Episode 705: How to Build A Multi-Channel Brand Without Burning Out With Yasmin Henley

EBT705 – Yasmin Henley

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]   

Are there certain things in your business that you resist doing? Maybe it’s moving to another platform or trying video or getting on Instagram in a new way. Whatever it is, I think this conversation with Yasmin Henley from By the Forkful will really inspire you. 

She talks about how to build a multi-channel brand without burning out. She has such a great story that is inspirational in itself. She talks about how food bloggers just need to drill down and find out what works for them and lean into it. Whether it’s a specific niche or a style of content or editing or certain platform, whatever it is, find it and then own it.

[00:01:22]   

And she also talks about systems and how to build systems that really work for you and your business. She digs a little bit into batch creating, batch content creating, also batch working in general, how to stay inspired when you’re doing it all, which we all are, and how to analyze your data and not forget about the things that you’ve put out there.

[00:01:45]   

You have to go back and check back in on them once in a while. This is such an inspiring conversation. I really hope you enjoy it. It is episode number 705. 

[00:01:55] Sponsor

Hey food bloggers. We have something super exciting to share at Eat Blog Talk. The Eat Blog Talk podcast is now on YouTube. You can watch full video interviews with incredible guests sharing game changing tips for your blogging journey. Subscribe now and don’t forget to share with your fellow food bloggers. Let’s grow together. Head to YouTube, search Eat Blog Talk and start watching today.

[00:02:22]   Megan Porta

Yasmin Henley is the recipe developer and content creator behind By the Forkful.
Sharing delicious vegetarian recipes that are easy to put together and meals the whole family can enjoy. Hello Yasmin, thank you for joining me. How are you today?

[00:02:36]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, I’m great, thank you. I listen to your podcast so much so I’m really happy to be here on like the other side.

[00:02:43]  Megan Porta 

Oh I love it. I love having listeners come as guests. It’s my favorite thing ever. So I’m super excited to talk about our topic today, which is just building a multi channel brand, which you’ve seemed to have done so well. And we’re going to get into your story and how others can do that.But first, do you have a fun fact to share with us?

[00:03:04]  Yasmin Henley 

I do. So as well as being a food blogger, I’m also a yoga teacher. Not teaching right now, but I think the funner part of it that I like to share with people is that beyond like the physical benefits of teaching yoga, it was the best thing ever for me for public speaking, doing things like this.I used to be so introverted and then something about teaching just opened all these doors for me.

[00:03:28]  Megan Porta 

Oh, that’s so cool. Okay, so do you think it was the teaching aspect that kind of pulled something out of you?

[00:03:33]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, like being in a room of like 30 people who are looking at you to teach them something. And I loved it. And you know, I think when you’re really passionate about something, that helps as well. But yeah, like changed my life in a way that I didn’t expect it to.

[00:03:47]  Megan Porta 

That’s so cool. It’s like a dormant passion laying inside of you that you had no idea was there and you woke up through yoga.

[00:03:54]  Yasmin Henley 

Secret extrovert.

[00:03:55]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah, Secret extrovert. I absolutely love it. Well, I’m glad that you broke through that barrier and that you’re here talking to us because I think we have a lot to learn from your story. So to kind of frame everything today, would you mind just starting by talking about By the Forkful, which is your blog. Give us any information you want to about it.

[00:04:15]  Yasmin Henley 

Sure. So it’s always been a vegetarian blog. I started it probably in about 2019. Very much just like a hobby website. I had the Instagram and there was no cohesion between anything. I just put up recipes whenever. When I got pregnant with my daughter in 2020, I took a really long break and I don’t think it was until maybe two years ago, 2023, that I like had that little bit of space to be creative again, start sharing recipes and kind of started working towards it as maybe being a little bit of a business or something.

[00:04:49]   

And things started snowballing. March 24, I monetized it and then this March just gone. I’m now doing it full time. So it’s been both a long time coming and quite quick in other ways as well of doing it. But yeah, I love it.

[00:05:03]  Megan Porta 

Oh my gosh, that’s so exciting. Well, congratulations on all of that monetizing and full time Those are two huge steps in a blogger’s journey. So congratulations.

[00:05:12]  Yasmin Henley 

Thank you. Yeah, I think for a long time I was like, oh, that would be nice, but it will never happen. And then I got to a point where I was like, why not? Like, it can happen.

[00:05:20]  Megan Porta 

Oh, absolutely. And it did. Here you are talking about it.

[00:05:25]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah.

[00:05:25]  Megan Porta 

That’s so great. So talk about your focus on your blog, because I know that can change so much through the span of a few years. Like, people start off focusing on SEO or Pinterest or, like, kind of one avenue to get traffic, and then you eventually learn that you have to expand your horizons a little bit. So where did you start with your focus and kind of where is it at now?

[00:05:48]  Yasmin Henley 

I started with SEO. I think I’d had a blog completely unrelated to food before that for a couple of years, which was like, a real good training ground, I think, for me, for learning SEO and keyword research and everything. So that was my first point. But then when I came back to it in 2023, I started creating videos as well, sharing them on TikTok.

[00:06:10]   

I think it was just easier to create videos than to spend the time doing keyword research and writing blog posts and all of that. And when I had a TikTok video go viral, I saw all this sudden, like, new opportunity that I hadn’t even considered before for blogging, and it kind of had the effect of growing my social channels but also bringing traffic back to the site.  And it kind of made sense how then everything comes together as one rather than just focusing on one thing. And that’s kind of been my approach ever since.

[00:06:39]  Megan Porta 

Okay. See how everything is interconnected, I feel like. And we tend to dismiss that. I think a lot of people don’t like video, so I think you’re very lucky that you’re like, oh, video is easier than. I think a lot of people would disagree with that. So that’s great for you, right? Yeah, yeah.

[00:06:56]   

But, yeah, I’ve noticed. Noticed too, that if you put up a quality video on, like, say, YouTube shorts or something, that can produce traction for your blog posts. And I think there’s such this, like, circle of interconnectedness that we don’t always want to see, but it is. It is there and it works, right?

[00:07:16]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, it does really work together. And I noticed as my TikTok grew on my Facebook page, grew, if a video went viral, that post also then started doing well on Google. And even if it’s not officially been said, there definitely seems to be some sort of relationship there with social traffic and then SEO traffic.

[00:07:35]  Megan Porta 

Do you create videos for social specifically or do you create videos for your website or kind of what’s like your main focus for your video creation?

[00:07:44]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, so every recipe that I do on the site then gets a video. So I sort of see it as the website is like the main hub. All my recipes go on there. But then for almost everyone, I’ll also create a video while I’m creating the recipe.

[00:08:00]  Megan Porta 

Okay, so you’re on all channels. TikTok, you’re creating for Instagram. Are you creating for YouTube as well?

[00:08:08]  Yasmin Henley 

YouTube shorts is that one that like just slips through the net?

[00:08:13]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s okay. I mean, you can’t, you can’t do it all. You can create a multichannel business, but I feel like you still can’t do absolutely everything or you would burn out. Yeah, yeah. Okay, well, cool. So you’re covering a lot of bases and you feel like it is definitely serving your business well.

[00:08:30]   

It’s producing more traffic and probably more revenue in the end, correct?

[00:08:35]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, definitely. And I think it’s also, you know, after the past couple of years in blogging where, you know, we’ve seen people just be wiped out by the helpful content updates, it kind of gives you a bit of confidence to spread what you’re doing. So I’ve never had to fully rely on just SEO traffic.

[00:08:52]   

I’ve always had quite a nice balance of it. And while it’s probably taken longer to get to the point where I could go full time, it’s always been that little bit more stable.

[00:09:01]  Megan Porta 

Right, Yep. Yeah, that makes sense. So you kind of have found something that works for you and your niche is vegetarian. Correct. Do you have a more specific niche or is it just vegetarian recipes?

[00:09:14]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, it’s pretty much just vegetarian dinner recipes with a main focus on easy sort of what you’d want to just get on the table on a typical weeknight perks. If it’s one pot. Yeah, but yeah.

[00:09:29]  Megan Porta 

Okay, cool. So do you believe that now in this age of 2025, that people have to hyper niche, like get super focused on one type of recipe or food that’s working for them?

[00:09:45]  Yasmin Henley 

Yes and no. I think if you’re creating for social, that you can definitely see that if you create a video and it goes viral, if you recreate that same video in a very similar way, that one will also almost definitely go viral and you get pushed into this really small niche for the algorithm.

[00:10:02]   

But I think a lot of creators find that quite frustrating because we want to be creating all sorts of different things. So it’s sort of on the one hand you can lean into it and see success by what the algorithm does, but then also I think if you want to be serving your audience, and for me that’s.I want to give them as many different dinner ideas as possible. It also means stepping away from what the algorithm wants.

[00:10:25]  Megan Porta 

Okay, I was just talking to somebody yesterday who found a super. Who was this a super hyper focused niche on Instagram that was kind of like way niche down from their actual blog niche.

[00:10:39]  Yasmin Henley 

Okay.

[00:10:40]  Megan Porta 

Do you, do you see that too with other food creators just finding something different, but like within the same niche but just like really hyper focused. That works on maybe Instagram or TikTok.

[00:10:54]  Yasmin Henley 

So do you think as in like they post on Instagram but they post lots of different stuff on their website still?

[00:10:59]  Megan Porta 

Right. So like let’s say your niche vegetarian dinners is your blog niche? Maybe on Instagram, the niche that really works would be like vegetarian green veggie dishes or something like something within that scope. But even niche down even more. But it really works on Instagram. And maybe TikTok is something different under that.Does that make sense?

[00:11:23]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, maybe. I. It’s not something I think I would do because I, I think I’m very rigid in my system of like the recipe gets a video. That’s how I market, that’s how I promote it. But I can get how that could work. I think. Like, for example, I’ve got on Instagram and TikTok, all of my one pot recipes do particularly well.

[00:11:43]   

So if I just leaned into that just for socials, it would probably work quite well. But then I think, well, my audience won’t get to see like my enchilada recipe or something.

[00:11:52]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We want to share all of our content, right? Yeah, yeah. So how did you decide on kind of the platforms that you’re on? Is it just a matter of like, okay, it worked here and it worked here, so you’re running with it. So TikTok, Instagram, your blog.

[00:12:09]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, I think I always wanted to have the website. I wanted that to be my main thing, to get on an ad network, to have that income stream. And then my video went viral on TikTok, so that was a natural place to focus on. And then I just cross posted to Instagram automatically.

[00:12:27]   

Then my videos were shared on Facebook. So that became really natural for the three. And then I think probably about six months on started focusing on Pinterest, which obviously is a bit of a different ball game to the other social channels, but has really Paid off in terms of getting traffic to the website. So it’s been a slow but sure. Just adding in what seems natural.

[00:12:50]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. What do you recommend for other people if they maybe they’re just focused on their blog right now, but they want to branch out and do this cross platforming, you know, like getting on different platforms. Where do they start?

[00:13:03]  Yasmin Henley 

I think if you were interested in creating video content, just focus on creating the video and then it’s literally 10 extra minutes maximum to post on three or four different channels. It actually even Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook and YouTube shorts, you could just share the same video.

[00:13:22]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:13:23]  Yasmin Henley 

And then I think it would maybe be a little bit of testing to see what picks up where.

[00:13:28]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s actually, that’s really smart because it takes what, two minutes to post something on a video that you’ve already created? It takes minutes to put it, like actually upload it. Right. So yeah, why not try it and just test it out?

[00:13:44]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. And I think there definitely would be content that does better. Some videos do great on Facebook, some videos do better on TikTok. And I think for me, especially moving forwards, when I’ve got that time and space, it will be then editing the content is in a specific way that suits those specific audiences. But for now, and a lot of what I do at the moment is just literally cross post everything and I’m covering all bases.

[00:14:08]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Because you hear that different platforms like different types of videos, but to start you could just post across platforms and see what happens and then build from there. Right? Yeah. Do you have systems in place to sustain your business with all the different platforms that you focus on?

[00:14:24]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, I have a really set system which I think works really well for me. I think for bloggers, like we wear so many different hats and do so many different things. So at least having just in mind exactly what needs to be done for each recipe really helps me. So for example, I’ll normally start with keyword research, or I’ll start with a rough idea of the recipe I want to create.

[00:14:47]   

Then I’ll go do some keyword research. I use like the cheapest version of Ahrefs, but I know there’s lots of other ones that are a similar price. Then I recipe develop, cook the recipe, I try and film it and photograph in the same setting, which can mean that my flat looks a bit chaotic in the background, but it works.

[00:15:10]   

And then I edit the video and then I try to do pretty much on the same day or in the span of two days, have the post go live, share it to my newsletter and share it to my socials because I think that big bump in social traffic definitely helps in terms of SEO.

[00:15:27]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, definitely. So that’s the system you do every time. Do you stick by it pretty much constantly when you’re. Yeah, yeah, yeah

[00:15:38]  Sponsor  

Maybe you are eager to join one of the Eat Blog Talk mastermind groups, but not quite ready to make the full investment. The Eat Blog Talk accountability group could be the perfect solution for you. For just $34 a month, you’ll be part of a supportive community that offers weekly accountability check ins, a private Slack channel, live productivity sessions, and monthly zoom calls. With fellow bloggers and me, Megan Porta, we are here to help you stay on track, stay motivated and connected as you build your brand and work towards your big blogging. If you are ready to move forward without the pressure of a huge commitment, visit eatblogtalk.com/focus and claim your spot today.

[00:16:17]   

How do you recommend that others create systems? Like you said, there’s a lot going on in our businesses, in our lives too. Some of us have families and other jobs and all kinds of other stuff going on. So how do we even get to the point where we’re like, okay, I need to build a system, I’m going to do it.

[00:16:37]  Yasmin Henley 

I guess a lot of it is trial and testing, finding what’s, what’s working for your channel. And then also for me, batch creating content has been really helpful. It’s been helpful when I was juggling being a mom, having a full time job and running the business on the side. And I still do it now when it’s my full time business because then it’s you’re using a system but you’re kind of maximizing that system for as many pieces of content as you can.

[00:17:03]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Batching is magic.

[00:17:05]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah.

[00:17:06]  Megan Porta 

So do you have ideas for different things that can be batched? Because we have like writing, we’ve got photographing and video editing and recording and all of that. What are some other things that we can batch?

[00:17:18]  Yasmin Henley 

So I create all of my recipes on the same day. So I’ll have like one set cooking day. I’ll try the night before to like map out exactly what ingredients I’m cooking. So for example, if I’m using onions across three recipes, I’ll just prep in the morning enough for all three. So I’m not going back to the kitchen three times to dice onions.

[00:17:39]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:17:39]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. And then in the same way I batch edit all of my videos, I batch edit all of my photos, I Sit down, put my headphones on, batch, write all of my posts. And it really helps compartmentalize. And I think I get three or four posts done in the same time. It would take me to do two if I was just doing one by one.

[00:17:58]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I know. I think there’s such a flow that you can get into when you’re batching. Do you ever adjust? Because I feel like some days my mindset is not in the space for, say, I don’t know, being in the kitchen and cooking, but it might be for sitting at my computer and editing photos. So do you. Are you rigid with your batching schedule?

[00:18:20]  Yasmin Henley 

I try to be, because at the moment, my daughter starts school in September, so I typically work three days and then edit stuff in the evenings. So I know that I’ve only got, like a limited amount of daylight to film stuff. So at the moment I do have to be quite strict. But, yeah, definitely. Some days I’ll be like, okay, I’ll cook the morning and then laptop work in the afternoon and then split it across two days. Because life just gets in the way sometimes, right? Yeah.

[00:18:44]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. That school schedule us moms have to work around sometimes. Like, I have to force myself to sit down and do work, even some days when I don’t feel like it, because once the kids are home, all bets are off. Sometimes you just have to. Oh, you have to honor that time when you have alone.

[00:19:02]  Yasmin Henley 

Exactly. Yeah. And I’m trying to make the most of it before she starts school more in that set Monday to Friday routine. But in a way, I think that’ll be almost nice sometimes because I can be like, right, I’ve got till 3 o’ clock.

[00:19:13]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s how I actually set my work schedule. I mean, right when my boys leave in the morning, I get ready and start working. And then kind of 2 o’ clock is when I do school pickups. So that’s my cutoff time. If I have something crazy going on, something extra, I’ll work in the evening.

[00:19:30]   

But usually, like, that’s my day nine to two.

[00:19:33]  Yasmin Henley 

So you have to be so efficient to fit it in.

[00:19:36]  Megan Porta 

Oh, I feel like that is why I’m so efficient is because of my boys and their school schedule. Yeah, it really does help. How do you stay inspired through all of this? Because it like the rigidity sometimes and the staying on track and, and producing for different platforms and doing it all. And now you’re full time. How do you keep the inspiration up?

[00:19:58]  Yasmin Henley 

I think for me, podcasts have been huge. Like I said, I’ve listened to yours for literally years now. Like every single week I’ve listened to pretty much everyone. And then Bjork’s on Food Blogger Pro. Also listen to that a lot. And I found, I found podcasts so helpful because you’ll one week get an interview with someone who’s absolutely crushing it and just, just listening to someone who’s been successful in building their business and their brand.

[00:20:23]   

They might not be on to share a specific tip, but just hearing it I think really lights a fire under me sometimes. And then other times someone will come on and talk about email marketing, which I was also very guilty of neglecting. And I was like, okay, I need to focus on that.So yeah, listening. Listening to just what other people are doing, even if I’m not implementing it, it really like keeps me motivated and I think it feels less lonely.

[00:20:45]  Megan Porta 

Yes, yes, that too. That’s a big piece of it. Yeah, can’t dismiss that part.

[00:20:51]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. And then also I think there’s like Facebook groups, like there’s lots of Food blogger Facebook groups. I make sure I follow lots of food creators on socials. So even if it’s not necessarily too consume their content, like someone who’s looking for recipe inspiration, would it. I think it really helps to stay inspired with what other people are creating, seeing what new things people are doing and just keeping kind of like a finger on that pulse.

[00:21:16]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Do you carve out time each day for inspiration or each week or where do you put it in your schedule?

[00:21:25]  Yasmin Henley 

It would be smart to carve out time for it, but it’s usually just evening scrolling and then just when you can. Yeah, yeah. When I’m driving, I’ll listen to a podcast.

[00:21:33]  Megan Porta 

But yeah, that’s a good habit to get into. Just every time you’re driving. Turn on a podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the inspiration piece is so huge. Like you said, it can be such a lonely place to be and we can feel so isolated. So if nothing else, just feeling like you’re part of something bigger, like you’re part of the group in whatever way you can, is goes so such a long way fully.

[00:21:59]  Yasmin Henley 

I think for a lot of us in our like day to day lives, people will be like, you do what? And yeah, you try and explain it, but then to know that there’s actually a lot of people out there doing the same thing and just, you know, trying to keep things ticking on is really helpful.

[00:22:13]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Okay. I have a question for you about kind of like you put something out into your blog, into all of these different channels, a lot of us, myself included. I’ve been so guilty of this in my journey. You put it out and then you just like let it sit and then you don’t check on it for many years or ever.And then you go back and you’re like oh wow, that didn’t do very well. Do you have a system for checking back in on things you produce?

[00:22:39]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, I set out about a half day every month. I eventually would like to be able to set out more time but to go back on what I posted in that month or even further. Like I’ll look back on last summer’s around this time. For example, I did like a 30 day summer meals series last summer.

[00:22:59]   

So now I’ve been prepping to do the same. But I’ve been looking back and seeing exactly what did well so that I can create more of that sort of that leaning into what does well that we talked about earlier. And same with posts, I’m kind of conscious of keeping on top of what I published last year or before and keeping updating it.

[00:23:16]   

If I’ve got a good video from last year, I’ll just repurpose it. If I. If my camera skills have kind of improved a lot since I created a video, I’ll create a new one.

[00:23:25]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So when you’re looking back on things to see what did well, you’re looking at video performance, blog performance. Anything else?

[00:23:33]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. So on socials it’s both views but then it’s also seeing how that’s carried across to traffic to the website. Yeah.

[00:23:41]  Megan Porta 

Then how do you keep track of that? So do you have some way to log that information or is it just in your mind?

[00:23:47]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, I’m guilty of spinning a lot of plates in my mind. I’d love to find like. Yeah. Some sort of spreadsheet that helps with it but I’m yet to find it.

[00:23:55]  Megan Porta 

But then it’s like, then you have to manage the spreadsheet, you know.

[00:23:59]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. And I’ve got so many half started.

[00:24:02]  Megan Porta 

I know, I just, I feel like that in itself could be a full time job just managing the spreadsheet of all the things that are and are not working.

[00:24:11]  Yasmin Henley 

Yes.

[00:24:12]  Megan Porta 

And then unfortunately all of our content and our data is in our minds so it’s really hard to outsource that because unless you can do like a information brain transplant. But yeah, it just, it just seems so daunting to keep track of all of that.

[00:24:30]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, that’s massively my next step. Trying to like outsource to get additional help with a few things. But it’s always that barrier for me of realizing, oh, I actually need to put some stuff on paper so someone knows that exactly what’s going on. And that barrier seems bigger than outsourcing someone.

[00:24:45]  Megan Porta 

Right, Right. Yeah.

[00:24:47]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah.

[00:24:48]  Megan Porta 

I totally can sympathize with that. I think a lot of us can because we build on our content all the time, and then one day we’re like, oh, my gosh, I have hundreds and hundreds of posts and all of these videos, and it’s all right right here in our brain.

[00:25:04]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah.

[00:25:05]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Okay. So I just. I would love for you to give people encouragement to branch out a little bit, because I think this is something that there’s resistance to in our space. Just like I do well on my blog or I do well on TikTok, and people tend to want to stick to those things and not branch out. So I would love you to just encourage people and maybe give them a reason or two why they should do that.

[00:25:32]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, definitely. Well, I think this was a while ago now, but the biggest thing for me that showed why diversifying is so important is when I came back to my blog in 2023, I was working on it for a couple of months. And you know when you’re in that sort of beginning phase where you’re pouring so much time in but getting nothing back.

[00:25:49]   

And in the August, I was notified by MediaVine, I was monetized by them, but with about 10,000 page views a month. And it dropped down so far that they told me they were taking me off because it wasn’t making enough money, which was obviously, like, the biggest blow, because I was like, I’ve been working on this.

[00:26:06]   

I’m, like, trying. But then about two weeks later, I had a TikTok video that’s the one that went viral that got about 3 million views in three days. My followers grew from, like 300 to 30, 000. And it was just this whole thing of like, okay, my blog isn’t making money right now, but there’s clearly something here.

[00:26:24]   

And then I was able to grow that, and that in turn drove traffic back to the site and then got everything snowballing. But I think if I hadn’t been creating content for socials and had just been focusing on the blog and then got that email that I was being demonetized, I probably would have just thrown in the towel and just been done with it.

[00:26:43]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Wow. It was almost like that came at you with such perfect timing. You needed that exact moment. Wow, that’s so cool.

[00:26:51]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah.

[00:26:52]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And it doesn’t have to be TikTok. Right. It can be another platform. It can be that you branched out on Pinterest, that you’re sharing your content there or.

[00:26:59]  Yasmin Henley 

Exactly.

[00:27:00]  Megan Porta 

Exploring Instagram or YouTube or a variety of other places.

[00:27:04]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, yeah. Even if it’s like a Substack, like lots of people focusing on their newsletters now. Like, I don’t think it’s necessarily about focusing on growing your social channels, but just focusing on being there for your audience somewhere else than just one place.

[00:27:20]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I think it’s really scary to just stay on your blog right now. I feel like we need more diversification in our lives. It’s just going to be that way moving forward 20, 25 and beyond. If you’re not diversifying, then you’re not building a well round, rounded brand, I think. So it’s smart to put yourself out there in other places, even if it’s scary.

[00:27:46]   

And then since you do video. Oh, I would love for you to talk a little bit about that because this also is a hang up for so many people. Yasmin, I don’t want to put my face on video. That’s what I hear all the time. So do you have encouragement for that? For anyone thinking that?

[00:28:01]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah. Well, for one, I’m the same. I hate putting my face on video, but I don’t think you have to. A lot of my videos are very focused on the food and then I’ll show up for two or three seconds to say something or take a bite or just so my audience can see my face.

[00:28:19]   

But I’m definitely not one of those people that will sit in front of the camera and chat away. I’d love to be like that maybe one day, but that’s not me. Like I said, I’m an introvert. Yeah, I’m the last person to show up. But I think you can still create really interesting content that people like to see with a focus on the food first.

[00:28:39]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s kind of a relief to hear because I think it people do equate. Like you have to produce video means you have to put your face all your face. Like the whole video has to be you. Which it doesn’t have to be.

[00:28:53]  Yasmin Henley 

No, I don’t think so. I think the only thing I would say is that voiceovers are a must. When I first started, I would do a voiceover and then I’d use the TikTok AI filter to put on like an AI voice.

[00:29:06]  Megan Porta 

Oh, really?

[00:29:06]  Yasmin Henley 

Because I hated how my voice sounded but luckily overcame that. And now I’m like, why Did I do that? But because just hearing your voice, I still don’t like to listen back to my videos, but it does really help people get to know you, I think.

[00:29:22]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. Yeah. Why is it that everyone hates their own voice? Everyone I know is like, oh, every once in a while my. Like, if I open my podcast player and my podcast will come up and I’ll. I’ll hear me. And I’m like, ah, stop. My family’s like, how can you, like, you put your voice out there every day.How can you not like it? Like, I just don’t like to hear my voice.

[00:29:46]  Yasmin Henley 

No, absolutely. It’s for other people. It’s not for me to hear.

[00:29:49]  Megan Porta 

Yes, for other people. Right. And people can get to know you through audio. They can get to know you through hearing your voice. It doesn’t have to be your face, but it can be. I think that if people feel like they need to stretch in that area, put your face on video and just see how it go for like two seconds and see how.

[00:30:07]  Yasmin Henley 

Exactly. Yeah. I think if someone listening wants to get into video, but that was the biggest thing holding them back, then. Yeah. I’d say make your. Make whatever you’re making, turn the camera to you, take a bite and let that be it for now. And then, you know, small baby steps to showing up more in your videos if you want to, but I think it depends on your focus.

[00:30:26]   

I think if you wanted to do more, like, brand work on your social channels, I do think that brands like to see more of you in your videos. But if you just wanted to drive traffic back to your website, I don’t necessarily think that you need to show up a whole lot in your videos.

[00:30:41]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s great to hear. Do you have any other advice for just creating a multichannel brand? Anything else that we’ve forgotten to talk about?

[00:30:52]  Yasmin Henley 

I think we’ve pretty much covered all of it. I think what I would say is that obviously listening to someone say they create blog posts, create videos, share to all these different channels can probably sound quite overwhelming, but it’s very much like baby steps process, trying to add in one a month and figuring out what works for you.

[00:31:13]   

I don’t think you have to go all in on everything immediately. Just take your time and try and make that your end goal. And that’s still my end goal. There’s still things that I’m slacking on that I want to get better at, but I think it’s just, yeah, more. More focusing on spreading things nicely and making things stable rather than just Having one sole focus.

[00:31:34]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. That goes along with the story that blogging is a journey. It’s not something you have to race to. And I know it feels like that sometimes, like she’s doing this and there’s so many other people doing things that are successful in this area and that area. But that doesn’t mean that you have to race to everything. You can do the slow turtle race and still win in the end. Be successful.

[00:31:58]  Yasmin Henley 

Yeah, definitely.

[00:32:00]  Megan Porta 

Well, thank you, Yasmin. This was such a fun chat. I’m so inspired by your story and thank you for showing up and sharing it with us. We appreciate you.

[00:32:08]  Yasmin Henley 

Thank you so much for having me.

[00:32:11]  Megan Porta 

So fun. Do you have a favorite quote or words of inspiration to end with?

[00:32:14]  Yasmin Henley 

I do. I don’t know if this is a quote or words of inspiration because I couldn’t find who actually said it first, but it’s do something today that your future self will thank you for. I think I told myself that or an iteration of that a lot when I was really in those trenches, just giving a lot and not getting much back. And now I can really look back and thank past me for doing all of that hard work. And I try and think that for future me as well.

[00:32:38]  Megan Porta 

Planting seeds, that’s one of my favorite analogies that I use in my mind all the time. It. It’s so not glamorous to plant a seed. But yeah, you do it right and give it the right things, eventually it’s going to produce beautiful things. Right?

[00:32:52]  Yasmin Henley 

Absolutely.

[00:32:53]  Megan Porta 

Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. And we’ll put together a show notes page for you if anyone wants to go look at those. You can head to eatblogtalk.com/bytheforkful. Tell everyone where they can find you. Yasmin.

[00:33:04]  Yasmin Henley 

Yes. So my website’s By the Forkful. Pretty much all of my social handles are the same. There’s an underscore on the end on Instagram and like I say, I’m pretty much everywhere. And yeah, I’m an open book. So if anyone wants to get in touch, ask any questions, then my DMs are always open.

[00:33:21]  Megan Porta 

Great. Well, thanks again for being here and thank you for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time. 

[00:33:29]  Outro

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk Talk. Please share this episode with a friend who would benefit from tuning in. I will see you next time.