We cover information about what commission to expect from brands, how to pitch brands without coming across as salesy and how to approach SEO in sponsored posts. 

Listen on the player in this post or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or your favorite podcast player. Or scroll down to read a full transcript.

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Guest Details

Connect with Picky Eater Blog
Website | Instagram | Facebook

Anjali Shah is a food writer, best-selling author, board certified health coach, nutritionist, mom of two, and an advocate for healthy, clean eating for individuals and families. Her work has garnered nationwide attention as she has been featured on Oprah.com, Women’s Health, Cooking Light, Reader’s Digest, CNN, Food Network, and more. Anjali grew up a “whole wheat” girl, but married a “white bread” kind of guy. Hoping to prove that nutritious food could in fact be delicious and desirable, she taught herself how to cook and successfully transformed her husband’s eating habits from a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell to her healthy, yet flavorful recipes made with simple, wholesome ingredients. After becoming a mom, Anjali expanded her work to include strategies and techniques to combat picky eating in kids of all ages. Anjali started The Picky Eater in 2011 to make healthy food accessible, tasty, easy to make at home, and picky-eater proof. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Takeaways

  • Affiliate marketing can be a significant revenue stream for food bloggers: It could make up as much as 70% of your income over time.
  • Reaching out to brands directly can be an effective affiliate marketing strategy: Contact brands on Instagram to pitch collaboration opportunities rather than using email templates to make it more personal.
  • Negotiating fair compensation is important: Ask for sufficient commission – around 20% – from affiliate programs, and be willing to negotiate for higher rates.
  • Authenticity is key when pitching to brands: Focus on products she already uses or believes in, making the pitch feel more like a conversation than a sales pitch.
  • Building long-term partnerships with brands can be beneficial: If you start now, you can establish potentially beneficial long-term affiliate partnerships. 
  • Keyword research for affiliate marketing content should target high-intent keywords: Look for keywords that indicate a user’s intent to purchase, rather than just general category searches.
  • The changing Google landscape may require adjusting affiliate marketing strategies: You might need to adapt your SEO-focused affiliate marketing approach due to recent changes in Google’s search results.
  • Asking to be paid for your work is important: Bloggers should ask for fair compensation, rather than accepting product as payment.

Transcript

Click for full script.

EBT564 – Anjali Shah

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. 

Megan Porta  00:37

It is definitely no secret that the entire blogging landscape has changed dramatically in recent months. So things like affiliate marketing are emerging as really great options for making money in kind of different ways. Anjali Shah she is the blogger over at Picky Eater blog joins me in this interview to talk about a really cool and unique affiliate marketing strategy that food bloggers can use. Anjali negotiates with brands to get paid through their affiliate programs. And if a brand doesn’t have an affiliate program, she encourages them to create something. Anjali also talks about how to pitch brands proactively and authentically so it never feels like a sales pitch. She also talks about how to develop long term partnerships with brands that really align with your niche and feel good. And there was an SEO strategy she used alongside affiliate marketing for a while now with the changed situation that we are seeing. She is sitting back a little bit to see what happens. But in previous months, the strategy really worked for creating blog posts that aligned with her affiliate marketing content. Whether you’re considering launching more into affiliate marketing, or maybe you’ve never considered it either way, this is going to be a very insightful and resourceful episode for you. It is number 564 sponsored by RankIQ. 

Sponsor  02:09

Food bloggers, have you experienced traffic loss after the recent Google updates. Are you feeling confused about how to move forward? I get it. I have been a food blogger for nearly 14 years. And I’ve been through the wringer with industry changes and business changes. You name it, I have been there. When I look back over my tough times. The thing that pulled me out of slumps and traffic loss and disappointment was always people. We need each other right now more than ever. You are in this food blogging game for the long haul I know you are. And that means you need to find people to collaborate with to connect with and to learn from. Eat Blog Talk has two great options for you coming up. The 2025 Eat Blog Talk mastermind groups and in person retreats. We are now taking applications for the 2025 mastermind groups. This year we’re splitting the group’s in two. It’ll be intermediate and advanced and beginner. We also lower the price to accommodate traffic and revenue dips a lot of us are experiencing apply now as the first four people let into the group will receive 20% off the whole year. Go to eatblogtalk.com/mastermind to apply today. And there are still a few spots remaining for the 2020 for Fall Retreat, which is also discounted this year due to revenue loss for so many. Join us in October in Minnesota. It is my favorite time of year here in Minnesota for three incredible days filled with laughter, great food, tons of learning and connecting and honestly, they’re just so much fun. You will not regret attending this retreat, head over to eatblogtalk.com/retreat to apply for that today. I hope to see you in one or both of those spots. I can’t wait for the next 12 months and to see all of your businesses explode. And trust me having those people in your corner is going to help. 

Megan Porta  04:10

Anjali Shaw is a food writer best selling author, board certified health coach nutritionist mom of two and an advocate for healthy clean eating for individuals and families. Her work has garnered nationwide attention as she has been featured on oprah.com Women’s Health, cooking light, Reader’s Digest, CNN Food Network and more. Anjali grew up a whole wheat girl but married a white bread kind of guy, hoping to prove that nutritious food could in fact be delicious and desirable. She taught herself how to cook and successfully transformed her husband’s eating habits from a diet of frozen pizzas and Taco Bell to her healthy yet flavorful recipes made with simple wholesome ingredients. After becoming a mom Anjali expanded her work to include strategies and techniques to combat picky eating and kids of all ages on Julie started the pig eater and 2011 to make healthy food accessible, tasty, easy to make at home and picky eater proof. You can follow her on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. 

Megan Porta  05:10

Anjali. Hello. Welcome to the podcast. So happy to have you here today. How’s it going?

Anjali Shah  05:15

Hi, thank you so much for having me. It’s going really well. 

Megan Porta  05:19

Good. Yeah. So I’m excited to talk about affiliate marketing, you have a unique strategy for this, and you’re gonna share it with food bloggers. But before we get into that, do you have a fun fact to share with us all?

Anjali Shah  05:32

Yeah, I guess a fun fact about myself is I have been to every continent, except for Antarctica.

Megan Porta  05:40

Do you have dreams of going to Antarctica or not?

Anjali Shah  05:43

I don’t think so.

Megan Porta  05:45

I don’t know many people who have that on their dream list. Yeah. So, you’re a traveler?

Anjali Shah  05:52

Yeah, I really love to travel. So we’ve done we’ve done a lot of traveling.

Megan Porta  05:56

Do you have a favorite place?

Anjali Shah  05:58

I think probably Italy because of the food, which is no surprise being a food blogger like that I would pick a place because of the food. Yeah, probably Italy. 

Megan Porta  06:08

That’s on my list. I think we’re gonna go next year. I’m super excited. Cannot wait.

Anjali Shah  06:13

That is awesome.

Megan Porta  06:14

Yes. Well, why don’t you start off by telling us a little bit about your blog. So it’s Picky Eater blog? When did you start to share anything that you feel like would be relevant?

Anjali Shah  06:25

Yeah, so my blog is pickyeaterblog.com. It’s, you know, I titled it the picky eater. But that URL was not available when I when I started. So I had to go with Picky Eater blog. But I started it, I guess a little over 10 years ago, when I first got married, I was teaching myself how to cook because my husband, a basically frozen pizzas and fast food for every meal. So I was like, you know, I can’t, I can’t live like that, I have to learn how to cook. So that’s really the origin of the of the blog, I was teaching myself how to make healthier recipes of kind of comfort food dishes that, you know, fast food, copycats, and comfort food dishes that, you know, he would also eat. And I just use started as a way to keep track of was what I was making that was successful. And over time, you know, just through people finding it on Google search and other other ways that grew organically. And once I had kids, I expanded it to, you know, healthy recipes that are family friendly, that kids will also eat. And that’s sort of taken me to where I am today. But it’s it’s been it’s definitely been a journey. And it has evolved a couple of times since I’ve restarted it, which, you know, over 10 years, I guess you would expect that.

Megan Porta  07:43

I think if it doesn’t evolve over 10 years, something is amiss, right? Like things have to evolve over that amount of time for sure. I love learning that about how you started and how it’s changed over time. At what point did you get into affiliate marketing? I know this is a huge strategy of yours. So how did you get into that? And when?

Anjali Shah  08:04

I think I started doing affiliate marketing, maybe around 2018 or 2019. And I sort of fell into it. I didn’t even really realize kind of the power of affiliate marketing when I started. Someone had told me about the Amazon affiliate program. And I just signed up for it. And I had this post about kids vitamins that I had written because I was searching for a vitamin for my own kid. And I have a background in nutrition. So I had written this post to try to help other parents. But there were no affiliate links in that post, even though I had linked to quite a few different vitamins throughout that post. And I noticed that it was getting a lot of traffic on Google. And I was like, Oh, I wonder if I can find the same vitamins on Amazon and I and then. So those things just came together. And I found the same vitamins on Amazon, I replaced all of the regular links with Amazon affiliate links. And within a week I was making, I don’t know, 1000 bucks a week just off from affiliate revenue. Yeah, it was crazy. So then I was like, Oh, this, this actually has business potential that I mean that I wasn’t even thinking of my blog as a business before that point. So it was really at that point that I realized, oh, there’s there’s real power here. And so that’s when I started to actively pursue affiliate marketing and in a more of a real way.

Megan Porta  09:30

That’s awesome. I love that story. Yeah, I love that moment. I think a lot of us have where we start seeing the potential and we’re like, oh, this is like a real business. I can make a lot of money. So yeah, it’s really cool that yours had to do with affiliate marketing because I don’t feel like that’s often the case. And then that leads me to Amazon affiliate program. Do you still feel like that is a good avenue for people to pursue?

Anjali Shah  09:58

So I think it is I think it’s an avenue. I think there are actually quite a few different affiliate programs and platforms that that work well, you know, there’s like ShareASale, ShareASale, there’s CJ, there’s Impact, there’s so many. There’s LTK. There’s just like so many different platforms now for bloggers to make money off of affiliate programs. And I think Amazon is absolutely a viable option. Because one of the benefits of the Amazon program is that if somebody goes clicks on one of your affiliate links, and goes to Amazon, and adds a bunch of other stuff to their cart, you actually get credit for everything. Not just for that one thing that they clicked, you know, clicked over from your site. So there still is, I think, a very good potential there. But it doesn’t have to be the only way. And then my, you know, what I realized over time, is that actually going directly to brands and forming affiliate relationships in a one on one capacity can actually be really beneficial as well. 

Megan Porta  11:02

Okay, so talk about that. How do you go about that process? 

Anjali Shah  11:05

Yeah, so I think for every blogger, it’s going to be different. But I found that, you know, for me, it’s worked really well focusing on the areas that I am an expert in, have credited credibility in and that I personally believe in. So that’s where I feel like the affiliate marketing partnership between a brand and like an influencer, or blogger actually really works seamlessly. And you don’t have to do a lot to make it work. Because you’re talking about a product that either you use or already believe in, the product aligns with your area of expertise, whatever that might be. And then the brand is the, you know, person, there is the company that’s providing that product, that and so all three of those things come together and work really well. So what I have done with my own blog is, you know, I have a background in nutrition, I’m really focused on kids, I’m focused on food. So brands that fall into any of those areas are ones that, you know, work really well with me. And I always make sure that it’s a brand that I either use personally, or would use if you know I’ve used it in the past and just, you know, for whatever reason, like my kids don’t drink baby formula anymore, because they’re not babies, but I would still advocate and work with a baby formula brand. Because as long as it’s one that I used in the past, or would have used for my kids in the past, so the you know, I’ve just reached out directly to brands, just via Instagram, or email and just contacted them talked about what I do. And ask them if they were open to an affiliate partnership and have an end, sometimes I’ll even just link to the brand without an affiliate link to show them the benefit of what my blog, or my platform can provide. And then ask them if they have an affiliate program that I can be a part of, or one that we can form together, where they can add, you know, where I can just switch out the links that I already have to their affiliate links. So those are some of the ways that I’ve approached brands in the past. And that’s worked really well, because feels authentic, and not like just trying to, you know, stuff, your blog or your platform or, you know, whatever, full of links.

Megan Porta  13:27

So if they do already have an affiliate program, do you try to maybe get more of a percentage, since it is such a good authentic connection? Like more than their kind of standard commission that they would normally give? 

Anjali Shah  13:40

Yes, I always asked for I mean, I don’t ask for, you know, crazy amounts, but if it’s less than 20%, I will always ask for 20%. And I feel like historically, brands haven’t paid bloggers or influencers that well, you know, there’s been a lot of like, we’ll send you product for free in exchange for work, right? And so I’m just really upfront, you know, I’m like, look, I put a lot of time and effort and hours, as I’m sure we all do, into my blog into my social media accounts, and I want to work with you, but I also need to be compensated fairly. So I just tell them what I think that fair compensation would be. And for an affiliate program, if they’re offering like 5% or 10% I will always ask for 20 then sometimes we meet in the middle of 15 sometimes they will give me 20 I’ve gotten as much as 25% sometimes so I think it never hurts to ask the worst that they can do is say no. And then you can make a decision about whether it makes sense for your business to still work with them.

Megan Porta  14:41

Your self advocacy is admirable because I feel like it’s so hard to do that. Like you said we get so used to just not being valued as much as we are so just being your own self advocate, right?

Anjali Shah  14:55

absolutely. I mean, I think like, you know, when I first started out, I did a ton have stuff for free, right? Or just for product, like insane in exchange for products sent to my house. And I thought that that was amazing. I was like, oh my god, I like to, you know, pasta sauce like, This is so great. But you know, over time you realize like, oh, as bloggers, you know, as influencers, we have a lot of power. And we have a pretty big audience collectively, right? That’s following all of us. And we need to be valued for what we can provide. And so I think you don’t have to be, you can ask for that in a really, you know, nice way, like you don’t have to be really mean and aggressive about it, you can just, you know, just state the facts, like you have a large following. You have an audience that really trusts you, you believe in the product, and you just want to be compensated fairly for the work and the time that you’re putting into letting your audience know about this product. And I, from what I’ve seen, most brands actually are willing to willing to pay when you ask for it and kind of provide that context in that way. They may not give you what you’re asking for, but they’re always willing to pay something so then at that point the ball’s in your court and you can make a decision on whether it makes sense.

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Megan Porta  17:15

Oh, this is really interesting. So if you reach out to a brand who does not have an affiliate program, how often are they open to like creating something for you and other people. 

Anjali Shah  17:28

Usually pretty open, it might take some time. Like if a brand that doesn’t have an affiliate program, you know, they have to go and figure out which platform they want to use. And then they have to set up all this stuff on their end. But usually, like I will say, you know, hey look like I really want to work with you. Do you have an affiliate program? If they say no, then I say Well, are you willing to create one? Even if it’s just for me? Usually they say yes. And then I just ask them, like, what time frame are we looking at and like just follow up with them to make sure that you know, things are progressing as they as they should, or as you would expect, and then and then ask for that 20%, you know, right upfront when they are and then figure out what the rate is between, you know, email, and usually they will set it up and for brands that like aren’t able to set it up, I’ll propose like an alternative arrangement, like some sort of a flat fee, or some sort of a monthly fee, where like, if they don’t have a commission based plot, like way to pay, right, then, you know, I just kind of estimate what I think I would be able to sell, and then you know, kind of take 20% in my head and then propose that to them as like a as like a flat fee or a monthly fee, depending on how long they want to be working together.

Megan Porta  18:42

Okay, for pitching because I know this can be a hang up for a lot of people. People do not like to pitch it’s something you have to get used to. Do you have any tips for that?

Anjali Shah  18:54

I mean, so I, for me, I found that pitching is the easiest, when it’s a product that I already love, or use or would use. I don’t usually pitch brands, just randomly, I just look around my own house. I mean, we all have so many products in our house, I literally just look around and though oh I like have this brand of like pots and pans like oh, I have this, you know, brand of like cereal, or whatever it is. And I just like look around and try to figure out what are the products I’m already using and believe in and then I go directly to those brands and say, Hey, I’ve been using your products for X number of years. I love it. This is what I love about it. I don’t know if you know, but I have this blog I get and this is you know, my reach and I provide, you know my stats up front. And then I ask them like would you be open to either an affiliate partnership or would you be you know, excited about doing some other type of collaboration with me and I leave that really open ended and then I just see what they have to say. And then I take it from there. So for me it’s not it doesn’t really feel like pitching it feels more like reaching out to a brand that I already like, and that I already use, and telling them what I love about it, and then asking them if they want to work together in a more formal capacity. That’s worked pretty well for me over time. 

Megan Porta  20:14

Yeah, that’s authentic, authentic. 

Anjali Shah  20:17

Yeah. And it doesn’t feel like selling anything.

Megan Porta  20:20

And I’m sure they appreciate that, too. It’s like you’re approaching them as a friend almost like, Hey, I love what you provide. I love your tool. I love your service, whatever. Yeah. And that just feels good from the start. So it’s not like I have to sell myself. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Anjali Shah  20:37

Right. And I actually don’t like sales. I don’t like selling myself. I’ve never I don’t like really talking about myself a lot like, so that’s why I chose that path. Because it just felt like a conversation and not like a pitch.

Megan Porta  20:53

Yeah, right. That’s a perfect way to think of it. It’s a conversation, and you’re sharing something authentic about something that they’ve created. So they’re going to appreciate it most likely. Right? Yeah. And then do you do that through email? I’m assuming and how often do you follow up? If you don’t hear back?

Anjali Shah  21:12

Yeah, I actually do it through Instagram. 

Megan Porta  21:15

Oh, you do? Okay. 

Anjali Shah  21:17

Yeah, because most brands are pretty active on Instagram. And it’s easier to like DM them, and it feels less, it feels more casual. And then once they reply, then I’ll usually ask them for their email, and I’ll move the conversation to email. But the first outreach, I would say 90% of the time, it’s on Instagram.

Megan Porta  21:41

That’s interesting. Okay. Yeah. I like that. That seems like a also authentic. It’s like the email pitch. Just seems it seems to be the norm for people. But it’s also like, a template, like a script. You know what I mean? Like, let’s copy and paste my email template, like that sort of thing?

Anjali Shah  22:02

yeah. And like, people are overrun by emails, you know, so So getting someone to like, see your email and respond to it, I think is a lot harder, like Instagram messaging feels more like text message, versus like, you know, what you’re more likely to respond to? So yeah, so that that’s why I do it that way. Right?

Megan Porta  22:22

No, I appreciate that. And then once you start working with a brand, in this capacity that you’ve really like, is it kind of a natural fit to talk about long term and just creating more of a partnership? Or how do you go about that?

Anjali Shah  22:37

Yeah, basically, what I just tried to do is show them the value that I can provide, and sometimes it doesn’t work out, you know, sometimes, like, I think that the affiliate links are, you know, are going to do really well, and they end up just not really doing that well. And then I’m just really upfront about I’m like, hey, you know, like this, I thought this would do well, but it’s really just not doing as well as they thought and we can reevaluate down the road. And, you know, I’ll keep the links affiliate links live, but maybe there’s not much more we can do. But when it works out, well, that’s where the power really is. Because marketers are willing to pay if you can show them an ROI, right? Like, if they are making a profit off of the arrangement that they have with you, they are going to want to keep working with you. And that’s how I think about it. And that’s those are the brands that I approach for longer term partnerships, or a deeper work or increased collaboration, or depending on what their goals are. So I really focus on looking at the stats of okay, how many link clicks did I drive for this brand? How many conversions did I drive? What were the sales? Like? Are they making money based off of my affiliate links? And then if things are going really well, sometimes the brand will just reach out to me and say, Hey, things are going really well. Like, can we deepen our work together, and then I’ll provide like a list of options, including like sponsored social media posts, or sponsored blog posts, and things like that to just further you know, further the partnership. And sometimes I’ll reach out and say, hey, look, I noticed that we’re performing really well, would you like to explore additional opportunities to work together? And so those are the, those are two of the ways that I’ll form a longer term partnership with a brand, but it’s always based on the data because it’s very easy to sell something that’s that’s you can prove is working.

Megan Porta  24:29

Oh, absolutely. How many partnerships do you have typically going on at once?

Anjali Shah  24:36

I would say like three to five at once, like at one time and that could be anything from like, you know, brand that I’ve signed a contract with for like a long term, you know, six months or a year long partnership where they I’m kind of acting as an ambassador for the brand, where I’ve agreed to a certain number of posts or a certain number of affiliate mentions like in a month and they pay me like a flat fee to do that. Or it could be like just one off collaborations where a brand wants a sponsored social media post or they want a sponsored blog post, and I do that one day, and then that’s done for now. And then you know, they might reach out a few months down the road. And we kind of just have this open channels of communication between us. So it really ranges in terms of what that partnership looks like, at any given point in time.

Megan Porta  25:26

Okay. And then just out of curiosity, would you mind sharing what percentage of your income comes from affiliate marketing?

Anjali Shah  25:34

Yes, six, I think 70% of my income comes from… 

Megan Porta  25:38

Oh, my gosh, that’s so inspiring. Okay, cool. Thank you for sharing that. I think, you know, food bloggers just like hearing those numbers like, Okay, this is great that Anjali is doing this, but like, is it 5% of her income? You know, so it’s good to hear that this is a substantial part of your income. So it’s yeah, very compelling.

Anjali Shah  25:59

Yeah. And, you know, it definitely grew over a long period of time. So when I first started out, you know, was like, probably more in that five to 10% range. But I found some really great brands that, you know, I believe in them, like, they believe in the work I’m doing. And so it really is mutually beneficial. And I’ve just worked with them for a really long time. So I’ve been able to, like, establish that over time. And, and that that’s sort of how I’ve gotten to that point. Yeah, absolutely.

Megan Porta  26:27

And then do you consider SEO when you’re doing affiliate marketing?

Anjali Shah  26:32

I have historically.

Megan Porta  26:37

Good way to answer that.

Anjali Shah  26:40

The new environment is definitely different than it used to be. So I’ll share what I used to do in the past. And, you know, I in the current environment, I’m just kind of waiting it out to see how things shake out. But the way that I do it in the past is, you know, if a brand wanted to work with me, as you know, let’s say they wanted to sponsor a social media post, right, and we agreed on a fee. And they gave me an affiliate link or, you know, code or whatever, to be able to track conversions, I would do social media posts. And then I would figure out a way to create a corresponding blog post for the brand, that I would be able to include their affiliate links in as well. And I would do keyword research for the post in the same way that I would do keyword research for, like a recipe. And most of these posts were not recipes, but I would try to find a keyword that was related to the brand. And that I could kind of turn into a post where people which had intent for purchase. So that is like the important part of when I was doing keyword research for SEO for brands, looking for keywords that have a high intent to purchase versus just like any keyword. So like a keyword around, you know, best vegan shampoo brands for babies probably has a higher intent to purchase than shampoos for babies or baby shampoos, or baby shampoo brands because like someone who’s looking for the best and very specifically, like a vegan shampoo for their baby is probably already done some upfront research, and is already at like the purchase stage versus someone who’s just looking at baby shampoos, where they’re probably going to click on a million posts and look at a million different baby shampoos. And who knows what they’re actually wanting. Right? So trying to get really specific about the terms. And and then, you know, going after like that keyword, assuming that the competition is low enough, and the volume is high enough, you know, some people like if you’re working with a specific brand, you can look at whether that brand has any keyword volume around like reviews for that brand. So like, you know, brand name reviews, right? So like that, potentially, is more closer to purchase than like someone who’s just looking at the general category that that brand is in. So those are some of the strategies that I use for keyword research. And it works extremely well. In the new Google environment. Like those posts of mine that I wrote, are still getting traffic, they’re just not getting as much traffic as they used to because most of that most of those terms now that our intent to purchase terms, at least right now, Google has replaced all the links with basically sponsored stuff. It’s like blocks of shopping ads sponsored links, ecommerce sites, more shopping ads, so you don’t get to like actual human content for quite some time. So that strategy may not be the best one right now. But I’m just sort of waiting it out to see you know how things evolve.

Megan Porta  29:54

Now there’s a member of my mastermind group who also does a lot of affiliate marketing and she’s seen the same exact thing happen. And she’s trying to see how this plays out as well. Are you touching those posts are you just like, stepping back?

Anjali Shah  30:09

I did, I went through and I updated all of them like I, you know, looked at what they were ranking for in the new environment and tried to do some retargeting for some of the posts, and tweaking around, you know, like what my H1 was to see if that might help. And it did improve, it just didn’t get back to where it was before. Because basically, like for anything ecommerce related now, I think the first like 10 things you see on the page is going to be a combination of like those shopping those little like shopping square blocks that like Google will insert actual ecommerce sites like Amazon, or like, you know, the brand, if it’s a specific brand. And then you’ll see Reddit and then you’ll see like more shopping blogs.

Megan Porta  30:54

It’s never ending, it’s like…

Anjali Shah  30:58

you do, I feel like you’re never gonna get back to the level that it used to be for that specific type of post. But you could improve yes, you know, I’ve seen some improvement, just not a lot.

Megan Porta  31:09

Okay, well, that’s encouraging that you’ve seen a little bit. Okay, so anything that we’re missing from this conversation as far as like, I don’t know, anything at all brands, reaching out to them affiliate marketing, anything that we’ve talked about that we haven’t gotten too deep enough into? 

Anjali Shah  31:26

No, I mean, I think my my main thing is just like every blogger needs to be asking to get paid. Because if we all like, the reason that brands don’t pay bloggers or influencers is because there still is a whole section of people who are afraid or like, don’t feel like they can ask to get paid for the work that they’re doing. They you know, like, the product as payment model has been around for so long. That I think, you know, even for myself, it was really hard to just start asking to get paid, which sounds like a crazy statement, because we’re all working professionals. And we would never ask like an electrician who comes to your house, like, Can I pay you with this light bulb? Like you would never do? 

Megan Porta  32:14

That’s so funny. 

Anjali Shah  32:17

Like, you know, we are we’re working professionals, like we deserve to get paid. And I feel like that is just something that everybody just needs to start asking for. And again, the worst that the worst thing that can happen is that the brand says no. And that’s really just not a big deal. Because there are going to be some brands that say yes, and if everybody starts doing it in the industry standard will be that influencers need to get paid, that we that product is not payment. And so then brands will adjust. So basically, like if we start raising the bar, then brands have to meet us there because they won’t have any other choice. And so I think my, the only thing that I would say is like just asked to get paid. And if they say no, move on, like it’s okay, like nothing. That’s the worst that they can do. Right. And that’s really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. So I think that would just be the last thing I would say,

Megan Porta  33:13

Oh, I love that. And yeah, it did become kind of the norm for a while to accept product. But I love just what you said about raising the standard, like, we don’t have to settle for that we would never do that in real life. Offer a light bulb or you know, just anything to people, we I feel like people deserve money in exchange for their service or their product all the time. So we should just Yeah, hold strong to that standard. And thanks Anjali for that message. And for everything that you’ve provided today, this is such a great new perspective on affiliate marketing that I think people are really going to appreciate, especially now in this new landscape. So thank you for all of this.

Anjali Shah  33:56

Yeah, no problem.

Megan Porta  33:57

Do you have a favorite quote, or words of inspiration that you would like to share as we end?

Anjali Shah  34:03

So it’s not necessarily a quote from someone specifically, but I you know, I’ve heard it a lot. And I’ve just really been trying to apply it to my life recently, especially in this like new Google environment or things are very unstable, which is just that just to be present. I constantly am trying to tell myself, like be present, like what is happening right now, today, and just focus on that, because getting caught up in like, what’s going to happen in the future or what happened in the past is just like a waste of brain space. And, and I feel like it can cause a lot of anxiety. So right now, I’m just like, be present, be present, be present. That’s just what I’m trying to do. And, you know, I think it helps kind of with that unstable, uncertain feeling that I think we’re all kind of in right now with what’s going on in the world of search. So I think that’s what I’ll leave you with.

Megan Porta  34:59

Yes. I have one thing to say to that and that is, Amen, yes. That is so hard but so important for all of us, especially given everything that’s going on. So perfect way to end. We will put together a show notes page for you. Anjali, if you want to go peek at those, you can head to eatblogtalk.com/pickyeaterblog. So go there and check out the show notes and everything we’ve talked about today. And then do you want to tell everyone where they can find you Anjali?

Anjali Shah  35:28

Yeah, so you can find me at my blog, pickyeaterblog.com and I’m also on Instagram and my handle there is @thepickyeater. And then I’m also on Facebook @thepickyeater and I’m on Pinterest as well. So those are that’s where you can find me.

Megan Porta  35:43

Awesome. Well everyone go check Anjali out and thank you again for being here. And thank you so much for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time. 

Outro  35:53

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.


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