Episode 448: Should You Give Up on Your Blog? Avoid Discouragement When You Face Blogging Challenges with Michelle Morey

EBT448 – Michelle Morey

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, and I’ve been a food blogger for over 12 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.

Intro  00:35

No matter where you’re at in your blogging journey. At times, I know that you feel discouragement. I’ve been a food blogger for 13 years now. I think it’s 13 years. And I can look back and see you so many times throughout my own journey where I have been discouraged by many different things. 

Michelle Morey from Barefoot in the Pines brings this issue to the table today and she also gives us tips about how to avoid discouragement when it comes our way. She talks through a few key points such as finding a keyword research tool that takes the load off when it comes to SEO, connecting with fellow food bloggers, and how important that is to alleviate discouragement. Not comparing ourselves planning scheduling things out and so much more. This is a great episode Michelle was super easy to chat with. I think you’re gonna love it. This is episode number 448 sponsored by RankIQ. 

Sponsor  01:34

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Here’s what a few past and current members are saying. Brittany and Terrance, food bloggers at Plant Power Couple said, “If you feel isolated and struggle with believing in yourself joining the group is the biggest thing that can change your mindset”. Barbara, food blogger at Butter and Baggage, says “Since joining the Eat Blog Talk Mastermind I’ve developed confidence in myself and what I can accomplish. It is the best investment I could have made” and Carry, food blogger at Talking Meals, said “the price tag is minimal compared to what you get back from the group – the motivation and support are invaluable. 

Head to eat blogtalk.com/mastermind join the waitlist while the offers are hot. We invite you to be part of the magic with us. 

Megan Porta  03:16

A born and raised mainer, Michelle is a stay at home mom that started blogging right before the pandemic. She has been working with food since graduating from high school in 2004. And has successfully turned her love of food into a passionate business. A fun fact Michelle and her husband met at the bakery they both worked at and became best friends eventually getting married. Today they have one daughter, one dog and one cat. They share a love of all baked goods and love to entertain and explore beautiful Maine outdoors. 

Megan Porta  03:47

Michelle, so good to have you on the podcast. How are you today?

Michelle Morey  03:51

I’m great. Megan, how are you?

Megan Porta  03:53

I’m doing well. I’m super excited to start my day with you. I’m excited to talk about this topic. I think this is really important and relevant right now just as a food blogger myself who feels discouragement, and this year has been particularly discouraging at times. So this will be a really great conversation. But before we get into that, do you have a fun fact to share with us?

Michelle Morey  04:16

Yes. So after college, I went to culinary school and then right after that I ended up getting a job at a bakery. And so I worked there for a week. And then I ended up staging for a pastry chef position to at a small Italian restaurant so it was kind of like pitting them against each other because I knew I wanted to be in the food space and you know work in a restaurant or bakery or something like that. So I ended up turning down the pastry chef position just because I was like, like early 20s I need like out on my own I needed like insurance and benefits and stuff and the bakery had that so that some fact part of it is If I hadn’t turned down that pastry chef position, I would not have met my husband because he ended up working at the bakery that I ended up staying at. So like, if I hadn’t turned on that pastry chef position, I wouldn’t have my husband. I wouldn’t have, you know, this beautiful house. I mean, and my dog and my cat and my daughter, and it was just like, it blew my mind. How does one small it like meaningless decision, it seemed like at the time, like changed everything, your whole life…

Megan Porta  05:32

Okay, first of all, have you seen sliding doors? That movie? It’s like, maybe a 90s movie. 

Michelle Morey  05:38

No, I haven’t. 

Megan Porta  05:39

Okay. So it’s Gwyneth Paltrow. And it’s the same concept where she misses a train or subway that she’s going to take and it shows you the parallel live. So if she made the subway, and if she didn’t make the subway and how, like one track lead to this life and one track then it was all just like one door. Like, that’s it just one slide of a door. So that reminded me of that, but oh my gosh, isn’t that crazy? Like, there are certain things in my life to where I’m like, if that one little tiny thing wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t be here. And it’s, it’s like very deep, right? Looking back. And

Michelle Morey  06:17

Yeah, you know, very woowoo it’s like, Yeah, crazy to think about, but it’s like, oh my god, I can’t even imagine what my life would be like, like, if I just stayed there.

Megan Porta  06:28

You know, especially for people who really love their lives. You’re like, Oh, thank God. Thank God, I didn’t choose that other job, you know? Well, we’re starting at a deep note. I love it Monday morning deep or is actually Tuesday morning, deep thoughts. So Thanks, Michelle. Yes. Okay, so we’re gonna talk today about just getting discouraged and ways to avoid getting discouraged while blogging because inevitably, this will find us no matter what, like, if you’re in it for the long haul, you will at times get discouraged. But first, I would love to hear just a little bit about your blog, can you give us a little background on it?

Michelle Morey  07:07

Sure. So the blog is called Barefoot in the Pines. And it’s just a food blog. Originally, when I started it, I started back in February of 2020. And I was a stay at home mom just kind of looking for a hobby and maybe some way to like earn a little extra income on the side. So I started that blog, and it had intended on being like, or I had intended it to be like a DIY and home blog and food. But it just evolved into a food blog. And it’s just a nod to you know, living in Maine and I’m always just barefoot around my house and stuff like that. So the so Maine is called the Pine Tree State. So that’s why in the Pines is a, you know, a tip of the hat to the Pine Tree State. And yeah, just embracing like Maine cooking and just like, you know, just kind of the lifestyle in New England. And we have beautiful seasons and just very seasonal recipes and stuff. So it’s just basically just a way to embrace that and kind of take traditional family. It’s very family focused to like lots of dinners and things for kids. But like with a New England kind of spin.

Megan Porta  08:20

That’s right, you’re Maine..? What do you call it? Mainer?

Michelle Morey  08:24

Yeah. 

Megan Porta  08:24

I think I’ve never said that word my life. You’re a Mainer. I think I’ve talked to you about this before because I’ve never been to Maine. It’s one of the few states I’ve never been to, and I want to go so bad. So when that happens, I will let you know because I would love tips and anything you have to share. Yes. Okay. So your blog is relatively new. And I’m curious about at what point did you realize like, oh, my gosh, this is like a very overwhelming job with a lot that goes into it, whether it’s a hobby or not like I call it a job. But yeah, at what point did you realize that?

Michelle Morey  09:02

I think when I first started just when I took my first blogging course, like, I took a course like right at the very beginning. I don’t even remember how I found it or how I got the idea. But I stumbled across it. And I was like, Well, this sounds nice, because I thought it would just be as simple as you know, you write a recipe and then you just post it on the internet and take some pictures and everybody will find it. But when I dug into the course and saw how many chapters and like how many hours I was spending, I was like, Oh my gosh, like there’s so much involved.

And then after I got through that and I got my blog all set up, it really started getting I wouldn’t even say overwhelming when the word SEO kept coming up. Because the blogging course was just pretty much how to set up a blog but it didn’t touch on SEO. So I kept hearing about it and stuff and I’m like nah, I don’t need that. And I was just kind of diving into Pinterest. And then when I finally understood what SEO was, and like how important it was like, then that’s when it got so like, oh my gosh, like this is a lot of work like a lot of research like this, like a legitimate job. Like it’s not just you can’t just throw a recipe up there, you can’t write about whatever you want. So I think it was when I finally understood what like SEO was, and when Pinterest, like crashed back into joining, and I lost all my traffic.

Megan Porta  10:29

Yes, you’re not alone. We’ve all I feel like we’ve all been there. So we get it. And that word just SEO is kind of overwhelming in itself. Because it’s like, what the heck is that, especially when you’re just coming in and, you know, taking pretty pictures, like you said, and making food and oh, this will be fun, all creative. And you’re like, I don’t want anything to do with that word SEO because it’s, I don’t know what it means. And we avoid it. And speaking for probably the masses, there’s a period of time in our journeys when a lot of us avoid that. And we’re like, oh, we don’t need that. But we find out quickly that we actually really do need it. 

Megan Porta  11:07

So how did you navigate that just the SEO portion, what made it easier, less overwhelming and less discouraging?

Michelle Morey  11:14

So I joined a lot of like Facebook groups and blogging communities and kind of just got immersed in like, just like the lingo of it, and people talking about it. So it felt like, I don’t know, it felt more organic and not like a brand new, like concept because it was a brand new concept at the time, like when I really started digging into it. So like I just I took a lot of time to just figure out what SEO was like what it was, before I actually started like diving into, like really getting my hooks in it. So after I figured out what it was and how important it was, I ended up just taking a course on SEO. And it was just a very analytical and logical approach, because my blog had been just very creative and like baking what I wanted and just make it beautiful.

So I switched gears to take more like numbers and, you know, statistics and analytic like approach to it. And when I started stripping away, like all the emotional stuff and like the the feelings about the what I was going to the content that I was creating, and sort of just looking at statistics and analytics, it almost felt like freeing, because I was like, Oh, well, these are the numbers like these are like, these are the facts, like I could look at a set of facts and know what does well, and how to do that well, and stuff like that. So that helped me take a lot of the guesswork and stuff out. So…

Megan Porta  12:49

Yeah, like we were talking about earlier, SEO is daunting when you first hear it and you think you don’t need it. And then you soon realize when you start digging in that it’s really not as bad as you were thinking and knowledge is power, if you just know what it is, and know why it’s important. And that, you know, it gets your traffic, if you know a little bit about just a little bit about it can get you really far. So I love that you took a course you knew to go immerse yourself in groups and learn and see what you needed to do. Now do you use I think you’re a Rank IQ user, correct?

Michelle Morey  13:24

Yes, yep, I actually recently started using that. And I just love it. And like I use it for a couple of different things. Like I definitely optimize my content. So all those old blogs that I made, like when I was just making whatever I wanted, I run those through Rank IQ and it’s great because I can find like, like, I don’t have to trash those posts, like I can just find a new keyword to kind of, like, reconfigure it around. And like Rank IQ helps me like, you know, you know, bring it up to Google speed. So like all this time that I spent on these older posts, they weren’t great back then. But I’m able to transform them into usable content now.

I love Rank IQ mostly for when I’m coming out of like a summer slump or if I just I don’t know, like just feel like the about blogging, like I’m just not into it or I just can’t get creative. I love their keyword library. Because I just get so inspired. So like I will just take like what do I feel like making so it’s kind of like you get that you know, creativity back like what am I in the mood to make and you go into the Rank IQ library type in like cheesecake for instance, it’s my absolute favorite thing to bake. So whenever I’m in the mood for cheesecake, I’ll go into Rank IQ and be like I’m feeling cheesecakey today, I put it in and it gives me a list of like, cheesecakes I can rank for and stuff like that.

So it’s like, I don’t have to think about it. I know, there’s like something I want to make that would bring me joy to make and like, here are a bunch of keywords and how to get it ranking and stuff like that. So it’s great when you just don’t want to think and just don’t want to, you know, really put a lot of like, emotion and stuff into like, you can still like fill your cup creatively, and like have a win automatically. So I love Rank IQ for that.

Megan Porta  15:21

I totally agree with all everything that you just said, it’s like you are handed  keywords perfect for you on a silver platter. And there’s no other keyword research tool like that. And I think people are a little daunted by the price tag. It’s not like super expensive, but it’s more expensive than Keysearch, for example. But once people get into it, they’re like, oh my gosh, why have I been putting this off? It is such a good tool for exactly what you’re saying, Michelle, just that creative. The creative ideas, and you know, cheesecake, all you have to put in is cheesecake and it gives you this huge list of ideas. And you’re like, I never would have thought of that.

So yeah, I’m glad that that kind of inspired you. I was I was just telling someone the other day that if it weren’t for Rank IQ, I probably would have thrown my old blog, like into another solar system by now. Because yeah, I mean, I just was out of ideas like what do I do with this thing? I have no idea what to do with it. I thought all my old content was just gone that there’s no way I could have saved any of it and Rank IQ just gave it all new life. And my traffic has, I mean, minus that, like Pinterest magic that I experienced years and years ago, I have more traffic than I’ve ever had. I mean, it’s it’s such a great tool. So I’m so glad you found found magic there too. 

Michelle Morey  16:42

Yes, and it gets me excited too. So like going back, like when I’m feeling discouraged or in like a slump. And I do want to just make something like looking at like, again, going back to the cheesecake example. Like if I’m in the mood to make a cheesecake. And then like there’s all these cheesecakes that Rank IQ has listed as something that I could actually rank for. I get excited. And it’s like my wheels start turning. And it’s like, oh, I never thought of that before. Like that sounds amazing. So it’s like, I don’t know it just really, like just reignite, like a little fire or spark. So I love it. It’s like a co-worker versus a tool to me. 

Megan Porta  17:19

Oh, I like that. And it’s something you don’t expect from a keyword research tool. You don’t expect to go in and get inspired. You know, like getting the creative juices flowing. That’s not expected. So I think when people find that they get really surprised like, Oh, thank you Rank IQ, your pal, your buddy, my co-worker. Alright, so do you have specific encouragement for maybe newer or older bloggers who are avoiding SEO to just have any words, like, just do it or whatever?

Michelle Morey  17:48

Yeah. So like, over the years, I found if you just take like a step back, or just zoom out. And I mean, that kind of like, literally and figuratively, because sometimes, like, for me, my slow season is in the summer. And I remember as a new blogger, and even like, like maybe a year ago or something, I would just get so bummed out, like after the holiday rush. And after that really good holiday and fall traffic and stuff. And you start to see the numbers decline. I would just get like really like, like, this is so discouraging. Like, where are my numbers going? And I would kind of like panic pin and like, try to get things, you know, stuff like that. But what I found, you know, as time went on, like, if you just zoom out, so like, like, get out of the current moment, like, yeah, it’s not great right now.

But just think, the bigger picture like think overall, like how was it a couple months ago? How was it? You know, last year, depending on how long you’ve been blogging, like just remember back, like, what blogging look like, at a good time, you know? And then, like, especially when you’re a new blogger, you’re checking your analytics, like every day, like, where’s my traffic who’s on right now. And like, when you’re checking every day, you’ll see like, some days, it’s green, and then some days it has the red and it could be like a point 6% But it’s still like when you see the red, you’re like, super bummed out. 

Michelle Morey  19:20

So my advice is just back it up, like look at the year, like do 12 months, two years, however far to let you go back and just look at the pattern of like your analytics. So if you notice that like this year’s, you know traffic is following the same pattern as last year’s than you’re doing okay. And that that just brought me relief to know like, okay, like, because I get in this like Doom like in the moment like, oh my gosh, my traffic is down. I’m freaking out. But it’s like, okay, let’s just take a step back. What did it look like last year? And if it’s doing the same thing it did last You’re like, you’re fine. Like, there’s just some things that are out of your control. So yeah, so my advice is like, keep going. And then if you have enough data, just just get a bigger picture. Don’t be so in the day to day in the moment because like, you know, it’s just a drop, it’s a drop in the bucket, like, just get the bigger picture. Does that really helped me?

Megan Porta  20:22

That is such great advice. It’s really hard to do, though, just to give that a nod, like, it’s so easy to say, like, just step back. But I have been there so many times when you’re looking at the analytics, and you’re so overwhelmed by the red. And you just, it’s almost like, it’s a magnet, like, you can’t look away, this is negative, this is bad. This is all you know, you just start going down this rabbit hole of terrible thinking. So it’s really hard to do that. But if you can do it, it’s so helpful, like, okay, there’s a pattern here, you’re okay. And that’s where this is a good segway to just having a, you know, like a peer group, people surrounding you who are positive and encouraging, who are going to remind you of that, because sometimes we do need those outside reminders, because we can’t always do this on our own. So what do you think about that Michelle, just having, you know, people, food bloggers to connect with who will help you with these sorts of things?

Michelle Morey  21:21

1,000% like I had, I met a fellow blogger, and she was like, a little bit ahead of me. So I do recommend like a blogger that has like a year or two on you like that has seen some things in the blogging [journey]. Yeah. But ya know, I was very lucky. Because when I was going through, you know, these dips, like my dips for the very first time or like my first year and losing traffic and stuff, it was so helpful to have somebody that has been through it. And like, I could like bounce ideas off of her and be like, Oh my gosh, my traffic is down. Or like, I don’t know about this keyword, it was supposed to do well, but it’s not doing anything. It’s just so nice to have like buddies that can just, like talk you off the ledge and just like calm me down and just be like, reassuring voice. And I do love because this podcast too, can serve as that voice like, especially if you’re a new blogger. So like if you’re just starting out and haven’t built that blogging community. It’s just nice to have like a podcast like this so you can listen to it. So you have like connections and like expert advice. So if you don’t have a community of bloggers of your own yet, you have this resource at least to kind of help you with that until you make like a bunch of blogging friends and stuff. So I think it’s 100% like million percent important to have like somebody to turn to that has been through it that can like help you and kind of hold your hand and just give you a hug when you need it.

Megan Porta  22:55

Oh my gosh, that’s so important. 

Sponsor  22:57

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Megan Porta  24:19

Like Michelle said, I will fill your gap, I will be your friend until you find that group and I will do my best to help you find that group because without it, I think all of us probably would have thrown in the towel. We you just need it like if you want to succeed and you want to make this a thriving business, you need those connections with food bloggers and there’s a lot of ways to find them. So yeah, so agree with that. And just like the information and the support and friendships, I’ve made lifelong friendships, from food bloggers, and it’s so vital. What else do you have Michelle as far as ways to avoid discouragement?

Michelle Morey  24:59

Oh, I’d like to just take breaks when necessary. Like, I feel like at least when I was first starting out, I used to feel guilty about like taking a break, because I was like, I just have to get that new content. And I’ve got to, you know, keep pushing and pushing and pushing. And you know, when you’re discouraged, I find that sometimes it’s not necessarily helpful, it’s kind of adding fuel to the fire, like, and then you eventually burnout. So I think it’s important to kind of remember why you started blogging, you know, whether it was to be your own boss, or a creative outlet and stuff like that. And just kind of like, softstir that and just remember and nurture that. So take breaks if you need to, and find pocket, like when you’re feeling discouraged to like, kind of fill your cup. So like, if testing recipes, is what you know, makes you feel best, like that’s mine. Like my cup filler is like when I’m kind of just feeling discouraged and blocked. I just love cooking, I just get back in the kitchen. And whether it becomes anything you know, but just do something like that you love about the job. And just kind of focus on that for a little while until things just kind of balance out. And then you can, you know, slowly get back to your mojo and like, just kind of ignite that fire again. So yeah, just feed yourself, just feed yourself.

Megan Porta  26:25

That’s such great advice. I love that. And when we were talking about the analytics, and how that can be like a magnet pulling you in, I feel like this is the same thing. Sometimes I resist breaks, because I just want to get the work done. And it’s like, I hear this from so many food bloggers, once you get started, it’s so hard. It’s like you’re in this vortex that you can’t get out of and you you don’t want to take breaks. So sometimes you have to force yourself to take breaks, right?

Michelle Morey  26:52

It’s really hard. Like, honestly, if I’m gonna be super honest, like, I think it wasn’t until last year where I was like, Okay, I’m gonna take like, a legitimate vacation. Like, I just need to just stop to, like, take a break, like nothing’s going to implode, like, it’ll be fine. You know. And that’s, it’s actually really hard when you’re a brand new blogger, because you have this push to just keep pushing out content. And I feel like you still have a bit more fire because like you have more stuff fueling and when you start getting those first thing is like, you know, just drive traffic, you know, you get really excited about it. But as you get more seasoned, you do start to feel exhausted and discouraged. And like that, I think it’s just good to just take a step back and just kind of recharge, rest, and just kind of let ya kind of let your juices just come back.

Megan Porta  27:46

Yeah, it’s very necessary and breaks daily, but also breaks like you’re saying a vacation, like a legit vacation or even like I’ve started doing in recent years, like kind of a summer off. I mean, I don’t really take the whole time off. But I don’t work that much. I do these interviews, I do kind of basic necessities with the blog, but you know, things are moving. So I don’t know, I do take a lot of time off. So that too. So think like micro like daily, like get out for a walk. Get outside if you can, but also on the broader scale, like Michelle saying, take a vacation. You deserve it. 

Megan Porta  28:26

Yes. I mean, we wanted to be our own bosses. So it’s like, no point being your own boss, if you can’t take any time off.

Megan Porta  28:32

I know right. Right. Exactly. Yeah, that’s such a great point.

Michelle Morey  28:37

And plan it. Like you have to write it in like you have to plan it like, like plan your content, because then you don’t have to think about it like brain dump plant schedule in time. Like, that’s what I ended up doing. Like, I will set my alarm and say no, at 12 o’clock, you’re going to have like at least a 30 minute lunch. No work, like go do you know, and then plan your vacation, plan your content plan writing to you know,

Megan Porta  29:06

Isn’t that funny how we talk to ourselves, I do the same thing, Michelle. I’ll be like, Megan you are… there is leftover salmon in the fridge, we’re going to go eat that at noon. And like I’m my parent, my own parent being, you know, giving orders. It’s so funny. But we do have to be like that sometimes. Otherwise, we just let it slide. And then before we know it, it’s six o’clock and we haven’t moved from our chair and it’s ridiculous. Yes. And then also with that, like accountability too. Sometimes I’ll just tell my husband things that I want to do. If he’s here at the house. I’ll just say Please, will you come get me at such and such time? Or I’ll say that to my boys at their home and they will do it. And that helps me a ton because I don’t want to leave my desk sometimes but when they’re sitting there telling me telling me I have to then I will. Okay what else any other ways to avoid discouragement?

Michelle Morey  29:56

So I touched upon it just a second ago but yeah, planning has been huge for me. Now in when I first started, I wasn’t a huge planner, like I would be like, I would just make recipe, write it up, throw it out there. But now like I’ve really embraced like writing down and creating content calendars and like just planning my photography days, planning my writing days planning, like days that I have to take off, because I have a daughter that’s going to be going into kindergarten, and she’s got different appointments and this that and the other thing and I’m still like a stay at home mom, like my husband works full time in an office. So I’m still like primary point of contact when it comes to kids stuff. Yeah, so I’ve got to have a, like my day has to be planned, you know, all the time to fit in work to fit in life, all of that so and so I’m super guilty of this, I really just started planning. This past year, like 2023 has been just a complete overhaul just for efficiency for me. And it’s been working so well. So like, I’ll plan out my content, like for the next three months, I’ll take one day, and just bang out like recipe testing and just pick which is like best and I mean, it looks different for everybody, however you want to plan. But I find it just works out that when I just plan, a strict cooking day, a strict writing day, an email day, all that like it just makes me so less overwhelmed and burnt out and like discouraged and overworked. Like it just it just eases me so much and like I can fit everything I want in a day if I just plan it out. So I love that.

Megan Porta  31:42

And you don’t necessarily have to plan three months in advance even planning one day in advance I found a times when I’m you know, kind of flying by the seat of my pants. A lot is going on right now. I have family in town. They’ve been here for a long time. So I feel like just getting one day planned, goes a long way. So you don’t need to sit down and plan out your entire year necessarily, but start with the day and see how that goes.

Michelle Morey  32:08

100% Yeah, I’m definitely like one of those all or nothing kind of people. So like I’m definitely a little extreme.

Megan Porta  32:17

Oh, yeah. No, that’s great. You’re inspiring goals for all of us, Michelle. Yeah, like a little tiny bit of intentionality can go such a long way. Yeah, yeah. 100% Awesome. Okay, anything else? discouragement, what else can we do to avoid it?

Michelle Morey  32:33

I would say to don’t like comparison is such a huge issue with bloggers, I feel and like the imposter syndrome and stuff like that. And I found myself especially in the beginning, like comparing my photos and my recipes to like other bloggers, and it could kind of get me feeling down a little bit like, Oh, I’m not like, so and so and her beautiful photographs, or like I make my, you know, casserole this way. But that’s not how everybody else is doing it. Like what’s wrong with mine, like, so I kind of like, challenged my comparison thoughts and tried to like shift the mindset a bit to, you know, be inspired versus and like, embrace my uniqueness versus like comparing how I’m falling short compared to another blogger, if that makes sense. Because again, like we are on social media, and even Pinterest and stuff like that, like you see people’s beautiful photography, that’s my like personal struggle, it’s photography, like, I’ll see these beautiful photos, and I’ll just be like, Oh, my don’t look as crisp and stuff like that. But it’s hard, because like comparison is tough. And I feel like, we try to be like the bloggers we follow on social media, and they might have inspired us to start blogging ourselves. 

Michelle Morey  33:57

But I think it’s important to remember to the people that we’re comparing ourselves against, they’re like, years ahead of us. So like where we are today. They were at like, two, three years ago. So like, they’ve probably been through the same thing that you’re feeling right now. They’re just through it. And you know, over time they’ve honed their craft and have gotten better. So I think it’s just important to remember that you don’t have to be perfect right out of the gate, progress over perfection, you know, and just, there’s so many food bloggers out there now that you kind of want to use the tools you have like Rank IQ and Google and Keysearch and stuff like that to create your unique recipe. But use the tools you know to still get you onto Google use it as a like a support for your uniqueness. So like if you make a recipe a certain way, and you’re kind of like, oh, like everybody else isn’t making it the same way like you can still use the tools to get your stuff onto Google. But you can still like, hold on to that uniqueness like, you know, don’t don’t be discouraged by being different, just embrace it and know that you can, like compete with other bloggers for it. I don’t know if that makes sense. 

Michelle Morey  35:14

But like, totally, just kind of shift comparison into inspiration. Yes, I love that. Yeah, just don’t feel like you’re falling short, just be like, Oh, well, then I’m just approaching this in a unique way. And if you know, you’re not happy with like your photos, or your recipe format or something today, just know it’s going to get there, you just have to give yourself grace and time, though.

Megan Porta  35:39

Inspiration over comparison, I think that is Michelle’s line of the episode. I love that that’s so good. It’s just like making that shift in your mind, when you do start to compare just reminding yourself inspiration, inspiration, so that you don’t fall into that because it can be so easy, especially when you’re just starting. And I hope this is encouraging what I’m about to say, but if you’re in the food blogging game long enough, you’ll get to a point where you kind of don’t care anymore. Like my photos. I, I used to be so like, what you were saying, Michelle, where it was like, Oh my gosh, why can’t mine be as crisp and pretty and colorful as everyone else’s. And now I kind of just don’t care. I mean, like, I mean, I want them to look good. But that’s where my standards stop. That’s I don’t need the highly styled. And I think that’s I think that’s encouraging, because then I have room for other things, and I have energy for other things. And I’m okay with it. You know, like, if I were, if I were comparing myself to others, then that would take up energy, but I’m just, I’m like, I’m good. I’m good. Where I’m at.

Michelle Morey  36:52

It’s freeing, it’s like such a freedom to just know, like, just strip away all this superficial stuff at the end of the day. And just remember why, you know, you started blogging, and then just remember, like, someone’s reading this, like you’re trying to help someone create something to bring them joy. So you know, if you’re not feeling great, like you wouldn’t want your reader to, like, look at, you know, to have somebody that wasn’t feeling it, like give them a recipe like I don’t want a recipe for a grub. You know, you know, just, you want to give your readers quality and the best part of you and so you don’t want to go in with just like, Oh, who cares? No one’s going to read this. Like, you don’t want that attitude, you know, so you have to fill yourself up, like and get yourself like excited for it. Because then your readers are going to be excited for it. And they deserve that quality. Yeah, you know, they do.

Megan Porta  37:50

They do. And yeah, your heart needs to be in it. And if you’re comparing yourself and your work to others, your heart truly isn’t in it. You’re not focusing on your stuff, you’re focusing on other people’s stuff. So great. This is so helpful. Is there anything else that you feel like we should touch on before we start saying goodbye.

Michelle Morey  38:09

I think just one last thing that I want to add, I just thought of this, it was important to me to actually sit down and remember, our blogs are living like entities. So whatever you do today, like you can fix it later. So like if you have photos that are kind of yucky from beginning like oh my gosh, the the early Barefoot in the Pines blog posts are just they’re comical at this point, I was so excited about when I put them out. But like now it’s just cringy. So with that being said, like you can always fix them. Like you can always boost your content, you can always like accept feedback from your readers and fix a recipe, you can always change the photos. So don’t freak out, like just get the content out there when your heart is full. And like you know if it if you need to fix it down the road, you can it’s like this isn’t a permanent, you know, thing you can always be fixed, it can always be updated and upgraded. And Google loves and updated post. So

Megan Porta  39:17

yes, opportunity. Yeah, right. Nothing is etched in stone. We are definitely writing in a soft pencil that can be erased and rewritten later. That sorry, leaving that’s freedom, right? They’re just like, yeah, if you push publish, you can go back as many times as you want. Alright, Michelle, thank you so much for all of this. This is so inspiring. And I think no matter where we’re at, in our journey, whether someone’s even thinking about getting into blogging, or whether they’ve been doing it for 10 years or more. This is going to be a great episode just to encourage people to keep going and to avoid discouragement and you’ve given us a lot of ways that we can do that. And I think if we’ve all I’ll follow Michelle’s advice. With all of these things. It’ll be so much easier. It just takes so much pressure off. Well, thank you for being here. Michelle, it was such a pleasure to talk to you.

Michelle Morey  40:12

Thank you for having me. It was so fun. 

Michelle Morey  40:15

Yes, I loved our chat. Do you have a favorite quote or words of inspiration to leave us with?

Michelle Morey  40:22

Yes, I saw this on I can’t remember what like TikTok or Instagram, but I saw this really cool quote that said, “Comparison destroys personality.” And that just sat with me because it’s like, it’s so true. Like, when we start comparing ourselves to others, we start to lose a little bit of our individuality just trying to, you know, follow the herd and be like everybody else. So I love kind of keeping that in the back of my head just so I can hang on to like, my creative, you know, spark and my individuality and stuff like that. So I don’t know, really resonated with me.

Megan Porta  41:02

Yeah, that’s wonderful. I love it. We’ll put together a show notes page for you and you can go to eatblog talk.com/barefootinthepines, if you want to go look at those. Michelle tell everyone where they can find you online.

Michelle Morey  41:16

You can find me at Barefoot in the Pines.com that’s the site and on Instagram, it’s @barefootinthepines and on Facebook, it’s @barefootinthepines as well.

Megan Porta  41:30

Awesome everyone go check Michelle out and all of her handles and her blog and thank you again, Michelle, so much for being here and thank you for listening food bloggers. I will see you in the next episode. 

Outro  41:41

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat BlogTalk. Don’t forget to head to forum.eatblogtalk.com to join our free discussion forum and connect with and learn from like minded peers. I will see you next time.