself out there to. To do this? And, you know, I keep, in my. I keep just saying, nope, you’re gonna do it. You know, like, it’s one of those, like, I have to talk myself down from that and say, no, you’re gonna show up. You’re gonna put your face on an Instagram story today.

[00:38:35]   

 Nope, you’re gonna, you know, and I go back to, you know, I can look back to two years ago where the reason that I am where I am today is because I did that. And I’m not a huge goal setter, but, like, but I said, you know, like, I could do that, and I’m going to do that and just see what happens.

[00:38:55]   

 And I feel like the worst. And I honestly feel like it’s a little bit like this too with Sourdough, right? Like, you’re starting out and you’re like, I get. So many people are like, I don’t even want to start. It feels intimidating, you know, but the thing is that once you start, like, that’s almost the hardest thing is to start.

[00:39:11]   

 And then you just have to take that next step and then you, you know, and you just kind of. And you just have to talk yourself off of that, like, feeling like you’re. You’re not worth it or whatever. Not worth it. But you know what? Imposter syndrome. That’s what it is.

[00:39:26]  Megan Porta 

 Yes.

[00:39:27]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:28]  Megan Porta 

 I love that you’re drawing parallels between Sourdough and your blogging journey. This is. That was so cool. But you’re right, that momentum, there’s so much power in the momentum. So the getting started is the absolute hardest part with anything. And then once you’re rolling, you’re like, oh, my gosh, why did I pause?

[00:39:47]  Amy Coyne 

 And I will say with Instagram, if people do want to get started on Instagram, like, I would say you have your next content already in your phone. Like, it doesn’t have to be like, don’t overthink it. Like, that’s what I would say with Instagram, because, you know, pick a couple strategies that you want to maybe follow, but don’t, don’t overthink it.

[00:40:10]   

 And, you know, get your little. I don’t know if you want a couple Instagram tips, but, like, but just like, you know, some of those, like, quick transitions are really helpful. So, like, if. Don’t let the clip last too long. Get it, you know, quick in there. And people also, they like to see your own house, your own, you know, they like to see that you’re a normal person, that you’re making this and that it’s not some, you know, like, robot.

[00:40:38]   

 Yes, exactly, exactly. So I think that that’s helpful. And then I would say, like, just post it. You don’t know how it’s gonna, you know how it’s gonna do. And it may get nothing. And, oh, well, you’re gonna try again again tomorrow or the next day. You Know, but to have that there, I think that it’s getting into those habits of.

[00:40:56]   

 Of doing that, and. And it may seem overwhelming to do 90 days or whatever. So I’m not saying that, you know, but just be consistent about whatever you pick to do.

[00:41:04]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. Start with 14 or.

[00:41:06]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes. Yeah, just start with something. Exactly.

[00:41:09]  Megan Porta 

 And then can you speak to the part where you were talking about how, like, putting your face on camera was kind of a thing for you initially? This is an issue for. You have no idea. I mean, maybe you do, but it’s an issue for so many people. They do not want to do that.

[00:41:25]   

 They resist it for years, and then when they do it, they’re like, oh, I shouldn’t have resisted. So how can people kind of get over that and just do it?

[00:41:34]  Amy Coyne 

 So I thought about this a lot because, honestly, I would. I would go to, like, a Marco Polo type app and just, like, talk to your mom or, you know, like a sister or a friend or somebody, and you start to get used. Used to, like, talking in. In the phone and not, like, touching your hair all the time or, like, figuring out, you know, what’s on, you know, on your face or whatever, and you start to kind of get over that.

[00:41:59]   

 You start to get over that and then that. That. Actually, I had to use Marco Polo to work with some people, and that gave me some of the confidence to be able to, like, get onto Instagram stories. Yeah. And start talking. And I also realized that when I show up as my authentic self in the stories that’ people, like, like, that’s what’s relatable to people.

[00:42:23]   

 They. They don’t want. I mean, yeah, there are times where I’m like, I start to film something. I’m like, nope, delete that. Like, I’m doing it over. But the more that you do it, the easier it does get. And I think it’s important to remember people like connection. They like you. They want to feel related, like, relatable to you.

[00:42:40]   

 They want to feel like you’re their friend. And so, you know, if you show up, like, completely, you know, your hair done, all that kind of stuff, that’s fine, but they also want to know you’re a real person. So I just show up whenever. I don’t really have a strategy for it, and I probably should have more of a strategy for it, but, you know, like, they will see me in the morning when I’m taking my kids to school and I have my hair up and a messy bun or whatever, and then I’ll come back on when I’m ready for the day or something, you know.

[00:43:10]   

 So I think, I think seeing that and I get a lot of people that say, like, I feel like you’re my friend. And I hope that people feel that way because I feel that way about them. If they’re making sourdough come, I’ll give you some of my starter. You’re my neighbor. But I just really think that those baby steps.

[00:43:28]   

 But start small and use an app with a friend or something to start you off.

[00:43:35]  Megan Porta 

 The Marco Polo idea is so great because you can see your. If you haven’t used Marco Polo, it’s just. It’s basically a communication app where you can talk to people, you know, and you see you talking, so it’s not like you’re looking at someone else when you’re talking. You’re seeing your face. So you can kind of see all of those.

[00:43:53]   

 Like, I noticed when I first started using Marko Polo that I would do this a lot. Like, I would touch my hair and I would, like, itch my head. Like, what am I doing? So then you start to kind of learn what you’re doing when you.

[00:44:04]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:44:05]  Megan Porta 

 That you don’t even know. And then that gets you used or gets you ready for, like you said, stories. The first entry point.

[00:44:14]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah.

[00:44:14]  Megan Porta 

 But yeah, it’s. It’s a good. That’s a really good piece of advice. Anything else about Instagram, anything you’ve learned or would love to share?

[00:44:23]  Amy Coyne 

 I think that, that honestly, it’s just kind of picking a next, you know, the next, next thing. And I, and I feel like, go to your audience, like, find what they want from you, you know, how are you helping them? And then do that. Like, it’s the same with the cookbooks. Go to that they wanted it.

[00:44:40]   

 Okay. Like, let’s see how I can make that happen. Or, you know, that kind of a thing when you get asked over and over for something or. Another example would be in. In my sourdough recipes, I have baker’s schedules. So sourdough. Right. They could take a really long time. So. But if you know the temperature of your dough, then you can, you know, know when it’s going to be ready, when you could shape it, all of that kind of stuff.

[00:45:02]   

 So I’ve added into my recipes all of my, like long sourdough recipes have like a baker schedule so that people can kind a timeline for like what they’re looking at with a recipe. And those are things that I get a lot of feedback on. Like, people really like that because it helps especially a beginner to kind of know what to expect instead of just do this and then watch and you’ll know.

[00:45:22]   

 Because you may not know. Right? Yeah.

[00:45:25]  Megan Porta 

 So listen, tuning in, listening, following that next step, and just connecting and being consistent. These are the keys I’m pulling out from your story, Amy?

[00:45:35]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes. I think so.

[00:45:37]  Megan Porta 

 Yeah. Thank you for sharing all of this. I’m so inspired by it. I know my listeners are going to be like, what? This is so cool. And there are little nuggets in here that can apply to really any journey, any blogging journey. So we really appreciate this.

[00:45:52]  Amy Coyne 

 I hope it’s helpful because I do feel like I do benefit from a few, like the sourdough craze or, you know, things like that. But I also feel like, you know, I do hope that it is a helpful. Helpful to people who are. Who are on this journey because I think so many.

[00:46:09]   

 I think you guys are all incredible. Like, all the things that, you know, all the things that. That you do and the communities that you serve, and it’s. It’s inspiring to me, so.

[00:46:19]  Megan Porta 

 Oh, food bloggers are so awesome. They just. They truly are. I think that sometimes we forget that, like, I need to remind people more often how amazing they are and how inspiring and smart and all, like, all the words. Yeah. So thank you for reminding everyone of that, and we just really appreciate your story today.

[00:46:39]   

 Amy, do you have either a favorite quote or words of inspiration to leave us with?

[00:46:44]  Amy Coyne 

 Yeah. So I think maybe this kind of sums up what I’ve been talking about, but I don’t think. I think my words of inspiration would be, you’re never or you’re rarely going to feel ready to, like, take that next step. Step, but do it anyway. So I think that that is. Is really kind of sums up my story, but it’s kind of like, you know what?

[00:47:04]   

 Like, if you do it, you’re gonna. There’s something will come of it. You’re either gonna learn one way or another, you know, And I think that just by doing it is. It’s hard to get over, but you can do it and good things can come from it.

[00:47:18]  Megan Porta 

 So I just started a Substack account recently. I don’t know, just for fun. I was. It’s an experiment, but I literally just wrote an article on this last night. I was inspired to write about this. So it’s really weird that you’re saying this, but literally just take the next step. And it’s so hard sometimes to have faith enough to do that, but when you do, there’s a next step that’s going to reveal itself and that’s like basically your message of your entire story.

[00:47:44]   

 So, yeah, thank you for sharing.

[00:47:46]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes.

[00:47:46]  Megan Porta 

 We’ll put together a show notes page for you, Amy. If you want to go look at those, you can head to eatblogtalk.com/amybakesbread. Tell everyone where they can find you, Amy.

[00:47:56]  Amy Coyne 

 Yes, well, you can find me across all the social media platforms. Amy Bakes Bread. My website is amybakesbread.com I do have an online Sourdough course. So if you’re brand new and want to get started with sourdough, you can use the code Welcome10 and you can get 10 off an online course. And then I’ve got cookbooks.

[00:48:14]   

 I’ve got a collaborative cookbook that I did. We’ll add those maybe in the show notes and one coming out in the fall, which is going to be incredible. So I’m really excited about that. So come find me Instagram, amybakesbread or any variety of the TikTok. I’m on there a little bit. Yeah, yeah, all the places.

[00:48:32]  Megan Porta 

 That’s great. Well, thanks again, Amy, and thank you for listening, food bloggers. I will see you next time. 

[00:48:40]  Outro

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.