Episode 764: What’s Working (and Not) in Food Blogging and a Big Eat Blog Talk Announcement With Megan Porta & Taryn Solie

EBT764 – Megan & Taryn

[00:00:00]  Megan Porta 

Changes are afoot people. In today’s episode, we are reflecting on what is actually working in food blogging right now and what is not. We are also sharing a major announcement about the future of this space, about the future of Eat Blog Talk, one that has been on my heart for a little while now.

[00:00:20]   

So if you’ve been a part of this journey, you will definitely want to hear this. I hope you grab a lot of value from the episode as well. 

[00:00:28]

Hi, food bloggers. I’m Megan Porta, and this is Eat Blog Talk, your space for support, inspiration, and strategies to grow your blog and your freedom. Whether that’s personal, professional, or financial, you are not alone on this journey.

[00:00:43] Megan Porta   

Taryn, hello. Welcome to the podcast again. You’ve been back multiple times, but it’s so good to see you again.

[00:00:50]  Taryn Solie 

I know, it’s good to be here. It’s fun to see you. I don’t always get to see each other, like, face to face to face or video to video, as it were. So great.

[00:00:59]  Megan Porta 

So today we’re gonna do a little bit of a different format, just a little bit more casual. It’s just us talking. We work together, we’re friends, so it just feels like we’re having a conversation here, which is going out to many, many people to listen to, but we’re going to talk about some things in our space right now that are working because I know there’s a lot of turbulence and worry.

[00:01:23]   

We just want to talk about the things that we’ve heard in our spaces that are working and things that aren’t working and then stick around till the end because we actually have some really big things to announce about Eat Blog Talk coming up here that are a little bit scary, but I think really awesome, too.

[00:01:44]   

So join us on YouTube too, because it just is going to feel more like a cozy, interactive feel if you do. So come hang out with me and Taryn for the next 30 minutes or so. So to kick things off, Taryn, I guess if people are just tuning in and they don’t know who you are, do you just want to give a little bit of a background on you?

[00:02:04]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah. So, hi, my name is Taryn and I am the community manager for Eat Blog Talk. So I help manage all the wonderful avenues that Eat Blog Talk reaches out into the community. Most of what I do is centered around the Eat Blog Talk Inner Circle, which is a community of women, mostly women.

[00:02:30]   

Men are welcome also, and it’s a Slack channel. It’s just really a community to bounce ideas off of the people in there are wonderful and I really love working with them and of course working with Megan. I also dabble in the masterminds and help lead the mini minds and there’s all sorts of different ways that I engage with the community.

[00:02:53]   

And then besides that, I have my own blog, my own recipe blog which is called Hot Pan Kitchen. I started it in 2017, actually October 2017. So I’m on my whatever seven or eight year anniversary or something like that since we’re recording in October and I it started out as a gluten free blog and I kind of morphed into focusing on grilling and grill adjacent recipes. So I’ve been around not as long as Megan, but a long time.

[00:03:26]  Megan Porta 

That is a long time. And happy anniversary. I didn’t know it was your blog month anniversary. So that’s super exciting.

[00:03:32]  Taryn Solie 

I know. Crazy.

[00:03:33]  Megan Porta 

And you are just, you’re so positive and upbeat and helpful and such an asset to this community. So thank you for all you do. Taryn. Honestly, no, thank you. So like I said, we are just going to talk first about kind of where food blogging is at. It’s been kind of a tough year after a tough year in 2025 with the emergence of some AI changes, some content or helpful content updates in Google and some Pinterest changes.

[00:04:05]   

And I mean we could probably list about 20 things that have changed significantly in the past year or so. So it’s a lot. I know we’re just feeling it, right? Like can’t you just feel the vibe in our space? No matter who I talk to, it’s always there. It’s an underlying current. Like things are kind of tough.

[00:04:24]   

But the thing I love about that is every time there’s a downswing, there’s an upswing. It’s just, it’s like cyclical law of the universe. Like if you go down, you have to come up. So I always cling to that. Anytime something bad or I don’t know, just like when we take another hit, disruptive, disruptive happens.

[00:04:46]   

Not necessarily like negative, I wouldn’t want to say. But it’s. Yeah, it disrupts our lives in a certain way. And I always think, okay, but the upswing is coming and there’s always a good way to look at things, always a better perspective. So I hope that’s what we can offer you today. So yeah, that’s kind of the tone for our conversation is encouragement and options and value and insights.

[00:05:14]   

We don’t have it all. We don’t have the answers for everything for sure. I mean, not even close. But we do have a lot of connections in the industry between you and me, Taryn, So we do know some things that are working. So I hope to impart those things to others and hopefully give them hope for their own businesses.

[00:05:33]  Taryn Solie 

Yes. And also to, I think, empathize or sympathize or whatever the correct word is of, you know, Megan and I have both been around long enough to have, you know, thankfully, so far, knock on wood, weathered.

[00:05:46]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:05:47]  Taryn Solie 

Many, many upswings and downswings. And I remember, you know, when I was first starting out, I had a real bad downswing with Pinterest and Megan was like, just hanging there. Just hang in there.

[00:05:57]  Megan Porta 

And I was.

[00:05:58]  Taryn Solie 

I was spiraling about Pinterest at the time and, you know, and I think, you know, kind of weaving into what part of the things that we’re going to be talking about is, you know, community is part of what helps keep you afloat and keeps you going. And Megan and I are happy to be a community for all of you listening.

[00:06:18]  Megan Porta 

Yes, absolutely. We’ve got your back as much as we can. So let’s start there with community. I just think now is the time to immerse yourself in community. If you don’t have your people, oh, my gosh, you have to go find them there used there was once a day where you could kind of do it alone and get by and actually find success.You cannot do that anymore, in my opinion.

[00:06:40]  Taryn Solie 

No.

[00:06:41]  Megan Porta 

So find your community and we can provide you some resources here at Eat Blog Talk. But I mean, what are some other ways, Taryn? Reach out to people that you feel aligned with on social media or in Facebook groups or email or just through their blogs. Just do the legwork to get yourself in the community.It’s so, so important.

[00:07:04]  Taryn Solie 

Yes. I mean, I think there’s a lot of different ways. There’s, you know, women who I just started interacting with on Instagram. This is back when I was more active on Instagram. I’m not quite as active now, but who I just started interacting with and I, you know, we would just DM randomly back and forth.

[00:07:22]   

And then that led to, you know, some collaborations or, you know, me asking questions and, you know, emails back and forth. You know, I mean, there’s a really natural way to go about it. There’s, I, you know, there’s Facebook groups that people are involved in where they’re asking questions or they’re looking to form a group, a collaboration group, Friends of friends, you know, friends of your people that, you know who are food bloggers.

[00:07:47]   

Not you, Megan, but listener who you know. And also, you know, there’s of course this is a little bit more of an investment, but conferences, summits, all of those sorts of things in person. Connections, retreats. I know you just had a retreat not that long ago, Megan, and we’re raving just about how great it was and.

[00:08:11]   

Yeah. And those sorts of things. I mean there’s, there’s thankfully so many ways to make a connection, but I think what it really boils down to is you have to be brave about it. You just have to like put yourself out there and say, hey, I am looking for X, Y and Z.

[00:08:32]   

Or I’m just looking to connect with people or here’s what I’m struggling with. And you will be surprised, I think how, and I am constantly surprised how many people in this space are like, what do you need help with? Let me talk to you. Yeah, I mean it is like. And from the smallest.

[00:08:52]   

I hate to put it in that terms, but people who are just starting out or who maybe don’t have as much traffic as they wish they did to people who are BFDs, you know, they’re like big freaking deals and they’re like they’re anybody. I’m just truly amazed at how helpful people are when you ask. But the trick is you gotta ask.

[00:09:15]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. It does take courage for sure. And I’ve been in the place where it was just me and I didn’t have any friends and the thought of putting myself out there like that was like, oh my gosh, just about enough to send me into a spiral. But I know. So saying that to just let you know that I know it’s scary, we both know it’s scary.

[00:09:34]   

But it’s so worth it if you can just get over that hurdle and put yourself out there. Go to a retreat. I will shamelessly plug the Eat Blog Talk retreats right now because they’re so awesome. We just had one and oh my gosh, the vibe, the friendships made in two days, it were crazy.

[00:09:54]   

And the connections and the collaborations that are already happening and the insights that we got from it just, oh gosh, I just can’t say enough about those. eatblogtalk.com/retreat we were hosting one in March and we’re leveling up, we’re getting a better property because this property, it was okay. It was fine.

[00:10:15]   

But we just want like top notch properties now. So we’re leveling up there. And then also. Yeah. Conferences, whether it’s food blogging or entrepreneurial related Flavor Media Summit is for advanced food bloggers, but that’s happening in April. Look it up. It’s awesome. We only have a few spots left, so if you’re interested in that, grab that soon. And so many people just forming little masterminds and groups.

[00:10:53]  Taryn Solie 

And if you need help finding people, let one of us know and we can direct you to as like email me. T A R Y [email protected]. Yeah, and I am happy. Like, I’ll probably get a rush of emails now, but that’s fine. Honestly, like, I love, love, love Megan O’s. I love connecting people. Like, if I could just like connect people all day long, that’s what I would do.

[00:11:11]  Megan Porta 

It’s our, both of our superpowers. I. It’s one of my favorite things in my whole entire world. So between us, we can definitely connect you. So beyond community, because that is probably first and foremost. What are some other things, Taryn, that you feel is like just working for people right now? What are they focusing on or doing?

[00:11:37]  Taryn Solie 

I think you’re, you’re not going to be surprised at all that I’m going to say this because it’s one of my favorite topics. Is email. And, and with that, really, it’s that I think it really boils down to diversification of revenue. Right. I mean, there’s a lot that is happening with ad networks, with AI that is impacting ad networks and impacting page views for a lot of people, myself included. And really expanding your revenue streams, I think is an incredibly smart move.

[00:12:17]   

And I, and I see people, I mean, that’s something that I’m personally trying to do with email and beyond. But also I see a lot of other people trying to do. And you know, not every revenue stream you try is going to be successful, but you learn something regardless of whether it’s successful or not, that is more likely than not going to pay off in the long run.

[00:12:43]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So with email specifically, because I do think that is a really good focus right now. Where do people start with that if they’re like, okay, I want to focus on email, but I don’t really know how.

[00:12:56]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah. I think the biggest thing is make sure you have a list or start building a list. Right. I mean, that’s like the biggest thing. And I know that there is a lot that goes into that for somebody who’s just starting and there’s tons of blog posts out there and people to help guide you or email me and I’ll help guide you.

[00:13:18]   

That’s fine. I can do that. But yeah, so starting is like the first step, but then for those who are, you know, who have an email list and maybe it’s stagnant or they just haven’t seen a lot of growth, I think there’s a lot of really creative ways that people are looking to build their list.

[00:13:40]   

I just, in the last like month or two, I feel like I’ve seen so many different things or I’ve heard of so many different things that people are trying or that I’m trying to just to, to expand, to collaborate. Again, this kind of goes back to the collaboration and community to collaborate together, to build lists outside of like pop up forms and inline forms and like the stuff that people see on their website.

[00:14:08]   

So some examples of that. Like right now I’m gonna try out quizzes on my site. I got like a little AppSumo deal. I don’t know if have you. Are you familiar with AppSumo?

[00:14:19]  Megan Porta 

Yes, I am.

[00:14:21]  Taryn Solie 

Okay. So if for anyone who doesn’t know, it’s just you can sign up to, it’s free and you can sign up to kind of be alerted to all these new and different apps that, that come out. Some, they’re usually very, very discounted. You know, some of them are better than others, but you can try something here or there.

[00:14:42]   

I got a quiz app that I got for a discount and I’m trying, I’m, I’m in the process of trying that out on my site. I love taking quizzes and like, you know, it’s something different to try and I’m gonna see how it goes. Other things, there’s a ton like freebie swaps. I’m a huge fan of freebie swaps.

[00:15:02]   

So if you know another blogger and they have a freebie of some sort, whether that’s like a free email series or a PDF or whatever, and you just, you know, you offer your list their freebie and they offer their list your freebie. So that’s a big one. There’s also like right now I’m, I’m in a summit that’s like, it’s basically a huge freebie swap summit where there’s like 70 or something freebies that are all being offered to people and it’s all on like kind of hosted.

[00:15:36]   

Somebody’s hosting it and it’s all on like one website and people can go in and sign in, sign up for whatever freebies they want and everyone is emailing their list. So I mean that’s a huge, a huge bump and I am seeing a good, a decent sized bump from that there’s also people who are doing smaller freebie swaps in that way where, you know, they’re gathering like four to eight people together and you’re either emailing your list about everybody like maybe once, or emailing your list about half of those people.

[00:16:05]   

And it’s like a rotation sort of thing. So there’s a lot of different ways to try and get more people on your email list.

[00:16:15]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I love those ideas and I love hearing you talk about it because you. Yeah, you can tell you love it and it’s a good time to love email, that is for sure. I don’t focus on email much and I know I’ll get there. It’s just I have a lot on my plate.

[00:16:28]   

So I only dig into things when I know I can give them my full attention and I’m not quite there. But one of the things I wanted to say was gated. Gated pass. Gated Print Pass through Raptive ad network. It’s something to experiment with. I know a lot of who are doing that and it’s working really well for them.

[00:16:47]   

So basically that is you put something on your recipe card through the back end that requires people to give their email address before they can print the recipe. So I’ve heard that not many people are complaining about it. It might be weird at first, but it’s probably a matter of just training your audience to do this.

[00:17:10]   

So something to consider. Also the save the Save this recipe block in. In post is really good right now for gathering email addresses too. Just trying to think of some quick wins for people. And if you are in Raptive, that is a feature I don’t know about MediaVine. Is that something?

[00:17:31]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, so yeah. So Raptive is Gated Print. Mediavine is Print Pass. Mediavine, you had it first. And I don’t think you have to be in MediaVine Ad Network to do Print Pass. I don’t quote me on that, but I think because with. I don’t know if it’s part of MediaVine Grow or not, I should look this up while we’re chatting.

[00:17:55]   

But. And I know you don’t have to be a part of MediaVine Grow or mediavine like the ad Network to enact grow on your site. But yes, you’re right. And actually Gated Print and I’m with Raptive. So Gated Print and Save the recipe are my two big. Yeah, those are the two main ways and I get a lot of subscribers and they are low lifts.

[00:18:18]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, right. I mean, super easy. You could implement them today and get going with it. Okay, so beyond email, I was going to touch on video a little bit. I think this is also a really good thing to focus on. I just, I’m so led by my gut when I operate my business and life in general.

[00:18:39]   

But one of the things my gut told me this year was to lean into video because with all the stuff going on with Google and I don’t know, it just felt like people want that human touch and human interaction. People are craving to see your face and to see what your personality is and not just hear it through your written word, but to actually see you and just devour you.

[00:19:02]   

Like, what do you do in your kitchen? What do you sound like? What do you, how do you laugh? Like they want to know all that stuff. And I know it sounds weird, but it’s true. So I’ve been leaning into video and YouTube this year and I’m going to keep doing that. And I just think it is so vital to create a sustainable, relatable business right now. So if, if you want to do the long term blogging thing, which I assume you all do, because you’re listening, I really think lean into it and I would love your thoughts on that. Taryn.

[00:19:37]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I think that is something that I’ve struggled with because it just, you know, I think when, when I started out there, you know, process shots weren’t a thing. I’m sure you can relate to that. And you know, I started out with the DSLR, which I still have, the same one I started out with.

[00:19:56]   

And you know, you just shot with your camera, the final shots and it was fine and whatever else and you know, and then process shots came around and then obviously Instagram went from you know, photos to Video and TikTok. I mean, like blogging has evolved as it always does and I think you’re right.

[00:20:15]   

I think absolutely. Video is, I don’t want to say like the wave of the future because I think that the future is now. And also there is still, obviously people, you know, pictures are always going to be needed for things, but I have really work to try and adapt to video. And you know, something that I’ve done is I just use my phone to video the recipes and I take my process shots out of the video.

[00:20:43]   

I just do screen grabs because I don’t have time to try and redo the recipe. And it’s. I, I have found it difficult to try and photograph with my DSLR while I’m doing all the process stuff. It just doesn’t work for me too.

[00:20:59]  Megan Porta 

Much, especially if you’re a one person team.

[00:21:01]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, if you’re a one person team. And I know there are people out there who, you know, have multiple cameras or multiple phones or whatever, you know, because they have a larger team and they, you know, they’ve, they’ve progressed to that state and that’s great. I’m glad that they’re able to figure it out, but I’m just not there yet, so.

[00:21:19]   

And I actually do the recipes I just shot this past Sunday. I didn’t even pull out my DSLR, which felt really weird. I just took photos on my phone because. And this is actually something that I’ve heard in the Eat Blog Talk community and in both the Inner Circle and the mastermind is people want casual photos.

[00:21:38]   

They don’t want the pretty styled. I love that anymore. Yeah. And as much as I love to take those photos because I’m like, oh, it looks so good and look at this. You know, that’s just not, that’s not what’s resonating with people. And so why am I just came to the point where I was like, why am I trying to like, do this even though I love it? That’s not what people are wanting and it’s easier if I don’t.

[00:22:01]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:22:02]  Taryn Solie 

So, you know.

[00:22:02]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, totally. And I think it’s such a load off to know that people don’t always need perfect styled photography and videos anymore. I’m like, oh, thank God. Because then like you said, you can just pull out your phone and if you, if you just want to maybe start like a social media presence, there’s so many options there too with your phone.

[00:22:25]   

It’s so low energy, low budget, low everything. I mean, you can do. Put one up today in three minutes if you want. But there’s like YouTube shorts if you want to do short form. There’s TikTok, there’s Instagram Reels, there’s Facebook and Facebook reels. There’s so many options to just get your feet wet.

[00:22:47]   

And if you are overwhelmed by the thought of putting your face on video, then start with your voice. Do like, you know, a video of your food and then just talk to your people so they can get used to your voice and then graduate to you. Because really people do want to see you.

[00:23:04]  Taryn Solie 

But yeah, yeah, I think too with. Because those I. What I would hate to happen. What happens with me all the time is you hear about all the things, right? Like the TikTok and Instagram and YouTube and all those things. And yes, you can absolutely repurpose a lot of those things, but you have to do it with intention.

[00:23:26]   

And I think that that’s, whatever the advice that I would have for somebody is whatever avenue you decide that you want to go down, make sure it’s something that you can be consistent with, which I think is. I mean, consistency is a huge, huge, huge part of food blogging. And so if video is something you want to explore and all of those things sound really intimidating, pick one platform and pick a schedule that you think you can stick with it and try it for a quarter or something like that. You know, enough time to give you some leeway and to make some inroads into the platform itself and see how it goes.

[00:24:12]  Megan Porta 

So, yeah, yeah, I totally agree. And experimenting too, I think is huge. Right now. If something lights you up. Like right now I’m doing an experiment with shorts, short form video. And I. I mean, it’s so fun. I feel like, okay, my creative juices are actually flowing. I wake up early thinking about what I’m gonna do.

[00:24:32]   

If there’s something like that that’s lighting you up, do an experiment, set a time frame. And maybe it’s email, maybe it’s writing blog posts or whatever it is in the realm of food blogging, just do it. Like, challenge yourself and do something big and see if it works. And then if it doesn’t, that’s fine.

[00:24:49]   

Learn from it and move on and do it again or, you know, do something else, whatever. But I think experiments are huge now and in the future, just lean into those things that really call to you and that make sense. Like, don’t experiment on, I don’t know, something that’s not working right now.

[00:25:08]   

I don’t have anything in my mind but tying your passion to things that have potential in our space and just try them out, test them out and see.

[00:25:17]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[00:25:19]  Megan Porta 

And you mentioned consistency. I think that is like the theme of maybe the decade. Just consistency is so key. We say that every year, but it’s so true. I mean, whether it’s videos or social media or blog posts or fine tuning your skills with photography, whatever it is, consistency is everything. Do you agree, Taryn?I know you do, because consistency was your theme of one of your previous years, right? Was that this year or last year?

[00:25:49]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was last. The last several years. Yeah.

[00:25:52]  Megan Porta 

I love it. Yeah, it is. And do you feel like giving yourself that word helped you? Like, what were you consistent with? And did it pay off?

[00:26:04]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, so I was. So I should have given myself that word this year because I was not very consistent this year. And I feel like it really did kind of affect my traffic. For me, consistency really boils down to making sure I’m consistent on my blog. Right. And other areas too. But for me, for whatever reason, I had a really hard time in the first several years being consistent with my posting.

[00:26:32]   

And then when I really started focusing on being consistent with posting, I saw a lot of really good growth. And there was, you know, more that went into it as well as, you know, figuring out my niche and really drilling down and, you know, good keyword research and all that sort of stuff.

[00:26:47]   

But. But consistency really helped. And this year I just. A lot of life has happened and I just haven’t been able to be as consistent and. And I’ve noticed, you know, I mean, I think that there’s other things like AI and, you know, just a lot of volatility that has been going on this year that is, I think, impacted my traffic.

[00:27:10]   

But. But I. Summer was just really crazy for me and I was not as consistent with my blog, and I think that that has kind of shown up in. In a dip in traffic that I’ve had lately. So it’s something I need to refocus on. Maybe that’ll be my 2026 word is consistency again.

[00:27:25]  Megan Porta 

Here it comes. And also consistency with community piece too. I just had that thought. Just consistently being courageous and reaching out and attending those retreats or scheduling a call, inviting people to a call, reaching out to people like, I think. Don’t exclude community from that consistency.

[00:27:47]  Taryn Solie 

Yes.

[00:27:48]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, it’s key. And then you mentioned this earlier, kind of diversifying, and you are diversifying through email. I know a lot of people are looking for diversification avenues, you know, outside of ad networks and that sort of thing. So what other ways have you noticed people are diversifying? Either traffic or revenue or both?

[00:28:13]  Taryn Solie 

I mean, I think that there. I’ve noticed a number of people, and myself included, trying to diversify with digital products. There’s. Some people are having more success than others. For me, it’s. I’m still trying to figure out a good, like, I don’t want to say price point because that’s not it, but a good route to go with that.

[00:28:36]   

Funnels is like sales funnels is a lot of that. I think there’s. I mean, it’s a whole industry, right. And you could hire three people alone to try and help you get off one of these, you know, a digital product business. So there’s a lot to figure out there. And that’s been slow for me.

[00:28:54]   

But I do know that there are some people who have been having success with that. I’ve known people who are starting memberships and that’s, you know, certainly route to go. They have a really strong audience. And I have yet to hear how it’s going, but I’m hoping it’s going well. That is something to explore.

[00:29:11]   

Of course, there’s always, you know, brand partnerships. There’s a gal in the mini mind who is just like crushing it with brand partnerships and doing really well with that. Those are the top things that kind of. I know that there’s more, but those are the top things that kind of come to my.

[00:29:27]   

Affiliate marketing is the other thing I think of. And there are a lot of different avenues, not just Amazon, to go with that. And I think that’s, again, whatever you’re going to choose, you have to be intentional about it. You have to recognize that it’s probably not going to be right away. There are some things that, that could be more right away.

[00:29:52]   

Like if you’re, if you want to offer services. Right. So if you want to, you know, photograph for people or write for people or, you know, manage social media for people, or, you know, if you have that type of skill set and know people who need that and want to offer it, then you know that that can be a way maybe to get in a little additional revenue a little faster.

[00:30:16]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, you covered all the bases. I think the main point that you mentioned is that you really do have to focus and be intentional. You can’t just be like, yeah, well, I’m going to do affiliate marketing and I’m going to create digital products in Q4 and then maybe do some brand partnerships. Like, that is not a good plan.

[00:30:34]   

You, like, one thing at a time right now and really dig in until you nail it. Like, give it a quarter, whatever you decide. I’m going to give this my full attention for a quarter. And then if it doesn’t work, you can always pivot. But I think the key right now is to hone your focus and really find those few things that work, that bring in money instead of what I used to do, which was like, I’m going to have nine streams of revenue and none of them, I got like $10 a month from each one.

[00:31:07]   

So it was like, what is the point of this? So, yeah, just starting with, again, those things that align with passion and things that are actually working for people.

[00:31:19]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, yeah.

[00:31:21]  Megan Porta 

So diversification. What about Pinterest right now, I know this is kind of a hard topic for people, but let’s just give it a little bit of attention because my Pinterest account is great. Sorry. I know people are gonna probably digitally hurl things at me, but I. It’s going really well and I know a lot of people are not in that same boat, but I think the same speech I gave you a long time ago, Taryn, don’t give up on Pinterest. I know it’s frustrating. I get it. I’ve been there. Pinterest has not always served me well either, but it is such a good, perfect platform for food bloggers. So just keep at it. Just keep being consistent with publishing and experimenting like we’ve mentioned and use Pinterest trends. I think that’s a big key for my account.

The person who’s helping me right now is really digging into trends and what’s kind of trending upward. And she’s also creating pins that are really unique to my brand, like things that we’ve never created before. She’s using colors we’ve never used before, she’s using fonts we’ve never used before in the pins. And she’s also putting text overlays that are very compelling.

[00:32:37]   

Like this is a five minute. This has five minute prep. Or this dinner takes you literally 15 minutes. Or things that are really going to pull people in. And she’s really optimizing descriptions too, so making sure that they’re really dense with good keywords. And yeah, I think that’s kind of the main gist. But hang in there with Pinterest.

[00:33:00]  Taryn Solie 

I think that’s. Yes, I would agree. And I think too including Pinterest, but also outside of Pinterest, what you said about compelling. Right. I think that that is also a very good word to apply to all of your business. Right. So whether that be Instagram, whether or like any social media, whether be email.

[00:33:24]   

Because I like when you said that it made me think of subject lines and preview text for emails. Because that’s how if you don’t have a good subject line and if you’re not using preview text, which is like that little, you know, the text that you can see before you open the email.

[00:33:40]   

Like those have to be really good for people to open your email because we get. I was just thinking of this the other day because I was like, God, I feel like I get so much email on like my personal email. I probably get over a hundred emails a day just from random things that I’ve signed up for that I’m not quite ready to like unsubscribe yeah.

[00:33:58]   

You know, and I do a lot of deleting, but for whatever reason, I. I stick them out. And so it has to be a really good hook or compelling.

[00:34:07]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:34:08]  Taryn Solie 

Text for people to click. And I don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon. So I think that the better that you can get at that, the. The better for your business. And certainly with Pinterest, too, I mean, I have not. I. Pinterest has kind of, again, like, fallen off the wayside a little bit for me.

[00:34:27]   

I just hired somebody to try and help revive it a little bit. We’ll just see. I’m. We’re just gonna see where it goes. Like, I just. I’m not giving up on it because I agree with you. I think that it inherently is a very good platform for food bloggers.

[00:34:42]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my gosh. It is.

[00:34:43]  Taryn Solie 

Because people eat with their eyes, you know, and. And that I don’t. I think Pinterest is in a little bit of a tantrum right now.

[00:34:53]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. A little bit of a fit.

[00:34:55]  Taryn Solie 

A little bit of a fit. So. And I think we’re just gonna have to wait it out.

[00:35:01]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:35:02]  Taryn Solie 

But don’t give up on it. I agree with you on that.

[00:35:05]  Megan Porta 

So I’m. I don’t. I didn’t mean to do this, but we’re pulling out all these C words. Consistency, community, compelling. It’s the episode of the Cs, I guess. Yeah. And then I was going to ask you, Taryn, is there anything that is in our mastermind that stands out to you, that’s really working for people there?

[00:35:25]   

I’m kind of looking for our. Through our Slack channel right now just to see if there’s anything. Facebook is working for one member. She’s crushing it. Just reviving her Facebook account. And really, I mean, it’s amazing what she’s been able to revive. So that’s something to remember.

[00:35:47]  Taryn Solie 

You know, there’s a member who is really leaning into her niche and is on YouTube and had a really great reaction, I guess, to a video that she did where she was really leaning into her authority and her niche and had kind of been debating about doing it. And I think that, like, leaning, like. I think you mentioned it earlier, where people want people.

[00:36:17]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, right.

[00:36:18]  Taryn Solie 

Like, people want authenticity and that sort of thing. And she really leaned into that. She really leaned into her authenticity and it went over really well. And I think that that bodes well for all sorts of different areas.

[00:36:30]  Megan Porta 

Yes. So true. Good lesson all around. And I think. I mean, we’ve given people quite a bit there just to chew on. We could probably do these more often. Just like, if you like this episode and what we’ve talked about, let me know or let Taryn know. And we can definitely readdress some of these things and anything else that pops up as the year goes on or 2026 starts.

[00:36:54]   

So, speaking of 2026, we have some big changes are afoot in the Eat Blog Talk world. This year has just felt like such a. I don’t know, like a pivotal year for e block talk. And it’s been hard to put words to it because I really haven’t known what’s happening until recently. I’m like, oh, this is what’s evolving.

[00:37:14]   

This is so cool. But, yeah, we wanted to just let you guys know about some things happening and the changes will start 2020. Well, okay. We can just talk through them, I guess. So something that has just felt aligned is changing the mastermind groups. And it has been a part of e blog talk since.

[00:37:37]   

I was just writing notes on this. 2021. Taryn was a part of my first mastermind group in 2021. The first full year was such a good year. We had such great people. The member. Every year’s so great, but that first year was so good. And then I’ve done groups every year since. And this year, I’ve just been feeling like there’s something that needs to change.

[00:38:03]   

Like, I could just feel the change happening below the surface.

[00:38:08]  Taryn Solie 

It’s like Mary Poppins when you feel the change in the air, something is coming. I know.

[00:38:14]  Megan Porta 

And it’s not a change coming from a bad place. It’s not like, oh, I’m so burned out, or we’re just overtaxed or overloaded or anything like that. But it’s just the evolution of these groups, I feel like. And this is the right, perfectly aligned thing and time to do it. So 2026 is going to be the last year for the masterminds and mini minds groups.

[00:38:41]   

Crazy. I never thought I would be saying that, honestly, but it just feels so good. Like we’ve just run this awesome course. It’s been beautiful and pivotable and transformational. We have impacted so many people’s businesses and lives through these groups. So we’re just. We’re going to sunset them. And 2026 is going to be the last epic, awesome year for them.

[00:39:08]   

So starting in 2027, they will no longer be as they are. Maybe something else will evolve in the future, but for now, we’re saying goodbye. And, yeah, with that, I guess we do have some members signed up for 2026. So we are going to continue as. As we have been. The members who have signed up are freaking amazing.

[00:39:33]   

I love these women. They are the best. Seriously, this group is going to be epic. And that just is confirmation for me. Like, okay, this is right. We’re ending on the most awesome people and the most. I mean, not that every group hasn’t been the most awesome. You know what I mean? I’m not saying that, yeah, they’re lesser than in any way. It’s just I happen to really like.

[00:39:53]  Taryn Solie 

Everyone’s awesome in a different way.

[00:39:54]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, this group is going to be amazing. So if you are interested in joining, if you’ve ever thought maybe I’ll join someday, well, now’s your chance because it’s. We’re not going to do it again in this fashion anyway. So go to eatblogtalk.com/mastermind and fill out an application. We only have a few spots left, and we do hope to fill these for both the Mastermind and the Mini Minds before Thanksgiving this year just so you can, you know, be in on the planning and the retreat for the Mastermind and get everything going.

[00:40:33]   

So that’s kind of it. And then Taryn runs the Mini Minds group so you can talk a little bit about that. Like, what’s to come in 2026. We are planning to run a group and we have a few people.

[00:40:46]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, yeah, it’s. I mean, the. Yes. Megan, you know, I’m sure you’ll put in the show notes and you already mentioned the URL to see the differences between the Mini Mind and the Mastermind. It’s all there. You know, on the Eat Blog Talk website, the Mini Mind is, you know, twice a month as opposed to, I think, what is it, three times a month or something for the Mastermind and, you know, we take a break in the summer for the many Minds because people are busy and I am also busy. And it’s just. It’s just a little bit lighter, I would say, of a touch point for people. And some people need that. Some people, you know, aren’t ready to dive straight in to the Mastermind.

[00:41:33]   

Although there’s. While you were talking, Megan, I was just thinking how just super fantastic the Mastermind has been this year. I have been lucky enough to sit in on the calls and it’s just. Just been so magic.

[00:41:47]  Megan Porta 

Like, so magic.

[00:41:49]  Taryn Solie 

Yes, it really, really has. And I mean, it always feels that way, but it just. I have. I don’t always sit in on all the calls. This year I have, and it’s just been so good. But. And I think that, you know, past mini minds have been so, so good. You know, I still talk to a lot of the same people, both in the masterminds and in the mini minds you mentioned.

[00:42:10]   

You know, what it was 2021, I think you said, was that first mastermind. I still meet with the people in some of the people in that mastermind still, however many years later, you know. And that, I think is also part of the magic of the people that you particularly bring together, because I know you’re very selective about.You want to make sure it’s a good group. You want to make sure it’s the right people. You want to make sure it’s people who are collaborators. You know, we’ve talked a C word.

[00:42:40]  Megan Porta 

Of the C words that we’ve talked about.

[00:42:44]  Taryn Solie 

And, and who really aren’t scared to share or who don’t want to share. You know, like you. You bring people who want to share, and I think that’s really important. And, and for any group that you’re a part of, make sure you’re with people who want to share because otherwise, what are you guys doing?

[00:43:02]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, there’s no point, really.

[00:43:04]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, yeah.

[00:43:05]  Megan Porta 

I appreciate all you said about that. It is. These groups are such magic and we have gotten more selective over the years. I feel like at first it was like, okay, we just wanted to fill the groups. And now as the years have gone on, it just feels like, okay, we need to put in, you know, people who are really committed and ready to share and all of the things have a positive attitude and a positive mindset and all of that.

[00:43:30]   

But this year, in 2026, we’re going to be super selective with these last few spots because we are so committed. Another C word to letting it. Just letting this run its course on the highest note possible. So we’re not going to be wishy washy, like, oh, I wonder, like, is this person ready to commit?

[00:43:51]   

No. If, if. Yeah. So if you want a spot, just communicate that in your application, like, yes, I’m ready. Yes, I’m willing to share and all the C things. And we will get on a call. Is there anything else to say? Well, I also wanted to say we’re. We are not going anywhere.

[00:44:11]   

We are going to continue with the Inner Circle, which is the old accountability group. We rebranded that. We’re gonna pump that up and level that up and you kind of lead that. So do you want to talk about the Inner Circle a little bit?

[00:44:23]  Taryn Solie 

I love The Inner Circle so much. I really do. I love the women there. They’re just so good and they’re so like. We were just talking about willing to share, willing to collaborate, like all those sorts of things. So again, you can, you know, read about it on the blog talk website.

[00:44:43]   

I’m sure, Megan, you’ll post the URL in the show notes. But it’s, it’s a Slack channel essentially where people can ask any sort of question that they want, whatever they’re struggling with, and then we have a lot of extras that go along with it. There’s monthly calls that Megan and I do were.

[00:45:05]   

What was that platform that we used to be on where you held those like weekly calls, remember, that anyone could show up on?

[00:45:10]  Megan Porta 

I don’t even remember.

[00:45:12]  Taryn Solie 

I don’t remember either. But it’s.

[00:45:14]  Megan Porta 

You mean Clubhouse?

[00:45:15]  Taryn Solie 

Clubhouse. Yes, yes, yes. Clubhouse.

[00:45:18]  Megan Porta 

Oh gosh, I can’t believe I temporarily forgot about Clubhouse. Okay, that was awesome. I loved our Clubhouse chats.

[00:45:23]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, so those are the types of chats that we have monthly in the Inner circle. We also do quarterly, you know, we call them coffee chats chats where it’s just more about getting to connect another C word connect with each other and learn more about each other on a personal level as well as on a business level.

[00:45:42]   

There’s. We have like a bunch of different kind of like themed threads that we do. So like a what’s working thread where people are just sharing like a lot.

[00:45:51]  Megan Porta 

Of what we’re talking about.

[00:45:53]  Taryn Solie 

We just talked about here. Is this happening? You know, in Slack there’s I’m no one forgetting like a million and one things, but it’s just a really, really good, positive, supportive group. So if. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:46:08]  Megan Porta 

So if people want to sign up, they go to eatblogtalk.com/focus and you can be led and you can just sign up right away. This episode is going live on October 30th, so that gives you exactly one day. Sorry about that. To get in on a grandfathered in rate. So we are going to be raising the prices just a little bit.

[00:46:30]   

Not much, but we’ll be raising the monthly subscription in November. So get in now before it changes over and you’re in forever on that rate. So it’s an awesome group. Taryn does such a good, good job. Did you mention the Focus calls that you do too?

[00:46:46]  Taryn Solie 

Oh, no, I totally forget. Hello, Focus. That was like part of the whole reason we started the group. So twice a week we have Focus calls where we just get together for an hour and work silently, essentially. We do. I’m a big, like believer in like deep breaths and getting oxygen in and getting yourself like, mentally ready.

[00:47:08]   

I know, like, Megan, you have the, you know, the mindset episodes. You know, we both, I think, are big on mindset and that’s how we kick off the call where we just really like get our bodies ready to work and take some deep breaths and we all state what we’re going to be working on and then we just all work together silently on like.

[00:47:22]   

I think it’s a Google Meet call and it’s. It really is helpful for me as well as other members in the group. We’ve gotten some really good feedback. It just helps people get stuff done when you’re accountable like that, in person, on video, whatever you want to call it. So, yeah, that is another bonus.

[00:47:42]   

And those call times change quarterly. So it depends on when people are available in the group. So don’t feel like you’re like, oh, I can’t make the calls this quarter. I’m not going to join. They change quarterly and everyone votes on the times that work for them. So we try and accommodate, you know, as new members come in.

[00:48:00]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, love it. So we will carry on with that. We have no plans of getting rid of the Inner Circle. Taryn’s going to keep up with that. Bye bye mastermind in 2027. Bye bye mini minds. Also, another change coming in 2026 that I wanted to be sure to talk about is we are getting rid of the mindset episodes completely.

[00:48:19]   

I think they’re great and I think people enjoy them, but they’re not, you know, they’re not totally aligned with the niche of food blogging and what you get in the interviews. So we’re just going to take those away and we’re going down to one episode per week. So one interview episode a week.

[00:48:38]   

And the reason for that is, I mean, it’s been a little bit of a hustle, honestly. We’ve done two plus episodes, interview episodes a week for this whole. For the entire time. Six years. Six plus years Eat Blog Talk has been in existence. But aside from that, we just want to level up and be really selective about the guests and not just churn out quantity, but focus on quality and quality guests, quality content and then, you know, just like repurposing more, maybe making some more reels for social media and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I think that’s it.

[00:49:16]  Taryn Solie 

And you’ve got some quality. Like, I am so excited.

[00:49:20]  Megan Porta 

I know, I guess coming up. So excited, so pumped. Same. I cannot Wait, so all around I feel like just leveling up, simplifying, but also just operating this business with more aligned mentality, which feels so good. I mean, it’s kind of scary. Honestly. These are big changes for me. Like internally I’m freaking out a little bit, but it’s so good.

[00:49:48]   

I feel so good too. Like this is exactly how it’s meant to be. So we are, I’m going with the flow. I’m not resisting anything. Just totally in alignment. And that is my goal here. And for you too. And I think messaging.

[00:50:01]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah. And I think, yeah, I think it’s this and this might be a little woo woo. But you and I are both that way. So you know, it works is, you know, when you let go of something that doesn’t feel aligned or that feels like you’re not able to be consistent or you’re not, your energy is being dragged down.

[00:50:21]   

Yeah. You’re pushing it. You open yourself up to something else better that is going to happen to you for you, whatever you want to call it. And I think, you know, that’s, that’s, that’s true for you right now, Megan. And I think that’s true for, for anybody out there who, you know that. And I know you just said you’re getting rid of the mindset episodes, but I think those are timeless.

[00:50:43]  Megan Porta 

Yeah.

[00:50:43]  Taryn Solie 

You know, I mean anyone can go back and listen to that sort of those sorts of episodes and if you can get your mindset right and, and, and really focused and I guess calm is the word that comes to mind. It can, it can do so much for your business. I’m just a big believer in that.

[00:51:02]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, it is. Everything you said is so true. So that’s how we’ll end. And then I’ll reiterate to the retreats aren’t going anywhere either. In fact, I would love to increase those. The amount of retreats I do now, I’ll have a little bit more time to focus on those. So retreats eatblogtalk.com/retreat, the Inner Circle eatblogtalk.com/focus and if you want in on this last epic year of masterminds and miniminds, Eatblogtalk.com/mastermind you’re not going to want to miss out. I promise it’s going to be coming out with us. We’re fun.

[00:51:36]  Taryn Solie 

We are fun.

[00:51:38]  Megan Porta 

Our retreats are so fun and our weekly calls are magical. They’re so great. Every time after Taryn and I text, we’re like, that was so good. This group is amazing. Like, we’re Just gushing still. And it’s October about the amazingness. So I hope that you’ve pulled some value out. And then one last thing, Taryn, I’m starting to do with all my guests is just ask, if you had one, one single piece of advice or tip for food bloggers, what would it be?

[00:52:09]  Taryn Solie 

Oh, gosh, you warned me this is coming and then I totally forgot.

[00:52:13]  Megan Porta 

It can be something we talked about.

[00:52:15]  Taryn Solie 

Think of anything.

[00:52:15]  Megan Porta 

Just like the most important.

[00:52:16]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah. So like one single piece of advice for food bloggers who are just starting out or just in general?

[00:52:24]  Megan Porta 

In general.

[00:52:26]  Taryn Solie 

Oh, I think this align, this is not just for food blogging, but in life and it is something that I am still learning is if you can respond to things that are happening to you, if you can, the actions that are in your business, in your life, if you can come from it not from a place of fear, but a place of either curiosity or, you know, we talked about bravery, courage, but a light place instead of kind of a darker gray place.

[00:53:12]   

It just makes such a difference. And I think that, that it’s an. It’s a muscle that you have to exercise. It doesn’t for me anyway, it did not come quickly to have that mindset shift, but it really can make a difference in all the little arms of your business and your life. So that’s what I would say.

[00:53:35]  Megan Porta 

See, look at you. That was incredible. And you were like, I don’t know. That was absolutely perfect. Thank you for ending that way.

[00:53:43]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah.

[00:53:44]  Megan Porta 

Well, if you want to peek at the Show Notes, you can do. Definitely do that. I wish I had a URL for you. I’m not prepared on this. Hold on one second. Cue the hold elevator music. If you would like to go to the show notes and just get everything we talked about, all the links and everything, you can go to eatblogtalk.com/changesafoot. There you go.

[00:54:09]   

All right, thanks, Taryn. Thanks everyone for listening. Let us know if you have questions or need anything at all. We’re here to support you. 

[00:54:25] Outro

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. I would love your help with something special. I’m putting the finishing touches on my memoir, Take the Exit together. If you want sneak peeks, cover reveals and a say in how it all comes together, join me on Substack through the link in the description. I can’t wait to bring you along. You can also join the email list at eatblogtalk.com/takethexit.