Eat Blog Talk | Megan Porta

In this episode, we're going to talk about 5 steps to overcome the fear of investing in our business to avoid stagnation and foster growth. Have you ever come across a business investment that you really needed? It could’ve been a mastermind group, a business coach or maybe a new camera for better photography. But when you considered the financial cost, you were hesitant. Maybe you thought it could wait or you need to be making more money before you can spend anything on your business. However, if all you do is wait for the perfect moment to invest, you might be missing out on significant revenue growth and something that could take your business to the next level. I’ve been there! Here is how I mastered the mindset for making the right business investments. Action Plan: 1 - Pinpoint the investment and related concerns: Pinpoint the specific investment you want to make and the associated concerns, such as getting a return on investment or hiring a reliable coach. 2 - Gather information from trusted sources: E

In episode 603, Megan chats to Amy Angelli leveraging E-E-A-T and creating a robust About Page to significantly boost blog traffic. Amy founded The Copper Table in 2019 to share recipes that minimize processed ingredients with a focus on cooking in season and cooking from scratch using fresh produce. She wanted these recipes to be for people who are busy and often don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen, but want great meals that make them feel good after a busy day. She lives on a small island in Washington state between Seattle and the Canadian border in a richly agricultural area that provides a lot of inspiration and recipe ingredients! In this episode, you’ll learn about how Amy tripled her traffic during Google's HCU as well as strategies for effective interlinking, crafting compelling opening paragraphs, and shifting mindset around recipe creation and keyword research. Key points discussed: - Update your About Page regularly: Continuously revise and expand your about page to showcase your expe

In episode 602, Petranka Atanasova teaches us how to grow rapidly on Instagram, sharing the strategy that she used to gain over 100,000 followers in just four months. Petranka is an ex-professional chef turned food blogger and content creator! She shares easy vegan and vegetarian recipes for busy people who are beginners at plant-based cooking. In this episode, you’ll learn Petranka's strategies for creating engaging reels and developing a successful content series that resonates with her audience. The episode also covers the mindset shift Petranka underwent to achieve this rapid growth and provides practical tips for food bloggers looking to expand their Instagram presence. Key points discussed: - Establish authority: Use a strong hook at the beginning of your videos to immediately establish your expertise and credibility with your audience. - Prioritize visual appeal: Start your videos with movement or an eye-catching visual to capture viewers' attention in the first few seconds. - Provide digestible value:

In this episode, we're going to talk about why entrepreneurs experience fear of success and 5 steps to overcome this type of fear. It’s crazy to think that as business owners we can be afraid of our own success. There are a number of reasons why this happens. You may be questioning wether you’re worthy of success, wether you’d be able to keep up with success or how people may perceive you. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons to hold off on a project that could lead to greater success. Other times, it’s you making excuses. Here are 5 steps to work through your fear of success. Action Plan: 1 - Identify your excuses: Recognize the excuses you've been making for not achieving your goals, as these may be masking deeper fears of success. 2 - Examine your excuses: Critically analyze your excuses to determine if they are valid or simply cover-ups for underlying issues. 3 - Uncover the real issue: Dig deeper to identify the true reason behind your reluctance to pursue your goals, which may be rooted in a fear of s

In episode 600, Dan Porta - Megan’s husband - interviews his wife about her food blogging journey, what it takes to succeed and why she started her podcast, Eat Blog Talk. Dan and Megan have been married 18 years and have two boys. Dan works in the travel industry and enjoys driving the family in their RV, going sky diving and being a hand model for his wife. He fully supports having a fabulous food blogger in the family and does so very well. In this episode, you’ll learn about Megan's journey from starting her food blog, Pip and Ebby to creating the Eat Blog Talk podcast and community. Dan interviews his wife about the challenges and triumphs of food blogging and running a business in general, as well as valuable lessons for aspiring and established bloggers alike. Key points discussed: - Longevity is key in food blogging: You need to see food blogging as a long-term game, requiring patience and consistency, even when faced with industry changes. - Develop essential qualities for success: The top three qual

In episode 599, Tammy Overhoff teaches us how to create a stable income stream by selling digital products instead of relying exclusively on SEO and ad-revenue. Tammy Overhoff is a seasoned food blogger and digital product expert who began her journey in 2011 with the Organize Yourself Skinny blog. She empowers busy women to lead healthier lives through eBooks, digital guides, and courses. In 2023, Tammy expanded her business with Reset & Flourish, offering digital products and a meal prep membership site. Despite numerous Google algorithm updates, her focus on digital products has kept her blog successful. Tammy also launched Tasty Digital Eats to support food bloggers transform their recipes into digital products and build stable businesses. In this episode, you’ll learn more about how Tammy overcame a devastating traffic loss due to a Google algorithm update and transformed her business by focusing on digital products. Discover strategies for creating, marketing, and selling digital products that reson

In this episode, we're going to talk about five practical steps to deal with entrepreneurial mistakes and how to move on. We all make mistakes. When we make a mistake in our business, especially when we let others down, we can feel devastated. But this is part of being human. And being a business owner. I'm no different. I've made plenty of entrepreneurial mistakes. So how I do I deal with these types of situations? Here are some strategies that I use to deal with mistakes: Action Plan: 1 - Accept and process mistakes: Take time to pause, feel the emotions, and let the reality of the mistake sink in before moving forward. 2 - Take action to clean up the mess: Identify the necessary steps to address the mistake and rectify the situation as best as possible. 3 - Learn the lesson: Reflect on the mistake to understand the underlying lesson and implement changes to prevent similar issues in the future. 4 - Practice self-forgiveness and grace: Extend compassion to yourself, as mistakes are inevitable, and avoid dwe

In episode 597, Megan chats to Melodee Fiske about how food bloggers can hire a trained food photographer to scale their business and why it’s important to hire a specialised photographer. Melodee is the creator and owner of Pretty Focused. She’s a wife, homeschool mom and a second grade teacher turned food photographer. Melodee started working as a food photographer for food bloggers in 2016. In 2017, she started to have friends ask her to teach them how to do it too, so she did, and that's when Pretty Focused was born. Since then, she’s had over 1,000 students join Pretty Focused to learn how to photograph food for food bloggers. Melodee connects them with potential clients inside their marketplace when they graduate. Over the last 3 years, 69% of our grads reported making $50,000+ working as food photographers for bloggers. In this episode, you'll learn about the benefits of outsourcing food photography, the strategies Melodee teaches in her Pretty Focused course, and how to become a trained food photograp

In episode 596, Megan Ellam teaches us how to write and market cookbooks to earn a significant portion of our income from self-publishing. Megan Ellam is an Australian-based author, photographer, and recipe developer, best known for Mad Creations and 365 Keto Club. Since 2017, Megan has shared her low-carb recipes and weight loss journey, leading to the self-publication of over 10 keto cookbooks and more than 60 eBooks, including two World Gourmand Cookbook Award winners! A passionate foodie, Megan runs Mad Creations alongside her partner in love and life, Dave Hunter. In this episode, you’ll learn more about how to add extra value to your cookbook or ebook, pricing books correctly and successful marketing ideas to sell more books fast. Key points discussed: - Niche down and create a clear theme and vision for your book: Determine the topic, focus and feel of your book to ensure a cohesive final product. - Develop an index of recipe ideas before writing: Plan out the content of your book to make the writing p

In this episode, we're going to talk about how to deal with negative emotions towards platforms like Google and social media networks. Have you ever had a negative experience with an online platform? For us bloggers, it can be Google or any of the social media networks. It’s often a feeling of not being rewarded for our hard work on the platforms. I’ve said in the past things like: “I hate Facebook.” Because I genuinely felt like Facebook had something against me as if it were human. Following along with the idea that these platforms are like humans, how can we repair our relationships with them? Here are 5 steps I take to turn feelings of lack and hatred into appreciation and abundance. Action Plan: 1 - Identify which relationship needs mending: Choose one platform that is causing you the most frustration. 2 - Make a list of how the platform has wronged you: Write out all the ways you feel the platform has let you down. 3 - Make a list of what you are grateful for regarding the platform: Reflect on the posit

In episode 594, Megan chats to James Wythe about why he decided to shift his focus from content creation for social media to creating content for his blog, despite having a social following of over 1 million. After a sudden illness caused James to be housebound for 4 years, he taught himself to cook with a chair in the kitchen. James started his blog to share his journey of recovery and recipes in 2016. Since then James has built a social following of over 1M and published a cookbook. The blog currently has 300,000 monthly page views which James 5x in the last year. If you Loved this Episode… You’ll love Episode 569: Turning to Instagram Because of the Helpful Content Update – How To Grow Your Instagram Account To Add More Revenue Streams with Mika Kinney and Sarah Bond (For a contrasting point of view!) In this episode, you’ll learn more about social media burnout, finding your passion for content creation, how to step back from social media, especially if you have a large following, while considering th

In episode 593, Kimberlee Ho teaches us 3 easy ways to grow our blog part-time while working full-time, including, how to be selective with our focus and time. Kim is a home baker from NJ, who loves to share approachable baking recipes and tips with busy families like her own on her blog, kickassbaker.com. Kim works full-time during the day and bakes, recipe tests, and photographs at night and on the weekends in between acting as an Uber driver for her two teenage daughters. Her goal is to inspire home bakers to kick ass in the kitchen! In this episode, you’ll learn more about identifying growth drivers for your blog, the importance of adapting to changing industry trends as well as intentional time management and the support of a community in achieving blogging goals. Key points discussed: - Focus on 1-2 key growth drivers: For example, you can focus on growing page views and sessions to attract and retain readers, rather than getting distracted by new platforms. - Test different work methods: Experiment wit

In this episode, we’re going to talk about why we feel envious of other bloggers in our space and how to turn envy into celebration and collaboration. Food blogging is competitive. There are thousands and thousands of food blogs online. For a long time I approached food blogging as a competitive career. I felt like I had to do better than everyone else, a feeling which led me to isolate myself. This held me back big time! And it’s only when I started changing my approach to seek out and collaborate with other food bloggers, that my business really started taking off. So here are 5 ways in which you can do the same. Action Plan: 1 - Change your mindset from competition to collaboration: See other food bloggers as teammates, not competitors. 2 - Celebrate and support others with a generous spirit: Outwardly and inwardly express happiness for their successes. 3 - Celebrate your own accomplishments: Take time to write down your wins, no matter how small, to boost your confidence. 4 - Own your unique story and jou

In episode 591, Megan chats to Alexandra Shytsman about how to avoid 7 common food photography mistakes beginners make, including lighting, angle and styling mistakes. Alexandra Shytsman is a recipe developer, food photographer, and creator of The New Baguette, a plant-based recipe site. Her mission is to inspire people to cook healthier plant-centered meals at home. She is the author of Friendsgiving, co-author of The Complete Vegan Cookbook, and contributes to sites like Simply Recipes and EatingWell. She has also been teaching in-person food photography classes (in groups and one-on-one) since 2018. Originally from Ukraine, Alex moved to New York City at a young age and has lived there ever since. In this episode, you’ll learn more about using natural light versus artificial light, the correct angle for shooting food, which garnishes to use and which ones to avoid and how to make boring food stand out. Key points discussed: - Lighting is crucial: Use natural light or photography-specific equipment, rather

Are you tired of feeling stuck or overwhelmed in your blogging journey? In this episode, I’m sharing some exciting news about the 2025 Eat Blog Talk Mastermind, including the new tiered packages designed for bloggers at every stage. I’ll walk you through the program’s logistics and highlight how the mastermind can fast-track your blog’s growth, no matter your budget or experience level. But that’s not all—stay tuned for powerful transformation stories from current mastermind members! You’ll hear how they’ve overcome common blogging pain points, from stagnant traffic to unclear goals, and turned their blogs into thriving businesses with more traffic, revenue, and confidence. Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode: - New mastermind tiers for 2025 that cater to different budgets and experience levels. - How the mastermind can help you accelerate growth and avoid common blogging mistakes. - Real-life transformations from current members—how they grew their traffic, increased revenue, and found clarity in their

In this episode, we're going to talk about 5 ways to be proactive, focus on progress and invite more good things into your business. We all want good things to flow into our business. Sometimes, it feels like we’re making no progress or regressing. I’ve been there, multiple times. Even this year. For bloggers, this might mean losing followers, getting less pages views, trying to get into an ad network… the list goes on and on. By this same token, if you embrace a proactive, positive approach to your blog and focus on what’s going well, you will most likely invite more good things into your business. Here are some practical ways to do this. Action Plan: 1 - Extend the invitation: Invite good things, opportunities, money, and positive energy into your business on a daily basis. 2 - Practice daily gratitude: Write down 5-10 things that are going well in your business each day and express gratitude for the progress (however small) you’ve made. 3 - Do daily decluttering: What tasks are cluttering your mind and bus

In episode 588, Megan chats to Laura Arnold about why an SEO content calendar is important for diversifying your brand and how to set it up to improve your rank on Google. Laura Arnold is a New York City-based Emmy-Nominated Culinary Television Producer, Cookbook Consultant, and award-winning Content Creator with over a decade of experience. She currently is the Supervising Culinary Producer for Food Network’s The Kitchen, and has worked previously at ABC’s The Chew, DotDash Meredith, Good Housekeeping, Food52, kitchn.com, and with many more brands. In this episode, you’ll learn more about how to balance new posts with content updates, which keywords to choose, the significance of storytelling and expert phrasing and whether social media is important or not. Key points discussed: - Consistency is key: Maintain consistent SEO efforts and content creation for long-term growth and success. - Manageable workloads: Create a content calendar that fits within your capabilities and resources for sustainable success.

In episode 587, Brenda Cadman teaches us how to organize our uploads and templates in Canva to create designs quickly and without fuss. Brenda Cadman is a Canva Verified Expert from Prince Edward Island, Canada. After spending more than two decades supporting businesses with their website development needs, she now focuses on teaching small business owners how to use Canva more effectively and efficiently. Brenda has taught thousands of business owners through her courses, and in particular, she loves to help business owners tame their hot mess Canva accounts by creating an organizational system that ensures they can spend less time in Canva, and more time doing what they love. In this episode, you’ll learn about creating custom folders for better categorization, template and time management and thereby streamlining the design process. Key points discussed: - Organize Canva uploads: Create custom folders to categorize and easily find your uploaded images, videos, and other media. - Leverage the brand kit: Use

In this episode, we're going to talk about 5 ways to manage feelings of overwhelm in entrepreneurship. If you are an entrepreneur long enough, you are bound to experience times when you have to evolve or you can't go on. Often, when you’re in a state of complete overwhelm, it’s a signal that something needs to change. I think most of us want to stay passionate about what we do but we don’t want to get buried by to do lists and business projects. Here are 5 ways I manage overwhelm and keep a positive outlook. Action Plan: 1 - Time Tracking: Track everything you do for a minimum of 3 days, preferably 7 days. Comb through the data to identify where you're spending your time and make changes to reduce draining activities. 2 - Exercise and Self-Care: Commit to a daily habit of exercise, even if it's just 10 minutes and engage in self-care activities like meditation war spending time in nature, reading, or creative pursuits. 3 - Take a Break: Listen to your gut and take a break, whether it's a 30-minute break durin

In episode 585, Megan chats to Carol Borchardt about the advantages of being a food blogger after you’ve retired and how to succeed regardless of your age. Carol Borchardt is a retired personal chef with 22 years of experience cooking food people want to eat! She is also a former newspaper food columnist and mom to rescue kitty, Olive. Carol is married (almost 29 years) with two stepchildren and four grandchildren. At From A Chef's Kitchen, which Carol started ten years ago, she shares easy, step-by-step, chef-tested restaurant-quality recipes that are easy to make at home. If You Loved This Episode… You’ll love Episode 132 with Jen Lefforge – Starting A YouTube Channel Over 40. In this episode, you’ll learn about what it is like being a full-time retired food blogger, why it is important to start sooner rather than later and how to overcome technical difficulties. Key points discussed: - Start a food blog at any age: Carol started her food blog between the ages of 40-50 - it’s never too late to pursue a crea