Episode 701: Q&A – Will Google Become Outdated with The Rise of AI, How to Monetize Beyond Ads And Succeed on YouTube With Catharina Joubert, Dan Porta, Taryn Solie

EBT701 – EBT Team Q&A

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. 

Supercut  00:37

Welcome to episode number 700 of the Eat Blog Talk podcast. It is so surreal that we are celebrating the 700th episode. Thinking back to episode one, I always knew we would record many, many episodes on this podcast because I just knew that it was a project that was meant to be in the space.

[00:00:59]   

But it does feel very surreal that we are actually here now. So thank you for joining me. Thank you for being the most awesome listeners on the planet. I could not continue doing this without all of your love and support. And inside of this interview to commemorate 700, I brought part of my team together to answer some questions that you listeners provided for us to answer.

[00:01:26]   

Some of these are food blogging related. Some of them are more fun. We had a really fun time with it just doing a discussion between Dan, Catharina, Taryn and myself. We are missing a few people from the team, so shout out to Cara and Lori. Sorry you couldn’t make it, but yeah, we just had such a fun time in this episode.

[00:01:46]   

A couple of things before we get into the chat. First of all, if you’re on YouTube, go watch this on YouTube because we are live in person communicating and having this fun interaction together. So let’s create some engagement in the comments there. Second, I get this question all the time. Megan, how do you do this all?

[00:02:06]   

How do you run a podcast in a community and a blog and a summit and blah blah blah. I can do it because of my awesome team. This team is the best team in the world. They share my values. They share my passion for entrepreneurship and for serving people. I couldn’t run Eat Blog Talk without them.

[00:02:25]   

I am immensely grateful for every single one of them. And the last thing I want to say is I just want to reiterate the why here for Eat Blog Talk. Why is E atBlog Talk here? I started Eat BlogTalk in 2019 because I wanted to create a safe space for food bloggers to come where they felt understood and heard and loved and like none of their questions were stupid.

[00:02:51]   

They didn’t get kicked out of a community just because they said something wrong. Eat Blog Talk has turned into much more than just a podcast. It is now a community of like minded people who really have the same values and beliefs and very similar drives to just achieve goals. Over the years, my food blog has allowed me to achieve this time freedom that has been just so cool and so important to me in spending time with my family and doing the things that I want to do.

[00:03:28]   

So it is my mission to help as many women and men achieve that same time freedom, whatever that looks like for you. If you want to quit your job and be at home with your kids, or if you want to retire a spouse, or if you want to live abroad for six months, whatever time freedom is for you, I want that for you.

[00:03:48]   

And I really hope that Eat Blog Talk can help accelerate your journey to achieve that. It makes me so happy every time a listener shares that they’ve been able to quit a job or achieve something through their blog that they otherwise would never have achieved or would have achieved much or would have achieved on a much shorter timeline.

[00:04:12]   

So thank you for being here. I truly appreciate you and I am so excited for you to listen to episode number 700. I really hope you enjoy this. Hey everyone. Welcome to episode 700. I can’t believe it. How is everyone doing?

[00:04:28]  Dan Porta 

Good.

[00:04:29]  Catharina Joubert 

Good.

[00:04:30]  Megan Porta 

Yay.

[00:04:31]  Catharina Joubert 

So exciting.

[00:04:32]  Megan Porta 

Yes, I know. I can’t believe it’s 700 already. It’s crazy how fast that went. So we have three members, well, four including myself from the Eat Blog Talk team here today. We’re missing a couple people, but we thought it would be really fun to put a collaborative episode together where we answer some questions.

[00:04:51]   

So we sent out a few prompts to Eat Blog Talk listeners just asking for questions that they would want answered in this episode. And then we threw in some random fun stuff in there as well. So we’re just going to, yeah, answer some fun questions today and hopefully inform and entertain. So to start we can just go around really quickly and introduce ourselves.

[00:05:15]   

So if you are just tuning in, I’m Megan, I am the founder of Eat Blog Talk and I’m also the podcast host here at Eat Blog Talk. And then, yeah, we can go around and the rest of you can introduce yourselves. Catharina, do you want to go first?

[00:05:31]  Catharina Joubert 

Yes, sure. So I’m Catharina. I produce the podcast. So that’s editing the audio and the video and I create Megan’s Instagram reels and the YouTube videos.

[00:05:43]  Dan Porta 

Dan I’m Dan. I work with sponsors and also help out on retreats. And I’m married to Megan.

[00:05:51]  Megan Porta 

And you also help out with Pip ‘n Ebby stuff too. But I guess that’s not Eat Blog Talk. Okay, thank you, Taryn, go ahead.

[00:05:58]  Taryn Solie 

Hi, I’m Taryn Solely and I am the community manager for  Eat Blog Talk, which includes kind of heading up the accountability group. I also help run the mini minds and I dip into the masterminds a little bit too, just to lend a voice there. Yay.

[00:06:15]  Megan Porta 

You guys are all vital. You play vital roles at Eat Blog Talk. And I was going to say, I have this question all the time from people who are like, Megan, how do you do everything? How do you run Eat Blog Talk and your blog and whatever Flavor Media? And I’m like, honestly, because of you guys, I would not.

[00:06:33]   

Eat Blog Talk would not be what it is without you guys. So all of the credit goes to you. You are amazing. Thank you for being part of my awesome team. So on that note, let’s turn to the questions. The first question is a roundtable question, so we’ll just go around and answer this.

[00:06:51]   

This is kind of a fun one. So the question is, what is your current favorite podcast book or YouTube channel? And my answer is, I love this book. I just read it recently and it was so mind blowingly inspiring. It’s called the Creative Act, A Way of Being by Rick Rubin. And I think every creative individual, so everyone listening, should read it.

[00:07:17]   

It is just, it’s such a beautiful work of art, honestly. And it’s like I want to go back and reread every word. It’s amazing. So Taryn, what is your current favorite?

[00:07:30]  Taryn Solie 

I’m assuming we’re excluding this podcast because otherwise everyone’s just going to be like. Well, Eat Blog Talk, of course.

[00:07:34]  Megan Porta 

Excluding Eat Blog Talk.

[00:07:39]  Taryn Solie 

So I don’t watch a ton of YouTube channels. I. And I read, but not normally business books. It’s kind of like my escape from business. So I am going to go with a podcast and I’ve actually, I’ve been dipping my toe back into Instagram and I’ve been finding Shannon McKinstrie’s podcast. Good content, all about Instagram, really helpful.

[00:08:01]   

They’re very short episodes. They’re like, you know, 10 to 13 minutes, real bite sized chunks. And it’s. She goes out a lot of good information, so that’d be my answer.

[00:08:10]  Megan Porta 

So her name, what’s the name of the podcast? Is it just Shannon?

[00:08:13]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, the podcast is called Good Content and her name is Shannon McKinstrie. I think it’s M, C, K, I, N, S, T, R, I, E I think is how she spells it. And she’s got like an Instagram. I mean, she’s big on Instagram and has a lot of really good free content that I’ve.

[00:08:31]   

I found helpful. I know others in the blog talk community have found helpful as well. So it’s, it’s a great resource. Awesome.

[00:08:38]  Megan Porta 

Dan, what about you?

[00:08:39]  Dan Porta 

I tend to bounce around quite a bit based on the topic, but recently I’ve been listening to a fair amount of the Diary of a CEO podcast. One of the things I’ve been interested about is speaking and presentation. And recently he’s had a few guests on Body language, How to talk. And one of them most recently was Jefferson Fisher. And I actually grabbed his book just on conversing and dialoguing better. And that was interesting to me. So I’ve been enjoying that one.

[00:09:07]  Megan Porta 

Cool. And what about you, Katarina?

[00:09:09]  Catharina Joubert 

I used to listen to the Diary of the CEO. Not anymore, though. But yeah, yeah, I’ve switched to a podcast called Modern Wisdom. For me, I watch a lot of YouTube and I listen to a lot of podcasts being a podcast producer. But I was pleasantly surprised by Modern Wisdom. It’s by someone called Chris Williamson.

[00:09:32]   

I think it’s fairly popular and he does really good episodes that just sort of uncovers being human in a modern world. And it’s kind of like mindset episodes. But yeah, I definitely just check it out. It’s difficult to describe, but yeah, it’s life changing.

[00:09:49]  Megan Porta 

Well, if it’s mindset related, you know, I’ll love it. So I wrote it down, going to check it out. Thank you. And then from here, I think we’ll just kind of bounce around. We have questions to ask each other just to make it a little more fun. So I think, Dan, you are up with a question.

[00:10:06]  Dan Porta 

This is for Megan and Taryn. How do you monetize beyond just ads?

[00:10:13]  Megan Porta 

This is a very big question and this is something that a listener sent in. And I know, I think it’s. She said that, yeah, she was dabbling in ebooks and e-courses and live classes, but nothing has really moved the needle for her. So she was also thinking about reaching out to brands.

[00:10:31]   

And yeah, I think all of those things are good options. Okay, first of all, I have to say you definitely should be thinking about monetizing beyond ads if you’re a food blogger right now, because it’s just a really scary time to only rely on ads. And that is for the biggest of bloggers as well.

[00:10:49]   

So think about it. But I. I’ll see what you think, Taryn. But I would say just pick one or two things outside of ads and focus on them. Because it’s really hard to monetize when you’re focused on like five different things. Trying to do the ebooks and the courses and the live classes and the sponsorships is.

[00:11:10]   

Is not going to be very fruitful. So what are you passionate about? What has maybe worked in the past? What have you seen money come in from in the past? And then build on that to start. Taryn, I would love to hear your thoughts.

[00:11:26]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I think, I mean, I agree with you. I think focusing on one thing is, you know, you can’t spread yourself out too much. You have to direct your attention. I think the thing I would add to that is you have to stick with it for a while. Not everybody. There’s certain things that are like kind of flash in the pans that come up really fast, but they also tend to fade fast.

[00:11:45]   

So I think that the things that are going to really diversify your business are things that are going to probably be slower to build. So this, I know this person mentioned that they, you know, had ebooks and live classes and all that sort of thing. How long were you trying those things for?

[00:12:04]   

And also pay attention to what your audience is asking you and really try and hone in on the pain points that they’re telling you they have and how you can address those not just with your blog, but with something else. Yeah, I think that’s an opportunity to look for other ways to diversify your income.

[00:12:22]  Megan Porta 

Yes, that is a really good point. Paying attention to what people are actually wanting from you. If they don’t want a course, then don’t build an entire course. So it’s being very focused, being very intentional with it. But you can do it. Oh, gosh. There are so many ways that people are monetizing beyond ads right now.

[00:12:38]   

So just pick your thing and like Taryn said, stick with it for the long, the marathon. It’s not a sprint. Okay, next question is for Taryn. Taryn, how do you recommend people successfully niche down? And there was a specific question about this, so I’m hoping you can give her some insights.

[00:12:58]  Taryn Solie 

So I think, I mean, the simple answer is you just go for it. You know, there’s not. It’s. Yeah, you have to decide what niche you want and then, you know, start creating content around that niche, I think, to be successful at it. I think, like so many things in our industry, there’s two things that you need to do.

[00:13:22]   

You have to be consistent and you have to give it time. So especially when you’re talking about blog posts, it’s, it’s, I think it’s rare for people to succeed right away. Some people do. Some people hit like a trend and it just hits right at the right time and they’re able to like, put a ton of time and effort behind it and they’re able to take off quickly.

[00:13:43]   

But I, that’s the exception, not the rule, from what I’ve seen. So I think you really just have to, you know, get very clear on your niche and start producing content within that niche and not get distracted by all the little like, squirrel, squirrel, squirrel things that it’s like, oh, but what about this recipe?

[00:14:02]   

This sounds fun. And this, you know, this over here, this person’s doing this. Like, you really, you gotta put your blinders on and just stay consistent within your niche. That’s, that’s how I started to see success finally and start to grow was when I really focused in on my niche and really stopped paying attention to what other people were doing. Not totally, but really just focused on, you know, my own content.

[00:14:25]  Megan Porta 

And what if somebody doesn’t know where to go when they’re like, they know they need to niche down because things just aren’t working, but they don’t really know where to start with it.

[00:14:34]  Taryn Solie 

I mean, I think there’s a number of different things you can do. I think you can a. What excites you, right? What are you going to want to be doing? Because I’m assuming people are going to, people who are doing this are going to want to be doing this for years upon years, hopefully, right?

[00:14:49]   

So what excites you? What’s. What feels good to you? What do you want to be working on? Because if you don’t like it, then you’re probably not going to want to do it for a very long time. But also, you know, if you have a bunch of content already on your site, you know what is already doing well.

[00:15:05]   

And maybe that’s another way to, to see, you know, Google’s already giving you some authority on maybe a certain, you know, genre of recipes, then that’s something to explore too. And also, you know, back to the first question, but what does your audience want, right? Not that you can’t change. Not that you can’t, you know, if you want to, if your audience loves baking and you want to be a slow cooker person, you know, you can do that.

[00:15:32]   

That’s fine. Just know that you’re gonna have to build a new audience or grow a different audience. But it’s. I mean, there’s all sorts of different avenues that somebody can explore to see what niche they want to go after.

[00:15:45]  Megan Porta 

Great answer. Thank you, Taryn. And I’ll pass the mic over to you.

[00:15:50]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah. So the next question for Megan is someone asked, how do I future proof my blog in light of AI and with the shift of Google being for, quote, unquote, old people, which is hilarious to me, and I know this is a big AI is a big topic. So curious to hear where you have this say, Megan.

[00:16:07]  Megan Porta 

Well, there. I think there are two questions here. So Google being for old people, which is super funny. I don’t know if Google’s for old people, but I think some people think it’s maybe phasing out in the blogger world. So future proofing your blog for that, I think just make sure you’re on multiple platforms and you’re not just relying on organic Google traffic anymore.

[00:16:30]   

For a long time we were solely doing that. I think you should definitely be on Pinterest and putting effort and maybe even investing in Pinterest for sure if you are a food blogger, do not, do not let Pinterest go. You’ve got to focus on that. So I think that is a great way to future proof.

[00:16:51]   

Also, YouTube is a great avenue for just making sure you’re diversified. You could monetize through YouTube, you could focus on social media and Instagram. I don’t think you should do all of those options because you’re spreading yourself too thin. But I think pick a few different sources of traffic and focus on them and just really give them your attention.

[00:17:18]   

And then with the AI question, I mean, I feel like that’s kind of out of our hands. There’s not really a whole lot we can do with that. I just look at it as AI is more a helper in our businesses instead of an enemy. And I just try to use it to streamline my business and to make things easier.

[00:17:43]   

And I know that some people are worried about the, you know, the AI features that show up, the snippets that show up in Google searches and that they’re worried that that’s going to take away from blog traffic kind of out of our hands. So I would just say try not to worry about AI too much.Just roll with it and get the most out of it that you can.

[00:18:05]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I think the, like, what I’m kind of taking from what you just said is like, it’s diversification, which I think is kind of the answer to a lot of different questions, but diversification and worry about the things that you can control.

[00:18:17]  Megan Porta 

And not just diversification, but, like, intentional diversification. Because there was one point in my journey where I was like, I have to diversify. And then I had, like, eight streams of income coming in, but it was like $30 here and $150 there, and that doesn’t really add up. So be super intentional with your diversification, but definitely diversify.

[00:18:40]  Taryn Solie 

Yes.

[00:18:41]  Megan Porta 

And then I think Cat has a question next.

[00:18:44]  Catharina Joubert 

Yes. So my question is for Dan. It is. What are the struggles as well as the good things that come from working with Megan?

[00:18:53]  Dan Porta 

First of all, I don’t think this is very fair. I’m pretty sure Megan added this question in there just out of her own curiosity, but I’ll answer it. And my answer is actually the same for both. One of the good things about working with Megan is it’s pretty fun. She’s bold, she’s decisive, and it’s fun to think about new ideas and then go for it.

[00:19:16]   

And one of the struggles is she’s very bold, she’s very decisive. Sometimes I want to talk a little more and discuss things longer than she does, and she’s just ready to pull the trigger. So it’s kind of fun balancing those out. It’s also good that she’s downstairs in case I want to kiss her.

[00:19:33]  Megan Porta 

Okay, we’re not getting dirty here. Responses, Cat

[00:19:38]  Catharina Joubert 

No, it’s very interesting because obviously I only get the very calculated side of Megan. Like, by the time she gives me an answer, it’s always, like, very well thought out. So that’s an interesting perspective.

[00:19:51]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, it’s a huge difference between me and Dan. Dan is very like, okay, we have to think this out and let’s make a strategy or plan. And I’m like, no, we’re doing this. What are you talking about? So it can be a point of contention almost. But, yeah, we know each other well enough that it’s just like, okay, this is how he thinks, and this is how I think.

[00:20:12]  Catharina Joubert 

I think by the time I speak to Megan, she’s probably already spoken to you, Dan. So that’s why it always seems toned down.

[00:20:22]  Megan Porta 

Oh, that’s funny. Good answer, though. And then the next question is for all of us, just going around and answering this question, what are your goals for 2025? I could create a whole other episode for this, but I’ll condense this into, like, 30 seconds. My goals for 2025 so my theme of the year, every year I have kind of a word or a theme that dictates all the goals I set for my business and my life.

[00:20:49]   

And my theme that I just felt calling to me at the beginning of the year was experience. I just felt like I needed to fully experience the year, both in business and outside of work. So everything I set aligns with that. So my goals are really experiencing Flavor Media Summit, which is coming up and enjoying it and not being stressed like I was last year, really experiencing every moment of my family time and vacations.

[00:21:19]   

And that applies literally to everything I do and work. I just want to experience it all, even if it’s a struggle. So I am just really focused on that this year. That’s kind of my broad answer. I would love to hear what yours are, Cat.

[00:21:34]  Catharina Joubert 

I’m the same. I’ve got so many goals, actually. So one of the things I’ve already accomplished is getting ahead with Eat Blog Talk episodes. So, like, Megan and I are in a really good groove. But on the other side, more on the food blog, blogging side. And Megan’s probably gonna, I don’t know, laugh or all her eyes, because I’ve been saying this for, like, I don’t know, three years or something.

[00:21:57]   

I’m gonna start a food blog. I’m gonna start a food blog, but I’m probably going to start off more with, like, just food content creation, if I put it that way, on Instagram, because it’s a platform I. I’m more familiar with and see how that goes. And from there I can decide if I really want to start a food blog.

[00:22:17]  Megan Porta 

And yes, I’m. I’m super excited for you on this because I think you’ll crush it. Do you have a goal date in mind or is it just any time this year?

[00:22:26]  Catharina Joubert 

According to my document, it was already. It had to start already, like in April or March or something. But yeah, life happens. So now I’ve probably given myself at least until halfway through the year just to get content created. Filming, just like, sorting things out, editing just to take the pressure off. Like, kind of just find my feet in the first year, like from June, July onwards, and then see what I want to do from there. But yeah, it’s happening, Megan.

[00:22:58]  Megan Porta 

It is happening. I know it will. It’s in the works, so can’t wait for that. Dan, what are your goals for 2025?

[00:23:06]  Dan Porta 

I am curious to learn more about the whole podcasting side of things. So that’s kind of also why I’m interested in communication. Improving how I do that and learning effective ways to do that. For Eat Blog Talk, I’m interested in making the retreats more efficient. I think in person events are hugely important.I’m a huge fan of working with people and so I am excited to kind of explore that area. And then in general, I’d like to find a few new sponsors for Eat Blog Talk.

[00:23:41]  Megan Porta 

That’s about it. Awesome. Great goals. Yes. Yeah, we’ve been working on our communication together behind the scenes. We’ve been going to Toastmasters together and doing speeches and working on those filler words that we’re not supposed to say. We’ve both greatly improved this year, I think so. Good job. Dan’s been awesome in like keeping us on track with that.

[00:24:04]  Catharina Joubert 

I was just going to compliment Dan saying like, I’ve just thought he speaks so well and like everything’s so well thought out. So yeah, it definitely I can tell.

[00:24:14]  Megan Porta 

That’s amazing. I bet that makes him feel great because yeah, he’s been working on it. Taryn, what are your goals for 2025?

[00:24:22]  Taryn Solie 

I’ll share mine in a sec. But I have done Toastmasters. It’s very hard. It was a long time ago and obviously I didn’t learn much from it because I still use all the filler words and all those sorts of things. But I’m very impressed that you guys are going. It’s. It’s not easy.

[00:24:36]   

It’s. It’s not easy. But my goals. So my goals, one like general goal I have is just to be very consistent to continue with my consistency because that’s where I’ve noticed success. It took me a long time to learn that. And the other goal is very specific, which is to get to 200,000 monthly page views by the end of this year, which it’s taken me a long time to get there.

[00:25:01]   

I had a lot of really slow growth cause I just didn’t know what I was doing for years and years and years. And so now I’m, I found, feel like I’m on track to hit that number by the end of 2025.

[00:25:10]  Megan Porta 

You are going to get it. You’re going to crush it. I know you are. And you can tell from my perspective, Taryn, that you’re putting like the, the heart into it. I can see it from your blog and your platforms and everything.

[00:25:23]  Taryn Solie 

So take that compliment.

[00:25:25]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And. Oh, I just, I meant to mention this in the beginning, but if you’re listening to the podcast, come over to YouTube and watch us because you can see us in action. There we’re all like, our faces are here and we’re live and real. That would be fun to generate some engagement in the comments too.And Dan, I believe you have a question.

[00:25:45]  Dan Porta 

Yes, Megan, I do. Are process shots still a benefit to readers? And does Google still like those process shots?

[00:25:55]  Megan Porta 

I think instead of saying does Google still like process shots? We should say does the user still like process shots? And the answer to that is yes. For the people who do not jump to recipe when they come to your blog, they scroll. Some people still scroll and they want to read all the valuable information.

[00:26:14]   

And for some people, process shots are really helpful. We’re actually, Dan and I together, we’ve been going through some of my old blog content and updating and that entails taking process shots that are missing because I, I believe people are still finding value in that. So if you can do it. I think I find them really easy to do.

[00:26:38]   

I just do it with my phone. I don’t use my camera even and just quickly edit them. So my opinion is yes on that.

[00:26:46]  Taryn Solie 

You know what I do, Megan, I started doing because I’m now going on Instagram more and creating video is I just take screenshots of my video. Like I record with my phone and I take screenshots and I use those as my process shots because otherwise it’s, I don’t want to go back and forth between my cameras.

[00:27:05]   

I do take my final shots with the DSLR, but my process shots are just all screenshots.

[00:27:11]  Megan Porta 

I think if you, whatever you can do to make it easy like that, do it. Just get them up. People don’t care if they’re highly curated. It’s beautiful. It doesn’t really matter. Just kind of get the basics in there. So yeah, I love that you do that, Taryn. And another question for you, Taryn, this came from a listener as well. How do you grow Facebook and Instagram without reels or videos?

[00:27:33]  Taryn Solie 

I don’t know if I’m the best person to answer this question because I am just trying to get back into Instagram myself. I feel like Cat might be a better person to answer this, but what I have heard from, mostly honestly from the Good Content podcast and Janet McKinstrie is really focus on building a community on those platforms, particularly Instagram, I think is probably lends itself better to that.

[00:27:59]   

And I think it’s going to be hard, if I’m being honest, without maybe not without reels, but without video. I think that’s going to be hard because I think the one way to if you don’t want to do reels, then stories, I think is the next best option. I know that there are people who have a lot of success with letting their audience into their lives through stories, but a lot of that is with videos.

[00:28:22]   

So I don’t know if anyone else has opinions on this, please jump in because I feel like I am not the best person to answer this question.

[00:28:29]  Megan Porta 

Well, I mean, it’s a really hard question to answer, right? But yeah, I’d be curious to see what you think.

[00:28:33]  Catharina Joubert 

So I would probably say that your best bet is to go with Facebook and to do a group. That’s probably going to be the easiest if you don’t want to use any video or reels. Instagram’s algorithm is highly dependent on videos at the moment, so that’s going to be tough unless you can pull an audience from another platform or from your email list onto Instagram.

[00:29:00]   

But the one possibility for that would be to make use of things like a carousel. But even there, without any videos or reels, it’s going to be. It’s going to be tough. I would go with Facebook if that’s if you just don’t want to do video.

[00:29:16]  Megan Porta 

Hey food bloggers. Are you looking for new ways to monetize your site, grow your audience and prepare your business for the future? If so, you should get to know Raptive. As you might know, I have been with Raptive for at least seven years and I continue to believe they are the best partners for premium food creators.
 

Ranked the number one food property by Comscore, Raptive is home to more than 1500 premium food creators. The reason so many creators choose Raptive is because of their industry leading RPMs and investments in our future. Raptive is much more than an ad management platform. They are strategic partners focused on helping creators grow their unique businesses and maximize earnings.

From SEO to AI to future proofing and revenue generating strategies, Raptive has creators covered. Interested in Learning more about Raptive’s 15% minimum RPM lift guarantee on top of your year over year growth? What they’re doing to protect and empower creators from the threats posed by AI, including the creator led Keep it real initiative to preserve authentic content.

Or maybe you’d just like to hear how other food creators, not just me, are benefiting from Raptive Support? Go to raptive.com/eatblogtalk to learn more or to schedule a call with their team. We will also be hosting a Raptive executive on one of the upcoming podcast episodes, so if there’s anything you would like to learn more about, please let me know Again, go to raptive.com to learn more or to schedule a call with their team.

[00:30:51]   

And if you are avoiding the highly curated video, do a super simple. Like what Taryn and I were just talking about with the process shots, you do not have to be highly curated anymore. Thankfully, you can take a video while you’re cooking dinner with your phone and create an amazing viral reel out of that.

[00:31:11]   

So don’t be overwhelmed by the process and just do what works for you. And I agree. I think videos. Video is so important right now. So it would be really. It would be like a salmon swimming up upstream. You just, like, go with the flow, create video on your level and publish.

[00:31:30]  Taryn Solie 

And I think because I’m having to, you know, I’m in the process of kind of learning to remember to take video. Right. Because I think that for me, that’s been one of the tricks of having to, like, get in the swing of things and, like, for. I think probably most people have heard of this, and I’m sure, Catharina, you can talk endlessly about this, but, like, you know, there’s a roll and B roll, right?

[00:31:52]   

And a roll is what you’re actually like. You’re showing somebody how to make a recipe. But B roll could be just you emptying the dishwasher or cleaning a pan or, like, doing something that’s not specifically related or just like, panning a landscape if you’re, like a travel photographer or something. And so I’ve been trying to get better about taking a lot of B roll.

[00:32:13]   

Just, I have a. I have something that holds my Kindle so I can read it in bed and keep my arms under my covers, and I use that for my as a stand for my iPhone. And I just, like, prop it up, like in my kitchen or on the deck and, you know, show me, like, opening the grill or, you know, turning the propane on or whatever, because I do a lot of grilling.So I think that’s one of the biggest hurdles that I’ve had is just remembering to video myself and what I’m doing.

[00:32:40]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s a really good point. Okay, Taryn, I think we’re on to you. You have a question for Cat?

[00:32:46]  Taryn Solie 

Yes. I’m curious, Cat, what YouTube trends are you seeing right now? Because I know you’re kind of tuned in there.

[00:32:52]  Catharina Joubert 

Yes. So I’m not an expert. First of all, I’m not an expert on YouTube. I’m more into, like, Instagram and TikTok when it was a thing. So YouTube however, what I have seen is obviously you’ve got the shorts and the long form content and there is. If somebody wants to grow on YouTube, they shouldn’t get pulled into just going for shorts, thinking that it’s kind of like TikTok or like Instagram and it’s going to have the same effect because you can grow with shorts, but then it’s very difficult to go any monetization route, or at least that’s what I’ve heard, because long form is where you can, you know, get all the YouTube goodies.

[00:33:33]   

I’m like, I say I don’t know all the details, but what you would want to focus on is long form and then use your short form to direct people to your long form content, if that makes sense. But don’t go in or on short form only. YouTube’s more a long form platform anyway.

[00:33:54]  Taryn Solie 

So I have a question and I don’t know if you know the answer or if anyone else does so because I personally don’t create long form content. I know there’s a lot of people who don’t create long form content. If people are creating short form content, is do you think that would be beneficial to upload as YouTube shorts even though they might not have long form content?

[00:34:13]  Catharina Joubert 

I don’t know. I don’t know. If that’s maybe just spreading yourself, then yes. And there is also the philosophy that, okay, well, you need to put yourself on all the platforms. Like why not if you have a reel.

[00:34:24]  Taryn Solie 

Right, because it’s repurposing. Right. Because if they’re already putting like a reel on TikTok or Instagram.

[00:34:29]  Catharina Joubert 

Yeah. The only problem is just like, what, what is, what are you expecting in return? Like what, what exactly do you want from that video going out on YouTube and maybe generating 10 views, maybe it generates 100, maybe a thousand. But what, what are you expecting from that? Like, how is it going to contribute?

[00:34:48]   

And wouldn’t it just be better not to think about it? Because it’s also mental heads, it’s also headspace. Like you need to decide what you want to focus on, but then just to maybe wrap up on the YouTube. So you said like people don’t want to create the long form content. And this is interesting because YouTube’s actually like now becoming more like a television in a sense.

[00:35:11]   

So it’s watched more regularly than Netflix. So people are tuning in to YouTube as if it’s their television. I hope that makes sense. So they’re actually expecting like 20 minutes of content and even part one, part two, part three. Yeah. So it’s interesting because it really is geared towards that. But I have also the flip side is you can create shorter form, long form content, so meaning under 10 minutes.

[00:35:38]   

And then just also two more aspects that I think is quite important at the moment for YouTube is that what’s doing well is hyper niche topics. But I think that’s kind of everywhere. Like blogging, Instagram, it’s, it’s not like new. And then also, and this is interesting, so say you’re a food blogger and you want to, to grow your YouTube.

[00:36:03]   

It’s now becoming more popular to do a broader personal content. So say you’re showing a recipe but making it like a vlog, like show bringing people into your, your kitchen and speaking to them as if they’re like really? They’re like they’re friends and showing a lot of your personality. Yeah. So those are the broad trends that I’ve seen in YouTube.

[00:36:25]   

I don’t know if anyone’s noticed anything.

[00:36:27]  Taryn Solie 

No, that’s so interesting to think about it. Like tv and I just like quick antidote. Like my kids, they watch YouTube. I have two 11 year olds and they watch YouTube. Like that’s what they watch is YouTube content. So that’s, that’s so interesting. I don’t know. Do your, do your kids watch it, Megan and Dan?

[00:36:46]  Megan Porta 

Sammy watches roller coaster videos non stop. So I don’t, I don’t know what the length is of those. I know there are some shorts that he watches, but I will often see him watching just like point of view videos of a roller coaster. I mean a lot, not just once a day, but multiple times a day.

[00:37:06]   

And then here’s a fun fact about Sammy. He finds calmness in the sound of a lift hill. So the sound of the chain, you know, like going up the hill, the roller coaster going up to go down the drop. So whenever he needs to be calmed down, he’ll turn on his lift hill YouTube video, which is hilarious.

[00:37:26]  Taryn Solie 

Oh, I love that.

[00:37:29]  Catharina Joubert 

Isn’t that normally like the panic sound?

[00:37:32]  Megan Porta 

Yes, I know most people don’t want to hear that sound, but that when he was in the hospital recently, he was super groggy after surgery and he was like, dad, find the lift hill video sound on YouTube. That was his first ask. We’re like, oh my gosh.

[00:37:49]  Taryn Solie 

But he knows, like good for him that he knows what is calming for him. That’s really a lot of people don’t. So that’s really great.

[00:37:56]  Megan Porta 

And thank you YouTube for delivering. So yeah, they, he and Elijah watches YouTube as well like Mr. Beast videos and oh yeah, more of the long form I think.

[00:38:06]  Dan Porta 

Noel Elijah watches a lot of Wii videos because he likes to cheat.

[00:38:11]  Megan Porta 

That’s true.

[00:38:13]  Dan Porta 

So he finds the cheat codes. So don’t play Elijah and Wii. Because he’ll magically make all the balloons pop on the frisbee game. Some weird trick.

[00:38:23]  Megan Porta 

He schools everyone who comes over. He’s like do you want to play the Wii with me? Just like in a kind of like I just occasionally play it. I’m not very good. So he lures people down to our basement and then he just totally crushes them because YouTube gives him all the codes, all the cheat codes and he tells anybody he’s a wii shark and they’re like wow, you’re really good.

[00:38:46]   

And he’s like oh yeah, I know, I love it. Okay, let’s do a fun round table chat or question here. Do you have any daily rituals or routines that you swear by? And I’ll go last Taryn.

[00:39:01]  Taryn Solie 

I think really, I mean I have a lot of little things that I try and do daily but one of my big ones that I’ve been doing for several years is I, I try and get 10,000 steps a day because you know, I’m a lot of the times I’m sitting at my computer every day as I think a lot of food bloggers are and I just feel better when I move my body.

[00:39:18]   

So yep, I, you know, have a tracker on. I recently got an like I’m coming up to like the times I finally have an Apple watch. Um, so I you know, just track my steps and really just try and stay on top of that.

[00:39:31]  Megan Porta 

Awesome. I love that one. That’s solid. Dan, what about you?

[00:39:35]  Dan Porta 

Well, I have kind of a nerdy little checklist. I don’t actually check it off every day but I like to get up and on a good day I will stretch, then I will read or listen to something, then I will do a meditation and I have a little. I don’t do this every day but I try to, I try to send a light hearted friendly text to someone random just to kind of brighten their day.And then of course I like to work out and that’s it.

[00:40:06]  Megan Porta 

I didn’t know you did the random text thing. I love that. That’s awesome. What about you Cat? What are some of your daily rituals or routines?

[00:40:13]  Catharina Joubert 

So probably the most routine thing I do is the first thing in the morning, something physical, normally working out, normally going to the gym. But yeah, that’s very routine. My philosophy on that is just simply if I’m not healthy later on in life I can’t enjoy anything. So that’s priority. I need to get that done first thing.

[00:40:36]  Megan Porta 

I love that too. And I’ll end up or round out this question by answering. And I yes, I have kind of the same routines that you guys do. Just starting my day off with something physical, usually a hard workout. I also try to do the 10,000 steps a day, Taryn, like you and something to expand my mindset every single day and I usually do that right away in the morning as well as reviewing my goals for the year.

[00:41:04]   

I have a document that I started in January and I look at it every day and I refine them every day and tweak them and those are my main routines. I believe Cat has a question for me and Taryn.

[00:41:19]  Catharina Joubert 

Oh yeah. So my question, well it’s not my question, it’s one of the listeners questions is how many posts per week should I add to my blog to gain the most traffic?

[00:41:31]  Taryn Solie 

What are your thoughts, Megan?

[00:41:32]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, also a question that there’s really no answer to that because it’s so different for everyone. I think for some people it’s one, for some people it’s five. It just depends on how much content you have, how much you’re able to produce without burning out. Also how much old content you have. So always consider even if you only have a hundred posts, you should go be going back and republishing your old content.

[00:42:01]   

So adding that to the mix. But I, I don’t really feel like there’s an answer for this. If I had to say an average from what I hear working I would say anywhere from two to four a week is really, really good.

[00:42:14]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I agree. I think and I would say probably anywhere from like 1 to 4. Just it’s, it’s really whatever you can be consistent with. I think consistency is the key for a lot of things in this industry or almost everything really. And so it’s really whatever you can be consistent with. And, and, and also you know what you were saying about you know what, what you can do without burning out, you know not all of them but I think probably a lot of of the people who are posting three, four, five times a week they have teams.

[00:42:42]   

So if you are a single person doing it on your own and you start to feel bad that you are not posting four times a week, please don’t because you know what is that phrase? Don’t compare your year one to someone else’s year 10. You know, don’t compare what you’re doing by yourself to somebody else who has a whole team helping them and hires out all this stuff like it’s not the same.

[00:43:04]   

And, you know, you have to grow at your own pace.

[00:43:06]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, good answer. Taryn. I think you have a question for me.

[00:43:09]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, for you. So, and speaking of consistency, how do you stay consistent with blogging amidst all the challenges? How do you. And how. How do you recommend other people do that, too?

[00:43:23]  Megan Porta 

First, I would say tune out some of the stuff. You don’t need to be in the loop with everything because if you are, you will get so overwhelmed and bogged down with worry and just that dreaded overwhelm. So take in as much of the, quote, bad stuff as you. A limited amount of that bad stuff as you can, just enough to stay informed.

[00:43:46]   

So that’s number one as far as staying consistent. Don’t take on too much. Like we were saying earlier, when you go to diversify, don’t choose nine streams of revenue or nine platforms to focus on. Pick a few that you’re going to focus on and just keep your blinders on. Because as you know, in this industry, there’s so much opportunity to get distracted.

[00:44:11]   

So pick your things, stay with them. And also self care and just taking care of yourself is really important right now, especially because there is so much going on. First and foremost, I think, put that in your calendar. How are you going to take care of yourself every day? Are you going to work out?

[00:44:30]   

Are you going to focus on mindset? Are you going to meditate? All of the above. Do that first and then add in the things that you need to do for your business.

[00:44:39]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I think that’s great. I agree with everything you said.

[00:44:45]  Megan Porta 

All right, Dan, over to you.

[00:44:46]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, Dan. No, I was just gonna. I was gonna throw it to Dan as well. So, Dan, go ahead and pick it up.

[00:44:50]  Dan Porta 

All right, this is for Megan and Taryn. We had a listener ask about Pinterest. Even I know that that is a challenge just from hearing on the sidelines. They are not sure what’s going on or how to solve it. So why is Pinterest so volatile?

[00:45:09]  Megan Porta 

Pinterest is having a moment right now, I think with all of the AI images that are coming onto the scene. It’s been really challenging for them to sort through all of that garbage from what I’ve heard. So things are all over the place. If I look at my Pinterest analytics, it’s like, whoa, what is happening?

[00:45:28]   

Because some days it’s really good, some days it’s bad. It’ll trend up and then it’ll trend down. And I think a lot of people are seeing this. A lot of people saw pretty drastic drops in their Pinterest traffic between the first of the year and now. And they have the same question, like, what is going on?

[00:45:45]   

And from what I’ve heard from Pinterest experts, it’s just. It’s having a moment, it’s making changes behind the scenes. So stick with the strategy, don’t abandon it, and just be patient with Pinterest. Like I said earlier, do not jump ship. You’ve got to stick with Pinterest. If you’re a food blogger, Taryn, I would love to hear what your thoughts are.

[00:46:07]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think I’m in a couple of different groups for, you know, that focus on Pinterest and with Pinterest experts leading them. And it’s the same. They’re all saying the same thing. It’s just a lot of AI stuff that’s happening that Pinterest is trying to figure out, and there’s just kind of a lot of volatility.

[00:46:24]   

I. I’ll say. You know, I’ve had this happen before. I was. I think I was in one of your early masterminds, Megan, when I had a really hard Pinterest drop and I was feeling so low about it, and you were like, don’t give up, don’t give up. And I didn’t. And I. I’m still on it.

[00:46:39]   

I’m not. I’m not posting as consistently as I should be, but. Or as I’d like to be. But I agree. I think you just can’t give up on Pinterest and you kind of have to write, like, remember idea pins. Like, everyone, like, kind of rode that train for a while and now it’s essentially gone.

[00:46:53]   

So I think Pinterest just has to figure things out on your own and you gotta kind of ride the wave.

[00:46:58]  Megan Porta 

Yes. Great advice. I think. See Pinterest as your friend, no matter what it’s like. When you have a friendship and things get rocky at times, you always come back together. I’ve always seen Pinterest as my friend, and it has delivered a crapload of traffic to my blog over the years. So do not give up on it.

[00:47:16]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, right now Pinterest is like dating the guy you don’t like and you just gotta kinda keep your mouth shut, like, let it do its thing and figure it out on its own and then it’ll come back to you.

[00:47:25]  Megan Porta 

I love it. Great analogy. So we’re going to take a turn and go to email. Taryn, this question is for you because you are my resident email expert. What are some good ideas for how to grow an email list right now?

[00:47:40]  Taryn Solie 

There’s so many things you can do. I do love email. I don’t know why I love it so much. I, I really do. But for growing an email list, there’s a lot. So of course there are, you know, freebies that you can do, you can do with landing pages or pop ups. There’s.

[00:47:56]   

And I guess there’s two different types of freebies, right? There’s like a PDF freebie that you can do. Or I know Matt Molen, who’s an email expert who is so helpful, he encourages people to do a quick Start guide which is essentially a freebie, but like in emails. And that can also be, I know a lot of people have a lot of success with that or combining the two together.

[00:48:16]   

So there’s that. And you can post those on your website, obviously or informs like on your, on your pages. Some other ways are just getting out there. So doing podcasts, I know, Megan, you encourage a lot of people to go on podcasts and just kind of get their name out and offer freebies or discounted products.

[00:48:36]   

Some other ways are. One way I have tried before and I know some people have had a lot of success with is doing what are called freebie swaps. So going to other food bloggers. It’s easier to start with people that you know, but you can approach people that you don’t know as well too and say, hey, can you introduce your audience to me and offer them this freebie?

[00:48:56]   

And then I’ll do the same for my audience and kind of swap that way to get more exposure. And with that, don’t be afraid to approach people who may have larger lists than you do or may be more established than you are because they’re A, there’s value in everybody and B, also if you’re really feeling iffy or weird about that, you know, there’s, there’s things that you can do besides just the freebie swap, where it’s like maybe you offer to pin some of their pins or maybe you, you let your list know about this person twice and they let their list know about you once.

[00:49:30]   

So there’s, there’s different things that you can do if you feel like you need to kind of like make up some ground there. And then there’s also summits. So I know some people do summits. We’ll lead those. And that’s usually Those are in the food blogging industry. Those are B2C or business to consumer.

[00:49:46]   

And it could be about Megan, you and I know somebody who’s does vegan, runs a vegan blog and there’s like a huge, I think a vegan or vegetarian summit. I know some people who do dinner summits and where sometimes there’s a presentation that everybody gives and the summit is promoted to all, all the participants lists.

[00:50:07]   

So it’s, it’s all about exposure really is what I’m getting at. So I feel like I talked randomly. So hopefully that answers the question.

[00:50:14]  Megan Porta 

No, that was all really good. And then do you use, I’m curious if you use the Quick Start Guide method, Taryn, to promote certain things.

[00:50:23]  Taryn Solie 

I do. I’ve kind of started. I’m making my way into doing both a quick start and freebie like together because I do think there’s value in delivering something right away that people can download if they want, but then also continuing. It’s, I mean it’s essentially like the Quick Start guide is essentially in that instance is essentially like a nurture sequence to kind of nurture people on your list after they’re getting their freebie.

[00:50:47]   

But it’s, I’m trying to kind of do both at once in a combined manner to really get people, get solid people on my email list. So it’s a work in progress.

[00:50:55]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, email is a big topic and I think the reason you love it so much probably is because it’s really important right now. That’s definitely something you should be focusing on in addition to Google and Pinterest. So we could probably record an entirely different episode about this. But that was a good kind of succinct summary.So thank you, Taryn.

[00:51:17]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, of course. And I like. So one area that I’m trying to grow is Instagram. And Cat, question for you, and I think this might be a listener question is can you think of or can you share or do you know of any effective strategies for creating viral reels?

[00:51:33]  Catharina Joubert 

Okay, so there’s, there are a lot of different strategies and what’s going to work for your account is going to be largely dependent on your audience. So first of all you need to sort of do dive into what it is your audience enjoys watching, what they would like to see more of, what they are likely to share with their friends and other people and how you figure that out.

[00:52:00]   

Every person’s different and it’s mainly about experimenting. So I can just explain this general gist of how to go viral, but it’s not necessarily going to work for you or someone else. But if you want to understand how viraility happens again, you also have to ask why. Why do you want to viral Instagram reel?

[00:52:24]   

Is it to get more followers? Is it to get a lot of views? And what is, what are you going to get from that? Because there might be other ways to achieve it other than having a viral reel. But if you do really, really want to have that viral reel or whatever and get lots of followers suddenly from it, that’s your goal.

[00:52:42]   

Just think about creating a reel in the same way that it is like a slot machine, someone else, a lot of people, different people use this analogy because it’s true. Instagram, social media, at least the majority of the platforms are created in the same way that slot machines are in that it’s meant to keep someone’s attention, but it’s meant to keep someone’s attention with very, very short clips, a lot of bright colors and a lot of movement.

[00:53:09]   

Because unfortunately we have very short attention spans now, or at least on average not every single person. And you can think of it maybe in a six second attention span round about that, on average people, it’s shown that people can’t pay attention to something for longer than six seconds, which is kind of sad.

[00:53:28]   

But yeah. So if you really want to crack the whole thing about going viral, shoot a reel. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be complicated, there are other ways, like I say. But if you want to just use that avenue is shoot a reel in a very short clip and with a lot of movement and a lot of interest and intrigue music.

[00:53:51]   

And then there are other, other ways. You can also get that by looking for trends basically in your niche. What are trends that you see? And some of the trends can be very easy to create. For example, having sometimes there are These GIF. GIFs. GIFs, you know what I mean? And then they would just put text over and it’s kind of funny and you can do it that way as well.

[00:54:14]   

And because normally those are very, very short reels, your watch time gets like Instagram detects that people are watching the entire thing and they’re re watching it and then it’s pushing out to more people. And honestly I can go on and on and on about different strategies. But I think just to kind of conclude this very complicated question of effective strategies for creating viral reels, I would say look at your audience first of all, look at your niche, see what’s working in your niche and experiment until you see something is really getting more views than your other content.

[00:54:51]   

And then expand on that, do more of it, and then tweak your strategy. And to finish off, don’t focus on just getting that viral reel because everything else after that might not be what you expect. So maybe just focus on actually serving your audience first.

[00:55:10]  Taryn Solie 

That’s great. I think that is always serving your audience. Right, Megan, I know you’re big on that. That’s what we all want to do, right?

[00:55:17]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. That was a great answer. Thank you. And I just have to give you a little shout out, Cat, because you are so awesome with the Eat Blog Talk reels. If you’re listening and you have been following Eat Blog Talk on Instagram and you see these amazing reels pop up in your feed.

[00:55:33]   

It’s all Catharina. She is the creative genius behind all of those. Every time I see a new one, I’m like, wow, that was so good. And I feel like you get better with each one too. Like you add some little element or touch that just makes each one so awesome and creative. So thank you.

[00:55:52]  Catharina Joubert 

Thank you.

[00:55:52]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. And we have just a couple questions left. We’re going to end with a roundtable question and then Dan has one final question to round out the episode. The next question is for all of us. What is something you believed five years ago that you definitely don’t believe anymore? Dan, what’s your answer?

[00:56:11]  Dan Porta 

Five years ago, I believed that I would never be able to leave my job. Not in terms of technically, but just because it would be too hard because I liked it and what I was doing. And that’s no longer true because I did. So that’s my belief that changed and.

[00:56:35]  Megan Porta 

It was a process that you were here. Awesome. Taryn, what about you?

[00:56:38]  Taryn Solie 

I would say I was very doubtful that I was going to be able to earn a consistent income from just my blog. Right. Like, I had other things that I did, services I provided. You know, I did photography for a while for other food bloggers and I did some other things and I was like, gosh, when am I going to be able to really, you know, earn it?

[00:56:59]   

Earn at very least a part time income from my blog and I feel like I’m finally there, which has been really nice. So yay.

[00:57:07]  Megan Porta 

So happy for you. That’s awesome. And Catherina, what about you?

[00:57:11]  Catharina Joubert 

So five years ago, I believe that I had to have everything laid out to know exactly what I wanted to achieve at what time. Like down to one month plan, one year plan, five year plans, ten year plans. But now I’ve changed my thought around that. And sometimes your path is going to change. And if you’re so set on that I’m going to achieve this, by that time, you might miss other opportunities that come by and just have the flexibility to also shift and change.

[00:57:47]  Megan Porta 

Great answer too. And my answer would be so five years ago is Covid-ish, right? Right before COVID was when I was still in massive hustle mode. I believed that I couldn’t do anything without hustling constantly. And the silver lining of COVID for me was that I actually learned that I couldn’t keep functioning that way and that I needed to slow down and give myself a little break.

[00:58:12]   

Not just once in a while, but every single day. So yeah, I went from believing that hustle needed to happen all the time to kind of the opposite of that. I feel like the more I slow down and take care of myself now, the more productive I can be. So that is my answer.

[00:58:31]   

And Dan, you have the last question of the episode.

[00:58:34]  Dan Porta 

I do. This is for you, Megan. How will Eat Blog Talk continue to serve food bloggers?

[00:58:41]  Megan Porta 

Well, obviously the podcast, but if you’re listening, you already know that we are now serving up YouTube videos thanks to Catharina and her awesome production. So if you’re not over on YouTube, go over there. You can see all of the episodes live. You can see us interacting. It’s really fun. Aside from that, Dan mentioned earlier the in person retreats, how important those are and how much people are just loving those, including myself.

[00:59:09]   

And Dan gets involved too. They’re so much fun. We bring in a chef who is a friend of ours and he just creates this atmosphere of fun and the most delicious food on the planet. Those retreats are gold. We will continue those. The Mastermind we do every year applications for 2026 open in August.

[00:59:30]   

Well you can fill out an application now but we will start responding to those in August. So get your get in on that. We’re also running a Mini-Minds program in 2026. I’m going to let Taryn talk about the mini minds in the accountability group really quick.

[00:59:45]  Taryn Solie 

Yeah, so I’ll start with the accountability group which is kind of the lowest level offer, lowest cost commitment offer for Eat Blog Talk. But it’s a wonderful community. We have a Slack channel that we share where people share lots of ideas and ask questions and we do monthly calls with Megan over Zoom just again where anyone can ask questions.

[01:00:05]   

It’s a group think sort of atmosphere as well as twice weekly focus calls where we just all come together and work and get things done in a focused manner. So I love the accountability group. It’s a great group of gals there. And then the mini minds is a shortened version of the mastermind, essentially.

[01:00:22]   

And it’s. It’s meant to be, again, a kind of a midpoint between the accountability group and the mastermind. And it changes a little bit every time we do it. Sometimes we do it for six months, sometimes we keep it a little longer, sometimes we do it. We meet twice a month. But again, it’s just supposed to be a group to rely on and help each other grow.

[01:00:40]  Megan Porta 

Yes. Thank you, Taryn. Any last words? Thank you guys so much for doing this episode. I’m so excited for 700. I can’t believe it’s already here. And again, thank you all for being the best team ever.

[01:00:53]  Taryn Solie 

And congrats to Megan because this is a big 700 is a big deal. And even though I have not much right to be, I’m really proud of you.

[01:01:01]  Megan Porta 

Oh, thanks, Taryn.

[01:01:05]  Catharina Joubert 

Yeah, I can’t believe 700 episodes. It’s like unbelievable. I think I started producing episodes around 300 and something, so. Wow.

[01:01:14]  Megan Porta 

Wow. That’s a lot.

[01:01:16]  Catharina Joubert 

This was really fun. It was just like having a chat with seeing you for a change, not just over Slack.

[01:01:22]  Dan Porta 

I know it’s impressive to watch Megan do these two. Taryn, you mentioned the consistency that’s needed and that’s one of Megan’s superpowers. I think once she gets her mind set on something, it’s going to happen. So it’s been fun to watch.

[01:01:38]  Megan Porta 

Don’t ever give up. You’re probably like, come on, give up on something. No. Yeah. Thank you guys again and thanks everyone for listening. I hope you got some value and entertainment out of this episode. 

[01:01:52]  Outro

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