Episode 630: Time-Management Strategies for Busy Bloggers – How to Thrive as A Blogger And Have Time for Your Family with Joanne Schweitzer

EBT630 – Joanne Schweitzer

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  00:38

You are going to want to download our bonus supercut that gives you all the information you need to grow your Instagram account. Go to eatblogtalk.com/Instagrowth to download today. 

Megan Porta  00:52

Do you have work life balance nailed? Do you have time management nailed? I know a lot of us struggle with this, with all the moving pieces we have going on in our businesses. Joanne Schweitzer, from No Plate Like Home, joins me in this interview, and she talks about her expertise, which is time management and work life balance. She talks a lot about the importance of producing really high quality content, authentically and consistently year after year, and how that contributes to good time management. We get into all kinds of stuff in this episode, the importance of newsletters, how to approach newsletters, how to network locally to build your business and brand. We also talk about imposter syndrome, gratitude and just appreciating all the small wins along the way, so you stay motivated and so you stay balanced. This is a juicy, awesome conversation. I really hope you like it. It is episode number 630 sponsored by RankIQ. 

Sponsor  01:52

Food bloggers. Imagine a retreat where learning, growth and community come together, designed just for you. Join us at the Eat Blog Talk spring 2025 retreat happening March 6 through 9th in Minneapolis. This intimate gathering is limited to just 10 spots, so you will enjoy a truly personalized experience. During three unforgettable days, you will be immersed in mastermind style sessions, discussions that will prompt new revenue and traffic streams and so many connection opportunities. Get ready to dive deep into your business, gain new insights and build friendships that will fuel your success long after the retreat has ended. Plus you will indulge in meals prepared by private Chef Ryan from Cookery Amendola, sharing truly unforgettable experiences around the table. Reserve your spot now to accelerate your food blogs growth, expand your network and step into 2025 with a fresh new competence, Apply today at eatblogtalk.com/retreat. 

Megan Porta  02:56

Joanne Schweitzer is a successful Italian heritage recipes food blogger and has been blogging part time for 8 years. She has 10K Facebook followers with a local following too and 14K Pinterest followers with 3K in loyal newsletter openers. Joanne’s  tomato sauce and cocktails do best. She does local cooking shows specifically for how to make pasta that have been successful.

Megan Porta  03:21

Hello, Joanne, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Joanne Schweitzer  03:25

Hi, Megan. I’m doing great. How are you?

Megan Porta  03:27

I’m doing good too. I’m so happy to talk to you. I love this topic. It’s one of my favorite topics, and I, too, am very passionate about time management and work life balance and all of that stuff. So I am super excited to get into it, but we want to know first, if you have a fun fact to share with us?

Joanne Schweitzer  03:45

Yes, my fun fact is that I have been to Italy 10 times. My family lives there. So my parents were Italian immigrants. They passed away when I was 18. So I’ve been here without my Italian family, so, but my aunts and uncles at the time, you know, live there, there. I only have one living aunt now, but all my first cousins live in Italy, and I have one cousin that lives in Nice France, and we visited him last summer. It was the first time I had taken our boys there to meet all their family, their Italian family. So it was, really, it was one of the best vacations. Well, I think it was our best family vacation ever. Oh, they liked it even better than Disney World.

Megan Porta  04:32

So really, that’s so special,

Joanne Schweitzer  04:34

Yeah. So it was really that fun. 

Megan Porta  04:36

So has that helped to shape your blog? I’m assuming I’m looking at your blog now and you have a ton of Italian stuff on there. 

Joanne Schweitzer  04:43

Yes, as a matter of fact, when I first started my blog, it was not the Italian niche, it was more general. And the reason why I didn’t want to do Italian was because there’s a lot of cross between what’s Italian American, what’s authentic Italian, and then with the different regions in Italy, I didn’t want people fighting with me about what was authentic and what wasn’t, and you don’t, you know, you’re not supposed to make it that way. As a matter of fact, I had someone call me a stupid American on Pinterest that was interesting. In a comment, they said, This is not how you make this recipe. And I thought to myself, wow. My Italian family actually gave me this recipe, so I don’t know how more authentic you can be

Megan Porta  05:36

Oh, my goodness, interesting. 

Joanne Schweitzer  05:38

Well, that was an internet troll, but I let that roll off my back? 

Megan Porta  05:41

Yeah, yeah, you got to do that. 

Joanne Schweitzer  05:42

So when I did niche down is when I really, really found out that that’s what people wanted from me. So I pivoted and started focusing on that, which has helped me tremendously. 

Megan Porta  05:54

And how old is your blog?

Joanne Schweitzer  05:56

Eight years old.

Megan Porta  05:58

So eight years old. And then for how many years have you really been focused on the Italian food?

Joanne Schweitzer  06:03

I would say probably five to six years in that range. It took me a couple years to figure that out. Once I really started putting my like when I put my tomato sauce on there, which has been in my top 10 recipes since I put it on there, yeah, off and on in the top 10. That’s when, when I realized, because then I did, you know, added the meatballs, which is using the same sauce recipe, and then they just all the Italian just did really well.

Megan Porta  06:35

Yeah, that’s awesome. Is this the authentic Italian Sunday gravy recipe? Is that the one? Yeah, you’re talking about. Okay, that looks amazing. It makes me want to go make pasta. 

Joanne Schweitzer  06:46

It’s four ingredients, wow. So, yeah, it’s so easy. And then I have my Italian sauce made from tomatoes, fresh garden tomatoes. Oh, and that was on a whim. One day I said, You know what? I’m doing all this work, you know? Anyway, I’m just going to put it on the blog. I’m not even going to do a search term for it, and that’s one of my top 10, too, on the fly. Okay, I’m…

Megan Porta  07:13

Funny how that works, yeah? Just never know. Yeah, really, you really don’t. Okay, so you’ve had your blog for eight years, and then, did you have your blog while you I know you have some kids, right? 

Joanne Schweitzer  07:25

Yes. 

Megan Porta  07:26

Did you have your blog while your kids were small?

Joanne Schweitzer  07:29

Yes, so when they went to school, preschool, both of them, they’re 17 months apart, two energetic little boys. Well, they’re not little anymore, not that little, but they were three and four, and once they went into preschool for two and a half hours a day, three days a week, is when I started the food blog. It was September, when they started that night, and I did it good timing. It took me two weeks to come up with my name, No Plate Like Home, and that was the, you know, time that I just did not have a lot of time, so I had to really, you know, focus on my time management and what was most important. And those things were photography for food blogger. And that’s what I really tried. And what really jumped out at me was when Tiny Prince chose my tiramisu eggnog recipe. But they did not use the photo. They used a stock photo for that. Oh, and that. And this was my first season. You know that 2016, 20 Yeah, 2016 it was in the holiday season then, and that really made me realize I needed to step up my game, and I was only three months old, but that’s what I did. So I learned natural lighting. I did a lot of research on how to improve my photos, and immediately I saw, you know, I saw better photos, and then I had these little wins, like Good Housekeeping featured my lemon ginger cranberry relish, nice which is still on their site for over 8 years. Every year I check And I update that post. And so, you know, then country living picked up my Easter Bunny bundt cake that’s been on several years. We’ll see if it’s still on this year, you know, next year. So all those little wins really kept me motivated.

Megan Porta  09:37

Yeah, no, that’s awesome. So you had two little kids. They were going to preschool, but when they came home, you had to figure out how to balance work. Did you work outside the home too, or was it just the blog you were working on now? Okay, yeah, no, it was still a lot. I remember doing that, and I remember thinking, I this is a lot. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the day. Sometimes. Because I think people think that it’s just so easy, but it’s not.

Joanne Schweitzer  10:03

No, it was really a struggle. I mean, they were just glued to my leg when they were, you know, one and a half and two and it I just focused on, I love to cook. And even before my blog, I would cook to just to pass time, or if I was bored. So I really enjoy. I always have, and I used to bring my recipes to work when I worked in the financial sector for 20 years, so that people would always ask me for my recipes. So that’s how and I would always put pictures of my recipes on Facebook, and my friends would comment, and I it just felt natural to start a food blog, and I wanted to work part time from home and be able to have that flexible schedule. And it has just been great. But it wasn’t easy. I’ll tell you that it was so hard to work for 18 months with no money, I remember looking at my Amazon affiliate income and saying to my husband, this is literally pocket change. What am I going to do with 44 cent?

Megan Porta  11:13

I know. 

Joanne Schweitzer  11:15

So you know, it was hard to stay motivated. But these little wins, you know, Tiny Prints, you know, choosing my recipe and my chili did well. And I remember my ham and bean soup with white potatoes did really well right away. It was pinned 900 times in 23 hours. I thought, wow. And I had no following on Pinterest. This was my first season, and I thought, Wow, if I had followers like this, probably would have, you know, went really well, and the photography at the time wasn’t that great. It was like, Okay.

Megan Porta  11:54

Those little wins really do help. I think without them, a lot of us would quit, because you’re right. There’s a period where you don’t make money. You’re working for free. You’re working really hard for free too. So without the wins, yeah, oh my gosh and keep going.

Joanne Schweitzer  12:11

I redid my pictures too. So as my photography got better, I went back and redid my photos. So when people will look at my site for the first time. They were seeing my best photography. Not the beginning. Yeah. So right, right, right now, a year later, my photography was much better, and then I would go back and remake those recipes and retake the photos, which was a lot of work, and there were so many, you know, I remember doing $1 store Easter wreath or something that was completely not even related to food. But you know what? It gave me experience of taking pictures, of editing pictures, and it’s not even on my site now, but it was that experience of redoing the photos that you know, the more you do it, the practice makes perfect.

Megan Porta  13:04

Absolutely everything matters, everything you take a picture of, adds to that collection of just expertise. And all of you know the skill, right? So I hear you on that. So when you were in that period of just feeling really stretched with your kids and with life and this new job that you weren’t making money with yet. How did you get by? How did you find balance during that time?

Joanne Schweitzer  13:30

I didn’t put too much pressure. Well, I did kind of put pressure on myself when I say not too much. I mean, I knew there were food bloggers putting out three and four recipes a week, and I could not do that, so I did one a week. I really focused on the quality of my content and not the quantity. And I think that is really important, because if people aren’t sharing your recipes and don’t want to look at them or the writing isn’t good, the grammar isn’t good. It’s not even worth having it out there. So I rather have fewer great quality posts the best I could do at the time. And you know, then having a lot of mediocre posts out there, so that that’s what I did. 

Megan Porta  14:24

I’ve heard that from a handful of different bloggers. I mean, highly successful bloggers have said the thing that has put me over the edge in my blogging career is focusing on the quality over the quantity, because for so long we were hearing you have to be producing three to four recipes a week, which just seems absurd to most people. Yeah, so… 

Joanne Schweitzer  14:47

If you have a team, you can do that person. And I was everybody. I was the photographer, the editor, the social media person, that the tech person. You know, you’re everything. So in. You’re going to have days that you come in and you have a tech issue to deal with and you can’t create the content. So it’s really hard to, you know, plan out your day, especially when you have children and they get sick or, you know, your hot water heater breaks and now he’s at your house half the day asking you questions and that. We all have that, so it’s always the best quality. And also, I focused on my newsletter. And I would spend an hour to two hours a week every Sunday morning writing my newsletter, because my husband took both the kids to church, and I would sit home and write my newsletter, and some people would think, Wow, that’s a lot of time. But it paid off, because I have really great fans now that are on my list, and they help me. They share my posts, they write to me. They will like something or or subscribe to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to all my, you know, social media. It’s great. You need them. 

Megan Porta  16:10

Yeah, okay, so you, I want to hear what you were doing in your newsletter, because if you spent significant time, which it sounds like you did, and people responded to it, what? What was the magic there?

Joanne Schweitzer  16:21

So part of it is connecting with my readers, telling them enough about myself that they could relate to telling them I’m not perfect, telling them my smore pie caught on fire one time in my oven. You know, yes, I’ve burned my tomato sauce, you know, that sort of thing, you know, telling them about my family and my background, and then giving them what they need. So for example, we’re in Thanksgiving time right now and sending out a newsletter about, well, don’t forget to thaw your turkey today. If you have a 20 pounder, you need to take it out on Sunday, those types of things, things that they need. What can they make? The 30 minute meals, the side dishes, how to keep them warm for the holidays, you know, for Thanksgiving, the cocktails that are easy and that, you know, people will like, you know, just really catering to their needs and what they want to know and what they need to know at that time of year, and then all of that content can be repurposed for the next year. So I’m not always starting from scratch. I’m just editing last year what I sent out last year. So that’s given me a lot of saving time.

Megan Porta  17:41

That’s a great point, right? There is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single year. If you’ve done something in a previous year that’s worked with your newsletter or anything else, just repurpose it. Repurposing is so powerful, right?

Joanne Schweitzer  17:55

And that’s what they do for big magazines. You know, they’re repurposing last year’s content front, you know, making it fresh and adding some new things to it, to make it relevant. But that’s really because it is all the same, right? It pumpkin season is always about pumpkins.

Megan Porta  18:13

Yeah, right. Doesn’t change, yeah, yeah. Okay, so you really grabbed some raving fans during that time when you focused on your newsletter, did you have any opt ins or things that you offered, or were you just focusing on the content of your emails?

Joanne Schweitzer  18:31

I had opt ins, I have to admit, none of that. I could never find one that did really great. So it was just, you know, over time of getting the right people and purging the cold subscribers. So even though my list isn’t huge, I have 2700 on there, but I have a 50% open rate, just about 50% and I have a four to 5% click through rate. So the people on there really like what I send them and how I know this. And this was really a yay. Throw your hands up in the air. I’ve done it. Moment was last year when I received emails at Easter time thanking me for the recipes and all that I do and that they are now able to cook and make recipes that they had when they were a child, that their grandmother never wrote down, to be able to provide that for them and how much they appreciated. I mean, one person asked me for my bechamel recipe a year ago, year and a half ago, I forgot about it, you know, told her, I will put it out there, and I did it. And then she reminded me in a Facebook message, and I did it within weeks and sent it to her first. And in the meantime, I said, you know, if you need it, I’ll send it to you. And she thanked me so much. She was. So gracious that I remembered to to give it to her first and it they’re such great people. So even when I entered, you know, Greatest Baker contest, I asked my newsletter to vote for me, and they’re emailing me saying I tried to vote for you, but I don’t have a Facebook account. And you know, I voted for you multiple times. I mean, these are great people, like, I consider them my friends, like, I treat them like they are real people, my my avatar, I call that, and I try to give them what I would want to receive every week. And it has really been great.

Megan Porta  19:05

And do you still do that? Do you sit down and write out a thoughtful email every week?

Joanne Schweitzer  20:42

 Yes.

Megan Porta  20:43

Oh, that’s so great. I think that is something that’s missing today. It’s so easy to offload that task in our business and and I think that’s really important piece to hold on to so that you can keep connecting with your people.

Joanne Schweitzer  21:01

Right? I want them to know that it’s me they’re talking that I’m talking to them.

Megan Porta  21:08

That’s so great. Okay, so I want to ask you a little bit about time management, because I know you are into time management. So back then, when your kids were little, and now, what are some things you do to manage your time so that you can be the most efficient human possible. 

Joanne Schweitzer  21:24

Okay, so I do have a planner. I try to plan. I put things in it, but it doesn’t always work out that way. So it’s more of you know, this is what I want to accomplish this week. These are the high level tasks. When I do them doesn’t matter, but I do focus on writing when I’m my most alert. So I have, I do wake up at five in the morning, not always, but that is when I’m most alert, my first cup of coffee, and I do my my blog writing, then I do my newsletter. You know, in the morning I prep my newsletter during the week. So as soon as I do my Monday post, I put that right up the picture, the pin in in my newsletter. And then I do the same thing on Thursday, and then Saturday, I add the content, perhaps from last year or whatever I want to say that week, and then it’s ready to go out Sunday morning. An d I pick Sunday because Sunday is the day that the RPMs are the highest.

Megan Porta  22:33

Yeah, that’s smart. 

Sponsor  22:35

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Joanne Schweitzer  23:45

That was even by accident, because, like I said, Before, when my kids went to church with their dad, I that that was when he had free time. You know, he would take both of them when they were three and four and five and six, and, you know, because he worked at the church. So that was how it and then I continued it on Sunday when I saw, Oh, this is the day that I have the best RPMs anyway, and I’m directing people to my site. So that made sense. So I kept with that. And Sunday morning is when people are lacks, you know, they’re getting up later there, but I’ll tell you, 8am people open my email. I mean, I just sit down and they’re waiting for it. I mean, I can’t believe how many people open it within the first minute.

Megan Porta  24:34

They are raving fans, yeah. 

Joanne Schweitzer  24:35

Oh, so, yeah. So that’s so I always made sure when my kids were little, never to write content when they were around, because it’s just impossible. I can’t think straight when they’re even now they’re around. 

Megan Porta  24:49

I know, I know I’m like, it’s the same in my house, right? 

Joanne Schweitzer  24:53

And my son is 12 and my younger son is 11, so that I would find those quiet. It moments when they’re not that, you know, either when they were napping or when they were little or when they weren’t home to do that, and that helped a lot with the with the writing and then the photography, you know, taking the pictures, I still use natural light, so right now, you know, after they change the time, it shortens my day to be able to take the pictures, but in the summer, it’s great because I have more more time to take those pictures. And it’s always in the afternoon, because that’s when I have the best light at that where I want to do it, which is in my kitchen, right at my well, my dining room, in the kitchen area where the doors are, that I get the best light. 

Megan Porta  25:07

Do you think you’ll ever switch to artificial lighting?

Joanne Schweitzer  25:49

Yes, you know, I get into that. Okay? Like, I just got a new camera, mirrorless camera, and I’m trying to figure that out, and I have to do one thing at a time because I can’t have too many new things to learn, because it just becomes overwhelming. And even this camera that everyone raves about, I’m still trying to use my DSLR because it’s easier right now, but I know that once I put in the time to the mirrorless camera. I’ll figure it out. It just takes time and patience. 

Megan Porta  26:25

Yeah, it does. I know a lot of people who have gone from natural lighting to artificial and it’s a life changer for them.

Joanne Schweitzer  26:32

No, I need to do that now my toy room, which is right next to my office now, and that’s on purpose, but that toy room is going to be, which is the, technically, the dining room of the house. I am going to make that my studio, so that that will help to have a studio where I don’t have to put my gear away, because it’ll be in the way of everyday living. So I think that will make me more efficient, too.

Megan Porta  27:03

So I love your tips so far. So you have a weekly to do, and you just kind of tick things off as you go. You don’t set necessarily when you have to do everything. I do something very similar. And then I also like how you you tap into writing when you’re feeling that. And I feel like writing is something people really need to be focused and alert and productive, right? So you kind of have to prioritize that. 

Joanne Schweitzer  27:28

Yes. I also do a lot of stuff on the fly. To admit it, I will make dinner and say, this would be a great blog recipe. I’ll just bring my camera out and start taking pictures. I’ve done that. I’m sure lots of bloggers have. So I don’t like to be too structured, because I like to do things at the last minute. 

Megan Porta  27:53

Yeah. I mean, you have to allow for a little flexibility too, right? You can’t have everything rigid, or, I feel like you just get to the point where you don’t want to do it anymore, right? It’s like a rigid structure, or like flexible rigidity, or something, I don’t know. Do you have any other time management tips?

Joanne Schweitzer  28:10

I would say you just have to prioritize, spend the time on what’s most important. And for different bloggers, that’s different things for food blogging, I’ve always focused on the photography and the writing getting the recipe right. I have technical writing experience from when I worked in corporate America. I used to write test cases, so that comes easy to me, but that doesn’t for other people. So anything that is a weakness, either subcontract it out or learn it. Don’t, don’t try to do everything. I learned that early on, too from other bloggers. If you get too caught up in the weeds of technical things that you can pay somebody else to do, you know, subcontract what you’re not good at. And making pins was one of the things that I decided to do because it took too much time. I think that is really great advice. Whatever you’re not good at, let somebody else do it, like web stories and reels. I’m looking to find someone else to do that. I don’t want to spend the time doing that, it just takes too much time. 

Joanne Schweitzer  29:23

Yeah, and I’m not good at it.

Megan Porta  29:26

Yeah, no, that’s, that’s the greatest advice I think someone can get in food blogging, because there is so much to do, right? And we feel like we have to do it all, and we have a hard time justifying outsourcing. But if you’re really bad at something and you don’t enjoy it, it’s just like, I don’t know, like those salmon who keep trying to swim upstream, like it’s just pointless. Just get rid of it, right, right? Yeah, anything else for time management tips? 

Joanne Schweitzer  29:54

No, no.

Megan Porta  29:55

I would love to ask you, because I know that you are really into going. Into your community and building your business and brand locally. I think that is such a good idea that a lot of us don’t tap into Can you talk about that? Sure. So

Joanne Schweitzer  30:10

I started doing cooking shows at my house with my friends and their friends, which eventually led me to doing the cooking shows at local venues. I sold out my first show. It was pasta making, which apparently is very popular, and I had my audience tell me what they wanted to do next. So I did three shows earlier this year, and they love my sauce. I could sell my sauce at these events too. So I didn’t charge a whole lot either. I only charged, you know, 20, $25 per person. But when you have 20 people, 20-25, people, I was making four to $500 per show, awesome. And the shows were an hour and a half, you know, with setting up and and closing down, that was maybe two hours, and there were some prep time ahead of time, I would bring the QR codes for the tools that I was using so they could purchase off of my Amazon account for the pasta making, because I Uued my KitchenAid mixer with the attachments, yeah, and so that that was nice, and I wanted to do that locally, because if I ever wanted to open a storefront or a catering business, people would know me locally. And the way the algorithms are with Google, you never know what’s going to happen to you. So at least I feel like I’m prepping people to do that. If I wanted to do that, you know, have something locally, and then those people are following me. And how I got into that too was joining a healthy woman’s Facebook group that’s in this area, my local area, I became a member of the home and school association board. I volunteer at my kids school. I would do church events and offer to bring in recipes for that. And then I’d give my business cards out. I always find a way to work in that I have a food blog. I am my biggest promoter of my business, and you have to be, you can’t be shy about it. I’m lucky that I’m an outgoing person. It was hard at first to call my recipes great and delicious and all that in the very beginning, because I felt like, you know, I’m not the type to boost, but, but you have to, and it’s true, they’re not bad recipes.

Megan Porta  32:48

Yeah, you should think that about your recipes, right? Everyone should. 

Joanne Schweitzer  32:51

I mean, it’s proven now when I have, you know, one recipe that’s been shared, you know, 50 some 1000 times.

Megan Porta  32:57

Yeah, that’s a sign.

Joanne Schweitzer  32:59

You know. So and then I have some viral, you know, recipes which didn’t happen right away. It took years to get to that.

Megan Porta  33:08

That’s a good lesson right there, too. If it doesn’t go viral right away, that doesn’t mean that it’s bad. Yeah, it’s not going to happen.

Joanne Schweitzer  33:14

As a matter of fact, my Italian anise cookies were on my blog for three years, and they went viral last Christmas, wow, yeah. And then at the same time, my white Christmas Sangria went viral, and that was only on my blog for three weeks, and that was shocking to me. I heard about that happen happening to it felt like everybody but me, and it finally happened. See the those little wins got me to the big win. And then last year I my eyes would just bulge when I would look at my MediaVine, you know, revenue.

Megan Porta  33:51

Yeah, oh my gosh. I know. I just had a pin go viral on Pinterest that I, I think I published this recipe in 2016 have not touched it since. Yeah, I was so confused when I was looking at my analytics, I was like, wait a second that I that doesn’t make any sense to me. So I went in. Sure enough, it’s a new pin, but very old URL, and it’s absolutely going bonkers or Pinterest. So I went into the post, I updated it, just to make sure Google’s seeing that I’m, you know, I’m doing that, and hopefully it’ll get some more traction. But you just never know, yeah, always be great, yeah. Always be an alert for that. Okay, I love your idea of just doing the events. Do you have any tips for people about how to go about that? Who to reach out to, where to look for those sorts of things to do.

Joanne Schweitzer  34:44

My one tip that I would say, is churches, they like to, they will rent out their space cheaply, or rather cheaply. So that’s a good place. The one. One place that I went to was a local bar, and someone had, oh, I found her in the local women’s group. And there’s one thread that we can talk about our business, and I put in there that I was looking to do local events for cooking shows. And she reached out to me and said, Would you like to come to my bar? I have a limited kitchen, but I will not, I’ll give you the room, but not charge you for it. She said, but I do want you to have one drink included in the price of your ticket. So I had to make my tickets about, you know, $30 $35 and then she got $10 for for those, for the drink, and then I got the rest for my show. But that was a way to not have to pay the big overhead of renting a place, because one of the wineries in my area wanted me to buy 24 bottles of wine, oh, and then they wanted to charge, I think, $300 too for oh, you know. And I thought, wow, I’d have to charge $60, $70 per person, and then I’m gonna have fewer people. I’d rather make it more affordable. So find the places. Now there was another winery that is an hour from my house, that I love their wine, and they said they could do it in a in a room and charge me, I think, $100 which I thought, okay, that that’s not too bad. And people, you know, they bring in so many people, so just look for those types of venues. And, you know, once you get in there, and you, especially if you do it on a recurring basis, then you’ll probably, you know, pay a little less as time goes on. So negotiate those things. Look for them.

Megan Porta  36:52

Yeah, I feel like, when you have this sort of thing on your radar, opportunities start popping up, and you’re like, oh, there’s an opportunity for me, right?

Joanne Schweitzer  36:59

And ask if you’re if you if you can’t do it, you know, or it doesn’t sound good, then fine, don’t do it. But keep asking. Don’t just take no for an answer from one place or, you know, try other places.

Megan Porta  37:11

Yeah, I think that’s a really good way to grow your brand. And like you said earlier, you are promoting your blog all the time, right? You’re always talking about your content and getting people on your email list, and it’s like that big ecosystem.

Joanne Schweitzer  37:24

oh, I can do this at the supermarket to the cashier. I’ve gone out and had a cappuccino at at an Italian, you know, store that that has a cappuccino bar and given my card, you know, I work in, I find a way to talk about food and say, Oh, and by the way, I’m a food blogger, and I have 10,000 Facebook followers and 14,000 Pinterest followers.

Megan Porta  37:47

That’s so cute. I love it. My dad used to do that for me. Now he’s, I mean, yeah, he’s got a little dementia, and it’s, we’re past that. But he used to go out. It was so cute. He would bring my business cards, and I used to have pens with my logos on it too, and he would pass them out to absolutely everyone, people at the grocery store, Walmart, at the tire place, oil change, and he would talk, just talk me up. It was so sweet. Yeah, that gave me some yeah followers over the years. 

Joanne Schweitzer  38:18

It does. Because once they become a follower, they tell their friends, yeah, absolutely, yeah. 

Megan Porta  38:24

It does, yeah. It does spread. Okay. I have a question for you, Joanne, about imposter syndrome, because I feel like this is something that holds so many people back from succeeding, especially if they’re in those days of having young kids and just feeling like they don’t have any balance. It’s so easy to be like, You know what? It’s not me, it’s them. They deserve the success. I don’t deserve the success. I’m just an imposter, that sort of thing. So did you ever experience anything like that? And how do we overcome this?

Joanne Schweitzer  38:57

Definitely I did. Well, in the beginning, I didn’t feel like, you know, my photography was worthy of Pinterest. Pinterest is very intimidating, and I knew that I had to put my pictures on Pinterest. And I’m glad that I did, because that’s where most of my traffic comes from. I get double from Pinterest than I do from Google, so I had to just do my best and try it out. I mean, if, if I didn’t succeed, then at least I knew I tried and I gave it my best, but I did and but I also expected too much too soon. So I felt like my blog wasn’t growing fast enough, but it was growing and it was growing, you know, 50 I would say 50% up to 50% each year over year. So there the growth was there. 

Joanne Schweitzer  39:55

It was there. So that kept me motivated, but I it. Was just very intimidating. And I also got to a point where I felt like my photography was better than other people that had way more followers, and way you could tell they were getting way more traffic, and I just couldn’t understand, why? Why? Why? Why not me? So because I’m type A, you know, I need everything now. Don’t want to wait. I want it now, and I found in my personal experiences too, you know you have to be patient, and good things come to those who wait. And so long as I was doing my best and had those little wins, I was getting where I needed to be, and then I started to really feel like I belong there. Nobody feels like they belong in the beginning. And you always look at the person next to you, which online you have these, you know, beautiful photos, and you know, people talking about their viral posts and, and I’ll tell you, I was flat out jealous sometimes, right? I mean, why can’t? Why? I know this is good, why can’t it just do well? But I waited, right? And I waited, and I was persistent. And there were times I felt like quitting. Really felt like quitting. And I remember I started not posting that much. And my friend said, you know, I haven’t seen posts from you that much. And I said, You know what? Right now, I’m just doing the bare minimum. And you know, I was brought to tears many times. I just didn’t feel like it was happening for me. But I kept through it, because I just could not go to my website and turn it off. I knew I put too much work into it, and I believed in myself. I know, in the very beginning, I thought, and this may sound too bold, but I thought, you know, Pioneer Woman lives on a ranch in Oklahoma, and that is not an exciting life, and she’s not smarter than I am, you know, I just felt that I was, you know, intelligent. And I looked at her stuff and thought, wow, she’s amazing. She tells stories, she, you know, people love her. But I just felt like I was not going to be convinced that I was not as smart as they are. You know, I’m not as talented as Martha Stewart. I will admit that. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find my audience and and have them like my content and love my content and need my content? 

Megan Porta  39:55

That’s amazing. 

Megan Porta  40:50

Yeah, absolutely.

Joanne Schweitzer  42:42

That’s what kept me going.

Megan Porta  42:44

I love your perspective on it, and I think this helps so much with balance. If you’re struggling with balance, just keep moving forward. Be patient. Keep doing your thing. I love the analogy you made with Pioneer Woman. Yes, you are human too. You’re a woman. You know how to cook, you have the same skills and capabilities that she has. So why not keep moving forward, right? And putting yourself out there. I just, I just… 

Megan Porta  43:13

My husband really helped a lot with that and and saying, don’t, don’t quit. Don’t quit. Yeah, you know. Oh, that helps. Yeah, he got me through because he loves my food. I mean, he will tell me, do we have to go out to eat?  I’m like, Yeah, I don’t feel like cooking. 

Megan Porta  43:31

Yes, right? No break.

Joanne Schweitzer  43:33

He’s my really. He’s my biggest fan, and if I don’t make his Italian rum cake, which my mom made for me on my birthdays, if I don’t make that for him, only one year did I not make it for him, and that’s because our son was born weeks before his birth. 

Megan Porta  43:51

Yeah, you have permission not to do that. Yes. Oh, well, that’s great that you have that support. I think that is huge for any small business owner to have that it really is an advantage. I told my husband recently, we recorded episode 600 together on the podcast, and I told him during that episode, I was like, honestly, these businesses would not be here if it weren’t for you in your support. Because I just wouldn’t. They wouldn’t. If there are so many times over the years when I would have gone back to the corporate world because, you know, we needed the money or whatever, if I hadn’t had your support. So I think that is just such a huge advantage for people who have that. 

Joanne Schweitzer  44:35

Yes, definitely.

Megan Porta  44:37

And let’s end on, okay, you kind of started with this, but I’d love to end on this too, because I think it’s so important just showing gratitude for the small victories that gets you through. It helps you manage your time. It helps you find balance. It just helps you keep motivated. So I’d love to hear some final words on that, maybe words of encouragement to my listeners.

Joanne Schweitzer  44:59

Be persistent. Take every small win and look at why it’s a win and how you can make it better so that it turns into a big win. Just stay with it, and failure is okay, as long as you learn from it. You have to fail in order to learn, no one is going to come into this business and know everything. So you’re going to make mistakes and learn from them and move on. Don’t get caught up in shoulda, coulda, woulda.

Megan Porta  45:32

Amen to all of that. That was beautiful. Is there anything Joanne, that you feel like we should touch on before we say goodbye?

Joanne Schweitzer  45:39

No, I think we covered everything.

Megan Porta  45:41

I think this was such a great chat, very encouraging, and I think it’ll give people yeah and just some ideas about ways to find balance in their lives.

Joanne Schweitzer  45:52

One more thing, be authentic. I think that really matters. Like when I spoke about my newsletter earlier, I really try to show who I am so they that my followers know me. I’m respectful to them. That really matters. Because I have read some comments from some bloggers, I can’t believe how they would talk to anybody leaving a comment like, you know, just like, like, making them feel like they’re asking a stupid question, yeah, and maybe this is because I had such great training in corporate America of client relationship management, and that really matters. But I’m also a genuinely nice person, and I will spend the time to help other bloggers and answer questions. I don’t just give short answers. I give concise answers of things that I think people need to know and that authenticity really comes out. People will figure out you’re a fake.

Megan Porta  46:56

Yep, so true. It does come out in the end, right? Yes. Great advice, all of it. Thank you so much for being here. Joanne, we really appreciate all the value you shared today. Yeah, this was so fun.

Joanne Schweitzer  47:08

Thank you so much. Yeah, I really enjoyed talking to you. Yes,

Megan Porta  47:13

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

Joanne Schweitzer  47:14

I touched on this a little earlier about failing. It’s it’s okay to fail if you’re not failing, you’re not learning. So I think, and be authentic. 

Megan Porta  47:30

Yeah, great, great words to end with. We’ll put together a show notes page for you. Joanne, if you want to peek at those head to eatblogtalk.com/noplatelike home. Love the name of your site, by the way.

Joanne Schweitzer  47:43

Thank you.

Megan Porta  47:44

Cute. And you guys should go look at Joanne’s site. It is so beautiful, so colorful. Immediately I was like, ah, almost gasped, because it was so pretty. 

Joanne Schweitzer  47:54

Oh, thank you. 

Megan Porta  47:54

So yeah, why don’t you tell everyone where they can find you? You can mention social media, your blog, anywhere else you want to mention?

Joanne Schweitzer  48:01

Okay, so I am at No Plate Like Home, Italian dishes and easy recipes on Pinterest, Facebook is noplatelik home4335, is the handle. And the same for Instagram and I am on X also No Plate Like Home. And I have a YouTube channel, although it’s not very developed, but that too is No Plate Like Home, and that’s all of my social media. 

Megan Porta  48:32

Yeah, everyone go check out Joanne and all her channels. Thanks again, Joanne, for being here, and thank you for listening to bloggers. I will see you next time. 

Outro  48:43

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. If you are craving accountability, focus and connection at a low monthly cost, join the Eat Blog Talk accountability group at eatblogtalk.com/focus. I will see you next time you.