Episode 141: How To Add Videos to Your Workflow with Lindsay Moe

Intro:

Welcome to Eat Blog Talk, where food bloggers come to get their fill of the latest tips, tricks, and insights into the world of food blogging. If you feel that hunger for information, we’ll provide you with the tools you need to add value to your blog. And we’ll also ensure you’re taking care of yourself because food blogging is a demanding job. Now, please welcome your host, Megan Porta.

Megan Porta:

Food Bloggers. Hey, if you have not yet joined the new, amazing Eat Blog Talk community, you have to go do it. You will find so much value inside, including connecting with other food bloggers in a much deeper way and having access to all kinds of exclusive value, such as bonus podcast episodes and mastermind groups and resources and service providers directory. And so much more. Go to eatblogtalk.com for more information, and we cannot wait to see you inside.

Okay, food bloggers, have you heard of Flodesk, the new big email marketing rage? This is an amazing new option for managing your email subscriber list. It is super easy to use and it comes with gorgeous, intuitive drag and drop templates. And Flodesk does not charge based on number of subscribers. So your monthly rate will stay the same from month to month. Everyone pays $38 a month or use my affiliate link to get 50% off and pay only $19 a month. You guys, this is a fraction of the price of other email service providers, and you’ll be blown away by the beautiful and intuitive templates waiting for you inside. Visit eatblogtalk.com/resources to grab your link. Flodesk, the stunning new option for email marketing.

What’s up food bloggers! Welcome to Eat Blog Talk. This podcast is for you. Food bloggers wanting value, information and clarity that will help you find a greater success in your business. Today. I will be having a chat with Lindsey Moe from the liveinkitchen.com. And we will talk about how to add recipe videos to your workflow. Lindsay has been blogging for the last nine years at The Live In Kitchen, where she shares easily customizable, vegetarian and vegan recipes for feeding the people you love. Lindsay worked in video before starting her blog and after adding it to her workflow in 2017, she quickly expanded to offering video services to other bloggers. Through her media company, Wildflower Media, she continues to provide video services to bloggers of all sizes and teaches recipe, video editing through her YouTube channel. Lindsey I am excited to have a chat with you today, but first give us a fun fact about yourself.

Lindsay Moe:

Well, I don’t know how fun it is, but my family and I were actually kind of living the quarantine life before quarantine. So, my husband and I worked from home and we homeschooled our kids until January of this y ear. And we decided it was just too much. It was really hard. And so we decided, my husband took an office job and we sent our two oldest kids to public school for the first time. And then in March, everybody got sent home. So it was strangely validating of our decision of like, yeah, this is really hard and nobody wants to do this. So we’re looking forward to getting back to what we were planning on at some point in our lives.

Megan Porta:

Right. Slowly we’re getting back there, but Oh goodness. It’s been quite a process. Hasn’t it?

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah.

Megan Porta:

How long did you homeschool your kids?

Lindsay Moe:

My oldest is in sixth grade this year. So, halfway through her fifth grade year, we decided we’d had enough.

Megan Porta:

Yeah. I know. It really is a personal decision. I know that some homeschool parents are really good at it and it just fits their family really well. And for some, it just doesn’t. So you just, and you know, you can change just like you did. You can change your mind at any time.

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah. It was a really hard decision and we’ve, it felt like quite a rollercoaster for a while, but they really enjoyed school the few months they were there. And so now we’re kind of doing a hybrid model. We didn’t fully go back to homeschool. They’re doing the virtual public school now.

Megan Porta:

Yes. Right. Yeah. I feel like most districts, at least in the Midwest are doing that. The hybrid, like, and I, for us, it’s kind of the best of both worlds because I love having my boys with me, but I also think there’s such value in having them go socialize and be around other people, especially after a long quarantine. Right. It’s like, get out into the world and experience people as much as you can, even though you have to be fully masked, but whatever. All right. Well, let’s talk about video because that is why you’re here. I love your story because it started with video first instead of the other way around, because most of the people listening started on the blog side and have slowly gotten onboard with video. You have such a different perspective. So I would just love to hear about your journey. Would you mind sharing just a little bit about how that started and how it evolved?

Lindsay Moe:

Sure. I went to college, really not knowing what I wanted to do. I had kind of toyed with the idea of getting into like special effects for film, but, living in Wisconsin, that wasn’t a huge opportunity for me. So I ended up getting just kind of a general liberal arts degree. And I had an emphasis in English and Art and a minor in Digital Media. And I really fell in love with video editing while I was in college. And when I graduated, I was able to get a job editing videos for a home shopping network. And that was strangely similar to how recipe videos are today. I would take their live 24 hour feed and cut it down into one minute videos that they would put on their website.

Megan Porta:

So I too got kind of a similar degree as you. And when I left school, I was like, I have no idea what I’m going to do with this, but you kind of find these random things that fall in your lap like that, that are just like, Oh, I never knew that was available to us. But then once you get into it, you find this big whole world of digital creation. So it’s really cool that you found that. How did you land it?

Lindsay Moe:

I got that job because my uncle actually worked for the company. So I was familiar with it. And, I don’t know, maybe he helped me get the job, who knows, but it was certainly a blessing because there were no video jobs in the town where I grew up. So I needed to move away to find something to be able to do.

Megan Porta:

Yeah. So how did that evolve then into food and then into blogging?

Lindsay Moe:

Well, I didn’t grow up in food really. I wasn’t interested in it. I was a super picky eater, but during that time, pretty much while I was working at that job, I realized, I need to eat for the rest of my life. If I’m going to enjoy it, I need to learn how to cook. So I was visiting just the very few food blogs that existed at that time. And I started buying cookbooks and teaching myself how to cook. And then people in my life started asking for the recipes that I was making. And I was looking at these food blogs and I thought, well, I could do that. I’ve taken photography courses, I’m enjoying cooking. And I needed just something to do. I had two kids at that point. And you know, I only worked at that video editing job until I had one baby and then I was staying home. So I really wanted something mine that I could do. So I started blogging and I didn’t get into video right away. It was kind of interesting because I had a background in video. I had a really high bar for it, so I didn’t want to put anything out that felt not up to my standards. So I waited a really long time before getting into it. And, financially it was a little bit of an issue to, you know, purchasing the right camera or lights or equipment, but eventually I found the time and the equipment and was able to get into it. And then I really took off from there.

Megan Porta:

Why do you think that it is important for food bloggers to have video as a part of their businesses? Because a lot of people hold off for so long. I know some bigger bloggers who have just been like, no, it’s so much work. I don’t want to dive in, or even newer bloggers who get into it. And it’s just like too much. So could you give us just a few sentences? Like why you think it’s really important?

Lindsay Moe:

Sure. I don’t know that having a video for every recipe is right for every blogger, but I definitely think there’s a benefit to having at least a few. Especially if you’re with one of the bigger ad networks, adding a couple videos can add a lot to your bottom line every month. And they’ll definitely pay for themselves if you are outsourcing or even just investing the time to do it.

Megan Porta:

I’m a part of AdThrive. And you can see at the bottom, like the video RPM specifically, and it’s really helpful. And for me, it’s like a reassurance, like, yes, you invested all that time into creating these videos and it’s worth it, right, aside from revenue why else do you think it’s good to have video?

Lindsay Moe:

It’s important to think about your user and what’s going to benefit them, especially if you’re creating, you know, more involved recipes, it can be really useful to them to see what they need to do and how they need to do it. And it can also help give an SEO boost to a post that maybe you want to bring up a little bit.

Megan Porta:

I have a question that just came to mind. Do you know how people used to put like, in the title of the post, like, um, best Mac and cheese recipe and then they would put a big video next to it. Do you think that enhances the user experience? Do you think that people see that and are more inclined to click into the post or not necessarily?

Lindsay Moe:

I think it depends on the user. It could be different for everybody. And it’s important just to know who you’re targeting and what they want.

Megan Porta:

Yeah, that’s so true because some people get annoyed by the videos and some people actually find them really helpful. Anything that enhances the actual recipe. So let’s kind of talk about how to figure out where to start with it. As far as like styles go and equipment, like, do we think about styles first, a talking head? Tasty? Tik Tok, et cetera. There’s so many different types of videos or do we just start with equipment and figure that out and just do like a basic video? What do you suggest with that?

Lindsay Moe:

Well, like I said, I would definitely start with nailing down who your user is. Go into Google Analytics, take a look at, you know, the age, where they live, think about who they’re cooking for, why they’re cooking, why they’re coming to your site and then think about how you can best serve them with video. Maybe that is just short Tik Tok videos. You know, if you’re targeting 15 to 22 year olds, that’s where you want to be. They have short attention spans probably. And if you’re trying to, you know, build a connection with your audience, maybe you want a more hosted style YouTube video. And that’s going to help you decide what kind of equipment you need, because you might not need as much of a lighting setup if you’re just doing Tik Tok videos, but you’re going to want, you know, audio equipment, if you are talking in those videos.

Megan Porta:

So another way to do that might be to, if you have a subscriber list, to just send out an email to, and just kind of, um, gather information that way. Like, you could test with different styles, right? Like you could do it, um, more hosted style and just see how people respond to it and then do a Tik Tok style. And you can even ask them. I’ve found recently in the past few years that when you ask your audience questions, they respond. Whether you’re on Instagram or you’re sending out emails. They like to interact with you and they like to answer your questions. So, I used to always wonder, like, what does my audience want? What do they prefer? Not just with video, but with any topic. And then I think I had a few people say to me like, well, why don’t you just ask them? Like what?? But it works. If you ask them, they actually reply. So that’s another good way to kind of feel out what they’re wanting with video.

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah. I love blogs surveys and Instagram stories are a great place to connect on stuff like that.

Megan Porta:

Yes. Blogs surveys are so great. And you can do super easy like Google forms or what’s the other one, survey monkey is really great too. So starting with style is really important. So figure out what your style is and then where do you go from there? So now then you would probably need to think about equipment?

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah. So your style is definitely going to determine what kind of equipment you need. You know, if you’re trying to shoot an overhead Tasty style video, you’re going to need a tripod or a C stand or some sort of overhead arm that can accomplish that. And if you’re doing hosted style videos, you’re going to want audio. Audio quality is actually so much more important than video quality when it comes to shooting videos. People really notice poor audio more than they’ll notice, you know, if your video is grainy or shadowy or something. So that’s something to consider.

Megan Porta:

So what do you recommend for audio? Because there are like lapel mics, right? That are really good. Um, and they’re pretty easy to set up, but what else do you recommend for people who really want to get good audio?

Lindsay Moe:

Well, there are a couple different options. Um, I just use a handheld, I think it’s called a zoom H one N and that comes with a tiny little tripod, or you can Mount it on your camera. And you can also get a shotgun mic that would attach to your camera. Or like you said, a lapel mic is a really great idea if you are moving around the kitchen and doing a lot of talking like that.

Megan Porta:

Okay. So style and then equipment. So you’ve got like, you need to focus on that audio and then you can figure out whether you need, um, overhead, um, different kinds of cameras. What else do you need to think about as far as equipment, if you’re just getting started with video.

Lindsay Moe:

I think it’s important to remember it’s a whole journey. So you don’t need the top of the line equipment to get started, start with what you have. It’ll be okay. You’re not going to like the first videos you make. I guarantee it. You might not even want to post them. You can just record things and practice. I think my top recipe I’ve recorded three different videos for it because I just keep improving my skills and learning new things. And it’s like, I want this to look the best it can look and I need to redo it.

Megan Porta:

But you should do it right. I mean, I think it might be scary. Number one, and number two, it’s might be really bad.

Lindsay Moe:

Nope. It’s going to be as bad of a critic as you are of yourself.

Megan Porta:

Agreed. And I still think you should post those first videos, even though you might look at them and cringe. I still think they should go out into the world because okay, first people need to see them and you need to be able to see your progress. You need to be able to look back in a year and say, Oh my gosh, I have come so far. I think it’s so important to just encourage people to do it and not compare yourself to people who have created a thousand videos or even a hundred videos, because they all had to start at that really scary, crappy place for them. They were not producing great content. Right? Don’t you agree?

Lindsay Moe:

Right? Yes.

Megan Porta:

Got to get your stuff out there, even if it’s not the best, because that’s the only way you’re going to grow. So I was curious about your process and we’re probably talking to a lot of people who already have a process in place as far as like creating a recipe, um, you know, moving to another room that has good lighting and photographing it. And I think we’ve all kinda got that system where we do like process shots and then we do like a setup. So if people have that in place and they’re hoping to incorporate video into their routine, what’s a good strategy for them, for starting to do that. Do we put a whole new setup for video? Do we put it on the same place that we’re doing photo? What would you recommend for that?

Lindsay Moe:

There’s no one right answer. Everybody’s business is going to be different. Um, actually when I was at a conference a few years ago, I got really overwhelmed by, you know, I was so inspired by everything that was going on and I wanted to do everything. And I was like, I can’t do everything. So I just created this little flow chart of, okay, I have the blog, here are all the things that I could be doing, what do I need to do? So maybe you decide, yes. Video is something I need to add to my workflow. Do I need to add process shots during this? Yes or no. And actually I’ve started doing my process shots during my video. I have kind of a strange setup in my house where I shoot all my photos in a room that is detached from my house. So I have to go from the kitchen outside into this room to take photos, but I don’t have great natural light for videos. So I have a lighting setup in my house. It’s a whole back and forth all over the place. If you can do it all in one place, I think that’s definitely the way to go. That’s going to be great for you. And natural light in videos looks absolutely beautiful as long as it stays consistent. That’s kind of the struggle with that, but definitely just sit back and think about what’s going to work best for you. I’m actually thinking about changing my workflow. Currently I’ll shoot, you know, a few videos at a time and shoot the photos at the same time. But I’m finding that that kind of gets in the way of my focus and my quality. And I’d rather just be able to focus on, you know, I’m doing a video or I’m doing photos. So I might split that up where I take the photos when I’m testing the recipe. And then I shoot the video as sort of a final option.

Megan Porta:

I’m not currently producing videos, but when we were a lot, like in the past few years, we went through periods where we’re doing lots of videos. Um, I would do the same. So I would either totally lose focus and start doing process shots. And then I’d be like, Oh my gosh, the quality is definitely suffering. Or I would just completely forget about it and not do process shots. So there is no happy balance with that. But taking the photos while you’re testing is a brilliant idea, right? Because then you’re, there’s no pressure there and you’re not interfering with that kind of flow of the video because you definitely notice it. And then I found like if I was doing process shots while I was doing the video, I was doing them so fast that they were just horrible. I have to keep my quality up and figure out which is priority. So it’s like this constant balance and constant tweaking. I mean, like you just said, you’re even going to revise your process now. So, even if you do have a process, there’s always a way to make it better. But I liked what you did after the conference, after you got overwhelmed and you were like, okay, what do I need to do? So you sit down and you figure out, do. First of all, do I want process shots or not? If that’s not important because I know a lot of bloggers who don’t use them, then fine. That’s great. But if you do, you need to figure out how to incorporate that in.

Lindsay Moe:

And one thing I wanted to add about process shots is, you don’t need to stop and take a photo if you’re shooting a video. You can export a single frame from your video to work as a process shot.

Megan Porta:

Yes. That’s a great point. I’m so glad you brought that up. Do you have other tips for us as far as like incorporating video into an already streamlined process?

Lindsay Moe:

I would recommend if you’re just starting video for the first time, maybe take a little time off, whether that’s an afternoon, a day or a week to just think and prepare, maybe get a little bit ahead on your other work. So you feel like you have time to add it. Adding it in just on top of everything else can make it feel more overwhelming. So give yourself a little space and grace if you need to push something else to the side or let something else go just while you get that rolling.

Megan Porta:

Requires a lot of energy. I feel like on the days that I record a lot of video, isn’t it just depleting for you? Maybe it’s just me, but I get so exhausted. It’s just mentally draining and physically draining because you’re moving around. So I got to the point where I just knew I expected that. So if I had a video day that was just packed, I knew that I was not going to do anything else that day. And then probably the next day I was going to be exhausted too.

Lindsay Moe:

It will not take as long as it takes the first time shooting and editing, it will get faster every time you will get better at it. So don’t expect like, how am I going to fit, you know, 10 hours of work into my week, every week to try and create video. It won’t take that long.

Megan Porta:

Just like every other process that we do with food blogging. I remember for me, it was like, four hours from start to finish. And that was just like creating a recipe and taking photos. And I remember sitting on my front porch telling a friend how long it took me. I could see on her face that she was like, that’s crazy, but now I have it streamlined. So I can get that down to like a fraction of that. And the same goes for video, especially I think when you’re editing, because for me editing is not my favorite thing. So, in the beginning I was like, Oh my gosh, this is going to take my whole life up. I’m never going to be able to do anything again. But then every single time you edit and film, you tweak something, you streamlined something. So that the next time it’s easier. Okay. What else do you have as far as like editing since we touched on that, because it’s kind of a necessary evil. You filmed a video. Yes. You have to edit it, then you can’t just film it. And it’s kind of overwhelming because we don’t all learn video production, video editing in college. So we have to kind of learn it on our own, which is scary. So what are your tips for that?

Lindsay Moe:

Editing is my favorite part. And I love talking about it and teaching people about it because it really can be so much easier than you think. And I started a YouTube channel just to teach people how to edit recipe videos faster, because I know a lot of people struggle with it. And my two top tips for really speeding it up are, one quick keys or keyboard shortcuts. There’s a keyboard shortcut for everything you need to do in video editing software. And my hands never leave the keyboard. It’s just, it makes it so much faster. And second, I always work from a template project. So I have a template set up and I use Adobe Premier Pro to edit all my videos, which I know not everybody does, but I think you could do this with pretty much any editing software. So I have my sequences set up and I have all my titles ready to go and it just keeps things organized and moving quickly,

Megan Porta:

Oh, you’re speaking my language there. I’m super into just anything that can make us more productive and quicker. And I always preach this too. Like if you don’t have fast internet, get fast internet. If you don’t have a fast computer, get a fast computer. I mean, we live in a time when all of this is more than possible. Like lightning speed, you should never have to wait for anything. And then I also like to say, keyboard shortcuts are so underrated because you think like how much time could I possibly save with keyboard shortcuts, but I am telling you, you can save so much time if you know your keyboard shortcuts. I remember when I was a graphic designer, people used to make fun of me because I never touched my mouse. And I would be like, click, click, click, click, click. And they were like, geez, Megan, put your hand on your mouse. But honestly, like I was so much faster than everybody else. And that is why, because I knew all of my shortcuts.

Lindsay Moe:

And like you mentioned, I upgraded my computer probably a year and a half ago and was blown away by how much faster it was, just in coding videos. At the end, it used to take like an hour or more to encode my videos when I was done. And now it takes maybe five minutes.

Megan Porta:

Oh my gosh. And that’s huge. I mean, that is like that’s hours of your time in a given week that you can save and spend doing something else. I mean, I could go on about this topic forever because I feel so strongly about it. Like the speed is there. So take advantage of speed, take advantage of your shortcuts. Even if it means taking a half of a day and learning what they are. It’s like learning to type. You have to put in the time to figure out what’s going on on your keyboard. But once you do it, you can be so lightning fast.

Lindsay Moe:

And actually if people sign up for my email list, I send them a little graphic that has all my favorite keyboard shortcuts for Premier Pro on it.

Megan Porta:

What a great idea. That is such a great idea. And I’m sure they’re probably similar across platforms because I don’t use Premier Pro I use Final Cut Pro, but I’ve dabbled in Premier and they’re very similar. Talk a little bit about working from your template.

Lindsay Moe:

Well, I, I have a different template for, I also edit videos for clients. So each client, I have their own template. I have a template for my own blog and I set up sequences. So I have my 16 by my 16 by 9 sequence, a square sequence. One setup for Instagram Reels and tall video pins, which I’m super into. If you want to talk about those. But I also have, I don’t know if people are familiar with bins, it’s basically like a folder on your computer. So you create a bin for music, footage, titles, anything, any sort of category you’re going to be organizing in your project. And I really love, um, so Premier has two ways that you can create titles. There’s legacy titles, and there’s the graphics tool, which the graphics tool is the more recent modern option, but it doesn’t work as well with recipe videos in my opinion. So I set up a bin full of, I just created titles for all my most commonly used ingredients. I set the style for them, so they’re just ready to drag and drop and it makes it super fast.

Megan Porta:

I love that you’re so efficient. You’ve just got everything set up. You just need to drop it in place and you’ve got your keyboard shortcuts. You can just go to town. So that actually makes me more inclined, like video editing, because when you rely on just starting fresh every single time and doing things from scratch, that seems labor intensive. And so just grueling kind of, but if you’ve got everything set up, why not?

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah. It’s hard to take the time on the front end to set that stuff up and just be disciplined like that. But once it’s there, it’s always there and it’s so great.

Megan Porta:

Just like in any program, I feel like you can do like presets in Photoshop. In the audio program I use to record interviews, you can like set everything up so I can just like click a button, you know, so you can really do that with anything. So figure it out ahead of time and it will be worth it. So you mentioned tall video pins. Uh, talk to us a little more about that. Why are you so into those?

Lindsay Moe:

They have really just performed well for me and my own blog. They’ve taken, you know, I don’t know how to describe Pinterest’s analytic ideas, but whether it’s the reach or the viewers, it’s brought all my numbers up and really all of my top pins are video pins with the exception of like one or two.

Megan Porta:

Oh, okay. So let me ask you this back up a little bit. So you create a video for a recipe and you do that horizontally. And then do you kind of just repurpose that same video into different formats or do you create tall video pins specifically with that format in mind?

Lindsay Moe:

So lately I’ve been creating my 16 by 9 and then I will just copy and paste that into the square sequence. And that usually needs a little bit of adjustment just to make it look good in the square. And then I will export that and bring the square video back in. And, I’ve been experimenting a little bit with where to put the video in a video pin, but I’ll either do it. So it’s, I can’t remember what the size is, but it’s, it’s two squares. It’s not quite the same size as like an IGTV, but I’ll either put the video in the middle or on the top. And then I’ll use a photo from the blog post on the bottom or around it, or add titles and things. But then if I’m doing like Instagram Reels, I’ve just started experimenting with, and that I will edit a little bit differently. I’m not using just the straight recipe video. I really cut it down to just the highlights.

Megan Porta:

Okay. Reels are kind of fun. I’ve been experimenting with those a little bit just from my phone, but I think they’re pretty big and Instagram seems to be rewarding for those. So it’s definitely worthwhile to play around with that. Don’t you think?

Lindsay Moe:

I found the specific recipe videos I’ve created for Reels have performed a lot better than. I did a couple that were more like Instagram Stories just behind the scenes type things and those did not perform well for me.

Megan Porta:

What do you recommend for editing for people who don’t want to spend for Premier Pro or Final Cut Pro, are there options that are affordable or free?

Lindsay Moe:

Um, I think DaVinci Resolve is free. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about that. I don’t have any personal experience with it, but also I want to say Adobe Rush is an option, which I think also costs money, but it it’s a little more pared down than Premier Pro if it’s feeling overwhelming for you. And certainly there’s things like Imovie, or even if you just want to edit on your phone, if you’re shooting on your phone, there are video editing apps that you can download for that.

Megan Porta:

Is like overwhelming. When you go in, if you’ve never edited before. So if you haven’t edited and you go into Premiere and you’re like, wow, this is real. This is a lot. You can start with something way more simple and then work your way up. Do you have any other tips about editing or set up or anything along those lines that you feel like people should know?

Lindsay Moe:

I have been sharing a lot of videos on my YouTube channel. I took September off, but I’m, I think I posted a new one today and I’m getting back into it. So there are just a lot of little things that people just don’t even know are in there and they can really help take your video from low quality to more professional looking things like color correction and tweaking your audio to fade in and out, things. Just simple, things like that. And so I recommend if you just don’t even know what you need to do, just head over there and take a look. And I think you’ll find some things that are really fast and easy to do that you might not have even known were possibilities, that’ll help improve your quality.

Megan Porta:

Okay. So I have one more question, but before we get to that, where can people find that? And then also you mentioned before your email list and having that keyword shortcut cheat sheet, where can they find all of that?

Lindsay Moe:

So my media company is Wildflourmedia.com. That’s flour like the food. And from there you can get to, I have blog posts that link to all the YouTube videos and my, you know, my YouTube username is a string of numbers and letters. So I’m not going to share that, but you can search for Wildflour Media on YouTube as well. And in each video description, I have a link to how you can sign up for the email list.

Megan Porta:

Awesome. Okay. I have one more question about outsourcing because as you know, there are so many different parts of food blogging. So, what is your advice for bloggers who have given video a fair shot, but they just don’t like it.

Lindsay Moe:

I am a huge fan of outsourcing. I outsource all sorts of things in my business and just make sure I recommend doing a trial run with someone you’re hiring, just to make sure you’re a good fit. And kind of learn the process together. It can take a little time in a working relationship like that to have, you know, the person you’re outsourcing to get a feel for your style. Don’t be afraid to just communicate with them and tell them what you want or what you need. If there’s something you don’t like, they want to make you happy. They’re there to serve you and work for you. And I think some people just, you know, send out the work and they get something back and they’re like, Oh, I don’t like it. I need to find somebody else. But it takes a little time with anybody to really figure that out. So take that time. Don’t get scared. I think you’ll get it worked out and you’ll be really happy that you were able to outsource it because it’ll free you up to do the things that you really care about.

Megan Porta:

And there are people like you who actually really like doing the video part. Even if someone like, I don’t really love video. I love video, but I don’t like making it. I don’t like editing it. I feel like it gets in my way. And if you feel like that, just know that there are people who actually love that part of it. Just like with any other process or people who love writing and photographing, there are plenty of people that you can hire that are wanting to do that for you. So if that is you don’t feel bad, don’t feel like there’s something wrong with you and don’t resist the video necessarily. But just know that that is an option.

Lindsay Moe:

The number of things we are expected to be experts in as food bloggers is completely unreasonable. I can’t think of any other job where we have to be writers, internet marketers, videographers, photographers, the list goes on and on. So I really believe in finding people that are experts and passionate about what they enjoy doing and let them do it, let them help you. And you focus on what you enjoy.

Megan Porta:

Yeah. It is not realistic to assume that you’re going to jump into food blogging and do every part of it and enjoy every part of it. That is just not a good situation. It’s not going to work out well. You have to get help in some areas. So figure out what you like. And if video is that, great, if it’s not, there’s someone else for it out there. Is there anything that you feel like would be really helpful for people to know in your areas of expertise that we should touch on Lindsey before we say goodbye?

Lindsay Moe:

Dive into it, get started. Don’t be afraid to try something new.

Megan Porta:

Well, thank you so much for being here. This has been a great conversation. I love talking about video because it’s such a big piece of it. Um, and like you mentioned earlier, you really can see a difference in your revenue when you dig in. And it’s good just to see a final product of, you know, videos are exciting and they’re fun whether you produce it or someone else does. It’s really fun to see it up in action on your blog,I think. It’s like bringing your recipe to life and a new, fun, just interactive ways. So video is so cool and I always like talking about it. So thank you for sharing everything you have today. It was such a pleasure to talk to you.

Lindsay Moe:

Yeah. Thanks for having me on.

Megan Porta:

Before you go. I like to ask all my guests, if they have either a favorite quote or words of inspiration for food bloggers.

Lindsay Moe:

I would say that quitting is the only guarantee of failure. I have certainly had some messy public failures in my professional career. And that kind of made me realize that wasn’t the right fit for me. Sometimes quitting is the right choice, but if you have a dream or something you want to accomplish, if you just keep trying and educating yourself and trying to get better every day, I really think you’ll get there.

Megan Porta:

That is great advice. Thank you, Lindsey. We will put together show notes for you and we will just list everything that we’ve talked about today and also provide some of those resources that you mentioned. So if anyone wants to see those, you can go to Eatblogtalk.com/liveinkitchen. Lindsey. Tell my listeners the best place they can find you online.

Lindsay Moe:

You can connect with me on Instagram. My handle is @thelivingkitchen, and I also am there under @wildflourmedia, that’s flour, like the food. And if you’re interested in working together on any sort of video project, or I also offer photography, you can connect on Wildflourmedia.com. And through there, you can also get to my YouTube channel, which teaches video editing for recipe videos.

Megan Porta:

Awesome. That’s all great stuff. Thank you for listening today, food bloggers. I will see you next time.

Intro:

We’re glad you could join us on this episode of Eat Blog Talk. For more resources based on today’s discussion, as well as show notes and an opportunity to be on a future episode of the show, be sure to head to eatblogtalk.com. If you feel that hunger for information, we’ll be here to feed you on Eat Blog Talk.

---