Eat Blog Talk

Hosted by Megan Porta

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Episodes

811

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Eat Blog Talk is the one-stop podcast for food bloggers, delivering value and instilling confidence so you can level up in your business. The podcast features interviews with food bloggers and other experts who deliver valuable and relevant information and insights to the blogging space. We cover all the hot food blogging topics such as SEO, social media strategies, keyword research, how to pitch yourself to brands and which keyword research tools to use. We also focus on improving your mindset, as this will help improve your job performance, creativity, productivity and add value to your business. Eat Blog Talk publishes new episodes every Monday and Thursday.

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60 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 80634 min

806: AI Search Is Here: How Food Bloggers Can Stay Visible with Julia Bocchese

Julia Bocchese teaches us how to optimize food blog content for AI driven search and stay visible as the search landscape evolves. Julia is an SEO, Pinterest, and AI Search Consultant for creative small businesses at Julia Renee Consulting. Her goal is to make SEO, Pinterest, and AIO strategies approachable and easy to implement for all small businesses so they can reach their ideal clients organically. AI is changing the way people discover recipes and content online. In this episode, Julia breaks down what food bloggers need to know about AI search, how it differs from traditional SEO, and the practical steps you can take now to strengthen your visibility across platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. If you want to future proof your business without chasing every trend, this conversation will help you focus on what matters most. Key Topics Discussed: - Build strong SEO foundations before focusing on AI search. - Use audience specific language consistently throughout your content. - Strengthen brand authority through mentions, interviews, and collaborations. - Make important recipe information easy to find near the top of each post. - Improve user experience by removing barriers that interrupt recipe access. - Demonstrate expertise clearly through credentials, experience, and social proof. Connect with Julia Renee Consulting Website | Instagram | Pinterest

June 8, 2026Episode 80649 min

805: High Followers, Low Views? Here's What Might Be Happening on Instagram With Mika Kinney

Megan chats with Mika Kinney about the Instagram strategies food creators can use to grow reach, attract followers, and turn attention into revenue. Mika is the creator behind Joy to the Food, a whole-food recipe brand with 470K followers on Instagram. She and her husband built the business over the last 5 years and now earns through ads, brand partnerships, affiliates, and a membership community enough to support them both full time. She's going to talk about why she stopped chasing followers and started chasing revenue instead, and what that looks like in practice. Instagram is evolving quickly, and many food bloggers are seeing lower engagement despite consistent posting or high follower counts. In this episode, Mika breaks down the difference between content that drives growth and content that drives monetization, along with practical ways to improve reach, build a loyal audience, and create new revenue opportunities without relying solely on website traffic. Key Topics Discussed: - Focus on reach before trying to monetize. - Optimize the first three seconds of every reel. - Give followers a clear reason to follow you. - Use stories to build trust before selling. - Charge brands based on reach and engagement, not follower count. - Analyze performance data and repeat what works. Resources Mika Creative - Mastermind, Instagram audits and more Guest Details Connect with Joy to the Food Website | Instagram

June 1, 2026Episode 80259 min

804: The New Rules of SEO in 2026 with Casey Markee

Megan chats with Casey Markee about the massive shifts happening in SEO, AI search, semantic content, and what food bloggers must do now to stay visible and profitable. Casey Markee is the owner of internet consultancy Media Wyse. An SEO for over 25 years, he has been working exclusively with food and lifestyle bloggers since 2015. During that time, he's worked with thousands of bloggers across every recipe niche imaginable. He likes long walks to the refrigerator and back and believes bacon and candy corn are gourmet foods. SEO is changing faster than most food bloggers realize. In this episode, Casey breaks down why Google has shifted from keywords to intent, how AI is changing search behavior, and which outdated SEO practices are quietly hurting rankings. He also shares practical strategies for improving recipe content, increasing visibility in AI search, and building a site that can compete long-term in a rapidly evolving landscape. Key Topics Discussed: - Google now prioritizes intent and semantic relevance over exact match keywords. - AI summaries and AI buttons can increase visibility and referral traffic. - Thin and outdated content weakens the overall strength of your site. - Readability matters more than optimization scores from SEO tools. - Internal linking strategy directly impacts rankings and topical authority. - Popups consistently hurt crawl quality and search performance. Resources Google "What is Semantic Search" AI buttons: Smart UX play, risky GEO tactic, or both? Blogging, AI, and the SEO road ahead: Why clarity now decides who survives Google's Guidance on Performing Well in AI Search Google's NEW Guide on AI Search (including Myths) Most recent "Search Quality Rater Guidelines" Ryan Jones SerpRecon Tool (offers a 7-day trial) Feast AI Buttons Hubbub Action Buttons How to Audit your Robots.txt File to NOT block AI Book an Audit with Casey Guest Details Connect with Media Wyse Website | Instagram

May 25, 2026Episode 80134 min

803: Published a Cookbook (or Want To)? Listen to This First with Stephanie Moon

Stephanie Moon teaches us how to build an author platform that creates visibility, strengthens audience trust, and supports long-term cookbook sales without burnout. Stephanie has spent over 15 years in book marketing and publicity, leading campaigns for New York Times bestsellers and working with publishers including Chronicle Books, HarperCollins, Scholastic, and Hardie Grant. She teaches authors how to sell more books by building real relationships and communities. Most food bloggers underestimate how much marketing matters after a cookbook is published. Stephanie breaks down what builds a strong author platform, how to create meaningful audience relationships, and why visibility is a long game. This episode gives experienced food bloggers a smarter, more sustainable approach to cookbook promotion and personal branding. Key Topics Discussed: - Community matters more than follower count. - Owned platforms create stability outside social algorithms. - Podcast interviews build deeper audience trust than short-form content. - Visibility grows faster when personality leads the strategy. - Book marketing requires long-term energy planning. - Engaged audiences outperform inflated follower numbers. EBT Listeners use code EBT2026 for a FREE Mini Momentum Call The FAQs: Ask Stephanie ?s | Substack Connect with Stephanie Moon Website | Instagram

May 18, 2026Episode 80248 min

802: Beyond Ads - How to Build a Multi-Revenue Food Blogging Business with Yumna Jawad

Megan chats with Yumna Jawad about building a multi-revenue food blogging business through cookbooks, partnerships, affiliate marketing, speaking opportunities, and physical products. Yumna Jawad, who was born in Africa to Lebanese parents and moved to the US at 11 years old, is beloved by millions of fans globally on Instagram, TikTok, and her website, Feel Good Foodie for her unique, delicious, creative and easy recipes that often go viral on social media. She has grown her massive following from scratch the past decade and has recently founded a new culinary venture, Oath Oats, launched in November 2022. Yumna's viral food trends have been featured by Live with Kelly & Ryan, The Today Show, Good Morning America, PEOPLE, Vogue, and the New York Times. A graduate from the University of Michigan Business School, she now lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband and two kids. Yumna's parents are both Lebanese so she proudly features Lebanese, middle eastern and Ramadan recipes as part of her heritage. Her first cookbook, The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook, launched in May 2024 (Penguin) and is filled with over 100 approachable, unique and delicious "Middle Eastern meets Midwestern" recipes for the entire family. The cookbook hit the bestseller lists on Amazon, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly. Ad revenue is no longer enough to support a long-term food blogging business. In this episode, Yumna shares the exact ways she diversified Feel Good Foodie into a recognizable brand with multiple income streams. This conversation is packed with practical ideas for experienced food bloggers who want more stability, visibility, and long-term growth. Key Topics Discussed: - Build revenue streams before traffic declines force you to. - Long term brand partnerships outperform one off sponsorships. - A cookbook strengthens authority far beyond direct sales. - Affiliate income grows faster when personality leads the content. - Email works best when it builds relationships instead of pushing recipes. - Video creates stronger audience connection than static content alone. Connect with Yumna Jawad Website | Instagram

May 11, 2026Episode 80146 min

801: YouTube Shorts Made Simple: Just Hit Record and Go with Jeanelle Eats

Jeanelle Castro breaks down what is working with YouTube Shorts right now, including how to create faster, stand out, and turn short form video into real blog traffic. Jeanelle is the creator behind Jeanelleats, a food and travel brand known for story-driven videos. She uses her Filipina-American heritage and love for travel to share lesser-known foods around the world, making the 'unknown' feel familiar to her audience. She blends her background in marketing into every corner of her business. She operates the recipe blog jeanelleats.com with her husband, and launched MyMusubi, a uniquely designed musubi mold for her community of over 2 million subscribers. Short form video is no longer optional if you want to stay competitive. This episode breaks down exactly how to use YouTube Shorts as a fast, effective marketing engine without overcomplicating the process. If you are an experienced food blogger looking to increase visibility, test content ideas, and build a stronger brand, this gives you a clear path forward. Key Topics Discussed: - Start with Shorts to test content ideas quickly and identify what resonates. - Focus on title, hook, and thumbnail as primary growth drivers. - Repurpose one piece of content into multiple videos with different angles. - Show your face to build trust and stand out from generic content. - Prioritize consistency over volume to avoid burnout and maintain momentum. - Treat YouTube as a long-term marketing engine, not just an ad revenue stream. Connect with Jeanelle Castro Website | Instagram

May 4, 2026Episode 80036 min

800: Recipe Monetization Is Changing - Are You Ready? With Dr. Kristen Wager

Kristen Wager introduces a new method of monetizing recipes called Recifix and shows us how to build a more stable and diversified food blog business in the face of AI and traffic volatility. Kristen is a PhD-trained consumer insights leader with deep expertise in the creator economy. Over the past decade, she's led research initiatives at Kellogg's Company supporting top CPG brands like Special K, Cheez-It, and Morning Star. Most recently she built research programs for the top 100 food creators at Raptive where she gained firsthand insight into the food creator ecosystem and the challenges creators face. That experience led her to create Recifix - a cleaner, calmer way to find, plan, and share ad-free recipes, all while supporting the creators behind them. Relying on Google traffic alone is becoming increasingly risky. This episode explains what is actually changing in search, why AI is accelerating that shift, and how experienced bloggers can build stronger revenue streams that are not dependent on algorithms. Key Topics Discussed: - Traffic from search is not owned and can disappear without warning. - AI is reducing clicks by delivering answers without sending users to blogs. - Real diversification means adding new revenue streams not just new platforms. - Email lists and direct audience relationships protect your business. - Subscription based models create compounding and recurring income. - Trust with your audience is your strongest long term competitive advantage. Connect with Dr. Kristen Wager Website | Instagram Recifix - kristen@recifix.com

April 27, 2026Episode 79943 min

799: Can't Do It All Yourself Anymore? Here's How to Start Building a Team with Erin Jensen

When is the right time to start hiring out tasks in your food blogging business? Erin Jensen teaches us when to start building a small team and how to make sure you hire the right people early on. Erin created The Wooden Skillet in 2016 to have a creative outlet after long days working as an attorney and raising her young family. In the years since, Erin has built a team and steadily grown her website, social media presence, and most recently, Substack presence. Erin's main goal is to help women get excited to cook dinner with her easy and flavor-packed recipes. Erin is the recipe developer and food photographer for all of her recipes and has been featured on Kare11, Food52, FeedFreed, CountryLiving, Shape, Elle, Self, and The Plan To Eat Podcast. Experienced food bloggers hit a ceiling when they try to do everything alone. This episode breaks down what it actually takes to hire, train, and retain the right people without burning out or losing control of your brand. It is a practical look at turning your blog into a real business with support systems that last. Key Topics Discussed: - Overwhelm is the clearest signal it is time to hire. - Start small with subcontractors before committing to hiring employees. - Trust and reliability matter more than prior blogging experience. - A simple task audit reveals exactly what to delegate. - Hiring locally can unlock efficiency in photo shoots and production days. - Long term team success comes from slow growth and consistent communication. Connect with Erin Jensen Website | Instagram

April 20, 2026Episode 79850 min

798: Advanced Personalization - The Future of Email Marketing for Creators with Adam Sobel

Megan chats with Adam Sobel about advanced email personalization strategies that increase conversions and create a more tailored experience for your audience. Adam Sobel is the chef and owner of The Cinnamon Snail, a vegan food truck, restaurant, and catering company serving New York and New Jersey. Adam has cooked at the James Beard House, represented the USA at the World Street Food Congress in the Philippines, and teaches cooking at the Institute for Culinary Education, De Gustibus Cooking School, and independently online. Adam has appeared on the food network, Cooking Channel, PBS, and several networks, and is the author of the popular cookbook Street Vegan. If your email strategy feels flat or underperforming, this episode shows how to turn your list into a revenue driver. Personalization goes far beyond first names. It is about delivering the right content, offer, and message based on behavior and intent. This is the next level for bloggers ready to monetize smarter. Key Topics Discussed: - Personalization should be based on behavior and preferences, not just names. - Segmenting your audience allows you to send more relevant content and offers. - Email sequences should adapt based on user actions and purchase history. - Selling becomes easier when offers match specific audience needs. - Testimonials and messaging should align with the reader's experience level. - Small optimizations in email flows can significantly increase revenue. Guest Details Connect with Adam Sobel Website | Instagram

April 13, 2026Episode 79747 min

797: Pinterest Changed Everything in 2025 - Here's What Food Bloggers Need to Know With Laura Piper

Laura Piper teaches us what changed with Pinterest in 2025 and how to adjust our strategy to get more targeted traffic and better results. Laura is a Pinterest expert who works exclusively with food bloggers. Her mission is to help them make Pinterest their #1 traffic source without feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. Using her proven Pinterest strategies, along with in-depth Pinterest trends and keyword insights, she simplifies the platform for food bloggers, allowing them to focus on what they love most—creating amazing new recipes. Pinterest is no longer a volume game. This episode breaks down the shift toward intent driven discovery and why broad keywords are losing. If your traffic has dropped or stalled, this is the reset you need to attract higher quality clicks and stay competitive in a more advanced algorithm landscape. Key Topics Discussed: - Broad keywords are losing effectiveness in favor of highly specific search intent. - Long tail keywords drive more clicks even with lower impressions. - Pin titles and designs must include context, audience, and differentiators. - Trends and seasonal timing directly impact pin performance. - Boards need to be niche specific to reinforce keyword relevance. - AI content increases competition which makes specificity even more important. Connect with Laura Piper Website | Instagram | Pinterest Get your copy of Laura's Food and Drink Trends Guide