Episode 261: Deliver ANY Pitch with Confidence with Chandice Probst

Chandice Probst: Hi, this is Chandice Probst from This Vivacious Life. You are listening to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. 

Megan Porta: Hey, food bloggers. Welcome to Eat Blog Talk. I am your host, Megan Porta, and you are listening to episode 261 with Chandice from This Vivacious Life. Today Chandice and I are going to talk about how to send any pitch with confidence. Chandice is the bubbly personality behind This Vivacious Life. She is a food and entertaining blogger and the coauthor of Gluten-free On A Budget. Chandice’s work has been featured in print and online industry publications, as well as television. As someone with celiac disease and a degree in health science, she has led the charge in hosting celiac awareness nights with MLB and NBA teams around the nation, raising money for research. Oh my gosh. I didn’t know that. While she loves to cook and entertain, Chandice loves being a wife and a mother the very most. Oh, I love that bio. I didn’t know that about the MLB and NBA. Those are such great little tidbits there, Chandice.

Chandice Probst: Thanks Megan. Yeah, it was after my diagnosis of celiac disease. I wanted to just really jump in. So I created my food blog and then I was like, let’s do more. So I was like, Hey, celiac disease foundation, what can we do? I started a support group and then it was like, let’s go bigger. So doing celiac awareness nights, cause my husband loves sports and I loved going to the Diamondbacks game. I remember being there one night and seeing like an awareness night for something, I don’t know what it was. Maybe lupus or something like that. I don’t remember diabetes. I can’t remember. I thought we should have a celiac awareness night with the Diamondbacks. That’s where it started. Then we ended up traveling all across the nation and we ended up creating gluten-free calendars, which was a wonderful business we actually did with Mark Cuban from Shark Tank. So that was really fun. It was super fun. It was a blast. Then it had its run, how some things do. We did what we did and it was fun to do those celiac awareness nights with the Miami Heat and the Dodgers and all those amazing teams. Then it moved in and we moved on. Now I’m with that just still at the blog and then at the Tastemaker conference. So it’s a lot of fun. 

Megan Porta: Oh, I love that story. You’re a big dreamer, I can tell already. So I love that about you. That’s so cool. In addition to that, do you have another fun fact to share? I feel like that was a super fun fact already, but do you have anything additionally?

Chandice Probst: Sure. Yeah. I was going to say, I always joke I’m the kite and my husband’s the kite holder. He keeps me grounded and reminds me what we have time for and what we can do versus I want to do all of it. 

Megan Porta: I love it. So it’s good to have a partner like that. 

Chandice Probst: A fun fact, I lived in Ukraine and my favorite vegetable is a beet. So it worked out really well because the national dish in Ukraine is borsch.

Megan Porta: Oh, my gosh. Okay. I’m sorry, Chandice but the beet is not my friend. 

Chandice Probst: No? You’re not a fan of beets? 

Megan Porta: I try so hard. I’m a food blogger, so I have to like everything I feel like. I’ve tried so many different ways and every time I think, okay, this is going to be it. I’m really going to like the beet. I just can’t and maybe my taste buds will evolve. Maybe I’m holding out hope. But I don’t know, maybe off air, you can share some of your favorite ways to prepare it and I can try again.

Chandice Probst: Definitely. I think it’s okay that everyone’s tastes are different. I like the taste of dirt and so a root vegetable and I love golden milk because golden milk is very dirt, earthy tasting. Beets are earthy tasting. I love brussels sprouts, all those kinds of really earthy tasting foods, I like. I have another friend who says the same thing. We like the taste of dirt. So we like this. 

Megan Porta: Oh, my gosh. That’s hilarious. Oh, you’re so funny. All right. We have covered a lot of interesting things already. But you are here to talk about pitches and how food bloggers can prepare and send any pitch with total confidence. So hopefully after this episode, people will have an idea about how to get started with that and just feel more confident about it. So let’s dig into this. So I guess where would be a good place to start? If a food blogger is thinking about working with a brand or sending some pitch in regards to their business, where in the world do they even get started? 

Chandice Probst: Oh, yeah, for sure. I think the biggest thing is to hone in and keep it in-house first. So right now, what do you figure out within your own mind? Okay. What do you want to do? Do you want to make recipes for restaurants or people? Do you want to take photos? Maybe photography is your thing and you really don’t want to do recipe development. Maybe you are super into it. I have a friend who has a huge Instagram and she says that’s where I want to be. I don’t want to do anything on any other platform and she’s killing it over there. A lot of things she does are giveaways. So really the number one thing is to figure out exactly what you want. So what and why, those two words. What and why. What do you want and why do you want it? I want, for example, my friend on Instagram, she wants to educate her community on natural living. So she’s worked with a ton of brands who meet her needs, brands she already used. So now she’s worked with them on giveaways and stuff like that. But she doesn’t do recipe development and that’s okay. I have another friend who is a fantastic food photographer and she says, I don’t want to do recipe development. I just want to take pictures for people. Fantastic. A great way to do that would be to find a brand that aligns with your values and what you like and look through their website. Maybe they don’t have a library of really good recipes and every brand on their website now, if they have a food product, should have a recipe index. A lot of them still don’t. So reaching out and being like, I see you don’t have a recipe index. I would love to take some photos for you. Or I see you have a recipe index that has recipes, but no photos. I’d love to use your recipes and photograph them for you. So that would be the first place, Megan, is just to figure out the what and the why. 

Megan Porta: What if someone doesn’t know? What if we’re one of those bloggers that just does it all and we hate to use this term, but we trudge along with all of the tasks and we really don’t know what our why would be.

Chandice Probst: Oh, absolutely. That’s a really great question. There are so many things. It doesn’t have to just be food photography, recipe development, Instagram. Okay. So there’s lots of things you can do. You could do freelance writing. Maybe you just like to sit behind a computer and write. So we actually have a Pitching webinar, I believe, coming up soon for Tastemaker and it’s free. But we go into detail about that. You can take some notes right now that some of the options out there are freelance writing and recipe development, photography services, videography services, virtual assisting services, social media management, SEO tech. Masterminds, retreats, cooking classes, event sponsorship, cookbook proposal. Maybe you’re wanting to do an ebook for somebody or a brand or B2B partnerships, consulting and mentoring. There are so many ways that you can work with brands and work with people and make money at this. Those are some of the, those are some of the main ones that I would suggest.

Megan Porta: So just thinking through that list, that was a hugely comprehensive list. Just seeing what kind of sparks your interest and what when you read over it, what from that list makes you go? Oh yeah, I really liked doing that. So maybe pinpointing a few and pulling those out. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. I would say choose three, but really hone in on that one. What is it that you love? What fires you up and sparks your passion for learning and growing. That’s what you do because you’re going to do the best at that. At some point, it’s good to diversify our income. We’ve learned about that. To have multiple skill sets, but let’s hone in and focus on one. So from that list, what stands out to you. Then go from there. 

Megan Porta: So it’s not just pitching to brands, we’re talking pitching to potentially other food bloggers who need our services.

Chandice Probst: Other food bloggers. Okay. So many things happened. So let’s take a step back. We’re pitching to brands. We’re pitching to other food bloggers who need our services. I literally just saw a thing yesterday that was like, I create eye-catching graphics for Facebook and I’ll create 10 for $50 and they’re gorgeous. What do you think? I was like, yeah, that sounds awesome. Great. Because I don’t do that and 50 bucks? Yeah, that’d be great. It probably takes her minutes to do it. So things like that. Okay. So pitching to brands. Pitching to other food bloggers who need our services. Pitching to publishing houses or editors. If you’re going whichever route you’re going. I just went right to the publishing house. Because I was like, this is how I do it, but most people have an editor and that makes sense to do it that way first. I’m pitching to TV stations. I have had so much fun on TV. It’s probably one of my favorite things to do. In fact, I told my husband, if we move to a place where they had a morning show, I would be auditioning for that right away. He’s like, good thing we don’t. But I love it. I love being on TV. It is so fast and there are no do-overs and there’s different talents, but I love that. So pitching to TV spots. When I lived in Arizona, I had a regular spot on their morning show that I would come on and talk about living gluten free. It was at the height of gluten-free living. It is now, but it’s not as hot. So pitching to TV stations, pitching to radio stations. I’ve had so much fun doing radio that is so fun. Pitching yourself to a podcast like yourself. Because do you know that everything you do, builds your domain authority. Foundations, when I worked with Celiac Disease Foundation or doing a podcast with you or doing a TV spot, all those things linked to me. They linked to This Vivacious Life and that increases my domain authority. So we’ve got to break out of this thinking in this box. We need to break out of that and think there are so many ways that I can make money doing what I love and there are so many ways I can pitch myself. So yeah, right there, there were five different ways to pitch yourself. 

Megan Porta: Can I just reiterate what you just said. Getting on podcasts is so huge. I’ve talked about this recently and I feel like food bloggers are really hesitant to do things like that. TV is more of an acceptable thing for us because we’re making food. But often I hear food bloggers say why would I get on a podcast? We’re just talking. But yes, for the reason that you just said, Chandice, it’s so important because you can spread your domain seed around the internet in such powerful ways. Especially if it’s podcasts that have good authority too. Having your name and your link associated with that person, or that podcast is really powerful for your business.

Chandice Probst: 100%. If you are listening to this. I really hope you put an application in to speak on a podcast within the next two weeks. Please do.

Megan Porta: I love that.

Chandice Probst: When you type my name on Google, some of the first things that come up after, of course my own stuff, are the podcasts I’ve been on. Can you believe that comes up before the TV stuff?

Megan Porta: Yeah, it’s true. This is super coincidental, but I was looking at my name on Google. I have a reason for doing that. I wasn’t just randomly stalking my own name, but one of the things that came up was exactly that. A podcast I had been on and I had forgotten about it. I was like, oh my gosh, that’s so funny that popped up. So it is true. Google sees that and they’re like, oh, Chandice is an authority in this area. We’re going to increase her ranking. 

Chandice Probst: It does, it boosts everything. I don’t know if many know Casey Markee, he’s incredible. He did an audit on my blog and one of the very first things he told me is, Chandice, get yourself out there. Come on, let’s get some backlinks man. I’m like, all right. So he said you need to be pitching yourself to this and this podcast. I’m like, all right. That’s from Casey. If you know him, he is the king of SEO. He knows it all. He highly recommends food bloggers getting on podcasts. 

Megan Porta: That’s actually why I was looking at my name because I had a chat with him yesterday and he was telling us about this thing called the knowledge panel on Google. Are you aware of this? It’s like the panel that comes up. If you type in Megan Porta, there’s this little blurb that comes up about my cookbook. I think that’s the reason I have one, but not everybody has a knowledge panel. So if you don’t have one, you should try to get one. Google how to do it, because that increases your authority with Google. So I’m in the throes of figuring out how to fill in my knowledge panel so it’s well-rounded and all of that. So yes, there is magic juice there. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. Is it the one where if someone types in their name, they click on it and then you can go and learn more about them? 

Megan Porta: Yes, exactly. Yep. 

Chandice Probst: Perfect. Yeah. That is one thing Casey told me too, is that you need to have everything on there. All your links, to LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, everything. This is a great place for you to have that. So pitching goes beyond just traditional, hey, I’m wanting to do some recipe development for you. There’s nothing wrong with that. But that is a very tiny amount of what we should be pitching ourselves for. 

Megan Porta: We’ve covered a ton of options as far as who we’re pitching. What is our goal and why are we doing it? Now how do we find the right people once we decide that? 

Chandice Probst: Yes. Oh, and do you know what the answer is? It makes me so sad cause I really am not a huge fan of Instagram. I am not. I just don’t love it. But sadly, people respond there so quickly. So hopping in somebody’s DM, let’s say Bob’s Red Mill. You’re like, hey, I want to do this. You can see it’s been read within about five minutes. They will get back to you pretty quickly. If they are interested, I feel like the traditional route of going and finding the info at Bob’s Red Mill on their website and blah, blah, blah. You can do that, but I would say hopping in somebody’s DM on Instagram is the best way to go. So sad, but it’s true. 

Megan Porta: That’s funny that you were like, blah, blah, blah. I agree, but it does seem to be more of a direct path to people. But if you can’t access someone via Instagram, what do you do after that? 

Chandice Probst: There’s a few ways. So some of the best ways to reach people are in Instagram, DM’s, going to their website and finding a contact in email. That’s a traditional old school route and it works great. Twitter is another easy one where you can reach out to them directly on Twitter or Facebook. So basically any social media. I just find that on Instagram they’re the quickest. Plus they can literally click on your profile and be like, oh, I like her work. Okay. I’ll respond. You know what I mean? Your Instagram is basically a portfolio. 

Megan Porta: Oh, that’s such a good point too. 

Chandice Probst: So they see your portfolio and they’re like, all right, she’s worth responding to or whatever. So yeah, Pinterest, Instagram. Twitter, Facebook, all of those or just a traditional email is fine as well.

Sponsor: We are going to take a really quick break in this episode, so I can tell you about a few things going on at Eat Blog Talk. Hey, everyone, I’m just popping in to give you a little bit of information about the Eat Blog Talk mastermind program. You’ve probably heard me talk a little bit about this before, but I wanted to give you a few more details because I’ve been getting some questions. So the mastermind program is underway. However, you can enter the program at any time, assuming that there are slots available and assuming that you are a good fit. If those two things align, you can join the group. Then you are in the group for a total of 12 months from the time you start. 

Also, I want to address who this mastermind program is for. It is for the blogger who is ready to make an investment in their business, that will have the biggest impact out of anything you’ve ever invested in. It is for the blogger who’s ready to level up their business growth, upgrade their peer group. It is for someone who’s ready to watch a powerful transformation evolve for you and your business. If you’re ready to learn from the best experts in the industry, within our guest expert sessions, and you’re ready to make yourself and your business a priority and you are ready to take back your time and move forward with renewed clarity and purpose and commit to your business on a deep level, then this mastermind program it could be for you. Go to eatblogtalk.com to join the wait list if this sounds interesting to you. You will fill out a short questionnaire. I will receive that in my inbox and I will get back to you and we can have a discussion about whether or not this is a great option to move forward with.

So again, go to eatblogtalk.com and join the waitlist. If you are ready to make this sort of investment in your business. Okay, back to the episode.

Megan Porta: Do you have any amazingly magic nuggets as far as what to say? I feel like I’ve tweaked my spiel over the years and it just never seems to be right. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. Okay. So this is where we’re going to have fun. This is what I love. So the first thing I would suggest is get on a call. I close 80% of my pitches from calls versus 20% from emails and messages. So that’s a major difference. 

Megan Porta: Yes. A huge difference. 

Chandice Probst: What I would recommend is your very first contact to them is, Hey, I love two sentences, two or three sentences. No more than three. I love your potstickers. They’re my very favorite. I have a fantastic idea for creating a recipe with them that everyone would love. I’d love to hop on a call and tell you a little bit more about what I do and how we can work together. When is a good time? That’s it. Super easy. 

Megan Porta: Then do you provide a link right there or do you communicate over email from there?

Chandice Probst: From there? Wherever I’m at, I would communicate. So from there, I would, if I’m in an Instagram DM, I would say I would end with that question. When do you think would be a good time to hop on a call? Then when they respond, usually then it’s, hey, send us more information at our email. Then from there you hop over to their email and say, So excited that you’re interested, definitely want to hop on a call. Then reiterating when would be a great time. If you’ve already sent the email, if you didn’t do DM’s and you’re in the email, you’re already there. So it’s that same format, they respond. Most likely what they’re going to respond with is, Hey, we’d like a little bit more information here before we hop on a call. Or do I have time next week or Thursday, Friday when I work for you? These are my times. Then from there, go ahead. What we tend to want to do, because we’ve done it for so long, is just continue the conversation in email. It’s really hard to break out of that. Really hard. Because we’ve always done that. We’ve always just carried on a conversation in email. But if you can close 80% of your pitches on a call versus 20% on email, wouldn’t it be worth it then to cut that communication short and get on a call? 

Megan Porta: Yes. That’s gold. That is gold right there. Because you’re right, we get into that mindset that we have to keep doing things the way we’ve always done them. Even though they’re not working, by the way. We’re going to keep doing it that way. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. Yes. Within that email, you’re already going to start creating this vision that they can not refuse. So that’s the goal. Quote, create a vision they can’t refuse. Okay. So that’s the goal. For example, when you send that first email, within the first two sentences, I see that you sell buckwheat flour, but you have no recipes on your website. But you will definitely increase engagement if you get them. I’d love to help you out there. I have some amazing ideas, including some buckwheat flour chocolate pancakes that are decadent and delicious. I’d love to hop on a call and talk to you more. At that point, they’re like, huh. She has something we need. We didn’t know we were missing. Yeah, let’s get on a call with this girl. Clearly there’s something that we don’t have that we need from her. You know what I mean? 

Megan Porta: Yes. That’s so brilliant. 

Chandice Probst: Thank you. Hopefully making it about them and not you. So that’s the biggest thing, is making it all about them. Making it all about their product and providing them something, an answer to something, that a question they didn’t even know they had. Hey, why aren’t we getting as much traffic on our website? Because you sell a wonderful product and people are shopping for it, but you don’t have any recipes for using it.

Megan Porta: So framing it more as like, how can you provide value to whoever you are reaching out to ?

Chandice Probst: 100%. It’s all about them. It’s not about you. It’s not about Hey, I have so many followers over here and I can’t wait to show them about your product. I know they’ll love it. Yes, they’ll love it. Great. They hear that 50 times a day. What are you giving that nobody else is? 

Megan Porta: So how do we establish our expertise without coming right out and saying all of that upfront? 

Chandice Probst: Yes. Okay. So number one is mindset. You have to believe it yourself before you can sell it. So in your mind, that’s why it’s good to hone in on what you’re good at. If you focused on one thing, I’m not talking about me personally. I’m saying as an example, cause this isn’t true. But I am incredible at food photography. That’s what I do. You are going to already have that confidence and that’s where the infectious enthusiasm stems from. This is what I do! There is no doubt in my mind that I can deliver. Then you can go ahead confidently and pitch yourself in that. Because you’re not like, can I do that? I don’t know. You know. So definitely starting with confidence and mindset. I found that when you’re incredibly confident and enthusiastic about what you’re going to do, it’s really hard for someone to say no. Really hard. 

Megan Porta: Yeah. If someone comes right up front and says, Hey, I’m a really great expert. I know everything there is to know about topic X. It’s a turnoff, honestly, don’t you think? Oh, wow. They sure do think highly of themselves. But if they just asked the question as if they were the expert, I noticed that the recipes from your site are missing and, implying that’s what you’re really good at. That is a much different message. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. I noticed the recipes from your website. I see that you have recipes, but no photos. That’s actually where I shine and you can say one small finger or that’s what I love to do and your recipes are fantastic. So it makes sense to have a visual experience for your guests to enjoy while they’re reading your best recipes. So something like that. Using your words to create a vision, those words, they’re decadent words. They’re words that they’re like, yum, give me more.

Megan Porta: Oh, wow. So leaving people wanting more, which is ironic because we’re all in the business of food. Which we often associate with, leaving people, wanting more. 

Chandice Probst: I use my food descriptive words for everything. Even in life now it’ll be funny because I’ll talk to a friend and I’ll be like, oh my gosh, that sweater is so delicious. It’s cozy and I love it. Okay. I love it too. All of a sudden that sweater has become something else for her. 

Megan Porta: I do the same thing with the weather. I’m always like this fall weather is delicious. I always use the word delicious to describe non-food items as well. 

Chandice Probst: It’s so funny. My husband will be like, what does it taste like about something? I’ll be like, it tastes like Christmas. He’s, what? I like the experience of Christmas and the snowfall. No, just tell me what it tastes like. I like fine, nutmeg and cloves. 

Megan Porta: Oh, that’s hilarious. 

Chandice Probst: I was just going to say, creating that vision for them.

Megan Porta: I love that, how you framed that. So once you get on a call with somebody and they agreed to do a call with you, hopefully that’s a great sign. Then obviously you talk about what you have to offer, how you can provide value to their station, podcast, brand, whatever, fill in the blank. Then how do you seal the deal yet?

Chandice Probst: Okay. So first thing is, if they get on a call with you, they are interested enough in your service to move forward. There’s a pretty strong chance you’re going to close the deal. If you get them on a call, you should be feeling very good, very confident. The first thing I would recommend doing is validating him. This is a wonderful opportunity to let them know, oh my goodness, you guys have created such an incredible product. Your buckwheat flour has been game-changing for my family. I’m gluten-free and so being able to create delicious dishes with a wonderful flour, like buckwheat, that’s also nutritious is fantastic. I want to help you get the word out about that through beautiful photography for your recipes on your website. Or creating some more recipes that are out of the norm of what people would think to use buckwheat flour for. So there you go right there. That first validation for them. 

Megan Porta: So you’re really taking the focus off of you completely and putting it completely on them and how their brand or fill in the blank, can improve. 

Chandice Probst: Yeah, for sure. Yes, definitely. If there’s any pushback or doubts, hey, I have to take this back to the team. I like to leave with a closing pitch or wrapping up that vision. Totally understand. Maybe have some stats before you go in, because if they’re getting on a call, like I said, they’re interested. So they’ve shown that 90% of users prefer a photo in a recipe. So please let them know that this is a great opportunity to increase your readership to the website and drive more traffic, which will then increase sales. Something like that. 

Megan Porta: That’s good. Yes. Because people like numbers, they like statistics. They want to know that what you’re saying actually is founded in some way. If somebody does say, okay, I need to take this back to the team. I’ll get back to you. Do you do follow ups? How do you handle that? 

Chandice Probst: So the call is not over at that point. We still have two more things. 

Megan Porta: All right, let’s hear it. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. So then I would leave them with an incentive that has a sense of urgency. Sounds great. I definitely look forward to hearing what they think. I can only take one more client this quarter and my editorial calendar is going to be finalized in the next two weeks. So I’d love to do a followup call next week or hear from you guys. Please let me know if you have any questions. But giving them that sense of urgency with some hard numbers that set clear expectations. Then if they push back on pricing, sometimes there’s a clear pushback and it’s because of pricing. I would reiterate the value of what’s being provided. Detailed deliverables, validate their concerns. I totally understand $800 is a lot for a photo. However, a photo is worth a thousand words. You know what I mean? Again, going back to those numbers and validating their concern, but then letting them know why it costs this much and things like that. 

Megan Porta: Chandice, this is gold. Seriously, you need to patent all this information. 

Chandice Probst: I just love teaching it. It’s my favorite thing to teach with Tastemaker. The pitching is just my favorite. Because that’s what I love to do. In fact, Abby and I, I’m the sponsor director and her business partner. Yesterday she was like, what do you need from me? I said, Abby, what fires me up the most? Because she’s incredible. She is doing all kinds of stuff, but she’s always good about her team. What can I do to make things better or easier, more wonderful? I said, I love being on calls. That’s just where I’m happiest. So if someone, or you are able to put contact info into a document for me, and I can just go and do my thing, that is good. Because that’s what I love rather than having to go and find the contact. That is my least favorite part.

Megan Porta: So doing the calls, that’s where your strength lies. So lean into that, right? Yeah. 

Chandice Probst: So going back to your listeners and finding out what it is that fires you up and feeling the same way, and then focus on that. I love doing this and so this is what I do. But if your thing is photography or your thing is mentoring or anything and maybe you love TV. That’s where you shine. Then pitch yourself with TV. 

Megan Porta: If someone gives you a hard no on a call and you guys hang up, what do you leave them with, I guess? 

Chandice Probst: I’ve never had a hard no. It’s usually, let’s think about it. Because if you’ve created that picture enough, I don’t know why they’d get on a call if there wasn’t some interest, do you know what I mean? So usually it’s not hard, no. Definitely there’s times when you hear, we’re going to take this back to the team or we have to see if we have the budget. I remember some of them felt like a no, but then I would say, okay, definitely remember X, Y, and Z and the numbers and all of that. I guess if there was a hard no, then I would just simply say are you interested in having me follow up at a later date? Because I know that budget is tight right now. How about quarter two and providing them an opportunity? I know quarter one budget is very tight for you right now. Would you have a little bit more flexibility in quarter two? I’d love to schedule a time to follow up then. 

Megan Porta: Is there anything I haven’t thought through. We’ve talked about a lot. Like how to find people, getting connected with your why are you doing this in the first place. Being really passionate about it. Being confident. We talked through a bunch of different opportunities; so podcasts other bloggers, et cetera. Then your amazing call format that you go through. What else are we missing? 

Chandice Probst: So I think the biggest thing to end with is to remember that you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. So create boundaries around your schedule and your office hours that work for you, so you are mentally prepared for being on those calls. So that you are mentally prepared to deliver what you’ve sold. Have realistic goals and expectations for yourself and your projects. We need to be very mindful of our time and our energy not to do too much. I had a friend once tell me, she said, you need to raise your prices. I was like, I don’t know. I don’t know. She goes, you should really only get one yes for every 9 no’s. If your pricing is right. I was like, that’s true. You shouldn’t be getting all yeses. If you get all yeses, then you know you’re not charging enough. She said, wouldn’t you rather do half the work for the same amount of money? I’m like, yes. So that was game-changing. I increased my prices significantly and I literally went down to doing half the work for the same amount of money. 

Megan Porta: Oh, that’s great advice. I think everyone needs to tune into that and maybe rewind and hear it again. Because don’t you find working with Tastemaker that a lot of food bloggers have that mindset of doing more, and not charging enough as opposed to what you were saying.

Chandice Probst: Yes. It hurts the whole community, because the truth is if there’s somebody charging pennies, then brands are like, oh, I can get it for cheaper over here. It devalues everybody’s work when you don’t charge enough. So you can think of it as a way to be a good food influencer, community member by charging what you’re worth. 

Megan Porta: Yes. Amen to that Chandice. Oh my goodness. This has been great. I am ready to dive in and go pitch like 9,000 people now. I’m just trying to figure out who is first. 

Chandice Probst: Yes. So might I suggest let’s take some action steps. So from this call, once you’re done listening, go back and rewind and listen to whatever you need to, but from here, grab a piece of paper and a pen and jot down three things that you are incredible at. That lights you up, that is your passion. What are you amazing at? Now put an asterisk next to the one that is the best. The thing that you are the best at. Then from there, decide on two or three different ways that you could pitch yourself. So maybe you decide I’m totally going to pitch myself to a podcast because I want to increase my domain authority. I want to share the knowledge that I have on this topic with others. Then you also decide, Hey, I love working with this commuter flour brand, a brand that I’ve used forever. Why have I not pitched them? So you’re going to pitch a brand and you’re going to pitch a podcast. Both are very different. You’re not getting paid two to do the podcast, but you are getting priceless backlinks and authority. So yes, to recap, go back and write down a few things that you’re incredible at. Put a mark next to the one you’re the best at, and then decide on maybe two people or places or brands that you will pitch yourself to. Highly suggesting one of them be a media outlet, like a podcast, TV, radio, something like that. Then the other being a brand or a way that you’re actually going to be making money. Maybe you’re going to be creating those Facebook images for other food bloggers, but something like that. 

Megan Porta: Great action steps, everybody needs Chandice’s advice. Yes, rewind if you need to, there is so much stuff in here. I feel like I would even benefit from going back and re listening to all of this again. So thank you so much, Chandice, for your time today. I know you’re busy and we all just really appreciate you and all this value you shared. 

Chandice Probst: Thanks, Megan. It was so fun to come on and I definitely love to meet all of you more over on Instagram. I’m just Chandice Probst on the blog, which is This Vivacious Life. Then in person, please come meet me in person, so I can say hi and give you a hug if that’s okay. Some people it is and some people it isn’t. But at the Tastemaker conference. We still have a few tickets left to our Tastemaker conference in Chicago in March, 2022. So it’s going to be so fun. 

Megan Porta: I am super excited for Tastemaker. I am there with all the bells on. So can’t wait to see you there. Do you have a favorite quote or words of inspiration to share with food bloggers? Beyond all of the amazing stuff you’ve already shared, Chandice? 

Chandice Probst: My favorite is really just, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

Megan Porta: We all need to write that on our walls right now and look at it because as food bloggers, we do that. We think that we can do it all and we try to, and then we get burned out and we get sad. Lovely words to end on. 

Chandice Probst: It’s okay to do what you’re good at. It’s okay to not be on every platform. Everyone’s oh my gosh, do you do TikTok? I’m like, no, I am not doing TikTok. I’m not doing it, and that’s okay.

Megan Porta: Yes. I’m with you. I’ve banned TikTok from my realm of possibility as well. People do ask me, quite often, why aren’t you on TikTok? You should do that on TikToK. Nope. I can’t. I can’t.

Chandice Probst: You have to protect your mental health. You have to protect your physical time. You have to protect all of those things. Even like with Instagram, I told you I don’t love it. So I set a timer and if I don’t go over that timer, because I know that over that timer, I start to get drained emotionally.

Megan Porta: We are on the same page on that, Chandice, for sure. So thank you again for being here. Everyone go check Chandice out on Instagram and your blog is thisvivaciouslife.com, correct? Yes. 

Chandice Probst: We focus on gluten-free recipes that nobody needs to know or even are gluten-free because they’re that good and mocktails. So non-alcoholic drinks, which are so fun. Then everyday entertainment. 

Megan Porta: Awesome. And we will put together a show notes page for you, Chandice. So if anyone wants to go look at those, you can go to eatblogtalk.com/thisvivaciouslife. So thanks again for being here, Chandice and thank you for listening today, food bloggers. I will see you next time. 

Outro: 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. .

---

💥 Join the free EBT community, where you will connect with food bloggers, gain confidence and clarity as a food blogger so you don’t feel so overwhelmed by ALL THE THINGS!

Want to achieve your goals faster than you ever thought possible? Stop by Eat Blog Talk to get the details on our Mastermind program. This transformative 12-month experience will help you accomplish more than you would be able to in 5+ years when forging ahead alone.

Click the button below to learn what a mastermind program is, what your commitment is and what Eat Blog Talk’s commitment to you is.

📩 Sign up for FLODESK, the email service provider with intuitive, gorgeous templates and a FLAT MONTHLY RATE (no more rate increases when you acquire subscribers!).

Read this post about why I switched from Convertkit to Flodesk!